Friday, January 17, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Not a lot happened today.  The predicted weather is for 30-40 kt winds later tonight and settling to 25+ tomorrow, so Dale checked various lines adding chafe gear to some, shortening others cutting off the worn areas, then retying them.  In the afternoon, we dinked into the beach and played Mexican Train Dominos with Sue & Earl from My Bonnie and David & Terri from Sylvester.  Believe it or not, I won!  There was an ARG (alcohol research group) meeting on another beach at sundown but that’s when the winds are supposed to be picking up, so we declined. 

Other than that, we’re just waiting for the front to pass through.  Again. 

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Anchorage in front of Chat N Chill

With the winds at a more respectable level, Dale dinked into town another 3 times topping off our water and getting gas for the dink.  $6.00/gal almost took our breath away. 

We followed that up by trying to track where our parts are in the Bahamas—not here, for sure.  

We debated whether to take the main sail out of the boom in preparation for its repair during this lull but decided against it as the wind is only supposed to be calm for today and half of tomorrow and Dale didn’t want to leave it on the deck during the high winds coming in later this weekend.  

Path to Atlantic Side

For lunch, we dinghied into what is referred to as Hurricane Hole “0” where we could tie our dinghy up to a dock and walk over to a beach bar called Peace and Plenty.  I think their burgers are decidedly better and they offer a variety of chips instead of French fries.  On our return, we spotted a path that led to the beach side of the island, so we tied the dink to a tree, threw out a stern anchor to keep us properly aligned and hiked to the other side. 

View looking South

The view was magnificent.  We found a seat at the top of the incline that we sat in for a short while watching the gorgeous colors of the Bahamian waters blend with those of the Atlantic.  There were even a few boats on the horizon making the best of the short weather window to travel.  

Coming back down the sandy hill was more of a controlled fall on my part, as the couple at the bottom said that I “exploded onto the scene.”  Well, at least I didn’t fall in a heap at their feet or bowl them over in an attempt to stay upright.  

View looking North with the 

Tinker in Chief

Upon our return, Dale attacked a sluggish drain in our head (bathroom) and had it fixed by simply removing the drain plug and pulling out the clog of hair and attached goo from the bottom of it.  After that, it worked great.  




Other than that, there’s a whole lot of nothin’ going on except boats moving on, including Loon (we never did see that slide being used.)   

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Finally, the wind has dropped below 20 kts in what seems like forever!  Though, its only for a couple of days and then its back up to 25-35 kts when the next front rolls though.  So, there’s lots of movement in the harbor taking advantage of the lull to move somewhere else. 

Yesterday we dinked into Volleyball Beach and attended a talk about what went wrong for a first-time, single-handed sailor (although he had been a commercial fisherman) who lost his boat when he went on the rocks in the Flamingo Cays, southwest of here, followed by a question and answer period.  It was an interesting series of events that led up to the grounding and we did learn a couple of things we might want to adopt with our own procedures (like creating an abandon ship checklist to put with our bag and to make sure to take gloves and shoes).  The long and short of it, I felt really bad for the guy because it concentrated on all of the things he did wrong.  He was fortunate that another boat came to his rescue and the islanders were extremely gracious to him, giving him, food, shelter and clothing until he could make his way here. 

While there, I met a nice lady that I mistook for someone else but had the same name.  What are the chances of that?  Anyway, she was here on vacation with her extended family and we had a nice chat in spite of the fact I didn’t know who she was.  She was surprised that all of the people gathered were actually living on their boats and that we attended a “beach church.”

Today, Dale dinked across the channel 3 times to get water and I attended a “ladies’ luncheon”.  It was a great way to get to meet new people and learn a little about them.  The lady who organized it arranged a strategy to meet a new person and then you “interviewed” each other, learning name, boat name, how long you’d been sailing, where you were originally from, where you last lived and what you enjoyed about cruising.  I said “staying alive.” 

I also learned that there are basket weaving classes on the beach everyday at 2pm.  We’ve been here for how long and I’m just learning about this?  We’ve always said that George Town was summer camp for adults.   I want to learn how to weave baskets—particularly if we have to sit here another week!!  The only thing is, apparently you need a cork and we’re not wine drinkers.  There’s always U-Tube I suppose (to learn)--and the lady who hailed from New Orleans who lived to party (for the cork).

Guess that’s it for today. 

Monday, January 13, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

I know that its been a couple of days but thankfully, there’s nothing really to tell you that’s exciting.  Yesterday we attended “beach church.”  We both really did feel better afterwards and sat and spoke with a woman whose dinghy was swamped as they tried to cross the channel in these high winds.  Obviously, she and her husband were rescued immediately by another boat.   A reminder that regardless of what’s going on in your world, there’s always someone who has it worse than you. 

Since we had the dinghy in the water, we took a quick look at the side of our boat to survey for damage.  We’re scuffed but except for the broken stanchion and fiberglass backing plate, that’s all we can see.  Dale coated the break in the fiberglass with a rubberized sealant to keep the water out until we can find a place to repair it.  Interestingly, the man who was so determined to get all of our insurance information has yet to respond to our agent’s request for information. 

I signed up to attend a “ladies’ luncheon” this coming Wednesday just to get off the boat and hopefully the winds will die down to the predicted 17 kts. so that I won’t look like a drowned rat when I get there.  Relatively speaking, 17kts would be wonderful; at least quieter and less rolly. 

After weeks of being cooped up due to all of this wind, people in the anchorage are getting cabin fever or punch drunk these days and the strangest things are heard on the radio after dark.  Dale and I get a chuckle out of it but even he is getting tired of the constant howling wind.  Tonight we listened to people trying to alert others that their dinghy had broken loose and could they please catch it as it went by their boat.  After it was caught, it was relayed back that the second party had lost theirs the day before.  So its getting real sporty in the anchorage these days.

We did receive some semi-good news.  One of our parts and our mail has made it to Nassau.  Now it just a question of getting it to this island.  At least there’s some obvious movement in the right direction. 

Guess that’s it for today. 

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.167N
75.45.466W

I guess you’ve noticed that I haven’t written in the last couple of days.  Sometimes it takes a while to get back up on that horse that bucked you.

Wednesday night was one where you needed seatbelts for the bed due to the wind howling for all it was worth but we held fast and woke to where we had anchored ourselves for the past week; which is always a good thing.  Thursday, we had 25+ steady winds with gusts over 30 but we weren’t worried as we had already ridden out one frontal passage so the one we were presently going through hadn’t been a big concern, although Dale had added an additional 10’ to our anchor chain. 

He sat in the cockpit making sure all was well with the world but came in about 11am and sat at the salon table with me. He hadn’t been in more than a few minutes when there was a loud crash.  I looked out the salon window and saw a boat’s bow heading into us a second time.  We both jumped up and ran outside.  I asked the man on the boat what had happened but Dale had already sussed out that it was us!  Our anchor had dragged, or in our case, had completely let go with the strong winds, and we blew down on the other boat.  We had left our keys in the ignitions for just such an emergency, so I ran to start the engines and move away as Dale started bringing in our anchor.  However, our anchor chain caught theirs and actually rode all the way up to their bow.  Dale is yelling at me to stop drifting back and to come forward toward them but the man and his wife are yelling in German as we were too close to them to maneuver.  Somehow, between the two of them, they were able to detangle the anchor and we were able to back away.  We turned to go around them, and back to where we had been (or very close to it) and anchored again.  The man was dead set against that and announced to the entire harbor via the radio that we were once again over his anchor as he had 150’ out.  I’m pretty sure we were nowhere near that close but we hoisted anchor again and moved over some more and anchored again.  All of this in 25+ kts of wind with everybody and their brother watching.  Not fun. 

We hadn’t even turned off the engines when the man dinghied over and started by saying that with a big boat like ours, we’d better have insurance.  Dale asked him several times if everyone on his boat was ok.  Apparently, they were but he had a dent in his aluminum rub rail, another in his toe rail and a scratch in his gelcoat.  He kept saying that you couldn’t pound them out, that the whole thing had to be replaced.  Dale was so calm about the whole thing, I was livid.  He never asked if we were ok, complained that our anchor was too small, that we didn’t have enough chain out and we better have insurance.   I ended up calling our insurance company to file the claim immediately because the man demanded that we give him our entire policy and all of our boat documentation.  When I tried to explain that he didn’t need all of that to file a claim, he became extraordinarily rude demanding “you don’t tell me what I need, I tell you what I need”.  I became afraid that we wouldn’t be able to get him off our boat.  Once I had the insurance agent on the line, he seemed to calm down with assurances that they would contact him directly. 

We weren’t the only ones to drag, we heard at least 3 others were in the same predicament.  Interestingly, the next morning the cruisers net warned everyone that during the high winds, to please give boats a wide berth as the anchors are already stretched to their max and extra waves might dislodge them.  Later, one of the resorts radioed that their boat was having trim problems and wouldn’t be able to pick up its passengers.  Dale and I have gone over and over what might have happened as this has completely dashed our confidence in our anchoring skills, but how do you go from being well set for over a week in gale force winds to completely out--not dragging--completely out, in a manner of minutes! I know what I’m beginning to think.  During our crisis, we didn’t have time to look around at anyone else. 

For the next 2 days we sat anchor watch.  Every two hours for 48 hours, we took turns making sure we didn’t drag again.  Plus Dale added the kellet to our set up which keeps the anchor chain down right up to the boat.  Today, although we hadn’t budged, Dale wanted to move us again as he felt we were too close to another boat; if we dragged again, we wouldn’t have time to start and move before we’d be down on them as the winds are still in the mid-20 range.  I didn’t realize how scared I was of starting the engines and moving again until he said that.  Thus, the horse analogy.  In what I can only describe as a panic attack sensation, we hoisted anchor, moved up and little to the right and set again.  Once set and the bridle was attached, I backed down on it up to 2000 rpm on both engines; it didn’t budge.  Dale put the kellet on and we settled in to watch again.  Later, a 52’ Lagoon catamaran came inside the harbor and passed very close to our bow, I told Dale that if he hadn’t put that kellet on, they would have snagged us, as he was that close.  We haven’t moved all day, there’s no one near us (our choice, not theirs) and I think we might actually go to bed tonight instead of keeping watch. 

In the meantime, our psyches are damaged.  In 30 years of sailing, I don’t think we’ve ever felt this way before but we’re both licking our wounds and trying to work our way through it. 

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

The wind picked up late last evening and by 3am I was up and taking note of where we were in relation to everyone else.  I was able to fall back to sleep a couple of hours later but by that time Dale was up and took over keeping an eye on the neighborhood.  The weather guru hadn’t changed his mind about things and everyone in the anchorage is preparing for the big 30-40 kt gusts expected to come in late tonight.  As fate couldn’t have it any other way, its due in between 2 and 3am. 

About 8:45am, we packed up our documentation, passports and cruising permit and dinked into town to get to Customs when they opened at 9am.  Crossing over the channel which is about 2 miles across, give or take, wasn’t too bad although the wind was already blowing a full 18 kts.  We checked for mail and deliveries, nope nothing yet, and continued on to the Customs office to have our visas extended to the full 90 days (we’ve already been here about a month).  We were the only ones there and were immediately asked that each of us fill out a form.  Except . . .  they didn’t have any writing instruments.  A few minutes later a couple of pens were found and we completed and returned the forms in another couple of minutes.  Then we sat.  And sat.  And sat.  An hour later, we were handed back our passports with the visas extended.  We kept our complaints until after we left the office.  We decided that the reason that they kept us waiting for so long, was because they could. 

Then came the ride back.  This time we were riding against the waves and although Dale did his very best to hit every one so that it completely drenched me to the bone, he missed a couple and I survived.  The foul weather gear I was wearing in anticipation of the return trip served only to funnel the water down my clothing until even my underwear was soaked.  In all fairness, Dale got wet too. 

The remainder of the day was spent checking our anchor tackle, taking down our flags so that they aren’t shredded to pieces and then killing time watching a couple of kite surfers off Loon show us how its actually done.  

This evening we watched Best Little Whore House in Texas.  I haven’t seen it in years and enjoyed it once again. 

Tonight Dale keeps checking the outside as we are not only pitching to and fro but rocking side to side.  Not fun and rather unexpected as we thought we’d be protected by the hills in front of us; apparently not.  Too late now, time to ride this puppy out!

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Today, as a couple of days ago, Dale took off for town a couple of times to fill up our water can and to check with the two stores that receive mail from FedEx and DHL (international type of FedEx).  No joy on the mail and parts but at least they know we’re expecting something. 

In the meantime, I learned from the cruiser’s net that Puerto Rico had a major earthquake exactly where Gerry and Nicky had been anchored prior to moving on to St. Thomas.  Not good for us, as we had plans of refueling and reprovisioning there.  Guess we’ll have to play that one by ear.

There was another anchoring “seminar” today on the beach just for the big blow that is expected tomorrow evening and Thursday.  We met a couple of Aussies and Ralph and Leslie off Now and Zen another Manta from Jacksonville.  The Aussies, although very friendly, didn’t fill me with warm fuzzies about selling our boat in Australia, although they seemed to back track a bit when they learned that we had a catamaran.  Apparently, cats are in high demand there. 

Ralph and Leslie dropped by on their way to play poker at St. Francis this evening and we had a nice visit.  We learned that 2 more Mantas are here in the area too:  Sojourn and What If.  What If was actually one of our dock mates at NAS Jax a few months back.  Somewhere in the conversation, Leslie and I were talking about where and when we checked in and it dawned on me that we hadn’t been planning on spending very much time in the Bahamas when we first got here.  She suggested that I check the date in my passport visa to make sure we were still covered.  I’m glad I did as we were given a month; which is up in 4 days.  There is a Customs office in Georgetown within walking distance and 1^st thing tomorrow (although the wind will be howling) we will be transiting the channel to have our visas extended.  There’s always something to get your heart to pumping.  Dale, ever the comedian, wanted to know if it was the possibility of over extending our welcome or more likely the anticipated wet ride. 

Monday, January 6, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Another one of those “you’re never going to believe this” days! 

We have a mail service that scans our mail so that we can make a determination as to whether to send it to us, shred it, hold it, etc.  Yesterday while reviewing our mail, one of our investment companies (the one with the largest investments we have) sent their annual status checks and had Dale as still actively employed.  So, this morning he called to ask them to revise the status--only to learn that we had “fired” them on 12/12/2019.  Definitely a “whiskey tango foxtrot” moment. 

After extracting our fingernails from the overhead (ceiling), we learned that “we” had e-mailed them saying that we were going to a different firm and to redirect our funds to them.  We ascertained that no funds had been moved as yet, so we quickly put into place a don’t do anything with our money unless we call you with a secret squirrel decoder word.  For grins and giggles, our agent tried to send a return message to us via that e-mail and we received nothing.  They are going to use the information gleaned from that e-mail to see if they can track down who it originates from. 

Then, for the remainder of the morning and into the early afternoon, I changed all of our passwords on our financial accounts and all of our e-mail accounts.  I’m in the habit of going directly to sites I visit though the Internet directly, not saving passwords on my computer, and not using e-mail links for this very reason, so I’m hoping that nothing else shows up.  I am curious as to why I wasn’t able to access one of our security accounts though.  That’s going to require a telephone call tomorrow as I was exhausted when I was done today. 

You know, one side of my family believed in putting all of their money in the mattress, I’m beginning to think they may have been on to something. 

This afternoon we attended another of the cruisers’ get togethers where the talk was on sailing in Europe.  Specifically, Croatia.  Not that we ever plan on sailing in that neck of the ocean but it was a way of meeting new people. 

Most cruisers are concerned with the incoming weather on Wednesday and Thursday.  It’s predicted that our 15-20 kts are going to decrease tomorrow but on Wednesday and Thursday pipe up to 25-35 kts. with gusts in the 40 kts range.  Dale has already let out more chain on our anchor and we haven’t budged.  We also have a kellet in our sail kit so we can add pure weight to our anchor tackle if needed. Today we walked around making sure everything is tied down, locked tight or wrapped so the wind can’t get to it.  I’m sure we’ll make another assessment tomorrow just to double check but its hard just to wait for it.  In the meantime, although the sun hasn’t shone long enough to keep our solar lights lit for very long, the wind generator has been putting amps in the can and Dale is a happy camper. 

Tonight, there was an “alt cruisers’ net” at 9pm.  It was definitely politically incorrect, slightly ribald, poked fun at everyone and had me laughing out loud. More than likely, it was sorely needed. 

 

Sunday, January 5, 2020
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

This morning’s net controller had obviously imbibed a bit at last night’s Junkanoo, as his normally chipper self was decidedly more calm and his ‘let’s just get through this’ attitude was evident.

Weather wise, we all started the day pointing west with hardly any wind but 2 hours later, beach church had been postponed and the wind and rain was howling from the north.  The rain subsided fairly quickly but the wind has continued its 18-23 kts all day long.  As a result, we’ve seen all sides of Loon throughout the day (still no joy on the slide but then they probably would have been launched half way across the channel today.)  Also as a result, we’ve not gotten off the Palace all day. 

 
Dale ran the engine to top off the battery, so I’ll have hot water for a shower tonight.  It’s the little things that make your day sometimes. 

This evening we were surprised to see Now and Zen, another Manta from Jacksonville, sail in.  Apparently, they are here for a week or so before heading off.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to make our way south in a week as well.  It might have to be one day at a time wherever we can find it but every little bit helps.  

We heard from Gerry and Nicky today.  Priss, their cat, is sick so they made a bee-line to the British Virgins from Puerto Rico, as they had a weather window and to get her to a vet tomorrow. 

Other then watching boats do the Georgetown shuffle, (anchoring on one side of the channel when the is blowing from one direction to anchoring on the other side when it changes again) that was our day. 

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

Well, . . . what can I say about today?  Dale listened to the weather and then jumped into the dink and went to town to fill up our water can and much to my surprise our 2 solar showers.  He came back, syphoned the can into the tank and immediately made a return trip.  Apparently, the weather is not in our favor for several weeks and he’s upset because its something outside of his control.  Imagine!  Not being able to control the weather. 

In any event, on his second trip back, someone put out a request for a doctor or nurse throughout the harbor as they had injured themselves while snorkeling.  Of course, he answered and 30 minutes later a young man named Robbie came over with a swollen hand saying that he had smacked it on a rock; not coral, a rock.  Dale wrote down the name of an antibiotic with the advice that if it should even hint at becoming red to hightail it into the nearest ER, pharmacy, whatever and get the medication. 

Then he set about extending the hoses on the solar showers so that we can set them up on the outside of the boat but extend one hose to the kitchen sink and the other to the shower we use.  He then tested out the arrangement and proclaimed it to be invigorating.  Sounded cold to me but I’ll wait until later to find out after a full day in the sun.

View from St. Francis

For lunch today, we checked out a place called St. Francis.  Pretty much the same fare as everywhere else but they did have a dinghy dock that we could pull up to which is infinitely better can trying to pull the dink up on the sand and tying it to a tree with less than all of your strength available.  

I was welcomed by a sweet little boy about 3 years old, who just came up to me, grabbed my hand and started pulling me along chattering all the way.  Then he spotted the fickle finger of fate and had many, many questions as to why was it in a bandage, what happened, did it hurt, until his mother/auntie/caregiver pulled him away.  I thought he was really cute.  I don’t think he mistook me for someone else, he’s just going to be one of those naturally sociable people that talks to everyone.  Had one of those myself.  We’d try to explain that you shouldn’t talk with strangers, so he’d start with asking someone their name before he continued on.  I guess in his little mind, if you know their name, they’re no longer strangers. 

Practicing for Georgetown Regatta

The local regatta has started practicing in their little gaff rigged boats for the race in 5 weeks and one made it all the way across the harbor into our hang out and right behind the Palace.  It moved pretty quickly, so I think they’ve got a chance at winning.  We also watched someone not so adept at kite surfing in front of Chat N Chill.  He had to be exhausted by the time he was hauled into a chase boat but he never ran into anyone or tangled the kite in various boats’ rigging which we were wondering about.  The Junkanoo is on tonight over in town but neither of us cared to go this week.  AND, unless the many female squeals we heard last night well after dark emanating from Loon were from people going down the slide, we still haven’t seen it being used.  Although, we have seen several dinghies transiting very close to it for a better inspection. 

Guess that’s it for today. 

Friday, January 3, 2020
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

    Good day dear readers.  Once again, I am taking up the banner and protecting Lorie’s damaged digit.  Fret not as she will most likely be back tomorrow as she doesn’t trust me to tell an honest story.

  Today was one of those good days, bad days.  We started off with fairly good news from the water maker people and there is definite positive movement in that area.  I am cowering at the potential shipping and VAT (value added tax) cost to get the new part however.  We learned about the new shipping costs from our mail service when we contacted them to send us our mail.  Our breath was taken away at an estimated cost of over $200 just to get our mail.  I don’t think so!  After much back and forth we decided that they should only send us our medications which is still going to cost us in the $130 range.  We will wait and get the rest of our mail in Puerto Rico where there are sane shipping costs.  Mack Sails finally got back to us with the costs of the sail parts which also was ridiculous.  However, they are FINALLY on their way.

  The other frustrating news for the day was the lack of communication from our boat insurance agent.  We have been corresponding for almost a year by e-mail in order to get insurance beyond the Turks and Caicos which we are currently on the door step of.  All of a sudden, she stopped communicating and has not responded to a couple of phone calls.  Today we received a short message that we were going to need a third crew member to go through the Caribbean.  Ok, we had heard that before and told her when we first started this effort that that was not going to happen.  She then went on to say that there was one company that might cover us but she was going to have to check.  Surprisingly enough, that was the same company we used on our last trip and the one we recommended when we first applied.  What are these people thinking?  I know, that’s the problem, they’re not.  Anyway, a short and to the point reply was forwarded to them. Now it’s a waiting game once more. We do have another quote from a different company but it’s costs brings tears to the eyes.

  All this frustration gets overwhelming at times and today was my day to almost throw in the towel and call it quits.  Lorie looked at me with disbelieving eyes and mouth wide open in an “oh my”.  Fortunately, things started to improve and Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic helped.  So, we are continuing to plod along and move forward with our plans.  Who knows what might  happen if we both have a bad day on the same day and there is no rum or gin.

  On a brighter note, we have determined that we are data hounds.  We went through our purchased data plan of 6 gigs in about a week instead of the 2 anticipated.  Maybe it was the Kindle book downloads, the internet chat with ATT to get Lorie’s phone turned back on (don’t even get me started with ATT), or my daily weather downloads.  Regardless, we went back into town and purchased a more robust plan as we figure we are going to be here for a while.  We picked up more water and I even made a second trip into town for an additional 5 gallons.  Lorie did not accompany me on the second trip as the winds and seas were picking up a bit and she would have been soaked.

Loon's BIG Slide

  The rest of the day was spent watching the comings and goings in the anchorage.  On a news front, this is now day 2 of the BIG slide and we have yet to see anyone use it.  Inquiring minds want to know, so we will keep you updated.  I think that’s about it for the day.  Fear not, I think Lorie will be back tomorrow.  By the way, I did change her dressing today and her finger looks great, even if I do say so myself.

Your reluctant correspondent, Dale

Thursday, January 2, 2020
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W



  Good day dear readers. I’m sure you will notice the difference in writing styles in today's blog post as I am giving Lorie’s damaged digit a respite from pounding the keys.  If you read yesterday’s blog you’ll recall that Lorie tried unsuccessfully to remove the last ½ inch of her left index finger utilizing the freezer door as a meat cleaver.  Fortunately for her, I am a doctor and arguably the best one on the Palace.

  After last night's repair, she has been doing very well today but is being very careful and I am the only one allowed to open and close the freezer.  She has a fairly conspicuous bandage and splint which has been a definite conversation starter.  Fortunately, Aleve has been controlling her discomfort.

   Today being the first working day of 2020, we were working the phones as soon as the “cruiser’s net” was complete.  I was able to talk with the water maker distributor here in the Bahamas and he informed me that it was going to be quicker for me to order from the states and have sent directly to me as he does not stock any parts.  I appreciated the honesty and then called the dealer who originally sold us the unit and he is going to contact the manufacturer (in California, of course) and expedite getting me the unit.  Finally, some positive movement in getting that repaired.  

     Next was a call to Mack sails for the parts to repair the main sail.  After some back and forth and exchange of texted photos we seem to be making progress and the parts should (hopefully) be sent to us in tomorrows Fed Ex shipment (DHL here).  Now it’s a matter of twiddling our thumbs or should I say my thumbs because Lorie is not twiddling any digits.

  Once the business calls were made, we climbed into the dink and roared over to George Town to go to the Exuma Market.  I don’t recall if Lorie mentioned how disappointed we were when we first got here and went to the market as the shelves were quite bare and the available vegetables looked so bad, I doubt if anyone would have used them.  In the markets defense, everything on this island has to come in by barge and the weather has been so bad that they had not seen one in a couple of weeks.  Well, on New Years Eve, not one but four barges came in and today is the first day the market has been open.  Everyone in the anchorage was making a beeline to stock up and it looked like a wagon train of dinghy’s crossing the harbor.  The shelves looked like a small market in the US with prices 2 -3 times what we see in the states.  However, they had stuff and the rule in the islands is, if you see something you even think you might need, you pick it up.  So, we filled our grocery bags and escaped before the mobs hit.  We took our own bags because they are now charging 25 cents per plastic bag to limit the plastic going into the landfill and in the harbor.

  Once we got back to the boat and things were put away, we decided to reward ourselves for a job well done or maybe we were just hungry, but we leapt (well I leapt and Lorie gingerly crawled) back into the dink and went to a different “restaurant”/bar known as the Peace and Plenty.  It is part of a local resort but they allow us mangy cruisers to eat, drink and pay there.  We had great cheeseburgers and fashionable adult beverages and enjoyed the somewhat less hectic pace from the Chat and Chill.  Then it was back to the boat for Snore o’clock.

  After a short siesta I was sitting in the cockpit reading when this huge yacht (mini cruise ship) came in and anchored outside of us.  I think their tender is bigger than we are.  Anyway, once they were anchored an army of ants started running around and the boat started vomiting toys out the stern of the boat.  I could have described it as a different bodily function but we do have a mixed readership.  They even deployed a 3-story inflatable slide from the top deck but we have not seen anyone use that yet.  To make things more outrageous, they extended a floating dock from the stern, complete with lounge chairs and I’m sure, cabana boys.  They have so much money, they can’t be happy.  The name of the boat is Loon.

  The rest of the evening was spent watching another glorious sunset, complete with red sky, (For the non-sailors out there, the saying is; “red sky at night-sailors delight, red sky in the morning-sailor take warning.) reading and playing cards.  Lorie clearly beat me at Gin.  More to follow tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

                                       BEWARE GRAPHIC PHOTO ATTACHED

Happy New Year Everyone!  Believe it or not, I was all prepared to tell you that we had a rather boring day but then it ended with a bang.  Quite literally!

It started off rather inconspicuously.  The only news in the harbor was that the water fix in town had failed, so once again boaters were either without water or had to pay for it elsewhere. 

Dale cleaned the port side hull of the grass growing along the waterline.  I read another book before making another large meal to eat now and freeze a portion later--which in a round about manner, led to the big bang. 

We watched Star Trek Into the Darkness and then I got up to put the left overs into containers and put into the freezer.  In doing so, I had to rearrange a few things and Dale and I started discussing why the freezer was icing up again.  I was in the process of doing the paper check (where you put a piece of paper in the seams and try to pull it through) when the freezer (which is incredibly heavy) slammed down and caught my left hand index finger.  I jumped back and grabbed my finger thinking I had smashed it but when I saw the blood I knew I had done a lot more.  Dale was mid “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that” when I showed him my partially amputated finger tip and said “not like this.”

We don’t advertise the fact that Dale is a doctor; people might get the wrong idea.  Thankfully, he had a small suture kit on board (not sure how we're going to replace that puppy) and sewed it back on.  Unfortunately, the finger is also broken and he says that it will take six weeks to heal.  Guess that means he’ll be doing dishes for a while. 

So here I sit with one hand in an ice pack and the other doing the hunt and peck method of typing.  As I said, a rather inauspicious beginning to the new year.  Hope yours was better. 

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.