Saturday,
April 25, 2015. Jim and Judy arrive at 2pm.
We leave the dock at 2:30pm and head to Great Guana Cay, Orchid Bay
Marina. It is sunny and the wind is SW.
We arrive at 4:30pm. Lisa made dinner on
board. The marina only has a minimal sea
wall and the swells are coming over the sea wall and it is bumpy in the
marina. 8NM, 10 SM today. 26°39.80’N
077°06.65’W
Sunday, April
26, 2015. Partly cloudy, 85 degrees today.
The marina has a very friendly dock master named McKenzie. Today, he fell off the dock into the water
while helping a boat into a slip. He is
very good natured and was laughing about what his children will say when he
gets home.
Today is the “pig roast” at Nippers on the
beach. Not a real “pig roast”, but a
buffet, music, etc. People come from
everywhere each Sunday. This is one of
the events Jim and Judy do not want to miss while here. Jim bought a bunch of
Nippers T-shirts for folks back home. He
and Judy hogged the dance floor for a bit and all the youngsters were amazed at
their dancing.
Afterwards, we toured the island by golf cart. While
at Nippers, someone took our golf cart (probably by mistake, they all look
alike). So, Jim borrowed one that was where we had parked ours.
Lots of building
going on. A resort/marina/residential
complex at Bakers’ Bay on the north end of the island (very exclusive – you
can’t get through the gate unless you have property there). When Jim returned
the golf cart to the rental agency, they said “no problem, mon, they all come
back here eventually – it is a small island!”
Dinner was at the restaurant at the Marina. Very nice and the food was good.
Monday, April
27, 2015. Cloudy and the wind is
again SW blowing at 20. We leave the
dock at 10am, say good-bye to McKenzie, and head to Hopetown. We are on the dock at Harbor View Marina at
12:30pm. The wind is supposed to build out of the northeast. Robert, the dock master here is very helpful
and the marina/resort is very nice – 2 pools, restaurant, bar, cottages, hotel
– all almost new.
Tonight is bingo at Capt. Jacks. Jordan, our waiter, remembers us from the
last visit (with Kachina and Majestic Phoenix).
We didn’t win anything, but had snacks for dinner and it was fun. 13NM, 15.6SM today. 26°32.29’N 076°57.69’W
Tuesday, April
28, 2015.
We walked the town and had lunch at the “Sugar
Shack”. The weather clears a bit and we meet Pearl (Val and Lisa) – and some of their
friends - and Down Time (Roger and Connie) at Capt. Jacks’ at 6:30 for wing
night. It rains during the evening and
the restaurant put down the curtains to keep the rain out, but by the time we
leave it has cleared and cooled off.
Wednesday,
April 29, 2015. Weather threatening.
Wind NW 20+. We decide not to try
to cross to Marsh harbor today. We
talked to Robert (dock master) and he will make sure Jim and Judy are on the
8am ferry to Marsh Harbor tomorrow morning.
Their flight is at 10:30 so there should be plenty of time to get from
the ferry dock to the airport. Robert
says there is always a line of taxis waiting at the dock. Today we walked the town and the beach (Judy
picked up a bunch of beach trash from the NE wind) and then had a late lunch at
the Hopetown Harbor Lodge, a very nice resort that has the harbor on one side
and the beach on the other. It is an
older establishment, but has been updated and is one of those spots you would
definitely come back to. At the north end of the “road” there are two nice
chairs for boat watching as they overlook the harbor entrance. Someone left a big industrial mix-master
there as a mooring. We also saw the memorial
garden and a cemetery where over 100 people are buried from the cholera
epidemic in 1850.
Thursday,
April 30, 2015. Everyone is up
early. Jim and Judy are shuttled by
Robert from the marina over to the government dock where they will catch the
ferry to Marsh Harbor. It looks like
rain, but it doesn’t. Cloudy and murky
all day. The wind is still howling 20-25 from the NE. The “sub-tropical depression” is forming over
Cuba and headed this way. We dropped
laundry off (they will do wash and
fold). We went to the pool with Down Time and Pearl (Val and Lisa). We met Pearl originally at Big Majors in the
Exumas - the night with two birthday parties on Pirate’s Beach – one of the
parties was for Val.
After dinner on board, Down Time came over and we tried
to make Bruce’s (Island Time) rum punch.
It was good, but we forgot the lime.
Friday, May 1,
2015. The weather is a bit better today.
We fill the water tanks and head out to a mooring in the harbor. We
managed to run over the pennant for the mooring and get it wrapped around the
prop. Not good. Roger (Down Time) brings his dive gear and
gets us freed. Only wrapped – no damage. Great! The wind is still NE 15-20.
There is a large sail boat next to us (Notluf) and it
is being single handed by a guy named Paul.
Today he is taking the boat out to Tahiti Beach to clean the
bottom. He takes it in a high tide and
then when the tide goes out the boat is “careened” (laid over on its side) and
he can clean the bottom standing in water only a foot deep. The boat is aluminum (very strong) and has a
full keel, so it is easier to do this than it would be with our boat (wing
keel). Check out the pictures. Our friends Stan and Judy used to this with
their boat (Rhumb Runner). Paul is going
outside all the way to Maine. He will take on crew in Jacksonville and then he
says it is about 127 hours straight through.
His masts are too tall for the Intercoastal even if he wanted to travel
“inside”.
It is a long dingy ride (3 miles) to Tahiti Beach. When we get back, a catamaran has taken
Paul’s mooring. When Paul comes in, they
guy in the catamaran says it was reserved for him. Paul had already paid for
the mooring and they almost never reserve moorings in this harbor (except Capt.
Jack). After some to and fro the
catamaran moves to another mooring and we (Roger and I) help the catamaran get
his boat secured. These big cats are
almost too big for the mooring field (almost as wide as they are long).
Dinner at the marina restaurant with Down Time. There is live music (a guy and a guitar).
Very nice. We try the Goombay
Smash. Lovely rum drink. We picked up most of the tab as a thank you
for freeing us from the mooring pennant.
Saturday, May
2, 2015. Rainy day. Clears some in
the afternoon and we walk the beach. The
beach here in Hopetown is beautiful.
Dinner (spaghetti) at Down Time and then Mexican Train. Nice low key day.
Sunday, May 3,
2015. Partly sunny and very breezy. We
walk with Down Time south on the Queen’s Highway to ON-Da-Beach, a nice little
beach bar and restaurant about halfway down the island. Nice spot.
Lunch food was ok. They make
chicken sous (chicken stew) here and many places in the Abacos on Sunday –
supposed to be good for a hangover. We
walk the beach back to Hopetown. After
dinner on board, Down Time comes over to finish the Mexican Train game we
started last night.
Monday, May 4,
2015. Lisa is doing boat chores and I take the dingy to Capt. Jack’s so I
can get on the internet. My bank does
not let me log on using my phone as a hot spot through Bahamas Telephone. Later in the day, we walk the beach. It is partly cloudy, but the wind is still NE
at 20-25. The surf is too rough to get
in on this side of the island.
After dinner on board, Down Time comes over for a
movie night. We watched Jodi Foster in
“Flight Plan”.
Tuesday, May
5, 2015. Cinco de Mayo. Cooler – 72
degrees. Windy, still NE @ 20-25. Lots of rain.
The “sub-tropical depression” (later to be named Ana) is on us. We block the scuppers and open the deck
fittings and fill the water tanks with fresh water. Once the rain stops, there is at least 8
inches of water in the dingy.
Wednesday, May
6, 2015. More rain overnight and this morning. It begins to clear after noon. The wind hasn’t given up yet, still 20-25
from the northeast. We decide to wait
until tomorrow to try to leave. I
changed the oil in the main engine (still need to do the generator). I changed the fuel filters and oil filter
too. Lisa went grocery shopping in the
afternoon. Tonight is “wing night” at
Capt. Jacks’ and we meet Pearl there.
Jordan , our personal waiter, is there to serve our table. Nice evening.
Thursday, May
7, 2015. The wind has finally dropped a bit and finally changed direction.
It is NW @ 10-15. It is sunny. We drop the mooring at 9:30am and head to
Treasure Cay. Maybe the storm has
finally cleared out. 11am, the wind has
perked up a bit and is right on our nose.
The chart plotter has decided to quit working. Looks like the same issue as last year. The display is all lines and/or
pixelated. Last time, I sent it to
Raymarine and they said they could find nothing wrong. I wonder if all that
heavy rain had an effect. Last time it
quit was after a day of downpours in St. Augustine. 1:30pm, we are on a mooring
at Treasure Cay.
I took the chart plotter apart, and there is nothing
obviously damp. I loosened and re-tightened all the connections and it seems to
be working. I will let it sit apart in
the sun on the nav station below and make sure it dries out.
We walked the beach at Treasure Cay, one of the most
beautiful anywhere. We collected some
more beach treasures and swam. Nice
afternoon. Down Time is now in the
anchorage too. Dinner on board and movie.
Friday, May 8,
2015. We re-assembled the chart plotter and it still seems to be working. Then
we re-installed it on the helm – still working.
Keeping our finger crossed. We
took the dingy, along with Down Time and their dingy, to a mangrove creek south
of the anchorage. It is high tide and we
were able to get a mile or so up the creek.
Beautiful. Reminds one of the
mangrove “rivers” on Shroud Cay in the Exumas – very pristine. Did a snorkel dingy drift out to the mouth of
the creek with the outgoing tide. Saw
fish, turtles, a big barracuda tear into a snapper, anemones, sand
dollars. Nice afternoon. There is a wrecked tug outside the creek, so
we went over and had a look. It is
barely covered by the water. You would
not want to run over that!
Our friend Ann, at home, had surgery today, but is
doing well. We will keep here in our
prayers and thoughts.
Dinner on board, then we went over to Down Time and
learned how to play “Farkel”, a dice game).
Saturday, May
9, 2015. We dingyed into the marina and took showers, did some internet,
went to the grocery. It is partly
cloudy, wind SSE 5-10. We are off the
mooring at 11:50. Once out of the
Treasure Cay Channel, we see rain to the east.
The wind is now SE @ 10-15. At
1pm, it looks like it is going to storm on top of us, but we make it into
Fisher’s Bay at Great Iguana Cay and get the anchor down. We make a run to the beach in the dingy and
meet Down Time at Grabbers Beach Bar for lunch.
2pm, thunderstorms roll through, winds pick up to 20-25 from the
south. We can see the boat and she seems
to be riding OK and the anchor holding.
We finally get back to the boat at 4pm.
Lisa makes dinner on board (chicken and vegies in an oven bag). At 7:30, we meet Down Time and Pearl at Grabbers. Their signature drink is a “Guana Grabber”,
made with rum and fruit juice, of course.
This concoction tastes like it might have some grapefruit juice in it. It
is karaoke night. They had some really
good performers! A good time was had by all.
Back to the boat and bed at 10pm.
A late night for us.
Sunday, May
10, 2015. Mothers’ Day. Lisa’s Birthday.
Is is partly cloudy and 80 degrees. One
of the nicest days we have seen in a while.
We meet Down Time, Pearl and some of their friends at Nippers for the
Sunday “Pig Roast”. After the feast, we
all went to the beach, and then walked back across the island to Grabbers. It seems that there are several ferries that
bring people from Marsh Harbor and Hopetown to Great Guana for the “pig roast”
at Nippers. Those folks then “stage” at
Grabbers while they wait of the return ferry.
So, you see many of the same people at both places. They are doing “the limbo” and many of the
folks here are quite under in influence.
We then went to Down Time with pearl and had birthday cake. Connie had made a carrot cake for Lisa –
delicious! We gave Pearl a ride back to
shore (their boat is in the harbor, not the anchorage) and stopped at Grabbers
again (it is on the way). Back to the
boat at 6. I think Lisa enjoyed her
birthday/Mothers’ Day with friends, although she misses her boys and friends at
home too.
Monday, May
11, 2015. Lisa went snorkeling a
couple of times today with Connie (Down Time).
I spent most of the day working on this blog. I hate when it gets so far behind. Tomorrow
we will leave early and cross the “Whale Cay Passage”, where you have to
actually go out in the Atlantic to continue the trek north. Even tho’ it is a short run, it can be very
hazardous.
Tuesday, May
12, 2015. Rain overnight, but the
wind has subsided at bit. Anchor up at 8am.
Sunny and puffy clouds.75 degrees, wind SE 10-15. 8:45am, we are in the “Whale”. The wind is East @ 15. There are 3-4 foot rollers plus a 1 foot chop
from the opposite direction.
Interesting. Manageable. 10am, we are through the “whale” and can see
Treasure Cay Beach ahead of us (although that is not where we are going). 1am, On the dock at Leeward Yacht Club, Black
Sound, Green Turtle Cay. 82 degrees,
wind SE 10-15, still only puffy clouds.
Lisa and I did laundry, had lunch at Lizards
(Restaurant/Bar by the pool) – very nice – food was very good. Showers and early to bed.
17NM 19SM
today. 26°45.72’N 077°19.47’W
