Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Unfortunately, today’s blog is going to be rather boring.  I didn’t even get off the boat today.  Instead I spent my morning filling out yet another insurance application and praying that our rigging surveyor sent the report to our insurance agent as promised.  I had asked for a copy to be sent to us but so far, nothing. 

Dale studied weather and waves from 4 different sites comparing data in determining a go/no go decision on Friday.  Gene dropped by and looked over the information as well.  I think Gene is leaning towards a northern route whereas we’re leaning towards a southern route in case we need to tuck in somewhere if things don’t go as planned. 

Then I added to my collection of recipes.  Renee lent me a book on making bread, so I copied a few to my compilation.  I may not be a great cook but I have a great selection to choose from. 

After that I tried to catch up on my on line computer game before making a casserole that not only served as dinner but will be put into the refrigerator for meals during the transit. 

This evening, I think I surprised Dale when I asked to see “Heaven knows Mr. Allison” an old movie I hadn’t seen in years and probably came out before either of us was born. 

Other than that, we’re just sitting here listening to the wind howl (when doesn’t it howl) and reading yet another book. 

Monday, February 10, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Happy 16^th Birthday Kyndall!

Happy 60 something Birthday Geri!!

Although this morning Chris Parker (the weather guru) didn’t fill us with a lot of confidence, he did offer a glimmer of hope in that there may be a weather window for the southern route (along the coast of the Dominican Republic) to Puerto Rico later this week.  Dale hopped on his computer to check another source and we watched the progression of wind and waves that looks promising.  So now, we just have to get the rigger to hurry up on the report we’ve been waiting for, so that we have insurance to leave. 

Then he went up and down the dock talking with the others who have been waiting for the same window, so we may have a small caravan heading out on Thursday or Friday.  He wants to make sure that it firms up a bit more before we commit to it. 

Also today, we had signed up for a tour of the beer facility here in Turks & Caicos called Turk’s Head Brewery.   We were told that the tour started promptly at 1pm, with or without you, so we made sure we were on time by arriving about 20 minutes early and were forced to drink a beer (or in the ladies’ case, a rum and coke or vodka and cranberry) to kill the time.   Believe it or not these last drinks were also made on the premises and sold in cans already premade.  They were great!

The tour was informative and although it didn’t show the packaging portion, it did end with a flight of 4 different beers or in Dale’s case 8 different beers.  I had noticed that they also had a flight of the rums that they make, so I chose that one, naturally, as it was a beer tour and not a rum tour, this was extra.  The coconut rum was excellent but the other 3, I just had to knock back as they were pretty strong and not conducive to sipping.  By the time we walked out, we were pretty happy.  Of course, we purchased a couple of cases of the rum and coke drinks.  You couldn’t beat the price of $1.50 per drink and since they are canned, it’s perfect for the boat. 

Of course, once we made it back to the boat, it was siesta time as I had thought ahead and made our contribution to the pot luck tonight before we left. 

Once again, we really enjoyed getting together with everyone at the pot luck and compared notes on sailing, where we had been, where we’re going, and in my case, the young lady I was sitting next to had cut her finger severely, so we were comparing injuries. 

Tonight the wind is howling again but we’re tucked in tightly (Bob put another boat between Le Perle Blue and us), so no one is going anywhere without half the marina going along too.  So, I bid you all good night. 

Crews of Gypsy Palace and Texas Crewed

Dale & Lorie and Gene & Renee

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Turks & Caicos

21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Abandoned House

Happy Birthday Nicky!!  Hope to see you soon.

Entry stair case

Today was a fun day.  The Texas Crewed folks and we decided to keep the rental car for another day and go exploring in the opposite direction than we had traveled yesterday.  The idea was to find a restaurant named Da Conch Shack for the 5pm dinner special, a sea food “pot” which sounded like a low country boil-island style-with lobster, conch, fish, etc.  We started out finding an ice cream shop along the way and stopped to sample their wares.  Then on to find Da Conch Shack.  The problem was, we arrived at 2pm and started with a pitcher of rum punch and conch fritters and fries as poo poos.  We graduated to various sandwiches and then strolled along the beach looking at the local ladies’ conch shells and home made souvenirs. They would have made the “boat boys” down island proud. 

Kitchen

Once we decided that we weren’t going to make it to 5pm, we decided to go exploring some more.  We’d travel down various roads until they turned to dirt roads and down them until we couldn’t go any further.  Then on to the next road.  Obviously, the place I got the biggest kick out of was a house that Dale had explored on one of his walks.  We piled out of the rental and explored the house.   A double door entry, with circular staircase.  Marble floors, crystal chandeliers, pool, statuary, servants' quarters; you name it! It was great!  I’m sure any self respecting interior decorator would have had a heart attack at the various styles combined in the house but it made for great exploring.  At the end of the day, we kicked around the idea of keeping the car one more day to go grocery shopping again and possibly a tour of a beer garden of some sort that Renee had heard of.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow. 

Fountain off Dining Room                Staircase Finial                  

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Well today was a bit more interesting.  It started the same way; the weather gurus said in no uncertain terms that no one should be heading east for the next couple of days.  Dale ran the bilge pumps on our neighbor’s boat.  Two of the three Canadian boats (the two that are French speaking) have visitors for a few days; and Texas Crewed and we split a rental car to check out another marina on the north side. 

Gene had already rented a car a week ago, so we nominated him as driver for the right hand drive car (left hand road) and off we took.  Bob, the marina owner where we’re at, had explained to us that the Turks and Caicos don’t use traffic lights as it requires money for upkeep and replacement after storms, so they use round abouts exclusively.  The rule is, if you’re in the round about, you have right of way.  Talk about Mr. Toad’s wild ride.  Dale and Renee acted as navigators and I was look out for the names. 

As luck would have it, we found it, although we did pass by and had to come back.  At first blush, it appeared to be out of our price range from the gates and condos leading up to it.  Sure enough, the boats that had slips were high end but we got out and went to the office for more information as we had heard it cost $1/foot. 

Local Fish Eaters

Apparently, there is only one operating dock of the original 4 but Hurricane Irma knocked out 2 with all of the accompanying finger piers.  There is only 1 dock that has finger piers with water and electricity and another that is just the dock, no finger piers, although you’re allowed to dinghy in for water if you want.  If you do decide to use that one dock, you need a dinghy to get back and forth to anywhere else, as there is no connecting pier to it.  It looks to have been a very nice marina at one point but now there are no plans to reconstruct it.  

We took a stroll out to the end to get a good look.  Beautiful boats were at the end and one of the charter fishing boats was cleaning its catch and collecting some local underwater attention.  Yes, I know that they are “only” nurse sharks but if they are darting about expecting food to fall in the water, I wanted to keep sure footing while in their area. 

More Rum!

We headed back to the car and then went in search of a liquor store as Dale and I are getting low on our rum supply and Gene and Renee are wine drinkers.  We each found what we were looking for and then went in search of lunch.  We had been in search of Big Al’s but ended up finding a place called Danny Bouy’s for humongous sandwiches for lunch.  Dale, Gene and Renee had beers but since I’m not a beer drinker, I had the specialty of the day called Liquid Marijuana that was made up of Captain Morgan Rum, Coconut Rum, Melon liqueur, and a couple of other liquors I can’t remember.  Trust me, you only drink one.  With a huge sandwich and watering the drink down every 5 minutes, I considered myself lucky to be still walking without a sway as we left. 

We made one more stop at the grocery store for milk and fresh fruit before making it back to the marina and a much needed nap (at least on my part).  We were sill full from lunch come dinner time so Dale had a snack and I had another bottle of water. 

Guess that its for today.  At least you didn’t have to hear that we were sitting on the boat, reading books and waiting for weather again. 

Friday, February 7, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Today was another of those killing time days.  We repaired a couple of snaps on our shade covers.  Dale did his good deed of running the bilge pumps for our neighbor and took a walk to stretch his legs a bit.  I prepared some poo-poos for our sundowners on Texas Crewed tonight.  We helped one boat get underway and another come in across the dock from us. 

During our reading, playing computer games, catching up on e-mails section of the day, Dale found a couple of e-mails from our insurance company that showed up in his technical information folder for the boat.  When I went back to check my e-mails, I couldn’t find them anywhere, so we’re going to have to double check on both computers from now on. 

We heard from Goin’ Sum Ware today.  They called their transit “marginal at best” with a wave across the bow that “caused some damage and a minor injury” but didn’t go into detail.  They did say that they pulled into the Dominican Republic after 27 hours to get some rest. 

This evening, we did the show and tell on Texas Crewed.  They are an Antaries 44 that is about 9” wider and 2’ longer than us.  Those 2’, a different layout and not as much clutter as we have, made their boat seem so much larger than ours.  We played a bit of dominos for a couple of hours and made plans to rent a car tomorrow to check out another marina on the north side of the island to get a pre-stage idea for the next leg to Puerto Rico. 

Other than that, not much is happening.  Sorry to be so boring. 

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Today was another sort of lazy day waiting for news from the insurance companies and pretty much killing time.  We started off with a new neighbor.  A monohull named La Perle Blue, a French Canadian, single handleing.  Apparently, he knows the boat that came in yesterday.  There was a lot of yelling back and forth but he was pulled into place with lines stretched across the slips and was tied up without much drama.  Then we returned to our own lives for the remainder of the day.

To keep busy, Dale hung our security light in the cockpit.  It’s a solar powered motion sensor light that activates if anyone comes near the cockpit.  We have another for the foredeck but so far, its still in its box.  Then he went to the boat next to us to run its bilge pumps while the delivery captain’s away. 

Then this evening, we joined the crew of Texas Crewed for the Thursday evening Fish Fry in Turks.  Apparently, every Thursday, craft people and local restaurants get together in one location and then all the tourists show up to eat and buy locally crafted souvenirs.  We arrived early and were able to purchase the much sought after lobster dinners for everyone but me; I had the jerked chicken.  It was mighty spicy.  Good thing I had the mac and cheese to tame the flames.  We walked around all of the booths but then decided that just because I like something doesn’t mean that any of the kids or grandkids would like it, so I left without purchasing anything. 

When we returned, we invited them aboard our boat for show and tell; tomorrow, they’ll return the favor.  So that’s about it for today. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

I know its been a couple of days but to be quite honest, there hasn’t been anything worth writing about.  Today at least, we stood by to fend off as Goin’ Sum Ware, the big motor yacht that had been next to us, pulled out and headed to Puerto Rico.  They have the power and freeboard to get through the 5-6’ waves between here and there.  We and Texas Crewed, another catamaran, opted to wait for smaller waves to make our transit. 

Later in the morning, a monohull came in and was directed to the opposite side of the finger pier to med-moor.   Gene and Renee from Texas Crewed were on our boat with us chit chatting as they approached and of course we became the new boat’s spectators.  They apparently have either been here before or at least had an idea of how to catch the “lazy lines.”  However, when the wind started blowing them about quite a bit, we all crawled off and lent a hand to keep them from blowing down on another boat.  No disaster but it wasn’t pretty either.  It was kind of humorous in that although they are French Canadians, and clearly their 1^st language is French, we could tell when the wife was swearing in frustration. 

The Band at Bob's Bar

I guess the only other thing of interest to write about was that tonight, Bob had live music at his marina restaurant.  All seven of the band were, shall we say, rather long in the tooth but they were good; particularly the lead guitarist and the bass guitarist.  Of course, Dale and I immediately thought of his childhood friend, Sam, who would have fit right in.  Except that Sam is still rather baby faced compared to these guys.  Anyway, we had arrived about 6pm and by the time the band started playing at 7, the place was packed.  There were more people there tonight than we’ve seen since we arrived.  I told Dale that if you looked close you could see past time as there were the “girls” that might have been groupies and were flirting with the band members, the “guys” that were trying to pick up some of the “girls,” and all the other personalities who attended concerts back 40-50 years ago.  The only thing different, was that the whole thing was over by 10pm.  There was one younger woman there who was disappointed that it was ending just when it should have been starting.  I agreed with her saying that I remembered those days, yawned and then made my way back to our boat as I was exhausted.

In case you’re wondering, still no news on the insurance front, although Gene and Renee gave us the name of the insurance carrier that they finally went with as they were working with the same one we’ve been dealing with, getting the same results or lack of result.  So, I’ve sent an e-mail to them asking for information as we intend to go farther than Texas Crewed plans on, so there may be a difference.   

Earlier, we noticed that the winds were picking up and now that we’re sitting here, they are really starting to howl.  We hope Goin’ Sum Ware has a safe journey.  

Monday, February 3, 2020

Turks & Caicos

We're the boat in the middle 

with the arch and American flag!

21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Well, today was rather interesting.  We started our day standing by to fend off while the big motor yacht was moved into a spot right next to us.  Andy and Denise own the yacht, Goin' Sum Where.  He is ex-Marine and she is an ex-Air Force nurse.  We’ve been teasing them that they’re so big, they block out the sun for us. Anyway, there was no mishap and everyone is nice and cozy. 

Then we learned that we had left watching the Super Bowl too early last evening and the Chiefs came back to win.  When we left, they were trailing 20-10 but somehow, they managed to pull it off.  No matter, we had a good time and met new people, most who are hoping to make it as far south as Grenada or Trinidad by hurricane season. 

Then Dale cleaned the salt water rust stains off the boat, checked the oil, fluids and belts on the engines, tried a suggested fix for the water maker (no joy) and then cleared the vacuum break and manipulated the control valve on the toilet to keep it from over filling.  We started to notice that it was getting fuller than normal after its use.  Don’t need a problem like that underway. 

Then while Dale stayed back to run David, a rigger we met, up the mast to complete the insurance required inspection (which was--as expected--in great condition), I caught a ride, a service provided each day by the marina owner himself, into town to the local IGA supermarket.  You never appreciate what you have as an American until you visit other countries.  Today, after spending a couple of months in the Bahamas, I truly appreciated a well-stocked supermarket.  It was as if I had walked into a market back home.  Great looking produce, a good selection of meats, lots of names I recognized and bright, clean facilities.  Granted, it didn’t have everything I wanted but just about.  I had to keep telling myself that it wasn’t necessary to pick up everything now, as I really didn’t have the refrigerator or freezer space to store it.  I was a happy camper.  I didn’t think I’d find a supermarket like this until we were in Puerto Rico again.  What a pleasant surprise. 

Each Monday, Bob, the marina owner schedules an evening barbeque for the cruisers to bring something to grill and something to share.  Tonight, we had a nice turn out and Bob was constantly going back and forth bringing out more and more chairs as people arrived.  He provides the picnic supplies, condiments and ice cream at the end.  Of course, we ate too much but had a great time. 

Would you believe it?  Dale just told me he needs a blanket on the bed.  It’s in the low 70’s this evening.  I think we’ve become acclimated to the tropics already! 

Well, I guess it’s time to bundle up. 

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Today was a lazy day.  As there was no weather on the radio this morning, we slept in.  I used the marina facilities for my shower and Dale took his on board.  Dale’s was hot; mine was in a garden/grotto type shower carved out of coral rock and not hot but picturesque.  I hate to wax on about bathrooms but I have been totally impressed with how clean all of the facilities are here.    

Gypsy Palace med-moored

 with Motor yacht at fuel pier

About midmorning, a huge motor yacht came in to clear Customs, fuel and take a slip—right next to us.  Remember we’re in here like sardines.  From our angle, its going to be tight but as it turned out, not today, as the wind changed direction, piped up to the point where I had to take our awnings down and the owner wasn’t going to move in tight quarters during the high winds.  We had no problems with his decision.

I hadn’t intended to do laundry today but Dale thought that with a front forecasted to move through tomorrow, it might be prudent to get it done today using the marina facilities in case it rains tomorrow and the laundry wouldn’t have a chance to dry hanging out.  Apparently, someone else had the same idea because every time I went to check the washer, it was being used.  As there is only one washer, this necessitated running up every 30-40 minutes to check on the status.  Finally, one time when I went up to check it, the wash had been completed but it was just sitting there.  I took a seat near the entrance and waited for the owner to retrieve it.  After about 20 minutes, I checked at the office to see if they knew who it belonged to or would it be alright for me to put it into the basket left there.  She instructed me to put it in the drier and start mine in the washer, as the person would be doing laundry all day; I had a funny feeling that it was her wash.  When it came time to rotate the laundry, I put the dry clothes in the basket sitting there and put mine in the drier but now there was a second basket full of clothes.  I elected to not continue doing laundry for someone else as I figured they might already be upset with me moving things around.  Again, the washer and drier were immaculate and worked perfectly.  Its amazing what makes me happy.

In the meantime, today is Superbowl Sunday, so Dale turned on the TV and started looking for stations in hopes of finding one that would carry the game.  No dice!  We couldn’t access a single channel.  Dale figures its because we’re sort of in a hole, surrounded, for the most part, by hillsides.  So, he went up to the marina restaurant to see if they could get something.  They have satellite TV and said that they would look for it when it was game time.  So, guess where we’re having dinner tonight and being former Kansas City residents, you can imagine who we’ll be rooting for? 

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.134.429W

Well, we made it to Turks & Caicos.  At 2am!  I really do need to speak to Dale about his calculations in the future.  As I said, we arrived at the Sandbore Channel entrance at 2am.  Just as we arrived, we were hailed on the radio by the Harbor Patrol questioning us as to who we were, where we were going and if we had ever been here before.  They then asked us to relay our coordinates to them.  I now think that was to determine just how exact our GPS coordinates correlated to theirs.  Neither one of us remembered any Patrol the last time we were here.  Once we entered the channel, we learned how important our GPS coordinates were. 

Thank heavens we had read the latest cruising guide and I remembered something about following a heading of 100* and then turning to something else when utilizing this approach.  Ideally, we would have arrived about noon or a little after to enter into an unfamiliar harbor but . . .  Couldn’t do anything about it now, so we slowed to a crawl (about 3 knots) and entered into a mine field of coral heads.  We inched our way across the harbor and finally made our approach to Provo, the main town. 

About 2 hours later we turned to where we thought we had anchored the last time we were here, when a light appeared in front of us that didn’t seem to be coming from shore.  I freely admit, I have a problem with lights at night; no depth perception!  I thought it was getting closer, Dale thought it was too far away to be worried about.  As I was on the helm at the time, I told him he was in charge of keeping the light under surveillance because I was dodging coral heads on the chart and keeping an eye on the depth.  With my face on fire and my heart pounding in my ears, I finally asked him to please shine a light out to see if it was a boat.  Nothing could be seen.  Then another light appeared that we had to keep an eye on.   Again, we had to dodge coral heads depicted on the chart plotter but finally, Dale could see that yes, it was a boat, so he directed me deeper into the coral to go around them.  Finally, we found a place identified as sand and anchored in 10 feet of water.  Dale took the first watch once we were set about 5am and as the sun rose could see that we had dodged a black hulled barge and its tug anchored on the “magenta line” or the guideline into the anchorage. 

As the morning progressed, Dale listened to the weather guru to determine whether we would be able to continue on to Puerto Rico during the coming week.  Unless we were prepared to leave today, the prospect of leaving in the next month looked slim.  A day here.  A day there but not the 3-4 day window we needed.  Dale is not for moving on without insurance, which means we have to stay at least through the weekend.  We decided that we might as well stay in a protected marina for the coming front and we began to hail the one he selected from the cruising guide.  Back comes the Harbor Patrol on the radio who wants all of our boat information now.  Although we told them that we had used the “Sail Clear” internet site, they told us that they didn’t get that information until after Customs and Immigration was through with it.  So, we gave all our particulars over open airwaves.  Then they told us that the marina was having problems with their radio and that we had to be within line of sight for them to hear.  They also volunteered to call them on the phone to ascertain slip space and to let them know we were on our way.  We thanked them for their assistance and began our preps to move. 

We hoisted anchor and started moving in that direction.  Once we were in line of sight, we tried again.  Again, and again.  Nothing.  Nada, Zilch!  Once again there was a “magenta line” leading to the marina location but, of course, it was peppered with coral heads.  After becoming thoroughly frustrated with the lack of communication, Dale tried calling the Harbor Patrol again to see if they could assist.  Once again, they called, got some information about hugging the red buoy on our approach but then hugging the green buoy once we made our turn.  The problem was, we couldn’t see any buoys! 

Again, we slowed to a crawl, dodged the dark areas and crept in until we could see the buoys.  I am not kidding you when I tell you there were places where there were only inches—inches—under our keel!  But, we made it in.  Once we made it to their entrance, the water deepened and I could breath again. 

As the marina was a clearing point, the dock master directed us to a fuel pier and told us that he had to call Customs and Immigration before we could fill up.  So, we cooled our jets on the boat until the agents arrived filling out the necessary paperwork.  The “Sail Clear” site is supposed to negate the constant filling out of paper forms but apparently, that only tells them that you are on your way; you still have to fill out the forms.  In other words (from the agents’ mouths) it’s a waste of time.  Then came another straw that I wasn’t prepared to deal with (particularly on little sleep and after a nerve wracking ordeal), as they’re two separate agencies, they can’t share money i.e., the final total ended in an even number but each agency’s ended in a 5, they couldn’t make change and they couldn’t share.  Here I am searching for single dollars.  They won’t take Bahamian dollars so, I’m emptying out my change purse, going through jars of change from Dale’s pockets, looking to coming up with $10 in change so that each of them has the exact amount.  I was flipping out.  Dale was frustrated too.  With me.  He told me to go to bed.  Somehow, somewhere, one of them found $5 in his pocket and made change for the other. 

Then came more excitement.  We did our first med-moor on this boat.  Not the drop your anchor and back into the dock, instead, they threw lines to us to secure to our stern and pivoted us across the slip and then raised muddy, soaked lines from the bottom of the marina that held your bow from blowing side to side.  We’re in here like sardines.  Muddy sardines.  We have just enough space to put a fender between us and our neighbor.  As we were adjusting the fenders, I told him we’d try not to disturb him with our snoring tonight.  As it turns out, he’s a very experienced delivery captain who is going to help us secure a rigging survey for our insurance and possibly find local repair for the collision damage from when we dragged in George Town.  You just never know who you’re going to be cozied up to and if we’re stuck here for a month, lets put it to use and try to make up some time somewhere else. 

Through all of the excitement today, neither one of us realized that we hadn’t eaten all day.  So we decided to splurge and go out to dinner at the marina restaurant.  Dale had lobster and I had ribs.  We met our neighbor and asked him to join us and then met another couple from Texas who are heading down to Grenada.  We made promises to catch up tomorrow and compare notes as we don’t think we’ll be going anywhere soon. 

So, with all of that, I’m off to bed.  Who knows, maybe my blood pressure is down enough for me to fall asleep now. 

Friday, January 31, 2020

Bahamas – At Sea
22.21.315N
73.11.135W

We’re still at sea but we’re just passing Mayaguana and I wanted to post a quick update while I can.  No wind so we’ve motored all day with the white flappy things up just to be seen.  The only thing worth mentioning is that we may have spotted a right whale in the distance as it crested the surface.  Since it was far away, it could have been a big dolphin.  Other than that, just flying fish and one seagull.  We’ve noted before the lack of birds this time.  Most likely the hurricanes have killed or driven them away. 

We finally gave up and called our insurance adjuster to see what progress has been made.  Apparently, the rigging we replaced in the summer of 2016 is outside of their underwriters’ parameters by 6 months and requires a rigging inspection.  We’re flabbergasted!

As I said we’re just passing Mayaguana.  Originally, we thought we might pull in for a couple of hours and depart again at midnight to arrive at a Turks and Caicos marina we had stayed at previously but a telephone call to them informs us that they aren’t taking any boats as their channel needs to be dredged.  So a quick adjustment and we’ve ditched the few hours respite and are sailing through the night again to reach a farther side of the T&C islands where the commercial customs dock is.  After clearance, we’ll either go to the  “marina” that Gerry and Nicky told us about or to one where we can get the inspection completed.  We do have another insurance carrier possibility but its in England and communication takes time.  We’ll get it figured out.

In the meantime, it looks like nasty weather will be arriving Monday-Wednesday so we need to be tucked in no matter where we end up. 

Until then, all is well here. 

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Bahamas – At Sea
22.57.714N
73.43.419W

I don’t think either one of us slept very well last night.  We were both worried that we’ve not been very lucky on this trip and wondered what else might lie in wait for us.  In any event, we rose early and started preps for the day waiting for the cruisers net at 8am so that we could say our goodbyes to those we’ve met over the past month. 

Once done, we dinghied into town and while Dale topped off our water can, I started our shopping.  Milk, bread, cereal, candy; just the essentials.  With mission accomplished, we headed back to the Palace and while I put groceries away, Dale hopped in the water and cleaned the prop and waterline.  We hoisted our dinghy back into the davits securing it tightly for the trip and then lifted the kellet and anchor. 

We slowly made our way to the fuel pier at the Exuma Yacht Club trying to hail them on 68 (George Town frequency), 16 (International hailing channel) and 14 (local George Town business frequency).  Apparently, they weren’t in the mood to talk but we did see someone by the fuel dock and proceeded to it.  We elected to reverse into the dock as Dale prefers to take on fuel on the port side and with the wind blowing us down onto the dock, we were fortunate in that we looked like we knew what we were doing. 

Calm seas after a night crossing.

We were second in line and while waiting, assisted another boat coming in.  I’ve decided that we need to add pulling into a slip to the spectator sport category too.  Its hard to maneuver in tight spots with a single screw but the poor guy mangled it badly.  There were 5 adults and 1 child trying to help him out.  Finally, he was secured and we returned to our own boat and topped off our fuel. The only drawback being, the earlier you go to town, the more likely their credit card machines aren’t working.  So, Dale had to come back to the Palace and dig out more cash to pay for our purchase.  Ugh!

It was at this time that our insurance adjuster called us to ask for more documentation.  I explained that we had already sent it to her.  She was able to locate it and said that she would get back in touch with us.  We reiterated that we were in the process of leaving for the Turks and Caicos and that we needed an answer soon as we were hoping to just keep going to Puerto Rico.  She didn’t realize that we hadn’t intended to stop, so she said that she would be back in touch quickly.  That was the last we heard from her and we didn’t lose cell service until after 5:30pm.  But, I digress.

About 11:30 am, we finally pulled out and into the channel, turned south and started making our way out to the Exuma Sound.  Before actually turning toward the ocean, we decided to put the main sail up behind the shelter of the islands.  Dale wanted to be up where it feeds into the boom to make sure things were working properly, which left me trying to keep the boat into the wind, cancelling every AIS alert coming across the chart plotter, hoisting the main halyard (which is only pushing a button) put also keeping the reef line straight (a stiff line that tends to kink every 3-4’.  By the time the main was totally deployed, I was cursing like a sailor, red in the face, jibed twice, and furious with the world with a tangled mess of line at my feet.  But the deed was done with no hiccups to the sail itself. 

Sun Rise near Samana Cay, Bahamas

We entered the Sound and started our trip.  We motorsailed for a couple of hours but when the wind began to fill in, we actually cut the engines and sailed alone for a couple more.  When the wind died down, back on came the engines to keep our speed above 4 kts.  We did this a couple of times but by evening, the wind died out completely.  There’s 2 ways of looking at this.  Sailing in low wind saves fuel but costs time; motoring in low wind is usually smoother, saving time but costs fuel.  We made Rum Cay by 8pm and Samana Cay by dawn.  With any kind of luck, we should make Mayaguana by 4pm on 1/31/2020.  Dale had 2 ships during the night (one he saw via AIS but had to call as he couldn’t see lights until it was about a mile away) and I had 4 (actually, the 1^st one was at change of watch and we had spotted it on the horizon.  I didn’t have to call any—but one did give me pause but by this time it was already dawn and I could actually see what he was doing.)

Now its my turn to get some rest, so I’ll put this away and start to look for those WiFi signals that reach out well across the water. 

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.30.235N
75.45.748W

Tent poles so Dale

 can walk underneath.

Considering I never got off the boat today, I was quite busy.  While Dale was topping off our water tanks, I plotted a route from George Town to Turks and Caicos, fussed around with a new way to deploy the side sun shades we have, wrote an e-mail to our insurance agent reminding her that she was supposed to have a quote to us by last week as we really wanted to leave tomorrow, did dishes, played hide and seek to locate all of my sewing supplies, dug them out and got ready to attack the sail once Dale returned with the replacement parts (and a new water jerry can that should have been made of gold considering its cost). 

I was not looking forward to this as I remembered seeing an inch or two that was damaged but Dale remembered about a 5-6” tear; we were both right.  There was a 5-6” tear along the webbing with about 1” of missing material. 

We started by taking the hoisting halyard off and then rolled the sail off the in-boom furler onto the hard top bimini to the point where we could see the tear—or, almost the whole sail by that point.  Then I studied my options.  We didn’t want to take the sail off the boom and I couldn’t get my machine high enough to get to the tear. 

As the luff line was still intact, I decided to hand stitch the webbing that had torn and then put rip-stop sail tape over the missing piece with a couple of extra pieces over what I had hand stitched.  Then I hand stitched over the sail tape right next to the cording to make sure it was compressed enough to slide up the groove when it was hoisted.  By the time I was done, the adhesive on the tape was beginning to pull away.  We used 5200 to re-glue it to the sail (as suggested by Practical Sailor and the Tinkering Consultant) being careful to keep it under the sail tape.  Lord knows we don’t want to pull it out tomorrow and find that when it was put away, it glued itself in the boom.  Then Dale took over and replaced the broken batten stop. 

We rolled it back into the boom before reattaching the halyard and slowly fed it up the mast.  It appeared to work.  I hope it holds for the next couple of weeks until we can get to Puerto Rico where the entire length will have to be replaced. 

Of course, this took the remainder of the day and by the time we had put everything away and sat down, it was time for dinner.  Since we’re leaving, I cooked two large pots; red beans and rice with ham for the trip and a chicken pot pie casserole for dinner.  Dale wants to depart tomorrow early afternoon, which means I need to get to the grocery store early for some last minute items to tide us over until we can get to Puerto Rico, Dale needs to scrub the prop and maybe the bottom depending upon the amount of growth.  Then we’ll top off our fuel before taking off.  Another busy day I’m afraid. 

It looks like we’ll have to motor sail the remainder of tomorrow as the winds are fairly light (which is what we were hoping for to repair the sail).  Now we need a tad more wind--on the beam--to get anywhere.  We plan on making a direct transit to the Turks and Caicos, so you won’t hear from us for the next couple of days unless I find an errant WiFi signal in the middle of nowhere. 

As always, wish us luck. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.30.235N
75.45.748W

Today has been pretty rough for Dale.  He had put everything together on the water maker yesterday but didn’t try starting it until today.  Unfortunately, he still couldn’t get the required pressure needed to make water.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so deflated.  He must have read the manual cover to cover 3 times, learning nothing new, before he was able to get through to the tech guys in California.  They walked him though each step once again while he was on the phone with them.  The final decision was that the regulator on the system is faulty and a new one will be sent to us.  Dale told them there was no way we could sit here another month waiting for the part to clear customs and paying another exorbitant VAT (value added tax).  We made arrangements to wait for shipment until we arrive in Puerto Rico.  There’s even a manufacturer’s representative located there. 

On my side of the equation.  I tested the one load a day theory again and was shot out of the water.  Even Dale tried.  Then I learned that the ice maker was turned on.  Once we turned the ice maker off, shut everything connected with the washing machine completely off, turned it all back on, it started working again. 

By this time it was after noon and there was a talk on the beach about batteries that Dale had wanted to attend.  So, while he attended the ‘seminar,’ I played Dominos.  Once again, I had the most fun. 

After we were both done and walking back to the dinghy, I asked if he learned anything new.  He said “yes, our batteries are on their last leg.”  Apparently, our type of batteries last about 8 years; we bought them about 6 years ago.  Of course, this means that in the next year or so, we’ll get up one day and the batteries will need to be replaced.  At least I can start to budget for them now. 

The one good thing that happened today was that we got the call informing us our sail part had arrived.  We’ll pick it up tomorrow and go from there. 

Monday, January 27, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.30.235N
75.45.748W

Today was one of those days where some things went well and others, well, didn’t.

We started our day listening to weather, apparently, it’s not going to get as blustery on Wednesday and Thursday as first thought of last week.  Which is good for us. 

Looking towards George Town

All is well in the anchorage and we are up to 197 boats now. 

Dale then started prepping the water maker to get it running but held off until he had a chance to speak with the representative.  Once done, he learned that it was OK to drain the remaining oil it was originally shipped with and put in new to run it.  So, we drained the oil out of the original one (since it never worked once the oil had been changed) and put it in the new water maker after it was drained. 

He also tore apart the generator that quit last evening.  He determined that he was getting fuel from the tank to the generator but no further which established that it was not the same problem as we had the first time.  Just to confirm, he turned on one of the engines and ran it for an hour just to make sure nothing clogged it.  Changing the main fuel filter seemed to fix the problem with the generator and we ran it for a couple of hours without issue. 

Since the generator was running, I again tested my theory that the washing machine only works once a day.  At first it balked but I turned everything off and then back on and tried again and that time it did one whole program (wash, drain, spin, rinse, drain, spin, rinse, drain, spin, blink the little red light forever before unlocking the door).  I hung the clothes out to dry and called it a day as far as laundry. 

While I was monitoring the washing progress, Dale went in to town to see if the sail part had arrived.  That’s where our luck ran out.  However, the shop that handles the incoming imports checked their database and said that our part was scheduled to be on a flight out this evening and should be here by tomorrow.  How many times have we been told that?

By the time Dale got back, is was after 1pm and since I had missed my Dominos game yesterday, I convinced him he should take the rest of the day off and go play Dominos with me.  He agreed and proceeded to beat all of us.  However, it was determined that I had the most fun as I had the most points (in the game of Mexican Train Dominos, the idea is to have the least amount of points at the end).  We made it back to the Palace a little after 5pm, foregoing the dinghy raft up at 4:30, and called it a day.

I guess that’s it for today.