On to the Exumas - 4/18

Monday, April 18, 2011

We dropped of the mooring ball at Royal Island around 7am and steamed out into the ocean. We left shortly after s/v Synergy and we could watch their sails head north while ours pointed in the opposite direction. Talk about paths crossing in unlikely locations! After meeting them in Brunswick GA last summer, we had often talked about sailing together in the Bahamas. But our sailing plans never seemed to jive … they crossed over in December, we crossed in February. They were in the southern Bahamas while we cruised in the north. Yet, here in the middle, we shared an anchorage for 3 days before continuing on in opposite directions! They are definitely on our short list of favorite people, and it’s a highlight of our trip that we did finally connect.

So we’re off to the Exumas. We have about 25 miles of ocean sailing (finally enough wind to shut down the engine with all sails up) before we cross thru Fleeming Channel to the Exuma banks….then it will be back to shallow water again. We’ll start to experience more of what we expected from the Bahamas … fewer resources, scattered anchorages, fewer people (until Georgetown).

Another new experience of Bahama sailing – visual piloting. We have entered the land of coral heads. The Abacos had coral reefs, which were pretty easy to spot because they were mostly found along the shoreline or the cuts between islands. The Exumas have coral heads that pop up wherever they damn well please! Actually, they are marked on the charts, but it's something you're always nervous about. 

When the water is shallow (~12 ft) and aquamarine, and the sun is shining overhead, the coral heads are fairly easy to spot … dark submarine –like-thingys below the surface. However, when the clouds move in, most of the water surface looks dark so you're not too sure what you are seeing.  At 25ft, the water is an incredible emerald green, which is oh-so-lovely to look at, but not nearly as easy to spot the dark monsters lurking beneath the surface. We are putting our 5-ft bow sprit to good use as it is the perfect perch for watching the water for coral.  When in doubt, I signal Dan to steer away from anything that looks dark under the surface … even though sometimes it is just a shadow from the cloud cover!

At 45 mile day today, and we are anchored at ROBERT’S CAY … selected especially for you, Mr Ewing! Now that the water is warm enough for daily swimming from the boat (at least by my standards), we mark the end of a 10-hr day under sail with a swim from the boat in addition to a rum drink!

Roberts Cay

We’ve had an indescribable full moon for two nites now … and I just wish I had a camera that could capture what it looks like as it pops over the horizon and lights up the water for miles around us.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Anchor up at 7:00am again today as we have high hopes to cross another 45 miles to Sampson Cay, a great place to get fuel and stage for our final approach into Georgetown. However, that was not the way the day turned out. The ESE winds of 20 knots was a real beast so we bailed out when we reached the Exuma Park at Warderick Wells Cay.

The winds and seas were so strong that we had trouble steering our course because of the strain on the rudder. After having the steering chain break on us in Baltimore after overstressing the rudder, we decided that if we were fighting the helm to stay on our course, something needed to change. So we furled part of the headsail and reefed the main sail which gave us better control but also reduced our speed enough that we were worried that we’d arrive at Sampson Cay after the fuel dock was closed.

After 3 hours of a nice beam reach, our route became more southerly, and we found ourselves heading straight into the increasing wind ... and seas. This meant bashing headlong into 4-6 ft  waves, with every 3rd wave creating enough water to bury the bow and reach us in the cockpit! Absolutely no fun! After 3 hours of this, and realizing we had another 4 hours to go before reaching our intended destination, I started looking at the map to find an alternative anchorage for the night. Hence our stop at the Exuma Land and Sea Park.

Emerald Rock mooring field

This place is the Bahama equivalent to U.S. National Parks. Everything is protected – no fishing, no shelling, no fires, no stores (hopefully no discharge of holding tanks as we’ve been swimming from the boat!). It’s a huge, beautiful anchorage full of mooring balls, reefs for snorkeling, beaches for walking and trails for hiking. We could stay here for days … and that will be the decision we face tomorrow. Are the winds favorable to keep moving towards Georgetown? Or should we sit tight and enjoy?

Wednesday, April 20

Well, the morning weather forecast is not looking good for Georgetown. In fact, one of the boats who subscribe to Chris Parker (and hence can ask for a specific forecast for their specific travels) asked about the passage from Warderick Wells (where we are now) to Georgetown (where we want to be by the last weekend in April for the family regatta) and the reply was “not until after the end of the month”. Squalls and high winds (~NE 25-35knots) are predicted to start on Friday, and he gave boaters in our area two travel days before needing to hole up someplace safe until late next week.

So, decisions … decisions. Do we stay here in the Exuma Park? Or use the travel days to get fuel in Sampson Cay and head to Black Pt (which Chris and Karen highly recommended). Unsure … unsure. As we were debating the pros and cons of each choice, we heard a very faint hail on the radio for s/v Glenice. Glenice? We know that boat from Brunswick … and there just couldn’t be two boats with that name. As luck would have it, we heard a repeat hail to Glenice, and then we jumped in and asked for a relay message to Glenice from Maja. Sure enough, when we finally connected, Greg and Janice were just a day away from us, planning to stay put for one more night!

That made our decision much easier! Off with the mooring ball and we were underway 30 minutes later! It was a lovely, short day on the water (20 miles), which was a nice break after several long hauls in a row. We sailed the entire run to Sampson Cay where we went in for fuel … 37 gals/$5.72/gal/$202 … and got to briefly explore this marina for the rich people with mega-yachts. Very nice if you can afford the $2.75/ft dock fee! Lots of BIG motor yachts in the Exumas … something we did not see in the Abacos.

They hold a 'garage' full of jet skis and floating toys!

A JWK-type of cruising vessel!

We anchored at Big Majors sound, a very large anchorage with 3 beaches and pigs that swim out to greet the dinghies coming ashore! For real! It was kinda creeping watching people swimming around near the shore, along with 3-4 wild pigs (but I guess they are really tame pigs with all the people contact they have).

Greg and Janice

s/v Glenice

We found a spot very close to s/v Glenice and what a treat running into them again! We meet them on the Dismap Swamp last summer on the ICW and last saw them in Brunswick before they left to head south at Thanksgiving. They invited us over for dinner, which we shared with two other boaters who are taking a year to go sailing on their 27ft Hunter! Yep, 27 feet … no chart plotter, no autopilot … did I mention they were under 30? Oh, to be young!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

We only have 7 miles to travel today so after listening to the 6:30 weather forecast, we went back to bed and slept until 9am! Heavenly. Coffee and breakfast in the cockpit at anchor, which we haven’t been able to do in days. Anchor up around 10am for the sail down to Black Pt … running with just the headsail and mizzen sail for the first time (making 4 knots!).

At anchor in Black Pt Sound ... and so relaxing knowing that we have no place to go until after Tuesday.  Good holding here so let the wild winds blow (you know you have good holding when you drop the anchor into the sandy bottom and a billow of sand reaches the surface! yeah, that anchor is buried!). 

Maja on the left.

After all the ocean bashing we've been doing, Maja is covered in salt and desperately needs a good long bath. Unfortunately, that won't happen until we are back in the states, I do the best I can with a wet cloth to remove the salt crystals that cover our winches, ports, hatches ... just about every surface on the boat is covered with a slippery slime of salt.  After enough of that "work", it's time to go exploring the town.  There is a bakery we need to find that sells coconut bread (excellent as french toast!) and a bar with happy hour specials and free internet access. 

The wind blew 20-25knots all night (usually the wind dies down at night, so the storm they have been predicting all week must be a real thing).  From the talk around the bar at Happy Hour last night, the winds and seas will be high until at least Tuesday....so it looks like we'll be enjoying Black Point for awhile.

Our friends on s/v Kismet, Hank and Carol, who we thought were already in Georgetown, are actually a day behind us.  Talked on them via the radio and they should be rendevousing here in Black Pt too by Saturday. 

A big ocean but such a small world.

3 of us in a row ... Maja, Glenice, Kismet

Easter Weekend at Black Point

At least we picked a spot with lots of shore events planned for the weekend.  Community picnics, basketball tournaments, volleyball tournamet, dominos tournament, marching band, school play ... we have a busy agenda to keep track of! 

Tournament trophies

We haven't been able to do any swimming from the boat because the water has been too rough due to the high winds.  There has been a little bit of rain, but not near the downpour this island needs (or that we're hoping for to wash some of the salt off Maja). The sky will fill with dark, ominous clouds, but then the clouds just clear up and leave a sparkling crystal blue sky.

On Saturday, we had 6 people (from 3 other boats) over for spaghetti dinner on Maja.  This is definitely the most people we've ever crowded around our table.  And you'll probably notice that a large share of the world's problems have now be solved ...

On Easter Sunday, Dan and I went ashore to attend the only service available, at a Baptist Church!  This is the first time Dan has ever set foot in a church that was not Catholic!  Other than being 2 hrs long, it was a lively event with lots of singing and clapping and Praise the Lord.  All the ladies were dressed in suits with matching hats and patent-leather high heel shoes.  It was interesting that the service was lead primarily by women, and the congregration was composed primarily of women. And a large part of the message was that it had always fallen to the women to keep the faith alive. 

Park at Black Point

We've had some wicked winds come through every night as this front moves from Florida across the Bahamas and out to sea.  Monday should be the peak with winds >35 knots, and then we can start looking for a weather window to continue our journey south.  While it's a nice respite to sit at anchor and enjoy the neighborhood, I find that after the 3rd day in the same place, I start to get antsy to move on.  Most of the boats sharing the anchorage at Black Point with us are here waiting for the front to pass ... and no doubt we'll all leave about the same time.  Maybe Tueday ... no later than Thursday.

Next Stop:  Georgetown.

Onward to Eleuthera - 4/14-4/17

April 14

Anchor up at 7:00, and we’re on our way out the south channel cut separating Lynyard Cay and Little Harbor. It’s overcast, making us wonder if today will be the day the dark clouds actually produce rain. Even though the islands are in dire need of water, the forecast is for winds >30knots in the squalls, so we hope to avoid that.

The winds are light – 8 knots – but in the right direction to give us a lovely beam reach (wind coming directly over the middle of the boat) with all 4 sails out. Since we’ve got 60 miles of open ocean to cross today, we’re motor sailing so we can make a predictable 6 knots. Many times we were clocking 6.7 knots! The seas are fairly calm … and such a beautiful deep sapphire blue …

Not much to do on long passages like this. The auto pilot does all the work, so our job is basically to find a shady place in the cockpit and read. No fishing today even though this would be a great stretch for it. We have no room in the freezer, and the logistics of bringing a fish onboard while running all 4 sails would be more complicated than before. Plus, who wants to keep a fish in the cooler for 10 hrs before we could clean it at anchor??

Yes, it’s beautiful. Yes, this is what we have to do to travel to a new destination. Yes, it gets boring. We had been thinking of taking Maja to Deltaville, VA for summer storage after talking with Mike and Kathy (s/v Sapphire). No big deal they say – just 2.5 full days of offshore sailing. Eeeeck … this will be a long 10-hr sail, and I cannot imagine what it would be like to do this for 54 hours non-stop! I kinda like the idea of leaving the boat in the Bahamas!

We reached our destination of Royal Harbor at 5:30pm. (just love daylight savings time!). This island is in the middle of major development … luxury resort, marina, golf course. Right now, construction is at a stand still, but we could see the cute thatched-roof cottages as we sailed past the main development. There is a lovely harbor on the east side with a narrow entrance and great protection on sides. We’ll wait here for our friends, Chris and Karen (s/v Synergy) to arrive. We’ve talked of meeting in the Bahamas since last year, and finally that will happen as they are sailing north and we are heading south!

April 15th.

I’m not gonna lie … nothing beats a do-nothing day at anchor after a long day on the water (I suppose this definitely puts me in the “light-weight” category!). We slept in … had a full breakfast of French toast, bacon, OJ and coffee ( we usually don’t do anything more involved than cereal!) and then started to think of the projects that needed to get done today.

Every morning at 6:15am, Dan get up (bless his heart!) to listen to a discussion on our single-side band radio with several other boaters – followed by the weather forecast by weather guru, Chris Parker. Lately, our interest has been primarily in tracking Chris and Karen’s progress moving north. We were expecting a rendezvous with them Monday or Tuesday, but today the news was that they would arrive at our anchorage at Royal Island this afternoon! How cool is that!

Chris and Karen ... Our favorites!

s/v Synergy

s/v Synergy

Chris and Karen pulled into the anchorage around 1pm, and we decided to head over to Spanish Wells where we will take a high-speed ferry over to Harbor Island. Of course, we first had to wait for the tide to rise because we found out that we were anchored in 4.9 feet of water, meaning we were hard aground. Fortunately, we were aground in soft sound, so it wasn’t anything more than a one-hour inconvenience.

We moved over to the Yacht Haven Marina in Spanish Wells because we thought the rate was $1.00 foot and Chris/Karen thought they could get fuel here. Well, no fuel and the rate is $1.50/foot. Live and learn. We are here for two nites because we’ll catch the ferry at 10:00 tomorrow morning. Oh well, having such easy access to visit with these guys is worth it. 

Saturday, April 16 – Day trip to Harbor Island

Today seems like a real honest-to-goodness field trip from the boat! Put on nice clothes, break out the hidden cash, and get to the ferry dock early because we are anxious to get this day started! The high-speed ferry from Spanish Wells to Harbor Island ($40 pp/rt) was a definite blast! After travelling at 5 knots for so long, to be zooming across these beautiful waters at 25 knots was fabulous! We got a good look at the coral reefs that line the shore, hence the recommendation to only bring your boat into HH with a hired pilot (that would have cost the same amount as the ferry ride but not nearly the rush!).

We arrived at Harbor Island around 11:15 and decided that the most important thing was to find the beach, famous for its pink sand. The color is from coral mixing with the sand … and while we kinda expected something closer to neon pink, it definitely was sand with color, especially down at the water line. The beach was an absolutely gorgeous long stretch of sand and water and beautiful resorts, and we walked as far as the furthest beach bar! The Blue Bar at the Pink Sands Resort had a wonderful view so we decided to stay for longer than one beer, especially since the bartender (LaToya) was mixing yummy rum drinks by hand (vs. premade solutions).

We tore ourselves from there to make the SipSip Café (Bahamian for ‘gossip”) in time for lunch and another signature rum drink and another great view of the ocean (sailors say they quit the cruising life when the ocean view and sunsets stop having the breathtaking effect … so I guess we have a few more cruises in our future!).

This was a great place to have the company of Chris and Karen, finally feeling like we’ve had enough time to catch up and ask our questions about their travels to the Exumas, since we are headed there next. The return ferry left at 3:30, so we had just enough time for a little shopping before heading back to the dock.

This would be a great place to meet people staying on land!

Back at Spanish Wells, we had time for a nap and a shower before Happy Hour over at s/v Synergy.  Good thing we were docked right next to each other as the dinghy ride may have posed a safety factor! We spent several hours drinking and noshing and going over the Exuma charts. We had originally intended to spend time exploring Eleuthera, but have since changed our minds and are headed for Georgetown. The Family Regatta is the last weekend in April, and we’ve heard from too many cruisers that this is not an event to be missed, so we’ve set our sights there. This regatta is strictly a Bahamian affair, made up of a variety and sizes of racing boats from the ‘family islands’ (primarily the Exuma chain). So we’ll head from Georgetown and hit the other sites in the Exumas on our way back in May.

Sunday, April 17

After topping off our water tank at the marina, we headed back to Royal Island harbor to spend the day exploring the development with Chris and Karen, by dinghy and by foot. There are definitely big plans for this island as we could see the ground work for the golf course, marina, and clubhouse/bar. Unfortunately, the economy hasn’t been kind and finding/retaining investors has repeatedly put their plans on hold. They have a fabulous Driftwood Bar that isn’t open yet, but we could envision enjoying an afternoon cocktail with that view of the water.

FINALLY ... we are in water warm enough to dive in from the boat!  :)

Back in the harbor, we prepared for our last night together, a combined dinner over on s/v Synergy and map talk about the Abacos, where Chris and Karen are headed next.  Tomorrow, anchors up early and they will head north while we will head south into the Exumas.

Leaving the Abacos - 4/12

Tuesday - April 12

Leaving the 12-ft Bahama Bank for the 335 ft Atlantic Ocean!

Anchor up at 11:00 a.m., and we are off to Lynyard Cay, the southern most anchorage in the Abacos.  We are travelling with two other boats -- Mike and Kathy (s/v Sapphire - Bayfield 40) and Steve and Kim (s/v Fine Lion).   It's a 25-mile trip that included crossing from the Sea of Abaco to the Atlantic Ocean where we tried fishing from the boat for the first time and caught 3 fish!  The first was a small Mahi Mahi ... and as we were marvelling at the beautiful colors of this fish - yellow, pink, green, blue - it spit out the hook and swam away.  The next fish was a 30-inch Spanish Mackerel that yielded 5 dinners in the freezer.  The last was a barracuda, so we put the reel away!  But I tell ya, nothing perks up a tedious sail under light winds than the whine of the fishing line running out! 

It was a good first experience at learning just how we'd get a fish on board, and then what in the hell we'd do once we accomplished that feat (besides take pictures!).   The Jack Daniels whiskey left over from Mikel's trip came in handy as we were told to use alcohol to knock out the fish once it was gaffed (sorry Mikel ... seems like a waste of good liquor, I know, but it's the only thing we had on board that we didn't want to drink!).  Not sure what to do next, we put the fish in our cooler and got Mike on the VHF radio, and he reassured us that we could wait to clean/fillet the fish until we got to the anchorage (whew!). 

After cleaning all the blood off the boat (who knew? fish bleed a lot!), Dan loaded the cooler into the dinghy and went over to s/v Sapphire for some expert advice on cleaning.  Mike is truly one of the good guys because he took Dan and fish on board and cleaned one half while explaining to Dan the steps to cleaning his half.  Yuck ... Dan tells me this was a good thing for me to miss!

We will layover at Lynyard Cay until Thursday, when we have good weather conditons for the 60-mile ocean crossing to Spanish Wells, bringing us to the northern end of Eleuthera.

We'll lose our internet service when we leave the Abacos, so we'll post to the blog when we can, but I'm told to expect sketchy internet once we leave the Abacos.

FYI to Sarah -- Yes, we are going to Harbor Island -- thanks for the tip!

I aint gonna lie ... there's a fair amount of inconvenience, discomfort, frustration, stress and occasional wondering "What the hell..." associated with this lifestyle ... but there is something magical about this water ...

Houston ... we have lift off!

Sunday ... Monday (4/10-4/11)

Meet Mr. Westerbeke!

Two good days of engine work and it seems like our problems have been resolved.  The air leak into the fuel system was not obvious, so Dan went ahead and replaced the fuel filter, fuel hoses and removed the fuel vacuum gauge and no more air bubbles in the fuel inspection bowl ... and most importantly, no more engine stalling after starting.

It just goes to show that two heads are better than one!  Mike (s/v Sapphire) and Dan went thru the engine schematics and discovered that our battery setup wasn't taking advantage of our starting battery ... we were just using the house battery which doesn't have the cranking power of the starting battery.  After that big "ah ha!", the engine turned over with power on the first crank  Ya hoo ... liking the sounds of that!

After the hard work of the morning was done, time to go play.  Off we went with s/v Sapphire and s/v Fine Lion to a little beach around the corner from the Marsh Harbor anchorage.  What a perfect day for jumping from the dinghy into the clear, warm water....with a couple of cold beers on hand!

Now that Maja is running in top form again, we are back to planning our next move.  Time to leave Marsh Harbor and head south from the Abacos towards the Exumas.  Our first stop will be Little Harbor (b/c Pete's Pub is a legend in the Abacos) then on to Spanish Wells and Eleuthera.  Who knows, we may make it all the way to Georgetown before thinking about returning to the states.

April 9th - On our own again

Marsh Harbor Anchorage, Abacos.  April 7, 8, 9

So what do you do after your favorite visitors have flown back to MN? Dinghy to shore to do the laundry, walk to the grocery store to provision for the next leg of our journey, clean, clean, clean the boat, count the remaining beers in the cooler!

Unfortunately, after Robert's departure we were left with an engine issue that started on his last day in the Bahamas ... or is it a fuel issue? or is it a battery issue? Our faithful Westerbeke 52 which has served us without problem for over a year (not counting a few slow starts after sitting at anchor for several days) developed a serious hiccup. Slow to turn over, once it fires up, it quickly stalls out. Repeat. Repeat and the 3rd time seems to the charm b/c then it turns over quickly, revs up perfectly, and all things are good. So what's wrong Mr. Westerbeke?

When he's not researching on the computer, this has been Dan's position for the last 2 days. It seems to be a process of elimination, starting with the easy fixes first. Is it air in the fuel line? Check and tighten all the fuel lines. Is it a poor connection to the battery? Clean those (even though they look fine in the first place). Ditto with the starter connections (we really don't want it to be the starter b/c we left Florida without getting a spare). Is it the fuel filter? At least that showed signs of dirt, and we've got spares.

I'm amazed at how much swearing goes into getting screws off parts!

When not being asked to pass tools, paper towels or watch for bubbles in the fuel filter, I passed the time putting another coat of varnish on the teak (can't really bring myself to sit in the cockpit and read my current Clive Cussler book with Dan getting all sweaty and dirty in the engine room)... and once again, I rearranged our food storage with the goal of finally reclaiming our shower. Every boat we visit has a functioning shower, and they are in awe that we cannot have a shower before going to bed. I want a shower too! And we are simply not eating our supply of canned and dry goods fast enough to empty the 4 large boxes of food we currently have stored in the shower (and the fact that we probably have 6 months worth of canned goods doesn't help ... I know we have more tomate paste than I will use in this lifetime!).

It took 4 hours, and Dan agreeing to give up another locker that he's been using to store tools (thank goodness the beer supply has been going down b/c now there's room to store tools where a case of beer used to be!), but TAH DAH!  We have a shower!  Mikel - Robert - Jim ... can you believe it!!!!  :)

Of course, our water tank is on empty, so we cannot use it ... but I can admire it!

When we arrived in Hopetown with Robert, we passed by another Bayfield 40, s/v Sapphire, which is the first Bayfield boat I saw online when this type of boat was recommended to us. They have been cruising for 7 years, and I've been reading their blog for at least 4 years!  The day after we moved into the anchorage at Marsh Harbor, they dropped their hook just off our stern ... two Bayfields in a row ... how cool is that!

 Maja meet Sapphire

We are hull #47, and they are hull #14, so it was fun to go aboard and compare similiarities and differences.
They have white canvas over their cockpit, and our teak is freshly varnished, otherwise they look very much alike.  Mike and Kathy just finsihed spending 4 months in the southern Bahamas, along with our friends from Brunswick, Chris and Karen (s/v Synergy) ... such a small world it can be!

Besides the shower thing, they are two cool features we plan to copy. 

#1. They hang this nifty step on the side for easy access from the dinghy.

#2. They have two solar panels mounted on their davits (we have one). 

Dan is currently off to the hardware store.  I believe he has 5 more suggestions to try, thanks to cruisersforum.com ... post a question and get 14 replies by the next day!.  Focusing on the fuel filter did have a positive impact ... just not a complete solution.  At least he's gotten plenty of empathy and words of encouragement from other boaters (and Jim Garfunkel!) to keep him motivated. 

Stay tuned ... no matter what happens with the engine today, there will be showers on Maja tonight!!

Robert is Here! March 30-April 7

April 7th - Thursday -- He's gone   :(

April 6th - Wednesday - Robert's Last Day in Bahamas!

Off to the famous Hopetown Lighthouse.

Robert ... looking nautical!

Lighthouse ... looking majestic!

Room with a view! Full anchorage due to storm last nite.

Next stop... a little tourist shopping in town (b/c who can come to the Bahamas and not take home a tee shirt and cooler cup????

And finally, time to drop the lines to the mooring ball and head out of Hopetown just after high tide.  Off to Marsh Harbor for our last evening with Robert.  After anchoring in the harbor, our last big decision of the day was where to go... where to go...where to go???? So many choices, so little time.

We settled on the Jib Room since they were having a Wednesday nite BBQ.  Ribs for me and fish for Robert and Dan ... and the speciality rum drink for all!  Robert treated us to this fabulous buffet dinner and drinks, followed by dancing and the LIMBO!  The 3 of us abstained, but one of the guys in the band was fabulous ... his final limbo was probably 2 feet from the ground, under a burning bar that he used to light his cigarette!  too cool for our last night together.

April 5th - Tuesday

Last day at the beach!

There's a storm abrewing, so we took advantage of a beautiful afternoon to walk over to the beach and do some swimming and snorkling.  Dan and Robert snorkeled the reef and then found that if they hung out at the shoreline, they could catch some seaglass as it came in on a wave, just before getting buried in the sand.

By 4pm, the clouds will filling the sky and the thunder could be heard in the distance.  Figuring that maybe the weather forecast was going to be right today, we headed back to the boat with just enough time to batten down all the hatches before a torrential rain started with very heavy winds!  Wow.  Glad to be on a mooring at times like this.

April 4th - Monday

Today was a travel day - about 20 miles from Treasure Cay to Hopetown, last stop on Robert's tour of the Abacos.  Both spots are tricky with narrow, shallow entrances meaning that both should be approached on a rising tide ... not an easy feat to accomplish with high tide cycles every 12 hours!

Plus, we got off to a late start from Treasure Cay because when Dan did his routine engine checks, he was greeted by a broken belt on the engine.  Thank goodness for our store of spare parts ...

It was a clear, sunny and blustery day on the water ... and it would have been great sailing except that the wind was coming straight over the bow, and when you are heading right into the wind, it's virtually impossible to get the sails to stay full. But we tried ... and tried ... and tried ... and ended up motoring most of the way.  We had to kill a lot of time b/c of the tides and ended up getting into the Hopetown Harbor at 6:00pm, with 6.5 feeet of water under our keel!

We picked up one of the few mooring balls available in the harbor (cold front is coming and this is a great place to hide) and made it over to the local bar to watch the dismal NCAA basketball championship game.  Boo.

April 3rd ... Sunday

A good day to learn that Robert does not leave MarshHarbor on Saturday, but on Thursday!  Oh shit .. gotta get moving b/c we got places to visit!

We were up and moving by 8:30 (a record for this trip!) in order to get to Treasure Cay in time to make the narrow, shallow entrance at high tide.  This is one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and we just couldn't have Robert leave without seeing it.

Very calm winds, so we motored over to Treasure Cay, giving me the opportunity to make both banana nut muffins and potato salad while underway (a first for me to cook real food when not at anchor!).

A day at the beach in the Bahamas .... yes, paradise is a fitting word ...

Another vote for the Top 10 Beaches of the World! 

Beers at the beach 

Pina Coladas at the beach!

View from the shade ...

View to the sea ... 

ahhh... that color ...

No complaints today mon!

April 2nd ....

ahhh....a quiet nite at Orchid Bay ... which we need to recover from the Barefoot Man concert!  We really like this marina, but we decided that with the wind shiftting, we could save $40/nite by moving over to the anchorage at Fishers Bay, Great Guana.  So that was our big accomplishment of the day!

Back on shore, we headed over to Nippers Bar for round 2 of the Barefoot Man Concert.  We really thought that the evening concert would be the big draw with big crowds, and we were really surprised to find out how wrong we were!  Compared to the mob on Saturday, this was calm and quiet and small.  So we ended up splitting our time between Grabbers Bar (to watch NCAA Final 4 BB) and the concert at Nippers.  They are across the island from each other ... but remember, islands in the Abacos are skinny pieces of land, so it was about a 20min walk between the two bars.  And in the middle, there is Pirates Cove Bar which has free phone service to the USA.  So, I took the opportunity to call my sister, Laury, and congratulate her on changing jobs ... she will now drive less and be appreciated more!  What a great combo!

Nippers Bar

Sunset at Grabbers

At the Barefoot Man concert

The band!

These people are from Minnesota!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 28 ... Leaving Marsh Harbor on a high tide.  5pm.  Just enough time to get to Marsh Harbor and hunt for a spot in the anchorage before sunset.

March 29 ... We snagged a great spot in the crowded anchorage ... close to the dinghy dock for going to town and shopping at Maxwells grocery store and close to Snappas Restaurant where we'll meet Robert tomorrow.

March 30 .. the big day!



5:30 pm ... Robert is here!

He may not have had the smoothest travels (aka, leaving late from MN, almost missing the connection in Charlotte, running thru the airport at Nassau to catch the connection to Marsh Harbor, but HE'S HERE and in great spirits!  We had a perfect spot at the restaurant overlooking the water to enjoy happy hour drinks (from 5-11pm tonite!)

While we were having dinner, we got a surprise visit from Dan and Martha who are also cruising the Bahamas and who also know our friends, Ed and Connie Dooley, from Brunswick.  What a small world!

Dan and Martha

We stayed for sunset, and then the smoke from the forest fire burning in Marsh Harbor descended into the anchorage. For a couple of days, we've gotten up in the morning to find black soot covering the boat.

Naturally in Robert's travels, he met a lady on the plane!  Suzanne (in red) is from Canada and visiting her friend, Helen (in white) who is on m/s Miss B Haven.  We saw them come through the bar (Snappas is obviously the place for all new arrivals), and later, we stopped by Helen's boat where we stayed until almost midnight!  Back on Maja in time for a couple of traditional shots of Pussers Rum to inaugurate Robert's visit to the Bahamas!  Let the spring break festivities begin!

March 31

The weather predictions for the weekend have been dicey all week ... a cold front is approaching the northern Bahamas and we're expecting high winds (20-40 knots) and heavy squalls.  Since our destination is Great Guana Cay for the Barefoot Man concert, the concern has been weighing heavily on when we could get there and where we could stay since the winds are coming from the S/SW, blowing directly though the anchorage we would use.  Helen gave us a tip on Orchid Bay marina, so when we got them on the radio in the morning, we were able to make a slip reservation so off we went ... hoping to get into the harbor before the weather worsened.

We had a great sail for most of the day.  The wind was 20-22 knots, and we were zipping along at 5-6 knots with just 50% of our head sail out! A wonderful first sail to start Robert's vacation.  By the time we reached Great Guana Cay, the winds were above 25 knots and the swells had built to 4 feet.  With a few Hail Marys, and help from several people on the dock, Dan was able to drive the boat safely into our slip, and after tieing on every spare line we had to keep us secure, off we went to the pool and to show Robert the sights of Great Guana Cay.

Not much of a breakwater separating us from the Sea of Abaco!

windy windy windy

Orchid Bay Marina is a very nice place to hang out. Great bathrooms, lovely pool. Just no electricity.

The predicted storm did move through overnight with high winds and lots of rain.  The rain continued on until about noon the next day ... perfect time to give the boat a good wash down and stop in time for the Barefoot Man concert at Nippers Bar.

April 1

Today was all about the Barefoot Man concert ... "the Jimmy Buffet of the Bahamas" .... Nippers Bar was packed, leaving us to wonder where all these people came from (until they announced the inter-island ferry was leaving in 10 minutes and so did 80% of the crowd!).

No photos.  Which is probably a good thing considering all the grunting and grinding going on by complete strangers ... gezzzz ... color me old fashioned!  But the music was great, the weather was beautiful and the rum drinks were tasty!

After the concert, we walked over to Grabbers Bar which has a clear view of the sunset over the water.... (and I personally think better rum drinks than the famed ones at Nippers) ... and naturally, we meet more people that Robert had meet on the flight over to Marsh Harbor (this guy is a magnate!).  Turns out that one couple is from Minnesota ... from Edina MN ... and even went to high school with Dan's sister!  Yes, talk about a small world!