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.