Nassau, The Berry Islands, Lucaya, West End 2018

Nassau, The Berry Islands, Lucaya, West End 2018

Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Today was a day of boat chores in preparation for our departure. We filled the fuel and water tanks. Lisa did laundry, walked over to the Fresh Market for ice, gave out spiced tea to the ladies in the office and the lady cleaning.  She was really into organic tea and said thanks very much.

We had the stone crabs bought in Spanish Wells for dinner and then I walked over to the Fresh Market and bought some Hagan Daz ice cream for dessert.  Even tho’ we can make ice cubes in the freezer, it is not cold enough to keep ice cream.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018.  Sunny, a few clouds, 75 degrees, wind E@10.  This morning there is a strong smell of diesel in the marina and there is a sheen on the water.  This is the third time we have experienced this here.  There is fuel dock next door and we wonder if they are having an issue there.  We paid the bill.  The electric was only $32 even tho’ we ran the air conditioning almost the entire time we have been here (4 days).  However, the marina charges $8 a day for water, whether you use it or not, so next time we will wash the boat more often!

9:30am We are off the dock with the help of Ron (Kodachrome) and 3 others.  Nice – always easier when you have a lot of help. We head east out of the harbor and then north around the end of Paradise Island.

10:00am We turn north heading 323° toward Little Harbor Cay in the Berry Islands.  The Berrys lie between New Providence and Grand Bahama.  We have never visited there and are looking forward to it.

10:40am Fore sail out, wind E@10,but the apparent wind is right on our nose.  We are making

7+ knots motor sailing.  Lovely.

12:00noon We heard Tackless Too on the VHF.  They are headed to the Berrys also.  We met them in Bimini and have crossed paths with them a couple of times on this trip, last time in Black Point.

We see lots of flying fish and as they came out of the water, there is a flock of terns grabbing them up.  Some of these flying fish a quite large (never seen ones this size before).  Obviously, something is forcing them to fly (big fish below?).  Of course, we do not have any lines in the water!

1:30pm Islands visible on the horizon.

2:40pm These island rise up out of the water, tall bluffs and cliffs on this side.  Wind steady NE 7-10, only a few clouds on the horizon.

3:40pm Anchor down west of Cabbage Cay and Little Harbor Cay.  3 other boats here including Tackless Too (Don and Gwen).

40.8NM today.  25°33.89’N  77°50.10’W

Thursday April 19, 2018. 3:10AM We awoke to the boat “bucking” (forward and aft) and “rolling” (side to side).  Wow! About as uncomfortable as we have ever been at anchor.  By 6:00am All is calm and the anchorage is like a pond.

8:00am Sunny, no clouds, calm, flat water, 75 degrees – lovely.  Water is very clear, lots of grass on a sandy bottom – probably why the water looks green.

10:00am Lisa went to the shore with Don and Gwen (Tackless Too) to walk their dog Ginger.  We tried to call Flo’s Conch Shack on the telephone and the VHF with no answer.  We heard that the mail boat has come into Bullocks Harbor, so they may have gone to pick up supplies.  Lisa and Gwen went for a snorkel.

12:00 Noon We dinghied over to Flo’s, but no one there.  We met Hayden and Raydeen (Island Spirit), who had also come to see if Flo’s was open.  We saw a small blue boat diving for conch earlier, but it is not here.

12:45pm Anchor up, heading north.

2:00pm Anchor down west of Little Gaulding Cay, between Hoffman Cay and Devil’s Cay.  Sunny, wind East@10, 80 degrees, puffy clouds, big thunderheads south on the horizon – over Andros?  5NM  25°36.72’N  077°44.34’W

Two other boats are here.  Tackless Too follows us in. The water is flat, no surge, but there is a strong current running.

3:00PM  We started the dinghy and found the hose from the tank to the motor had popped off.  Somehow the “clip” has decided not to stay attached.  Luckily, we have a brand new spare hose. We picked up Gwen and dinghied over to the south end of Hoffman’s Cay.  We landed at the first small beach on the west side of the island.  After searching for a bit, Lisa found a trail and we followed if up the hill and found the “blue hole”.  These are “holes” that are probably collapsed caves and have some sort of connection to the ocean (cave, fissure).  Some are quite deep.  The one on Long Island is used for “free diving” – seeing how deep you can go holding your breath.  This one is about 100 yards across.  We can see sea turtles in it – rumor is a local put them in here.  The girls want to come back with snorkel gear.  On the way out, we took the wrong trail and wound up at a beach farther north, not where we left the dinghy.  Back up and over the hill – on the correct trail – back to the dinghy.  On the way back, we saw 2 large eagle rays, 2 sting rays and a nurse shark with its head stuck in a hole – obviously chasing some food – an odd sight tho’ – it looked at first like a shark with no head.  As we approached, it backed out of the hole and sped away.

On the way back to the boats, the outboard started to over rev and the dinghy slowed down.  These motors do not have a “shear pin” on the prop (in case you hit something underwater).  Instead, they have a rubber bushing integrated into the prop that over time will wear out.  We managed to get back to the boats going slowly.  We have a new spare prop on board and it only takes about 20 minutes to change out the prop.  Sure enough, that bushing in the old prop is shredded. Two outboard issues in the same afternoon!

As swim and a shower and left over chicken marsala for dinner.  Doesn’t get much better.

Sunset at Hoffman/Devils Anchorage

Friday, April 20, 2018. Wind West@10, high cirrus clouds, partial sun, very humid, 82 degrees. Lisa made Bahama coconut bread French toast for breakfast, yum!

11:00am Don and Gwen stop by.  We plan to move the boats over behind Devil’s Cay.  There is one very skinny spot on the way there, so we will wait for high tide. Some fisherman come by and we bought 2 snappers and 1 grouper.  They are about 3 pounds each. We paid $20 and 3 cold Landsharks for them.  Don volunteered to filet them and Gwen volunteered to cook them for tonight’s dinner.

12:30pm, We move the boats through the skinny water to the weast side of Devil’s Cay.  The least amount of water in the cut was 6.5 feet.  We are supposed to get NE to East winds tonight and tomorrow.  There is very little current here and no surge. 1NM  25°35.87’N  077°43.90’W

2:00pm We loaded up the dinghys and headed back to the blue hole.  This time we landed at the second beach (the one we went to by mistake) and brought cameras and snorkel gear.  Lisa and Gwen went for a swim with the cameras.  Don and I were sitting at the waters’ edge under and overhang when two people jumped into the water from above.  Scarred us because they seemed to fall out of the sky.  There are actually three of them (Mike, Sarah and Justin) and they are off the boat Kai, which is a crewed charter they are taking north to Long Island, NY, for the summer. Kia is a 72’ custom built Wellington originally built for the chairman of Coca-Cola in 1987.  Justin recently bought it as his previous boat was destroyed in the Virgin Islands during this past hurricane season. Justin says they use this hole for free dives also and that is it is over 180 feet deep on the other side.

Lisa and Gwen got some great shots, so check out the pictures and the videos.

We saw a power catamaran anchored when we got back to the beach.  It is a single-hander with 2 black labs aboard (Fire and Ice).  We saw the boat when we were on land at Cracker Boys last fall.

6:00pm  We went to Tackless Too for dinner.  Gwen had baked the fish with tomatoes, olives, capers, onions and peppers.  Lisa made rice and I made a jug of Goombay Smash. Lovely dinner.  We had Kathy’s (Spanish Wells) Carrot Cake for dessert. At sunset, we saw the green flash!  Great evening.

This anchorage seems to be near perfect in this wind (East).  There are beaches on both sides fo us, no surge, very little current and no other boats.

Saturday, April 21, 2018. Wind ESE@10, partly cloudy, 80 degrees.  We called Flo’s again, this time Clarence answered on VHF 68.  He said he had to go to Bullocks Harbor to get diesel island and around the southern tip (the cut between Devil’s Cay and Little Harbor Cay).  We found a few nice shells and Lisa found one round sea bean (Lauralwood).

11:30am We head back south in the dinghys to Little Harbor Cay to Flo’s for lunch.  We met Clarence and had his famous rum punch while waiting for our food. 

Clarence and Don at Flo's

It was served family style (conch and fish) with peas and rice and salad.  A very good meal and there was none left over.  The cost was $15 each and the rum punch was $10 each.  We learned the Flo had passed away 8 years ago and that Clarence’s sister, who carves on the conch shells is now in Palm Beach.

Conch shells at Flo's

Carved conch shell done by Clarence's sister

 We also found out that the house and the dock on the north end of this island is a Boy Scout Camp.  Justin had told us that the trails to the blue hole were all cut and maintained by the Boy Scouts. Coming and going to Flo’s, we saw lots of sea turtles, star fish and rays.

4:00pm  Lisa and I tried to dinghy over to the east side of Devil’s Cay.  What appeared to be beach, turns out to be rock and we cannot get near it.  To got to the beach on the east side, we will have to beach the dinghy on the west side and walk around the south end of the island – maybe tomorrow.

We stopped at Tackless Too to see Ginger’s new haircut.

The boat with the 2 labs stopped here.  He can get very close to the beach and when he does, the labs jump off the boat and swim ashore.  We played with them for a bit and then headed back to the boat.  They then headed off to the east across very shallow water.

Dinner on board.  Oven roasted chicken, pasta alfredo and peas.

Monday, April 22, 2018. 4:00am Lightning on the horizon.  Stored the cockpit cushions under the dodger as well as anything else we did not want wet or to blow away.

5:45am Rain and wind – very heavy.

9:00am More wind and rain.  Small leak around the mast and one of the overhead hatches (we think the hatch cover was caught under the seal allowing the water in.  The mast will have to be resealed.  We had opened one of the water tanks so the rain would refill it.

9:30am Big lightning strike close by.  Always a concern on any boat, but a sailboat is a big lightning rod. 

12:00noon Rain finally passed, clearing sky, wind SE@15+, 82 degrees.  There is a stationary front sitting more or less right over us, which has been the cause of the unstable weather.  It is unclear when that will move or dissipate.

1:00pm We picked up Gwen and headed to the beach.  We landed as far south on the west side of the island as possible and then walked around the south end of the island (on the rocks, mostly) to the other side.  There are lots of the black and white top shells, whole and broken.  We walked about ½ mile on the beach on the east side of the island.  We found a Laurelwood bean, a Machineel bean, and a small helmet conch shell (the first we have found on this trip without a resident).  We spotted a heart bean and showed it to Gwen, who officially “found” it.  Now she knows where to look!

5:30pm Gwen and Don come to dinner on Rhiannon. I made George Barlow’s Chicken Pear Curry and Gwen brought a salad.  No sunset tonight – so no conch horn blowing (this is becoming a tradition at every sunset).  We played Mexican Train until 9:00pm (cruisers’ midnight).  Nice day – great evening.

Monday April 23, 2018. Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind SE@15-20. We decide we will leave this anchorage later today at high tide – about 4pm.  The wind is supposed to go SW and that will mean it will be uncomfortable here – and the waves through the cut with the skinny water will mean we would probably tough bottom in that wind.

10:00am Lisa and Gwen went snorkeling at the cut with the shallow water. They saw turtles, a big marble grouper, 2 rough-tailed sting rays, a lot of colorful reef fish, a honeycomb cow fish, and a good sized shark.  Gwen was not sure if it was a reef shark or a silky shark (rare in this area according to the book).  After the third inquiring pass, the girls thought it would be a good idea to get out of the water.

While the girls were snorkeling, Don came over and we fixed the hinges on two of our overhead hatches.  These are held in place with pop-rivets (aluminum) and over time, they corrode and fall apart.

Little Gaulding Cay

3:00pm Don and I dinghied over to the shallow water spot to check the depths.  He has a hand held depth sounder, which is great for this. There was only 6.5feet when we came in (on a high tide) and we need at least 5 feet.  It is an hour before high tide and the shallowest spot we can find is 7.5 feet, so we should be OK as long as there are no big swells. The bottom here is rock and it would not be good to hit bottom.

4:00pm We lift the anchor and head back out of the cut.  Tackless Too leading the way as they only draw 3 feet of water.  Don says he saw one spot that was 5.8’.  The shallowest we saw was 6’3” and our depth meter is off a conservative 1 foot.

4:30pm We are anchored back in the same spot we were in the last time. 

1NM  25°36.72’N  077°44.34’W

Dinner on board.  Overnight wind goes South@15+ and a couple of rain showers.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018.  Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind S@15-20.

9:50am Anchor up.  Tackless Too and us head out of the inlet.  Big rollers (6’-8’) coming in through the inlet.  It’s a good thing we negotiated the skinny water yesterday when the waves were very small.

10:20am Outside in the Sound heading north to Hawksnest Cay.  There are still good sized rollers out here (4’-6’).  We are making 6.5 knots under sail.

10:50am We turn to 318° - dead down wind which makes the ride more comfortable.  Making 6 knots.

12:30pm Anchored in the bight east of Bullocks Harbor, west of Hawksnest Cay in 10 feet of water.  13NM today  25°44.50’N  077°50.10’W

4:30pm We went on a dinghy ride with Tackless Too up Shark’s Creek.  Lots of fish and turtles,  We went left at the second fork instead of right and wound up at a dead end.  If we had taken the right fork, we could have gone all the way across the island.

Dinner on board.  Left-over chicken curry – always better the next day.

10:00pm We received Chris Parkers Bahamas email Weather Update (sent out at 8:18pm). It says severe thunderstorms and squalls are possible where we happen to be. The lightning is already here and within 15 minutes the wind builds to 30 out of the east.  This anchorage is open to the east (all the way to Europe).  Big waves coming in from the east, heavy rain.  We managed to leave open an overhead hatch in the salon, but all that got wet was a rug.  By 11:00pm, it was all over.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018. 2:00am Lightning again on the horizon.  We lifted the dinghy so it was out of the water.  During these squalls, it really gets whipped around when tied to the stern.  This way it is out of the water and we pull the plug so it does not fill with water either.  We did this during severe squalls last year in George Town (Exumas), and it works well for us.  The dinghy is also lashed to the stern so it does not swing around.

3:00am The rain has stopped and the wind has died off to nothing.  Like a pond in the anchorage.

8:00am 80 degrees, partly cloudy, wind West@15.

11:00am We went to the shore to “The Beach Club” with Don and Gwen to meet Jay and Karen, who Lisa met on Facebook and who are building a house here.  We had lunch, then a tour of the island from the back of their Daihatsu pickup truck, the marina, the cut (harbor entrance), the town of Bullocks Harbor, the grocery, the marina.  The island was developed by Meyer Lansky and the “Rat Pack” after Cuba threw out all the Americans.  They spent over $42 million in 1960s dollars here. There is a great, well protected marina, good roads, an airport, school and a Jack Nicholson golf course.  In fact, Jack still comes here to play golf on the nine holes still maintained and bone fish.  The island has been gridded and lots are available for sale. The homes are all very nice.  There are 800 residents and there is full employment on the island, and only 3 small restaurants and 2 bars. The original venture went broke, but now the cruise lines are developing the 2 northern most islands as “private get-a-ways” for their guests. 

6:00pm Dinner on Tackless Too.  Gwen made enchiladas and we brought Jeff’s dip (velveta, Rotel tomatoes, fresh onion and peppers) and Tostidos. 

L to r: Lisa, Benny, Gwen, Don

Nice evening, showers, but no storms, overnight.

Thursday, April 26, 2018. Rain showers continue this morning.  Wind S@10, 80 degrees.

11:00am, we dinghy with Tackless Too over to Petit Cay.  We were told that there was an excellent “aquarium” at low tide between three sets of rocks and that at low tide it is only 2 feet deep.  It rained on us on the way there (about 2 miles).  The only place we could find that matched the description of the “aquarium”, was on the south side of the island and with the south wind there are big waves crashing in.  We dinghied around the island and landed on the protected north side and walked the beach as far as we could.  We found lots of shells (some nice conch and lots and lots of sea biscuits).  Afterward, we went back to The Beach Club for a beer.  I also bought a t-shirt and Lisa bought dresses for our friends little girls at The Art Shack (a shop next door to the “Club”).  We met people from four boats from a sailing club in Michigan who arrived late last night.  They are leaving in the morning from Bimini – heading south against a southerly breeze.

Tackless Too dropped off cat food for Jay and Karen, who are feeding 4 cats at the marina (where they are living on their boat until the house is complete). It is food they bought for their cat, but she will not eat it.

Back at the boat, Lisa went for a swim and then cooked lobster (from Spanish Wells), mashed potatoes and carrots to take over to Tackless Too for dinner.

Meanwhile, I cleaned the black soot from the dinghy and the back of Rhiannon.  The dinghy gets dirty sitting tied to the stern where both the engine and generator exhaust are.  I believe the diesel fuel over here is not as clean as in the US (is there “clean diesel fuel?).

6:00pm  Dinner aboard Tackless Too.  We brought the lobster, mashed potatoes and carrots and they had steaks which were grilled to perfection.  All served with a nice cabernet. Quite the feast.

We are headed to Lucaya tomorrow and they are headed south to Bimini, Key West and then home to Tarpon Springs.  We will miss them and hopefully cross paths with them again in the future.

Friday, April 27, 2018. 4:00am  Rain and Lightning.

7:00am Cloudy, wind SE@5-10, 80 degrees, very humid.  We are preparing for departure.  We filled the fuel and water tanks from the jerry cans.  We raise the dinghy on the davits and stow the outboard.

8:00am Tackless Too came by on their way to take Ginger to the beach to say goodbye.  We certainly hope to see them again.

8:30am Anchor up, heading NW toward Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island.  The sun is peaking out.

9:00am We call Port Lucaya to insure we have a place.  They tell us their shower, laundry and boater’s lounge are closed for renovations and suggest we call Grand Bahama Yacht Club.  The price is the same and both marinas are owned by the same company.  There is a shuttle boat around the harbor so you can get to The Marketplace, beach, restaurants, etc.  We called Grand Bahama and are all set.

9:30am We pass the north end of Great Harbor Cay and then Great and Little Stirrup Cays.  There is a cruise ship sitting off Great Stirrup Cay and they are using what look like military landing craft (although probably much more luxuriant) to move guests back and forth to the island.  There is lots of construction on both islands, including a huge pier on each.  We were told that the cruise ship companies are making Great Stirrup into a private amusement park for guests.  There will not be a hotel, but plenty of amusements and restaurants.

10:30am We talk to Tackless Too on the VHF.  They are going to head to Bimini towait on a weather window to cross to Florida.  They are meeting family in Key West and then heading north to Tarpon Springs (home).

11:00am Wind SSW@10-15.  We have the fore sail out and are motor sailing at 7 knots.

1:00pm We are passed by several large ships headed towards Freeport.  We have to keep an eye on the radar as there is a lot of traffic.

We have been fighting a current since we left Great Stirrup Cay – as well as a fairly significant chop added to the swells of 2 – 4 feet from the southeast. The seas just flattened out and our speed picked back up at least a full knot.

2:30pm Motor sailing with the current, making 7.8 knots.  Sun is currently out, it has been in and out all day.  Big puffy cumulus clouds on the horizon.

3:15pm Clouds building and darkening in the east.  2 ½ hours from Lucaya.

4:00pm Wind dies completely, sails down, motoring.  Rain clouds to the east.

6:00pm Rain starts as we enter the harbor.  Fabian (dock master) here to help us with lines.  Bavaria, a large trawler, also just came in and are in the slip next to us.

65NM today, 6.8 knots average speed.  26°31.10’N  078°38.14’W

Lighthouse at Lucaya

Dinner on board, we cleaned out the leftovers.

Quiet night with rain.

Saturday, April 28, 2018.  Rain until 9:00am, then the sun came out, 78 degrees, wind West@16.  We walked over to the office and checked in.  We met Tasha, who works in the office.  There is a large sportfish on the fuel dock with a man who is apparently having a stroke (they think).  The ambulance arrives at the same time we did.  Hopefully, he is OK.  The rates here have gone up.  All the marinas in this basin are npow owned by the same company and they are all the same price $2.20/foot plus $15 a day for water and 75¢/foot for electricity, plus 7.5% VAT.  Makes an effective rate of $3.51 a foot.

We met Walter and Ingrid on Bavaria.  They are just arriving in the Bahamas after spending three months in Fort Lauderdale.  Ingrid had a heart issue in January.  Walter comes here to dive.  Their home is in Nova Scotia.

Lisa did laundry and I worked on our Float Plan for the Small Vessel Reporting System (SVRS) which if for US Customs and Immigration.  This allows us to check in over the telephone when we return to the US.  Although, we never actually check out of the US when we leave, so I do not know that they know we are even out of the country.  We did some other internet work and paid some bills also.

We took the shuttle boat over to Lucaya Market Place. It actually lands at the Pelican Bay Hotel which is the same architecture are the Grand Bahama Yacht Club (condos).  

Pelican Bay Hotel, Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island

The hotel was recently sold by the marina owners.  Pretty place.  The whole basin was originally developed by a Danish company.  The Grand Bahama Port Authority owns all the land along the shore and sells it to companies wanting to develop it.  The port of Freeport was originally developed under this authority.  The port of Freeport is one of the largest ports on the east cost of the US.  Because it is a “free port”, a lot of shipment transfers are done here.  It is also a large cruise ship port.  The airport is next door and is also part of the port authority complex.

Lucaya Market Place would remind you of Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach.  There are many shops (especially jewelry), restaurants, bars and a straw market with many local hand made goods. 

Lisa found a guy carving fish, mermaids, turtles, etc. out of wood.  Then we had a late lunch at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub, where Pink Sands were 2 for $5.  We shared a large portion of cracked (fried) conch and then went next door to Santorini Deli for ice cream.

On the return trip, the boat driver dropped us off right on the dock where Rhiannon is berthed.  Nice!

Sunday, April 29, 2018. Wind North@15+, sunny, no clouds, 78 degrees.  We worked on the blog today and did other boat chores.

2:00pm We took the shuttle boat to the opposite end of the harbor from the Marketplace to Tiania Bay Resort.  We walked to the beach, but it has been raked so it is nice and clean, which means no sea beans and very few shells – great fro beach sport tho’.  Very pretty beach.

4:00 We had an early dinner at The Sand Bar.  Pink Sands here are $5 each.  Lisa had shrimp quesadilla and I had a burger.  Both were very good.  As we were leaving, a lot of folks were showing up for the Sunday Night Bonfire and Buffet.

Lisa lost the pendant off her necklace during our adventures today.  We backtracked, but did not find it.

Most of the buildings in this area have slate roofs.  Many of them were damaged by Hurricane Matthew last year and are being replaced with colorful metal roofs.

Monday, April 30, 2018. Sunny, wind NE@10-15, 80 degrees.  We decide to head to West End to wait for a weather window to cross back to the US.

11:00am We are off the dock – Aaron is here to help.

11:20am We are at the end of the entrance channel and turn west.  Wind SE@15+, we are sailing at 7+ knots.

12:00noon Sailing at 6.5 knots, wind back NE@15+.  As we pass Freeport, we have to give way to a tanker and a container ship.  Two cruise ships currently in port here.  The petroleum terminal is actually offshore, so you have to give the harbor a wide berth.  There are several ships anchored waiting for dockage.

3:00pm  As we approach the west end of Grand Bahama, the wind is building, now NE@25+.  We consider trying Bootles Fish Camp Marina, which is 5 miles closer, and is supposed to have 2 42 foot docks.  However, the channel is only 5 feet and it may have been filled in some with Matthew, so we forego that opportunity.

4:10pm We tied to the dock at Old Bahama Bay Marina, West End.  It is very protected, and as soon as we entered the breakwater, the water is flat.  29NM today, average 6+ knots.  26°42.09’N  078°59.50’W

Old Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama Island

4:30pm We walked to the office to check in.  The rates have gone up here too - $2.99/foot, plus $25.99 flat rate for electricity, plus $15 flat rate for water, plus 7.5% VAT.  That makes the effective rate here $4.26/foot. This is a nice well protected spot with a beach, condos, 2 restaurants, houses on the water, real estate for sale, a fuel dock, and a small store.  However, at that price, I don’t know how many people would make this a regular stopover.  We also discover that there is a fishing tournament here starting Wednesday, so we may have to leave on Thursday.  Hopefully, the winds lay down a bit by then.

6:30pm Two sail boats and a trawler come in from Florida.  I can’t imagine that crossing today would have been much fun. The owner of Milky Waves (Vic) is originally from New Orleans (now lives in Jacksonville).  One of the crew is Brad, who grew up in New Orleans 2 blocks from where I grew up – old home week!

Platinum brought by conch for sale.  We bought 6, which he chopped up and made into conch salad.  We also got one still in the shell (a beautiful helmet conch).  Platinum said to put it in the freezer and he will come by tomorrow and take it out of the shell.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018.  May Day.  Heavy rain overnight.  Sunny this morning, wind East@20+.  Brad came over to ask if we could sit down with charts with them as only one of the four of them has been in the Bahamas before.  We plan that for 4:00pm today.

Lisa made omelets for breakfast and washed the boat, then cleaned all the windows. She also waxed half the stainless. We keep hoping for a weather window to cross, but it looks like it may be the week-end before this wind lets up.  We will keep our fingers crossed.

The motor on the Nikon camera is sounding funny when focusing – and “stuttering”.  Hopefully, it will continue to work.

2:30pm  North Shore Spirit moved from the seawall by the gas dock to the slip next to us.  We helped them get tied up in the slip.  As soon as that was done, Brigadoon came into the slip on our other side.

4:00pm The guys from Milky Waves came over to review charts.  Their plan is to head to Great Sale Cay tomorrow, then on the Green Turtle Cay and Marsh Harbour.  They will be fighting this NE wind the whole way.  The Sea of Abaco is only 15 feet deep, so it is going to be extremely rough going.  They have to be in Marsh Harbour by March 7, to meet the wives who are flying in for a week.  They then plan to head for Spanish Wells, Exumas – down to Staniel Cay, then Nassau, The Berry Islands, back here to West End and then back to Jacksonville – all in three weeks.  I remember the saying that the biggest enemy of a cruiser is a schedule.

There is supposed to be a fishing tournament here starting tomorrow, but most of the boats coming in are sailboats.

We had dinner at the restaurant here. Lisa had grilled grouper and I had 

Dry rubbed ribs, then we shared a cheese cake for dessert.  It was all very good.

Several of the big sport fish boats came in while we were having dinner.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018.  Cloudy, 80 degrees, wind NE@20-25. Milky Waves departed at 7:00am for Great Sale. There is a fishing tournament here starting this afternoon.  Boats are coming in all day.  The smallest is a 30 foot center console and the largest is a 90 foot Viking.

A sailboat came in from Great Sale and said he had seen Milky Waves and they were really “taking a pounding”.

Platinum came around selling conch.  We bought 6 and he made it into conch salad for Lisa.  We also bought a helmet conch.  We put it in the freezer and Platinum will remove the animal tomorrow.  The shell is really pretty.  Lisa paid some dollars, 2 beers and my used boat shoes for the conch.

We got a ride in the marina van to the grocery in town, but really did not buy a lot.  Very little produce there.

Dinner was aboard North Shore Spirit.  Garnet make calzones and Lisa made a salad.  Garnet and Gord were neighbors in Vancover.  Gord now lives half the year in Punta Gorda.  They left the wives at home for this adventure to the Bahamas.

Garnet (left) and Gord (right) North Shore Spirit

Thursday, May 3, 2018.  The wind is still howling out of the NE.  Sunny, 80 degrees.  We spent the day first cutting up this bamboo we have been carrying sine the Exumas so Lisa can decorate the pieces to be used to hold tools, small paint brushes, etc.  Garnet and I then worked on a conch shell to make it into a horn.  We have a few here and Garnet did most of the work.  By the end of the day, he had a workable horn, but it still needs some cleaning.

We found that our aft refrigerator has stopped working.  Luckily, the forward unit is still working and we moved everything into it.  Garnet came over to help trouble shoot it, but we could not discover the cause.  The unit is “short cycling” (trying to turn the compressor on).  There is adequate voltage at the unit, so it is not that.

We walked over to the weigh in for the tournament.  There were three large Mahi, the largest being 63 pounds, but the winner for the day was a 99 pound Wahoo.  Imagine how many steaks will come out of that!

99 pounds of Wahoo

Lisa made pork chops for dinner and we fed Garnet also.

Platinum came by and removed the animal from the frozen helmet shell.  Lisa bought more conchs to freeze and Platinum had a couple more (smaller) helmet shells for us.

Friday, May 4, 2018. Not as much wind this morning, but by 10:00am, it has picked back up to 20+ out of the NE.  All the fishing boats are out this morning.  I talked to John (Sea Breeze) about our refrigerator and he thinks it might be the electronic control unit.  I do not have a spare, but may be able to swap the one from the unit still working to see if that solved the problem.

I worked on the blog, especially loading the pictures.  More boats come in for a scuba diving event this weekend. 

Lisa decorated one of the pieces of bamboo.  Then she made a big pot of spaghetti that she hopes to be able to trade for some fish from some of the boats in the tournament.  So, now we have some Mahi in the fridge (the one that’s still working).

We checked out the leader board for the tournament after most of the boats were in for today.  There is 115 pound Black Fin Tuna that is currently the biggest fish.

3:00pm We went with Garnet to the bar at the pool and had a “Gully Washer”, the local specialty drink.  Coconut water, coconut rum, coconut cream, vodka and a splash of spiced rum.  Very tasty, but you would not want too many of these (or maybe you would?).

6:00pm Garnet and Gord (North Shore Spirit) came to eat spaghetti.  Garnet had made some coconut cream pudding for dessert. Nice evening.  Wind is really howling out of the NE still.

Saturday, May 5, 2018.  One of our friends says we should apply for voting status – we have been here long enough.  Seems like it.  We woke up at 6:45am to a strange sound – or lack of it – silence – the wind had stopped.  Turns out it was short lived.  By 8:00am it was blowing 15 again, but now mostly east.  80 degrees, partly cloudy, 50% chance of rain.  Tomorrow looks like it may be a day to cross back to the US.

1:00pm Airborne (Jay and Luisa) left.  They are going to ride the gulf stream north to Fernandina.

Lisa walked the beach and came back with treasures - some nice shells, a sea pearl and some bay beans.  The Bay Beans grow on a vine that is common on the beaches in the Bahamas and Florida, but we have never found any in the pod, but now we have.
We used the big dock cart and bought 4 jerry cans (22 gallons of fuel).

6:00pm We prepare Rhiannon for sea.  The weather looks like it may cooperate, so we plan to leave at 6:00am to make sure we hit slack tide at the inlet in Florida.  We are still not sure whether we will head to Lake Worth (West Palm Beach) or Stewart.

7:00pm Dinner on board North Shore Spirit.  Gord made a pork tenderloin and vegetables and we cooked some Mahi.  Wonderful.
Tonight was the awards dinner for the fishing tournament.  As the last act, there was a Junkanoo band!  Then the band walked the docks serenading each of the boats!  Lots of rocking music!  What a way to spend our last night in the Bahamas!

Click on this link for a sample of Bahamian Junkanoo music

Click here for more info on Junkanoo!

Click on this link for many more pictures.

Click on this link to see where we are at any time.