Thursday, May 24, 2012

Hopetown Abaco until Saturday

Looks like the weather will finally begin to break on Saturday.  Art Flynn was out early to talk with the Dockmaster, Paul.  He beat me out there!!  We had to make sure we were okay to stay in the slips until the break in the weather.  Last night was very interesting.  I mentioned Gale strength wind was forecast, and we weren't disappointed.  The anamometer on the top of the mast indicated 44.6 kts out of the southwest.  We had doubled up on the dock lines, so we were glad we did that.  We were pretty stretched out.  Art and I attached a line between our boats, for two reasons:  1) to help keep them off the docks, and 2) to help stabilize both boats in the BLOW!!  The forecast today is 100% chance of rain with 15-25kts of wind.  We will stay here!

To give you an indication of the type of weather, while we were making the transit from Great Guana to Man 'O War the other day, we got a call from Art on Channel 17 about the below waterspout.  It was a first for me.  I had never seen one. 


Let's backtrack while I am interested in writing (LOL-Oh yeah!), let's get back to Man 'O War Cay for a few minutes.  The Cay was very popular for boat building.  We had a wonderful conversation and tour with Hartley Albury, of his boat building shed.  This guy has been building these sailing skiffs for 37 years. 

I have to say, I was so engrossed in his explanations and techniques that I neglected to take other pics.  I was so disappointed as I was looking through my pics.  What a most interesting conversation.  He has two boats going simultaneously, the other in another building. 

Renne' spent a bit of time talking to Hartley's brother, Jeff, who owns and runs the local grocery store.  He had many anecdotes about the family line back to the loyalists of the 13 colonies who abandoned all they had to move to the Bahamas during the Revolutionary War.  Brenda Flynn, also is interested in all of the Roberts in the Abacos, as she is a Roberts and part of that family line disappeared about that time.  She is hoping to find a link here.

We also see many Albury 23 Runabouts all over the Abacos:

These are built here in Man 'O War also, and I really enjoyed watching these guys.  I would love to spend a few days learning from both of these shops.  Renne's sensitivity to chemicals made it impossible for her to stay around, so I had to catch up with her a few minutes later.

We found the local homes to be fascinating, and each Cay has a very distinct atmosphere and style.




We thought you might like to see the sunset from Man 'O War Cay.  Renne' was taking pictures and missed, again, the green flash that happened.  One of these days, she will just watch the sunset and not worry about some of the other things happening!  LOL!



Hopetown Abaco is a very quaint and very well maintained community!   This place is packed right now with boats in marinas and on mooring balls, due to foul weather over these past few days.

The real difference are the houses here.  Although many of them are lease houses for visitors, the variety of colors and splendid care these houses receive makes this the most intriguing of all the Cays we have seen to date.




And lastly, I have long been an enthusiast of the HMS Bounty and Captain William Bligh.  I have actually been at the helm of the BOUNTY used in the Mel Gibson movie while sailing Sidney Harbor under almost full sail.  I have been aboard the BOUNTY used in the Clark Gable movie when she was in St. Petersburg, Fl, and I have been to the brownstone home of Adm William Bligh in London, England.  Yesterday, I had the thrill of actually seeing one of the breadfruit trees brought back by Bligh on his second trip to Tahiti aboard the HMS Providence in 1793.  That completes the sides of the square of events for me.  What a thrill for an early American/English Naval history fan .

So, we will see if the forecast comes true today.  We are making water so we will have full tanks before we leave.  I need to get some diesel aboard also.  So make plans to meet us this afternoon for Sundowners.  We will save some snacks for you.  CYA then!!

JonNe'

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hopetown Abacos, Bahamas

Renne' and I are in Hopetown Abacos, Bahamas.  We are settled in at the Lighthouse Marina.  We had intended to take a mooring ball here, but we discovered the mooring balls were meant for 44' boats and lower.  Art and Brenda discovered this and they chose to take a slip here.  As R and I thought about it, we didn't want to risk the upcoming weather on the ball either, so we are here in a slip.



We have experienced a bit of hard, driving  rain, and we are doubled down with lines tonight as we are expecting gale force winds (45 kts or better) in the next 24 hours.  We are glad we are here and not more exposed elsewhere.  Looks like we may be here until Saturday.  We have also learned the other three boats (Last Dance, Fair Haven, and POWMIA) are safe in Port Canaveral tonight.  They had a rough crossing of the Gulf Stream, but the weather dictated their getting to the states at the earliest possible time.  We are glad they are tucked in safely.  They will begin their trek north in the next day or so.

In the meantime, Renne' has been busy talking to store owners, and another on is stocking her "Nighty Night Sailboat".  She is very excited!  I am so proud of her!!  We really like Hopetown, but there is no beach we have seen so far that matches Treasure Cay!

The internet is real sketchy here.  It comes and goes, so I want to get this out now.  We are having a great time, and so glad we are here! This IS what we were destined to do!

So stop by tomorrow for Sundowner's. We are still looking for you!

JonNe'

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Having a Bunch of Beers at Nipper's

Today is the Pig Roast at Nippers!  All you can eat and folks from surrounding Cay's come over to enjoy the meal and scenery.  Interestingly, the median age there was probably 40-us older crowd who won boats and a bunch of college kids who lowered the age considerably.  We met a group of kids who are from Roanoke College who are doing summer school on two chartered sailboats.



They are earing 4 credit hours towards graduation learning to sail, scuba dive, and leadership.  Where was I when this became available!!

This beach is one of the incredible beaches I have ever seen




 Tomorrow we leave for Man 'O War Cay.  Hope to get the next update then.

So we are watching the sunset at Grabber's now and hoping you show up for Sundowners.  But if you don't get here pretty quickly you will miss the beautiful site.

Come on down!

JonNe'

Friday, May 18, 2012

17-18 May 2012 Treasure Cay, Abacos


18 May 2012

If I could only say one word about today, it would be WOW!!  I can think of a whole host of other words to describe the beautiful day we had, but it would offend the ears of some of our dearest friends and relatives.  So, the most powerful word I can utter is WOW!!  Renne’ was thinking of a short story she could write describing two couples on a sailboat who go through a raging storm in the Bahamas.  As they each awoke, they discovered they were washed up on a beach of pure white sand with translucent waters of turquoise as far as the eye could see.  Palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze, people around the beach, not many, but some, all enjoying the water, beach scenery, temperature, breeze, serenity.  And somewhere in the scene, each discovers they did not survive the raging storm, but had lost their lives when their sailboat careened out of control against the rocks.  But all were there, and each discovers they have arrived in Heaven.  That was today.





It rained this morning and cooled the temperature a bit, although this afternoon, it reached a scorching 84 degrees.  By 1000, Renne’ was on her way to the grocery store nearby, but stopped at the marina gift shop, and when I caught up with her, she sent me back to the boat for 10 each of her Nighty Night Sailboat and Nighty Night Sailboat Goes to Spain.  By the time we left, Renne’ had placed most of them for resale, and her second long term customer.  They want to know immediately when she publishes Santa Finds Nighty Night Sailboat and the one to follow, Nighty Night Sailboat in the Bahamas.  She is a happy camper – or should I say Sailor/Authoress.  She has been spending 2-3 hours a day lately, working on the illustrations, and both should be near publication as soon as we arrive back in the States.

The grocery store here is extremely well provisioned, and she bought shoulder steaks of lamb, avocado, and sliced turkey leg.  Tonight, we had the lamb steaks, grilled, with grilled mixed vegetables.  What a feast.  Then we topped it off with a dessert of pumpkin roll, made by our friends, Art and Brenda Flynn. Whew!  Could today have been any better.

We also moved the boat out of the marina into the anchorage.  I changed the anchors yesterday.  I put the good 44lb Bruce on the all chain rode, using it as the primary anchor.  I changed the Danforth Anchor to the chain and rope rode as a backup.  We set the anchor and it held beautifully.  We are not too worried about dragging this evening.


Just after anchoring the boat, we met a couple who motored by on their way to the Crealock 43 pictured below.  They own the CareyAnn, and are Mike and CareyAnn.  They were with our other friends from Boca Chica, John and Dotty and Chuck and Cathy!  This is a very small world.  Anyway, while talking with them, this fuel ship enters to refuel the fueling dock.  We were all concerned about how he was going to get turned around, but the bow thruster sure did it's job!






We will be up early tomorrow morning, as high tide is at 0745.  We probably won’t leave until close to 0930, as Renne’ is interested in going back in for more lamb and veggies.  We want to repeat this meal again.

Last night, Art and Brenda were over for dinner.  We tried a new recipe layering potatoes, onions, carrots, green beans, garlic, and then ham slices.  We opened a can of ham, and sliced it very thickly.  Then added about 1-1/2 cups of vegetable bullion.  Put it in the pressure cooker and cooked it for 15 minutes.  I quick cooled the pressure cooker under water and served the meal.  It was absolutely outstanding.  We added no salt or pepper as the bullion and ham seasoned the entire meal!  What a feast we had last night.  I made an Apple Crisp, using green Granny Smith Apples for dessert.  We sent half of that back with Brenda and Art.

After dinner, the four of us met at the bar, The Tipsy Seagull, here at the marina and listened to some great singers.  Thursday nights, just about the entire island meets here at the bar, which sponsors a pizza night, with pizza ovens, mixes, fresh dough, and pretty reasonable prices.  The pizzas looked as good as any Papa John’s I have ever seen.  






 We are going back over this evening for much the same in the way of music.  We were really disappointed that the other three boats chose to go to Marsh Harbor for the same three days.  They missed a great time.  The three other boats (Last Dance, Fair Haven, and POWMIA) left today to head home.  We on the other hand are going back to Great Guana Cay tomorrow morning and will enjoy Nipper’s Pig Roast and the beach on Sunday.  From there, the plan is to head for Man ‘O War Cay, Hopetown, and then south to Spanish Wells.  We have another two to three weeks here in the Bahamas before we have to head home.  Maybe a month.  Depends on how long our supplies last.
So meet us at the bar tonite for Sundowners and Killer Music.
We look forward to seeing you guys.
JonNe’

Wednesday, May 16, 2012


16 May 2012
Great Guana Cay
1000

Headed in to the beach at Grabbers again for breakfast at Bambi’s.  It is a new restaurant, open only since February.  It was an okay American breakfast, but good for the Bahamas so far, but at $24.00 plus tip, we should have eaten breakfast on the boat.  We walked to the grocery store from there and bought some bread and “Sour”.  Sour is made from a local orange here in the Bahamas, and is used to marinate fish and chicken.  It is also used in local conch salad, so we are looking forward to using it.



POWMIA, Last Dance, and Fair Haven headed for Marsh Harbor at 1000. It is 1030 right now, and POWMIA just reported a waterspout off her port bow.  It hit the beach and was over land almost immediately.  Hmmmm.  The weather report for the Bahamas and east coast for the next few weeks is pretty lousy.  Squalls all up and down.  We heard from our friends Rhumb Line on Chris Parker Weather this morning and it looks like they are heading back across the Great Bahama Shoals for Bimini and heading up the coast to Georgia.  We are heading for Treasure Cay today with Flynnigans Wake, and will meet up with the others at Marsh Harbor probably on Thursday.  The weather will be interesting for the next few weeks.

Our question now will be when to cross Northeast Providence Channel to Spanish Wells.  Should be interesting.  Need to start talking with locals over the next week.

1600
Just arrived in Treasure Cay!   



Damn the rain is falling!!!  Tied the boat in the POURING RAIN.  Walked to the Marina office in the POURING RAIN. Used a towel to keep the electrical connections dry in the POURING RAIN.  Got the air conditioning running.  The full enclosure was so fogged up, I opened one small part of the side flap and yelled in that I was back, and Renne’ answered I’m right here – 1 foot away.  Couldn’t see her through the fogged panels!!

Gotta check the genset tonight.  It is smoking white smoke through the exhaust.  Have to figure what in the world that is.  Only 155.3 hours on it.  Doggone!!

Otherwise we are here, secure, on the internet, waiting for the local bar to open, and having a great time.  Wish you all were with us.  There is nothing we would rather be doing than what we are doing right now.  Everything else seems pretty mundane!

So, we expect you at the bar for Sundowners tonight.  We will reserve a couple of stools for you.  We look forward to seeing you.

JonNe’

Great Guana Cay, Bahamas


15 May 2012
Great Guana Cay

Although tired, last night was a busy night.  We were each up several times to check on our holding.  Fortunately, we had Fair Haven to our starboard with a very bright anchor light on and the winds were steady from the southeast.  Consequently, all of the visual signals were very simple, and mostly it was a restful, but VERY DARK night!  It was completely covered with clouds.

This morning, we slept in until 0800.  We were up ready to work on the wash.  Last night, I emptied the ice chest, and turned it in to our washing machine.  I added just a bit of laundry detergent, as recommended by our cruising friends, Barb and Doug Schindler. We put the sheets and pillowcases in the washing machine with about 8 gallons of water, then let it agitate all night with the natural movement of the waves and boat.  Renne has been busy keeping the interior clean, which can be quite a chore with me around.  I am grateful she cooks as well as she does!  Her meals are always welcome after working around the boat.

An hour after finishing the wash, this morning, and hanging it out to dry (remember the Beverly Hillbillies?) we had a light sprinkle.   



So with the wash almost dry, it will probably take another hour to dry now, but we will have “rain fresh” laundry, dried in natural sunlight.  Barb and Doug have been very helpful with this.  We use the same “Lake City Wringer” they use, although they have the room on their boat to leave the wringer in place most of the time.  We have ours attached to the Mast Pulpit.  With the round stainless bars, I have to make sure it is really well attached, or it moves as the wringer is turned.  We had a welder in Key West fashion new jaws for clamps and they work tolerably well. 



 We may have to make another arrangement when we get back to dry land, but for the moment, they work well.

Renne’ and I have been discussing our plans following the departure from the Bahamas.  We are tending toward going north instead of heading south to Key West.  But that decision has not been finalized.  We have been talking with Barb and Doug, and their plans are to move the boat from El Masnow in Barcelona, Spain westward toward Italy and perhaps Scicily.  We are contemplating meeting them during the end of July or early August again.  We will begin searching for Space A flights again in a few weeks.

We are hoping to pick up our granddaughter, Payton for part of the summer, and she will stay on the boat with us.  We are also planning a trip back to Houston, so we will do that when she is with us also.  She gets to see her sister, Zaley, while she is there and other family members she has missed.  I, of course get to see my daughter, Cami.

Have the GenSet running now. It recharges the batteries very efficiently.  While we are at it, we are replacing 20 gallons of water.  I like this.  We don’t have to worry about showers, laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, head useage, etc. while trying to conserve every drop of water on the boat.  The genset uses about .25 gallons of fuel per hour, so it is much more efficient than using the engine (1.0 gallons of fuel per hour). What it does do is give us an appreciation of how long we have to run the watermaker (HUMMMMMM noise in the background) for every gallon of water we do use. 

By 1200 we had motored in to the beach at Grabbers.   



Frankly, as much as people had talked about it, we found it a nice place, but a bit sterile.   



We tied the dinghy to a tree, and were glad we did.  We got to the beach at low tide, and by the time we got back at about 1700, the dinghy was floating and would have drifted away.  Others have an anchor, and I believe I will add that when we get to Treasure Cay tomorrow.

Bored with Grabbers, we were the first to leave to find Nippers.  It was not a long walk, but a couple streets away.  What 10 minutes.  When we got there, we realized why people really like Nippers.  It is on one of the most beautiful beaches Renne’ and I have ever seen!  



 It is also a party place, a lot like the Floribama in Orange Beach.   



This is a more beautiful view of the beach.  Renne’ got in the pool with Brenda and Vicki with their new shirts on for pictures.   



Renne’ headed for the beach later and nearly lost her footing when a wave hit her.  Funny!   



We had a great grouper sandwich which was very good.  So rather than hang around for the night, as thunderstorms were building, we headed back to the beach at Grabbers and headed back to the boat.

We settled in well, and slept without worry of dragging.

Another day, another anchorage


13 May 2012
Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

Finished changing the oil.  I had gotten everything done but the last quart of oil.  Had to go into town to find another quart.  Now what to do with the used oil.  So right now we will keep it with us.

14 May 2012
Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas
1330
Planning to throw the lines at 1345.  There are thunderstorms in the near distance, and Renne’ and I are wondering why we are leaving at this moment.  We realize we will get out over the low level in the bay, but we hate the idea of going out into the thunderstorms.

Departed GTC as planned, enroute to Great Guana Cay.

  As it turns out, we are the “scardy pants”.  We do rediscover that we are cruising neophytes again!!  We are in the presence of 4 other boats who have probably 100 years of cruising between them, and again and again, we are glad we are in their presence.  The decision to go was not a bad decision.  It rained and threatened all around us, but the trip is excellent.  We entered Whale Cay, which we were all on edge about.  The Cruise Guide we use is “A Yachtsman’s Guide to the Bahamas”, by Tropical Island Publishers. 

On page 174 there is a caution:  The passage outside Whale Cay should NEVER be attempted in strong onshore winds, particularly from the north or northeast, or in a rage sea, as the sea breaks in the passage seaward of Whale Cay and also right across all the cuts northwest and southeast of Whale Cay. Always wait for fair weather and calm seas.  Remember there can be rage conditions without any apparent wind.”

And Another:  “Never pass close to the west end of Whale Cay, where there are dangerous swells even in settled weather.  Never underestimate the Whale Cay Passage;  several boats and lives have been lost here.”

We entered Whale Cay Channel with 20 kts of wind out of the Southeast. Waves were 3-4ft, but at an interval that was quite comfortable, and when we were perpendicular to the waves, they were tolerable for the 22 minutes we were in that position.  All in all, we made it through with no difficulties.  We arrived at Great Guana Cay under rainy conditions at 1700.  We jumped out and claimed an anchorage just to the west of the western most boat.  Apparently there was a reason THEY were the western most boat!!  We attempted to set the anchor 4 times without success.  It was a sandy bottom, and we just couldn’t get the anchor to set.  At some point in the attempts, Renne’ discovered the helm was not responding to her input.  She called me back.  I was a bit aggravated with getting a good set.  Fortunately, we still had about 100 feet of chain in the water, so I was able to go below and check the cable on the rudder quadrant.  In the meantime, Renne’ put out a call to the others for assistance.  Ron Blanchard (Squeak, aboard PowMia) got over to us aboard his dinghy, and I am grateful to him for his assistance.  We were able to reseat the cable on the quadrant and tighten it down.  I hadn’t had that issue in 15 years when the same thing occurred aboard my CT-41.  That time, a support arm collapsed, and there was no repairing it quickly.  That took several hours to resolve then, so I was please Ron and I could get it resolved quickly this time.

Ron also suggested another area of the inlet to set our anchor, and it still took 3 attempts to get the hook to set.  With it done, Ron left and we were able to get settled “on the hook”.  I had a beer, then another, then during dinner, a couple of glasses of wine.  I thought I deserved them!!!

So here we are off Great Guana Cay.  Dinner was chicken and pasta with Italian Cream Cheese.  It was a suggestion from Gerri, aboard Fair Haven.  It was excellent.

So we are sitting here waiting for you.  We turned the anchor light on so you can find us.  Come over anytime for Sundowners.  We look forward to seeing you.

JonNe'

Monday, May 14, 2012

We are going to move today

I was up at 0600 this morning to check the weather. I was able to get Chris Parker's weather forecast at 0630 perfectly today on the Single Side Band (SSB). This was a first! Perhaps propagation is getting back to normal for a few days. Now that I have been able to do that, I will try a few other bells and whistles tomorrow. We are leaving Green Turtle Cay this afternoon about 1400 (2pm) as the tide builds towards high tide. We are going to make the passage around Whale Cay tomorrow, and the weather has to be pretty good to go through a narrow passageway. We would prefer the surf lay down a bit. But we will do that probably tomorrow. In the meantime, as high tide is not until late today, we will sit off NoName Cay tonite on the hook so we can leave at a more appropriate time. Although wenaremonlyngoing 17 miles, we would rather get in earlier than later. We will end up in Great Guana Cay to see how that is. Today we are filling water tanks with the water maker. This will be the first time both tanks (75gal each) will have Reverse Osmossis water in them. Prior, I have kept one tank filled with local water. But water is running $.25 per gallon, if you can get it. We would rather have homemade though than dal with any impurities that the locals are used to that we aren't. So we have been running the GenSet today to ensure it is working well. I khave calibrated a measuring stick to determine how much water we have in each tank. Up to now, I have not needed to do that. All is running well, and at least for the next few days, we probably will be out of kcontact, so I will sign off with a reservation for you for Sundowners at Great Guana Cay for tomorrow evening. CYA then JonNe'

Sunday, May 13, 2012

11-12 May, 2012

Green Turtle Cay
Winds-15 kts, partly cloudy

Changed the oil today in the Yanmar.  It is always a long process.  We hate spending the money on a pump that would make it a lot easier, and we have no place to store such a messy item.  So it takes time.  The mornings are usually spent doing some projects on the boat and the afternoons relaxing around the island.

We took the dinghy into town for the first time to pick up some more oil.  I still have a quart left to put in the engine.  It really is nice to be able to do that. 

Saturday, we went out to the beach with everyone for an afternoon cookout.  Renne' and I prepared chicken wings and rice/mushrooms/almond casserole. Everyone brought hot dogs and snacks.  It was a good time for all.  Visited Coco Beach first,




From there we drove to a cove just off Ocean Beach for the cookout




Then over to Sundowners to watch the sun set at 2030


Now that finally catches us up with events.

Hope to see you at Sundowner's Sunday evening!!

JonNe'