Key Biscayne to New
Providence
Saturday, January 5,
2019. 6:00am Murky out.
Racor fuel filter leaking.
What a mess. Changed it again. Seems the seal somehow got twisted and would
not seal. OK now.
6:45am First Light
Anchor up with Dalmatian
– heading toward Bimini, partly cloudy, wind at 10-15, looks like rain.
10:00am We heard Sea La Vie and another boat on the
VHF. We couldn’t make out all of the
conversation. Sun is peaking out, wind
W@10. Seas are confused, waves coming
from every direction as we enter the Gulf Stream.
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| Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne |
11:00am Partly Cloudy, wind NW@15-seas building-waves still
coming from every direction.
Sailing at 6.5 knots. Every now and then a big waves over
the quarter – WOW!
12:00noon Turned off course to the north. At this point, we do not seem to be getting
any “push” from the Gulf Stream. The wind is turning more to the north, still
under sail making 6.5 – 7 knots. Wind
now N@15.
1:00pm Making 8+knots with just the foresail out. In the Stream now.
3:00pm Bimini Harbor entrance in sight.
3:30pm On the dock at Bimini Bluewater Marine. Dockmaster JR here to greet us and help us
tie up. Dalmatian already here and help us in as well.
Drinks and dinner on board.
52NM today. 25°43.73’N
079°17.86’W
Sunday, January 6,
2019. We walked the beach this morning with Dalmatian. We don’t usually find sea beans on this beach, but we do
find lots of nice shells. This morning
we found a golf ball sea bean, a marble sea bean and a heart sea bean! Lisa also found a nice helmet conch
shell. Because of the wind, we decide to
wait until Tuesday before we depart.
A couple of local fishermen came by in their boat with conch
and lobster for sale. We bought 5 large
lobster for $25, two beers and two soft drinks. We had dinner with Dalmatian at the Big Game Club. The food was great! Very nice evening.
Monday, January 7,
2019. We dropped off laundry, then to Charlie’s for Bahamian Bread, but it
was closed. Bailey came by and sold us
more lobsters ($12 for $50). He gave Tom
and I a ride to M&S Liquors where we stocked up on Pink Sands (Sands
grapefruit Radler, one of our favorites).
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| Tom (Dalmation) at the Big Game Club, Bimini |
We filled up with water (we used the jerry cans and got
water from the purification plant on site – not water on the dock).
We met Tamara and Dave.
They now own Pearl again. They owned it previously, sold it to Val and
Lisa, who we traveled with three years ago, then bought it back this year.
We walked the beach at low tide but did not find any more
great treasures, picked up the laundry, stopped at the grocery.
We had cocktails on Dalmatian,
then dinner on Rhiannon (lobster!).
We met a very nice young man named Laquan Stirrup on the
dock. He was waiting for his co-workers
to head back to South Cat Cay, where they are working on a construction project
building a new resort and marina. He is
originally from Andros and is dating a young lady who is a police officer on
Bimini. He told us all about Junkanoo
and showed us videos on his phone of some of the costumes.
Tuesday, January 8,
2019. 7:00am clear, cool, 65 degrees, wind NE@5, past half tide going
towards high. Off the dock with Dalmatian. No issues getting out of the harbor. There
was a pod of dolphins chasing us as we left the harbor.
8:30am We make the turn east at North Rock. We are making 6.3 knots as we motor
east. What little wind there is is on
our nose. There are two large ships
astern, but they look to be heading away from us.
11:00am The seas are flat, a nice change after the crossing
on Saturday where it was like being in a washing machine.
1:00pm wind calm, seas flat, making 6.5 knots motoring. Clouds on the northern horizon, otherwise
clear, 70 degrees, lovely day on the water.
Almost no wind all afternoon.
6:30pm Anchor down on the banks west of Chubb Cay. Dalmatian
and one other boat here.
We put in 11 gallons of fuel from the jerry cans.
Dinner was left-overs from the big game club. We talked to Pearl on the VHF, they are headed overnight to Spanish Wells.
It’s always amazing when you anchor out on the banks. The water is only 12 feet deep, but you
cannot see land (or lights, or anything) in any direction.
72NM today,
25°31.85’N 078°11.42’W No moon, clear, lots of stars, almost no wind
overnight.
Wednesday, January 9,
2019. Up at 6am, light just showing in the east, clear, wind NW@5-10.
6:30am Anchor up, heading east with Dalmatian.
7:30pm The tide is running against us as we pass through the
Northwest Channel, but once we hit deep water, we are making 6.7 knots motor
sailing. Seas are 1-2 feet, clear, puffy
clouds on the northern horizon.
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| Sunrise on the Banks |
9:00am We put on fishing line out.
10:00am Making 7+ knots motor sailing with the current. We hear Purdy Suite on the VHF heading into
Nassau. Beautiful day so far, wind
N@5-10, clear 75 degrees.
12:00noon Still making 6.5-7 knots, course 115. Seas have built up some off the stern
quarter, clear 80 degrees.
3:00pm As we get closer to shore, the bottom comes up from
over 4000 feet to 30 feet. That combined
with the wind from the north is making for a rough ride as we pass Nassau. We are surfing down six foot waves as we come
to the cut for Rose Island (east of Nassau).
Clear, 80 degrees, wind NNW@15.
The wind was supposed to die off, but it did not.
4:15pm Anchor down at Rose Island. Lots of catamarans here – charters out of
Nassau?
Looks like rain moving in from the north.
62NM today.
25°05.02’N 077°12.54’
Dinner on board.
Beautiful sunset over Nassau.
Thursday, January 10,
2018. Beautiful morning. Cool, clear, 70 degrees. We decide to take a layover day. We spend the day doing some cleaning,
re-arranging some of the storage. We put
the clean laundry (from Bimini) away. We
had good internet, so we worked on paying some bills and preparing a new lease
for the apartment. We called our
grand-daughter Brook, it is her 18th birthday.
I made Janet Handley’s veal stew for dinner. Yum.
Friday, January 11,
2018. Clear, cool, 70 degrees, wind NE@5-10. We put in 2 jerry cans of fuel (11 gallons).
Anchor up at 8:30am. We tried to get the main unfurled, but
were only able to get it half-way out.
We were finally able to get it back in (furled). We will have to work on this when we are
somewhere calm.
2:30pm Anchor down just outside Highborne Cay as we wait to
be able to get to the fuel dock. Dalmatian
is already here at anchor.
3:00pm The marina calls on the VHF and the fuel dock is
open, so we raise the anchor and head in to the marina. We take on 23.6 gallons
of fuel in the jerry cans as the marina only has a big nozzle on their diesel
pump and it won’t fit into our fuel inlet.
We also put on 30 gallons of water and visit the small grocery store for
ice and some lettuce. While we are here,
we managed to send off the new lease and welcome letter via email.
4:15pm We are off the dock at Highborne Cay and head south.
5:30pm Anchor down just west of Norman’s Cay (about in the
center of the cay).
42NM today. 24°37.53’N 076°49.39’W
Lisa made lobster bisque for dinner.
Saturday, January 12,
2019. Wind came up overnight, NE then E at 15-20 gusting to 25. A bit bumpy where we are anchored, but no
waves. 70 degrees, partly cloudy,
showers predicted.
8:00am Dalmatian moved over to where we are anchored. Even though we are only a few miles from
Highborne Cay, and we can actually see the cell tower there, we have no service
here.
The outboard is leaking oil out of the seal around the
propeller – not good. According to the
owner’s manual it is probably the lower shaft seal and they say it has to go in
to a dealer for this seal to be replaced.
We were able to get some phone service and called Harbourside Marine in
Nassau (Yamaha distributer/dealer/service), but they are already closed for the
week-end. Never fails that something like this happens on the week-end!
We called Nick and Carolyn Wardle in Coral Harbour (south
side of New Providence (where Nassau is located)), and they have room for us on
their dock. They are an SSCA Cruising
Station (Seven Seas Cruising Association) and rent space on their dock at their
house. Much better place to stay (and
Much cheaper) than Nassau.
We listened to the weather on channel 6 and decide to stay
put for today.
9:00am We talked to Exuma Park and told them we would not
make it there today, that we are not sure when we would arrive and we email
them when we know an arrival date.
We re-wrote the new leases based on latest conversations and
managed to send them off.
Lisa spent a few hours typing on this blog.
I spent time figuring out how to do DCS calling on the VHF
using MMIS numbers. The VHF is a “party
line” and the Digital Selective Calling (DSC) allows you to call and only the
vessel with that (MMIS) number will hear the call. Cool. Unfortunately, the manual for the radio was
probably written in Chinese or Japanese and then translated loosely into
American.
5:00pm Wind still ENE@10-20+, it is supposed to let up
overnight.
Dinner on board, let over veal stew, better after it sits a
day.
Looks like rain squalls south of us.
Sunday, January 13,
2019. 2:00am The wind is screaming, as strong as it has been (or more so)
in the last 2 days. Supposed to be dying
off – not yet!
7:30am Wind SE@10-15, seems almost calm in comparison to
overnight. Dalmatian decided to go
with us to New Providence. Nick and Carolyn
say they have room for us both. So
another adventure as we head back west to get the outboard (hopefully) fixed
(or replaced).
8:00am No weather report from Chris Parker or Highborne Cay
as it is Sunday. The sky is crystal blue, 70 degrees, wind SE@10-15. Carolyn said it rained heavily all night
there and the winds were currently calm.
8:15am Anchor up, motor sailing to New Providence
Island. We set a couple of interim
waypoints to miss White Shoal.
8:30am We talked to Purdy Suite on the radio and asked them
to remind Exuma Park we will not be coming there today (when they get into VHF
range of the park).
Our friend Cherry is a park ranger at Warderick Wells, and
she is on leave this week. She lives in
Nassau and Lisa sent here a message to see if we could get together while we
are there. Another Ranger, David M. also lives there and Lisa sent him a
message also.
11:00am High thin clouds, no wind. We are 13 miles from the
entrance to Coral Harbour.
2:30pm The Defense Force is calling on the radio, wanting to
know where we are going, our documentation number, our cruising permit number
and out last port of call. Coral Harbour
is the main Defense Force Base and we have to pass through the base to get to
Nick and Carolyn’s.
3:15pm, we turn into the channel to Coral Harbour. Wind SE@10, sky is clear, 80 degrees.
4:00pm we are rafted next to Boundless at Nick and Carolyn’s dock. There are 4 other boats here. Dalmatian
is rafted alongside us. We called Virgo Car Rental and made arrangements for a
rental car for tomorrow. They are the
cheapest on the island and they will pick us up here and drop us off when we
turn in the rental.
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| Defense Force Base at Coral Harbour, New Providence |
5:00pm Almost always “rum o’clock” at Nick and
Carolyn’s. Today is no exception. Tom and Mary Lou, Nick and Carolyn and
us. Very nice.
The last of the veal stew for dinner.
45NM today.
24°58.94’N 077°27.69 W
Monday, January 14,
2019. 7:30am Clear, little wind, 75 degrees. The rental car company picked me up at
9:00am. Upon returning to the boat, Tom and I, Mary Lou and Lisa, moved to
outboard off the rail of Rhiannon, onto the dingy, from the dinghy onto the
dock, dock to wheel barrow, wheel barrow to the trunk (boot) of the rental car.
We called Harbourside Marine and they said they could look at the motor
tomorrow, so we are going to drop it there this afternoon. They have all the parts required and if they
replace to lower seal, service the motor and change the impeller (probably
should if they have the lower unit apart anyway), the cost will be about
$500.00. If the bearings and bearing
case have to be replaced, that’s another $240 just for the parts and it will
take 10 days to 3 weeks to get the parts.
A new 15hp 2 stroke Yamaha is $2500.
We all piled into the car and headed off the Nassau. On the way, I managed to hity a pot hole and
blow out the left front tire. Tom and I
managed to change the tire (the spare is a temporary tire (donut)). Two mile later, the donut goes flat. We called Virgo and they sent a guy out with
a big jack and another donut. Tire
changed (again) and we head to Harbourside Marine. This time we made it! We drop off the outboard and then head over
to the Virgo office where the put a new tire on the rim, changed the tire, put
the donut in the trunk. Nice!
We went to the “Fish Fry” for dinner. This is an area along the water west of
Nassau that is a row of seafood restaurants and bars. Lots of choices, but most only take cash,
which we were short of. So the manager
of one of them took us to one that does accept credit cards, Fish Central. The food was good, Lisa had cracked conch and
I had fried snapper. We missed Run O’clock today. Back to the boat at 8:00pm.
Tuesday, January 15,
2019. Beautiful morning, dry, light north wind, clear, 70 degrees.
Tom and I spent much of the day working on our main sail
furling. We managed to get the sail all the way out, adjusted the height of the
sail in the mast, the angle of the boom, lubricated everything, and got it
furling (rolling in) and unfurling (rolling out). When and if we take the mast down, we will
have to a rigger check everything.
Harbourside Marine called.
They could find no issue with the motor.
They removed the lower unit, removed the oil and pressure tested the
unit and found no leaks. Also there was
no water in the oil, which would indicate a leak. They checked everything and
declared everything OK. They refilled
the lower unit with fresh gear oil. They
think the oil on the prop came out of the exhaust. If there is too much oil in the mixture, the
engine will not burn it and the excess will run out of the exhaust. All good news, but we are not sure how the
fuel/oil mixture got messed up. We will pick the motor up in the morning.
Rum O’clock with Dalmatian
and Nick and Carolyn.
Wednesday, January
16, 2019. Another beautiful morning. Tom and I made two trips to the Shell
station by the airport filing all four cans with diesel each trip (the local
gas station three blocks from Nick and Carolyn’s is closed). One set of four
cans went into Dalmatian, the other
set of four into Rhiannon. We are now
full of diesel and the four cans on deck are also full.
Dean and Susan called (Autumn
Borne) called. They had dinner in
St. Augustine last night with Seeker (Earl
and Kathy), Troika (Pierre and
Michelle) and Sea Note (Paul).
We all piled into the car to go pick up the motor and run a
bunch of errands. The car doesn’t
start. When you push the start button
all you hear is clicking, typical dead battery symptom. We called Virgo and they said they would send
someone out with another car. This one
has sure been a lemon! The mechanic arrived, checked over the car and then put
a jump battery on and the car started. Finally at noon we were off.
We went to Harbourside and retrieved the motor. The bill was only $140.00 (labor plus gear
oil and gaskets). We also got a couple
of other items while there (bilge cleaner, grease absorber, crimping
tool). While there one of the owners
came out to explain what they did to the motor, that it was all OK, and that we
should get rid of the fuel we have for the motor and start over. I was really
impressed with the service staff at Harbourside, and their prices are not any
more than you would find in Florida. I
was also able to find another fuse like the one we blew out while adjusting the
alternator in No Name.
We also stopped at Home Fabrics, where Lisa and Mary Lou
bought some yarn for crocheting. This is a very nice store much like Joanne
Fabrics at home. Then on to Liquid Courage (liquor store). They carry Tofka Toffee Vodka. I first tasted this two years ago when I was
staying at Nick and Carolyn’s and Lisa had flown home for doctor’s
appointments. I have not been able to
find it anywhere since. It has something in it that when they display it, it
looks like a lava lamp. It
shimmers. You can also make it do this
by shaking it. The stuff tastes heavenly!
Then it was on to Jimmy’s Liquors. Jimmy is Jimmy Sands and
owns Sands Brewery. If you drink Sands
Beer, it is half the price at Jimmy’s as it is anywhere else. Worth the trip.
Next stop was the bank and then the grocery (Super Value).
The car was really loaded by the time we headed back to the boat.
After unloading everything, we put all the fuel we had for
the dinghy into the rental car filing the tank (it was almost empty).
A quick scrub up and we head off to dinner at the Cricket
Club with Nick and Carolyn (this is their favorite place), Tom and Mary Lou (Dalmatian), Jeff (Boundless), Joel (Vlada III)
and Cherry (our friend who is a park ranger). Lisa and I had the Seafood Pie –
very, very good! A very nice evening!
Click on the link for more information about The Cricket Club
Click on the link for more information about The Cricket Club
Thursday, January 17,
2019. Yet another beautiful morning. Clear, 70 degrees, light north
wind. Lisa gave Rhiannon a much needed
bath and then cleaned the bilges, a real mess since the diesel fuel leaked in
there from the leaking filter.
I went to the Shell station to fill the cans for the
outboard. When I got back, we put the
outboard on and did a couple of test runs up and down the canal. It seems to be working fine and liking the
new fuel.
At noon, we drove into Nassau. We visited the chocolate factory at Gray
Cliffs and then the John Watling Distillery, where they make rum. We did the tour and tasting and then decided
to pass on buying any of their products, as they start at $60 a liter. Mary Lou and Lisa were craving pan pizza, so
we called a Pizza Hut that is on the way back to the boat and ordered one. Pan Pizza in the Bahamas is not the same as
in the USA, but it was good and finding good pizza here is a challenge.
We returned the rental car and Rum O’clock was delayed until
5:45pm. Jeff, Joel, Nick and Carolyn, Tom and Mary Lou. Tom and Joel spent some time trying to outdo
each other with outrageous stories. A good time was had by all.
We heard from Dean and Sue (Autumn Borne). They are
anchored in Cocoa tonight enroute to Vero Beach.
We thought that we may have another leak in the plumbing for
the water heater. I crawled in the space
and found no leaks! Yeah!
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