Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

The last day of 2019 and it was rather productive.  After our normal routine of listening to the weather and the cruisers’ net, we hoisted anchor and motored over to the town to fill our water and diesel tanks.  The water was flat calm and there was no problem.  Even when the yacht club directed us to an inner harbor to fill up.  We had no idea that we could skirt around the piers and tie up on the inside.  They directed us to stop, pivot and back into the assigned area.  Thankfully, I was able to do so with Dale directing me through the headset as I can’t see past the swing seat when we’re backing.  Talk about a blind spot.  Anyway, we did it and when we were done, returned pretty much to the same spot in front of Chat N Chill that we were in to start with.  This is good, as after 2 days of flat calm, we are due to get nasty winds again going into the weekend and we need the protection from the hills around us.

Once we were certain that we weren’t going anywhere after we anchored, Dale donned his mask and snorkel and cleaned one hull of the Palace of the grass that is starting to grow along the side exposed to the sunlight.  He came back saying that the next time we paint the bottom, we’ll have to raise the waterline about 2”.  Hey!  Its his side-full of tools and spare parts-not mine.  Besides, we’ve always noticed that the Palace has a habit of sitting down when she picks up speed whether we’re motoring or sailing and water comes up over the swim platform.  Nothing we can do about that but we can raise the waterline along the side to keep the outside garden to a minimum. 

I was able to settle another bag of stores and pull out a couple of Sam’s bags to trip over regularly as we were informed the Exuma Market will be charging 25 cents (yipes!) per plastic grocery bag after the first of the year and I need to remind myself to take in my own.  I can’t say it’s totally unexpected, in Texas, Target was charging for bags the last time I was there but they were at least larger and thicker so that they could be used a few times.   Also, if I remember correctly, some other islands down further don’t offer bags for your groceries either.  Trust me, I came prepared this time. 

This evening Dale ran the genset (and it started right away and kept running) to put amps in the can.  Not really sure why, as we had a sunny clear day and put amps in the can all day long but who am I to argue with the amp Nazi?  I cooked a huge meal (using some of my own boat grown basil) so that I could freeze the left overs for our anticipated multi day journey to Puerto Rico once the parts come in. 

Last Sunset of 2019

Other than watching Medicine Man (I swear Sean Connery just gets better with age!) we’re just sitting here waiting for the new year to ring in.  Supposedly there will be fireworks. 

So, . . .  Happy New Year!

Monday, December 30, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Today we learned that we’re going to be sitting here for a while.  After our normal routine of weather and net listening, Dale tried to call the watermaker people, yep, closed until 1/2/2020.  Then he tried to call the sail people to see if they had been able to send the batten end pieces.  No, they had not, in fact, because they couldn’t get a price for said end pieces, chances are that they would not be able to send them until after the first of the year as well.  You could see Dale’s shoulders slump with the news, so I didn’t have to ask what they had said. 

As disappointing as this was, we decided to settle in for the week.  First, we went in to town and got another jerry can of water.  While Dale was doing that, I went into the market and picked up a case of Diet Coke and some potato chips; just the necessities of life today. 

We made our way back across the channel with less water in the dink than yesterday and put the items away before heading into Chat N Chill as the net said they were having some guest speakers talking about their travels.  As we sat waiting for others to arrive, another couple came up and we invited them to sit with us and struck up a conversation.  They, too, were embarking on their first Pacific crossing this year.  They told us that they planned to go straight from here to Panama and then on through to the Coconut Milk Run (the trip from Galapagos-French Marquesas).  We compared our cruising histories.  Again, they had never made the island hopping down through the Caribbean but instead made direct runs from Georgetown to St. Martin and Georgetown to Antigua.  We were sure surprised when we learned that they were in fact, the guest speakers.  They apparently have a television show where they show their many travels across the Atlantic, through Europe and the Middle East but they’ve never done what we’ve done.  In the middle of the talk, they actually directed peoples’ questions about the “thorny passage” to us.  Holy Smoke!  Hope there aren’t many.  There were about 3 couples that did approach us afterwards and hopefully we were fair and honest about the trip. 

Another set of speakers told of their experience on 12/23/2019 in Red Shanks Harbor where they were hit with a “water spout.”  I put water spout in quotations as they said that it was wind, more like a tornado, not a column of water that a water spout can be.  Apparently, it lasted about 2-3 minutes, they didn’t have time to do anything except go inside and hang on.  Although their boat listed dramatically and spun around a couple of times, their dinghy took the brunt of it being completely torn off its painter D rings.  They said that thanks to other boaters in the area, the only things they lost were the jerry can covers and a life vest that had been in the dink.  Don’t think I ever care to go through that. 

We listened to the last speaker who made a presentation on the proper way to anchor to see if there were any tips we didn’t know about but didn’t learn anything new. 

That actually took up most of the day.  We made it back in time to get an internet call from Gerry and Nicky, who are making their way around Puerto Rico.  We relayed our mail problems and most likely will meet up with them in the BVI’s. 

Tonight looks to be quiet as the winds have finally died down and the seas are finally settling.  It would have been a great weather window but one we’ll miss but can’t be helped.  I guess that’s about it for today. 

Sunday, December 29, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

I can’t say we did much more than we did yesterday.  We did drop the dink down and went exploring the inner most harbors around Volleyball Beach.  We were impressed as to how far back some of the more protected harbors were.  We stopped by Chat N Chill to partake of their Sunday afternoon pig roast and were fascinated as to how many tourists (as opposed to cruisers) were transported from various resorts in the area.  I don’t think we appreciated the degree of just how much the surrounding areas around Georgetown have become tourist destinations. 

Ferry boats loaded to capacity started transiting about 10am bringing folks over and then switched about 2 pm to taking folks back and didn’t stop until after 5pm.  The beach was packed and the wait in line to get the food lasted about 30 minutes.  Dale waited the same amount just getting the tickets and drinks but I had already gotten in the food line to save time.  Good thing. 

The wind finally started to die down sometime this afternoon and the waves are following suit.  Too bad we are waiting for parts as this would be a great time to make our way farther south and east during the 2-3 day respite.  We’ve been listening to 2 boats that are planning to go from here to Puerto Rico directly.  We plan on stopping in the Turks and Caicos but may go directly to Puerto Rico from there if we can get a good weather window. 

Can’t say there is anything else.  I’m on my 6^th Bubba book and Dale is reading the history of Florida, so we are staying occupied.    

Saturday, December 28, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Chat N Chill

Today we did a whole lot of nothin’.  We listened to weather, more wind and rain.  We listened to the cruisers’ net, the junkanoo has been postponed for a week due to . . . the wind and rain.  We did move the Palace a little further into the protected area so we’re not hanging our derrieres out in the channel.  We read, we played games, Dale took a nap, I cleaned the cockpit, we sat in the swing seat and watched boats come and go, we had a great conversation with Gerry and Nicky (who are in Puerto Rico now and called us via the Internet), and that’s about it. 

Sorry, it was just one of those days. 

Friday, December 27, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.068N
75.45.461W

Today was rather productive.  We listened to the weather; today would be fairly decent but over the next two days, it is predicted to deteriorate into high winds and passing squalls. We listened to the cruisers net, the junkanoo scheduled for Saturday evening may be postponed due to the weather, then Dale started with the telephone calls to see if we could get a couple of parts needed for both the sail and the watermaker.  

The sail part may actually be on its way as they were trying to get it out in today’s mail.  No confirmation number was forwarded, so we can’t follow up until Monday.  Unfortunately, the watermaker people are off for the holidays until January 2, 2020.  Ugh!!

We went into town again and picked up a sim card for Dale's telephone as its cheaper to do it that way instead of me going through AT&T for a special international rider on mine.  So I have internet and telephone messaging for the next month, if I need it. 

We walked up and down the main street looking for a place to sit down and have lunch and found a little place that served chicken curry.  Then while Dale filled up the water can, I went grocery shopping.  I was hard pressed to find all the items on my list but did come away with some decent looking lettuce and a green pepper.  The prices took my breath away but I suppose that’s the price for living in paradise. 

Gerry and Nicky are making their way across the Mona Passage today into Puerto Rico.  I’m beginning to think we’re never going to be able to catch up with them with all of our repairs of late. 

The ride back was wetter than yesterday’s as the winds were already starting to pick up.  Tonight we sit in in the Palace and feel as if we’re starting to ride a bucking bronco.  We’ll have to see if there’s a more protected spot tomorrow.  In the meantime, we’ll have to put seatbelts on the bed to keep from falling out. 

Guess that’s about it for today. 

Thursday, December 26, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.068N
75.45.461W

Happy Birthday April!

Well, today was a better day.  First thing this morning Dale called the sat phone people to ask for assistance in figuring out how to get the dang thing working again.  We’d already tried the-turn it off, then turn it back on-method suggested in the manual that came with it.  The lady he spoke with suggested, turn it off, take out the battery, take out the sim card, put them both back in, then try turning it back on.  That worked!  Unfortunately, 3 of our 4 children live on the west coast and it wasn’t a decent time to call to let them know their parents hadn’t forgotten about them during the holidays with their galivanting through the Bahamas spending their inheritance. 

So, with one item crossed off Dale’s “to do list” we lowered the dink and went exploring Georgetown.  Its been 12 years since we were here last and while it’s grown over on the beach/tourist side it’s remained about the same in the town itself.  We wandered around far enough to familiarize ourselves with the various establishments that were referred to on the cruiser’s net this morning when Dale asked for a place to access the internet and where to get incoming mail. 

It’s ‘Boxing Day’ in the Bahamas/Exumas and therefore, a holiday.  In spite of the holiday status, we did find a little bar type restaurant that was open and stopped in for some conch fritters and jerked wings.  Gene, the bartender/waiter told us that he was from Abaco, specifically the Marsh Harbor area.  He lost his best friend in Hurricane Dorian but he and his family evacuated to Nassau.  He was very nice and allowed us to access the restaurant’s WiFi after our lunch.  This allowed us to locate a business in Spanish Wells (northern Eleuthera island) that is a distributor of the watermaker company and where Dale intends to call tomorrow to see if he can get a part sent to us here.  Hopefully, with a somewhat local company, it shouldn’t be held up in Customs for a week or more.  Another item not exactly crossed off Dale’s list but definitely addressed. 

After that we hopped back in the dinghy, with me driving this time, as the tide had changed and Dale agreed to be the gentleman and take the waves over the bow for me.  I did my best but standing waves under the little bridge that you have to go under in order to get into town, soaked him. 

On our way back to the Palace, there was the sound of reggae music coming from Chat n Chill, so we moved in closer to see if the doors were open.  The cruiser’s net had said that they would be closed for the holiday but someone forgot to tell Chat n Chill that as they were going full tilt.  Of course, that meant we had to stop in and get the requisite “cheeseburger in paradise”. 

With our bellies full, we returned to the boat and called all the kids and grandkids to wish them well and learn of Santa’s visit.  It was good to hear their voices and the excitement from the little ones. 

So, with one item crossed off Dale’s list, another well on its way, we found where we could get water, diesel, groceries, WiFi and a local sim card for Dale’s phone should we choose to go that route, it was certainly a day we felt we had accomplished things--plus we talked with family, so I feel better too. 

Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.068N
75.45.461W


Merry Christmas one and all!  As you can see, we made it to Georgetown. 

Neither Dale nor I really slept very well last night as we were both nervous about getting underway again which means, we were awake before the sun and only moved once it came up.  We started the engines at 6:45am and slowly backed out of our slip at Cave Cay Marina.  The “boss” (we assume owner who keeps a very low profile) actually waved goodbye to us as we backed out, pivoted and then exited the protected harbor. 

Once out into the channel, we turned into the wind and tried to raise the main sail.  It only made it about 2/3-3/4 up before it jammed.  Dale donned his life jacket and went to investigate.  We lowered it a few feet, tried again and it jammed again.  We went through this once more with the same results when he found the problem.  One of the batten end pieces was cracked and just below it there was a tear in the webbing holding the feeder line to the sail.  Dale reported back, “the sail’s torn”.  Of course it is!!  I freely admit that the last 2 months of fear, frustration and life in general, finally got the better of me and I burst into tears. 

Dale offered to take the wheel but I was raised on a farm where you get back up on the horse that bucked you, no matter how many times it bucks you (someday I’ll go into detail about a few Shetland ponies that threw me many, many times).  So, I finished my shift which included going back out the cut that we had lost our engines in.  We lowered the main to a reefed position and unfurled the Code Zero to take advantage of the wind coming from behind us.  As the wind weakened mid morning, we added the engines back into the mix and then finally brought in both sails and motored the remainder of the trip by early afternoon.

Once it was Dale’s shift, I thought about a plan to repair the sail as I have a heavy duty sewing machine brought along for just such an event.  Dale reminded me that we went through many similar trials on our first trip 2005-2007.  I reminded him that those happened over the course of 18 months not 2.  He thinks we’re just getting it all out of the way now. 

We arrived in Georgetown about 1:30pm and found a spot not too far from “Chat n Chill”.  We anchored in our normal fashion and in spite of getting the tug of a well set anchor, we sat and watched it for about 30 minutes just to make sure.

It looked like every one and their brother was on the beach, so we lowered the dinghy and went in to see if the local hang out was open.  It wasn’t, it was one of the famous boater pot lucks and we were empty handed, so we went back to the Palace and took naps.

Later in the evening, we had hoped to call the kids to wish everyone a Merry Christmas but . . . you guessed it . . . the sat phone is not working.  Why should it?  It worked a week ago, but not so much now.  Dale added it to his list of things to fix/repair in exotic places. 

Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W


Today was spent mostly preparing for tomorrow as the weather forecast is holding steady.  Although the day started out grey and blustery, it cleared up by mid morning and I washed, hung out, folded and put away the last of the laundry.


Dale ran the fuel polisher again, took a scraper to the props and the sides of the hulls where grass had started to grow, walked the garbage to the cans at the end of the dock and topped off the water tank one last time.  We’ve singled up our lines and all is prepared to make our move to Georgetown first thing in the morning. 


We said our farewells to Scott and Sonia, our dockmates, and summoned Shark from parts unknown to pay our bill (no, we never did get water to the pier).  I guess we’re as ready as we can be.  Well, at least Dale is.  My chest feels as if its going to explode but I’m a great believer in mind over matter . . . one foot in front of the other . . . breathe in, breathe out, move on . . .


I’ll let you know tomorrow as to how it works out. 

Monday, December 23, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W

Considering how quiet this island has been since we arrived, we were truly impressed when not one, not two, but three planes arrived one after another on the little uncontrolled airstrip. 

Dale and I had walked down the strip to the little dirt road that led to the upper area where there is a partially built “restaurant.”  From our vantage point, you could see the Great Bahama Bank on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, several islands to the north as well as those to the south. 

Ocean side

One can envision what the developers where going for when Cave Cay Marina was built but apparently ran out of money before completion.  Inside the restaurant, were iron tables and chairs piled up against one wall; paint peeling away from the metal, what appeared to be expensive stove exhaust vents were laying on the floor, a king sized mattress (still in its plastic envelope) was lying against one wall, exercise equipment throughout the building was simply set up and rusting in place.  The front area appeared to be a makeshift work area with saws, wood planes, a vise set up on 4x4’s and a few patio chairs set up on the porch overlooking the marina.  All of this was inside a very large, well built building now showing signs of distress in that the metal joists are beginning to rust through the protective paint.  We moved a couple of the patio chairs to the side patio and Dale made his calls to the watermaker tech people.  I sat beside him and saw so much potential going to waste. 


In my mind, the developers were going for a huge, exclusive get away for the rich and famous.  Shark, the caretaker, had dropped a few names of those that use the landing strip to head to their own islands.  My take was that they should have started off smaller “island style” and built up as the clientele demanded.  Now, there are literally millions of dollars rotting in place. 


Then we walked down to the strip and passed airplane hangers, fuel tanks, and construction equipment all left to disintegrate where they were left and farther north to where another dirt road led to the ocean side of the island.  You had to walk past a graveyard of forgotten appliances, refrigerators, washers, dryers, pallets of what used to be cement bags that are now concrete stones, and everything else, now useless.  Reaching the beach, there was a lot of flotsam and jetsam, but we were surprised to find a lack of sea glass amongst the debris. 

Interisland Airplane

We returned to the airstrip and had intended to walk further north but that’s when the first of the 3 planes arrived, so we waited until it had passed us and walked back to where it was depositing its passengers.  A small ferry was waiting at the dock to pick them up and take them to Musha Cay (see 12.16.2019 for more info).


The second plane landed and also deposited people heading to Musha Cay.  The third plane only carried luggage, a ton of luggage.  We watched 3 men loading and unloading for a good 30 minutes. 


Shark had told Dale about his garden too and had invited us to visit it.  I was impressed!  It was about a half acre in size.  He gardens the opposite of how you would normally think to plant but for an island composed of marl, coral and what looked like quartz, it’s perfect!  He dug rows and planted watermelons in the furrows not on the hills, I would think to direct the fresh water to the plants.  Deeper furrows contained citrus trees protecting them from the constant wind.  Fingerling bananas lined one side of the garden and large pots of tomatoes, turnips, lettuce, spinach, and radishes were growing.  He had an extensive drip water system throughout.  There are literally hundreds of bags of Miracle Grow and mulch lining the opposite side of the garden from the banana trees.  Obviously, the developers had thought to make this a self-sustaining resort.  I think Shark is a better gardener than he is a mechanic; we still don’t have water on the dock, but he does keep looking at it.  

Cavy Cay Marina

As I said, the potential is enormous and . . . it’s for sale!  Only $60,000,000!  Like everything else, its not the cost, it’s the upkeep.  


Although this morning was blustery (as usual) it seemed to be losing its intensity toward the afternoon but that’s when Dale’s barometer started its beeping alerting us to another gale prediction.  It signaled another two times during the day but has quieted now that the winds are picking up again.  The long range weather still is looking favorable for a Wednesday departure for Georgetown and although we very safe here, its time to move on before I start weeding Shark’s garden. 

Sunday, December 22, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W


There appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel!  Today Dale was able to download weather and thinks there is a reprieve on Wednesday, Christmas Day, to get to Georgetown.  The winds die down to 15 kts but more importantly, the seas die down to less than 2 feet.  Thursday also appears to be transit worthy, so hopefully, we’ll be able to make the next big leg.  Until then, its overcast, grey, blowing a “hooley” and looking like rain is on the way--again, but we’re relatively quiet in the marina. 


Dale busied himself carting down 4 more jerry cans of water to top us off (he borrowed a hand cart found next to the maintenance shed).  Also, we wanted to have an idea of how much water we use when we’re being very conservative (about 6 gallons a day).  Of course, that doesn’t include the showers we’ve been using at the marina, so we can go about 2 weeks.  That being said, we decided that we’d try to get the laundry done one more time and fill up one more time before striking out.  Then let’s hope we can either find readily available water in Georgetown or he’s able to repair the watermater in a timely manner. 


I, on the other hand, have found a WiFi connection that has been pretty stable (guess the “Boss” isn’t working today), so have been getting my internet connection fix!  I’ve done e-mails, banking, uploaded blog posts, read blog posts, surfed Pinterest for a bit and even looked up the Holy Ghost (I’m not sure why but I started wondering just exactly who this was and why he/its so important but it is Sunday and it was as close to Church as I was going to get today).  I don’t want to disconnect for fear that I won’t be able to reattach until midnight tomorrow (which seems to be the only time I can get a good connection when the Boss isn’t working.)


Until then . . .

Saturday, December 21, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W


Well today was a bust.  I’ve never heard the wind blow so hard for so long.  At least the temps are in the mid 70’s and the rain has stayed away for the most part.  The really sad thing is that the weather isn’t predicted to change anytime soon.


After reading for a couple of hours, I realized that I was hearing something akin to music being played through the rigging and life lines.  Different tones caught my attention and I started listening very closely to the “notes”.  This boat has a sound all its own.  That’s what you do when there is nothing else to do. 


Dale tried to clean the bottom of the boat but the wind forced him to quit.  He replaced flag halyards as they broke.  We visited for a couple of minutes when Scott and Sonia wandered down the dock to walk their dog.  Then back to reading for a few more hours.  I was able to download more books to my Kindle late last evening when I was finally able to make an internet connection so I’m set for a few days.  We watched a couple of episodes of Battlestar this evening.  They weren’t what I remembered so I’m wondering if there was more than one series of the show. 


As I said, nothing to comment on today. 

Friday, December 20, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W


Finally, good news on several fronts.  First, we survived the “big blow!”  It was howling and raining for all it was worth when we went to bed last evening and, if you can believe it, it got worse during the night.  For some reason, we never got up to see just how high the winds were (I’m sure they were every bit of 40kts) but we were content to lay in our bed and ignore it as we felt safe.  (I know you’re dying to know this but do you remember Jane Seymore being in Battlestar Galatica?  I didn’t.)


Sonia, our neighbor, had asked when we first met if we thought we were all being overly cautious by coming in here but this morning we were all glad we did.  Apparently, outside the marina has 6’ waves crashing.  Nope, we made the right decision!  In here we’re moving around a little bit but nothing to write home about.  Besides, after listening to this morning’s weather, I think we’re going to be here for a while, at least the next week. 

This is what it's supposed to look like.                   This is what it did look like.

Second, Dale tore the connection to the hot water heater apart and found a more than well worn elbow connection (hopefully, the photo I took of it will appear at some point and you can see why it kept coming off).  He suspects that it was original to the boat considering how worn it is and dah, tah-dah dah, he had a spare that fit it perfectly!



He also used some of the suggestions that the tech people from the watermaker company had provided and has learned that our watermaker motor is still functioning properly; sort of.  He’s changed the oil once more and the breaker is no longer tripping but he still hasn’t been able to get pressure as yet, so the saga continues, as he says he’s not going to tear the motor apart until he knows he can get parts. 


On another front, “Shark” appeared to be looking at getting water to the pier today.  Haven’t seen him since but who knows?  Maybe by the time we leave.  Its island time mon. 


I busied myself trying to get an internet connection.  First inside the boat, then out in the cockpit, then on one level of the marina building, then on another, so far, no joy. 


I came back to the boat and folded the laundry from yesterday, which surprisingly dried well, in spite of the humidity.  Maybe its just relative. 


The wind has picked up again this evening and we’ve added another fender to keep us from smacking into the dock.  Dale had run a line to the opposite side to keep us off when we first came in but this causes us to rock back and forth hitting the finger pier.  Right now we have 15 kts gusting to 24 but really not too bad considering what it could be doing to us.

Thursday, December 19, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W


Well it was one of those two steps forward, three steps back kind of days.  Dale used the air compressor to blow the fuel lines backwards (spraying himself and everything around him with diesel) but he cleared whatever was blocking the lines and then began to run the fuel polisher.  I ran outside and began squirting Dawn all around us to keep the diesel corralled. 


Remember I said that I encouraged him to run it for two days?  Well, he took it to heart and has run it from sun up to sun down ever since, except for the times when he actually got the engines to start and ran them for a couple of hours.  Once he shut them down, he ran the polisher again and will continue to do so until bedtime. 


Also, when I left you yesterday, he had discovered that a line on the hot water heater had shot off and syphoned out more than half of our water tank into the bilge plus covering our newly commissioned watermaker’s oil tank to the high pressure pump with water which contaminated the oil for it.  So, this morning he tore the watermaker apart and dried everything off, changed the oil (twice just to make sure all the water was out) and put it back together.  Unfortunately, it still tripped the breaker and wouldn’t start which necessitated a call to the technical people to ascertain what he could have missed. 


I, on the other hand, resumed my Jill (of Jack and Jill) and started ferrying water back and forth up and down the hill to be syphoned back into the tank as well as putting in a few loads of laundry and squirting more Dawn around us.  I had done this about 5 times when Dale said that the next one was my last trip as we had filled the tank.  So, up the hill I go one last time, fill the jerry can, disconnect my filter, gather my laundry, head back down the hill and squirt some more soap.  Only this time, when I get back to the boat, Dale says well, maybe not my last trip as the line on the hot water heater has fallen off again and syphoned water out again and blown water all over the watermaker—again!  There are no words to describe my frustration at this point, so I start the process over just to get away from the boat.  Up the hill, attach the filter, turn on the water, fill the can, turn off the water, back down the hill, attach the halyard, haul the can up, squirt some soap, gather the can.  Up and down, up and down, the third trip one of my wagon wheels falls off.  I really don’t know how much more of this I can take and tell Dale so.  He’s just as frustrated and takes over the jerry can ferrying as now it has to be carried.  I string lines and hang laundry in the cockpit; and squirt some more soap. 


Our new neighbor, Sonia drops by and tells me about the turtles that live in the marina.  Aw man!  The poor things are probably blowing bubbles everytime they come up for air by now. 


Just before the “big blow” came through this evening, we donned our headsets and once again tried to get the genset to start.  Although it did take a bit of effort (had to get the air out of the lines apparently), it finally started and after a few minutes of sputtering, settled into a hum before Dale turned on various switches to see if it would carry a load.  It did, so we shut it down and put it back to bed. 


As I mentioned, the “big blow” has finally arrived and we are glad we are securely tied up in the natural hurricane hole this marina was built in.  High hillsides protect us from every direction so we’ll stay put until it passes and, if I’m not mistaken, the storm behind it is just as bad.  In any event, it’s blowing a “hooley” and pouring rain.  Since we’ve had to button up the Palace to keep the rain out, we’ll break down and turn on the AC after the polisher turns off and turn on a movie.  I bought the original series of Battlestar Galatica and it’s calling my name. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Cave Cay Marina, Bahamas
25.54.467N
76.16.305W


I don’t know how to tell you about today.  It started like any other day.  I got up about 5:30am and turned on the garden.  Dale got up about 6am and ate breakfast.  He had already checked out the engines the night before, so about 6:15am we hoisted anchor and headed for Cave Cay Cut to leave the protection of the island lees and head out into the ocean to make the final leg to Georgetown. 


We entered the cut without any problems but about half way through, our port engine slowed and then quit.  Dale had gone in to turn on the radio to listen to the weather and ran to the engine to see what was going on.  By the time he was back up, the starboard engine quit.  I immediately started to hoist our main to get us the rest of the way through the cut.  When he returned, we both worked on getting our two sails up and point us away from the islands and breakers on either side of us.  Nerve racking would be an understatement.  As he worked on the engines, first replacing the filters, I tried to keep the sails full of wind and get us as far from the things that would cause us damage.  The wind would blow from 8-11kts from the south (on the nose for where we wanted to go) and we really weren’t going anywhere as the current was trying to take us back into the cut, so I tried to put up the Code Zero and take down the jib.  That didn’t work either as the wind was too far forward for it to fill properly. 


Dale could get first one engine started and then the other but within a minute, they would both shut down again.  Each time, I tried to get us further away.  One thing that we had heard about and had actually practiced in our home waters in the St. John’s River was getting this boat out of “irons.”  It’s almost impossible and today proved no different but I kept trying, as did Dale working on the fuel lines leading to the engines.  We finally made the decision that we could do nothing more where we were, so we radioed Cave Cay Marina to let them know that we were going to try to make it back and into their facility to make repairs.  This meant returning through the cut under sail. 


We decided that the best way would be to lower the dinghy and use what propulsion it could give us to help us along.  However, being in the ocean, even one that is calm, comes with swells that make deploying the dinghy problematic.  We were able to lower it but with the swells, it would cause it to bash into one side of the Palace and then the other.  Dale was finally able to get the plug (that keeps the water out) back in and then the engine started but a line that secures the dinghy to the Palace tangled with others on the Palace, so we’re both attacking it from different directions trying to free it.  Then, one of the pontoons on the dinghy, kept losing air, so he dug out the pump and tried to inflate it.  Talk about everything going south at the same moment!


In the meantime, he’s directed me to turn us back towards the cut, which I’d done.  However, we were getting closer and closer to the reef again and I start screaming bloody murder through the headphones that he’s better get moving as he’s still not ready to tie to the side to help guide us through.  Now that I’ve got the boat beam to the wind and she picks up speed.  Dale said that he had a hard time catching back up to us once he did let go.  Somehow, he catches us, ties on just in time to go through the cut. 


We squirt through the cut doing 8 kts and back into the protected waters.  Now, we have to take down the sails and guide the Palace through a narrow channel into the Marina. Dale climbs back on board and we accomplish this without too much drama.  He scrambles back into the dink and powers up but instead of pushing us along, it now seems to be pulling us to his side.   No matter how much I try to steer differently, so I’m screaming more power to see if it will straighten us out.  It works and we thread the channel and turn to approach the Marina. 


I have us perfectly alined with the slip they are directing us to when Dale tells me to dig out the fenders and lines.  What?  Crap!  So, I go running forward and start digging through the lockers to find said lines and fenders.  Somehow through the grace of God, I get the lines attached and with Dale still powering with the dinghy, return to the helm to turn us back toward the Marina and into a slip.  “Shark” catches our lines, hooks a cleat and slows us down.  “Good Morning” he says, I look down at the time, its 9:15am; it seems like mid-day. 


We’re both drained and I’ll admit it, at the height of all of the excitement, I was ready to throw in the towel.  Now that we’re securely tied to a pier, things don’t seem to be that bad.  Until I start thinking about going through that cut again.  I’m not looking forward to that.  I think I’m gun shy now.   


Dale, of course, is working on finding out why our fuel lines are clogged.  “Shark” the local man working at the marina (and the nicest guy ever) as brought him an air compressor so that he can blow whatever is in there back far enough to start running the fuel polisher; whatever is in there is blocking that too.  I encouraged him that once it’s clear, to run the fuel polisher for the next 2 days as we’ve elected to stay here until the big blow, goes by.  This is not a full service marina, so Dale will have to do all of the work himself.  That’s OK.  We have electricity, fuel if we need it, free laundry, WiFi, and when it works, free water. 


In the meantime, after a quick lunch, Dale digs out the collapsible wagon we have, and I walk up the hill to the shower area to fill our 5 gallon water jerry can and then back down again.  I forget how many times I did this as I lost count after 8; I’m thinking 10 or 11 but at least I was doing something that made me feel useful until about 5pm and the sun started setting.  Each time I’d bring down a jerry can of water, I would connect it to the main halyard and Dale would hoist it back into the cockpit and syphon the water from the can into the tank.  We did this because, bless his heart, when he checked various gauges, we went from ¾ of tank yesterday to ¼ of a tank today.   He found that the hot water hose had fallen off, sprayed into the high pressure pump mixing water into the oil, so now he has to change the oil in that as well.  What else can possibly go wrong?  I don’t even want to think about it!

Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Cave Cay, Bahamas
23.54.111N
76.16.179W


We awoke to rain this morning; just enough to run around closing all of the hatches but not enough to scrub the decks.  So, we listened to the weather and confirmed that tomorrow is the day to make our move to Georgetown.  If the winds died down at all today, it would take an anemometer to tell.  Most of the day it howled through the rigging and rocked the boat just enough to never really let go and walk around. 


The Tweaker in Chief decided that this would be a good time to commission the watermaker so he set about laying out all of the bits and parts and clearing an area in which to work.  I settled another bag that had never been emptied and started cleaning or wiping down various surfaces that had fingerprints or smudges that were starting to drive me crazy.  In the process I found a couple of peppers that were on their last leg, so I sliced an onion and sautéed them before adding them to the freezer. 


Once Dale got the watermaker up and running (with only1 bit left over!) he gave me a bucket of water so that I could wash the salt off the windows and some of the algae starting to form in various nooks and crannies; can’t drink it, might as well use it for something useful. 


We had taken a break to watch some 4-5 boats coming in our direction all heading to Georgetown, when we heard an alarm sound.  Not a “we’re going to die alarm” but more of “something’s not right alarm”.  We found it on the wowy zowy barometer Dale had picked up at the last boat show we attended.  It was telling us that a gale was approaching.  Nice to know if we hadn’t already been listening to the weather for the last 3 days.  So, I started taking notes every couple of hours just to watch as we also heard that there was a low pressure area forming in the Gulf of Mexico, that no one seems to know what it was going to do. 


Although it was sunny and the solar panels were putting “amps in the can” and the wind generator was doing the same, Dale decided he wanted to run the generator as well.  EXCEPT, that once it started, it would die out.  Now mind you, this is the same generator that he and Tinkering Consultant spent the better part of a week tearing down and putting back together and they ran it a good half hour back then.  So, what had happened between then and now?


The Tweaker in Chief has always told me that diesels only need air, oil and fuel to operate and as long as they have that, they will run forever.  Well, apparently this one was missing something; chief suspect was fuel.  Thus, began the digging out of the tools, the headsets, clearing out of the “hole” where the generator lives and the investigation as to what was going on.  I would listen on the headset inside and follow instructions.  Switch the glow plugs, check.  Try to start it, check.  Can you hear the pump running in the main stateroom, check.  Try turning on the engine, check.  No! not turn it on, just turn it to the on position, OK, turn it off and then turn it to the on position, check.  Then he would come in and do something down in the main stateroom and run back out and we’d do the whole thing again. 


Then I hear “so why can’t I get fuel here?”  How would I know?  I can flip switches with the best of anyone; I can enter data into the chart plotter that causes little “x’s” to show up as waypoints; I can line up waypoints to turn into routes; I even know how to work the radar and AIS; its just  button pushing but after that, it’s all MAGIC! 


So, I try as best as I can, could it be air?  You did open the vent.  Maybe you really closed it.  Nope, apparently once you take the lid off the generator, it gets all the air it needs. No, its fuel!   

Well we did go through some pretty bouncy seas a few times, maybe we pinched something.  He considers it; its either that or there is something clogging the fuel line between the main valve and the generator.  As I understand it, this means tearing the head (bathroom) apart to follow the fuel line from under our bed to the forward compartment where the generator lives.  Can’t wait for that to happen!  He decides that we don’t have enough time left to do this today and puts his tools away.  Where is the Tinkering Consultant when I need him?  And believe me, its me that needs him. 

Monday, December 16, 2019
Cave Cay, Bahamas
23.54.111N
76.16.179W


I’ll bet you’re wondering why we moved.  Particularly after I went into great detail to explain why we were looking for a place to tuck into for the 20kt blow expected today.  Well,  . . .  that’s because this morning’s weather indicated that an even stronger front (expecting 30-40kt winds) is behind this one. 


Last night, the winds picked up and started howling through the rigging as expected.  After sundown, even more boats came in and anchored (a couple really, really close).  We noticed that one of the ones that anchored near us was gone when we got up at 6:15. We had watched as they anchored and it appeared that they were having difficulties but considering their size, we figured that they were insured, so we went to sleep.  They were the boat gone this morning, so we’re not sure if they continued to have problems or not. 


As I said, Chris (the weather guru) flat said that the weather in our area was going to be “miserable,” so we consulted our charts and concluded that we could make little hops first thing each morning to make our way further south instead of being pinched in by every boat trying to find a hidey hole to wait out the storm and hoping they anchored securely.  We hoisted anchor about 7:50am and headed here anchoring at 1:30pm in 20-25kt winds under bare pole.  It was sloppy to be sure but no worse than crossing the Bank earlier this month.  We know that tomorrow the winds are expected to die down some but that on Wednesday, they are to be their lowest.  We are now positioned to leave early on Wednesday morning to make Georgetown by mid-afternoon when the showers and winds once again start to play havoc with our plans. 


On the “guess what we saw” side of the equation, we are anchored to the west of Cave Cay and a little to the northeast of Musha Cay.  According to our cruse book, David Copperfied owns Musha Cay and has cabanas that he rents out for $42K per night with a 4 night minimum.  Dale commented that it insures privacy at that rate! 


On Cave Cay itself, although it too is a private island, there is a marina that is open to the public.  Supposedly it offers, slips, fuel, water and WiFi but it is well hidden.  Unless you have a chart or cruising guide, you can’t see it from the water.  We might go exploring there tomorrow just to see what it looks like as we have another night to cool our jets.  (No cleaning the bottom here as the current is too strong.) 

Sunday, December 15, 2019
Staniel Cay, Bahamas
24.11.183N
76.27.520W


We were still where we had set our anchor the night before (always a good thing) in Highbourn Cay, so when we hoisted anchor at 7:15am and made our way back out to the route south, we were happy that the winds were calm.  In fact, they were way calmer than we had anticipated.  We raised our main and had no problem transiting at more than 6 kts. 


It was clear that we had another perfect motorsailing day.  Hardly any wind and absolutely no waves.  When I asked Dale his guestimate as to when we were going to make the Land and Sea Park, he thought perhaps noon or 1pm.  I put the bug in his ear, that it would be a shame to waste a great day of motorsailing by turning off the path with hours of daylight still available. 


Needless to say, when we arrived at Warderick at 11am, he simply called in and canceled our reservations.  We consulted the chart for the next place we could make in daylight hours and still be protected from the anticipated 20 kt winds from the North tomorrow.  We decided Staniel Cay was the next best place as its protected on almost 3 sides by various islands. 


So for the rest of the day we gazed at the crystal clear tourquoise water (Geri G.-you could see your toes at 20 feet!) and did little odd jobs as we didn’t have to hang on for dear life.  I started wiping down the sawdust that I assumed came from the construction site across from Palm Cay Marina.  Dale had been making comments about our sling seat sliding down more and more, so I thought I would see if I could pull the foam core back up and into its original position.  However, when I unzipped the seat, I saw that it was disintegrating and that was the “sawdust” I had found.  This was upsetting as I had only replaced it 5 years ago and I thought that what I replaced had to have been from the original purchase so mine should have lasted more than 5 years.  Mind you, we are the 3^rd owners of this particular boat, so I’m not certain of anything if we haven’t done it ourselves.  When I replaced it, I did so with a type that allowed water to flow through it instead of the seat acting as a giant sponge.  As there was nothing I could do at this point, I simply zipped it back up and started thinking about where I could find substitute material. 


We arrived in Staniel Cay at 2:30pm making incredible progress the entire day.  We curled around and tucked in behind Big Major Cay (famous for the Thunderball Cave from the movie).  We were surprised to see half a dozen boats already anchored as when we where here last, we met Roger and Elaine on Doc-No-More and it was only the 2 of us and possibly a 3^rd boat that spent the night.  The rest of the day, another 6 or more boats joined us, so this must be the right place to ride out the passing front.  Dale acted as “cabana boy” bringing cool drinks to watch the procession. 


Later, Dale consulted his weather forecast and the charts again saying that if tomorrow is like today and decidedly calmer than predicted, it would be better for us to continue traveling south rather then getting stuck somewhere for a couple of days cooling our jets while the weather passes.  I agree, as he has wiping down the bottom of the boat on his “to do list” if we have to wait for awhile and if I remember correctly, this involves getting little brine shrimp all over you; in your hair, inside your bathing suit, in places that don’t require brine shrimp and make you squirm when you find them, YUCK!  I’ll help but I’ve learned the hard way to stay upstream of the cloud that comes off.