Hello, Texans!

Jan and Don on Plane to Sea arrived last night after sailing for two days.  The first night they anchored in the Great Bahama Banks (a vast area that is less than 10 feet deep), then woke up early yesterday and made it to Nassau last night around 8:00.  They had a good journey with no mishaps.  Yea!  Yesterday afternoon, they texted us, then we called them and found out when they would arrive.  Before dark, Dave got in the dinghy and scoped out a sandy place for them to drop their anchor and marked it with a little buoy as it would be dark by the time they arrived.  After they dropped their anchor, Dave dinghied them over to Wayward Wind where we hugged and laughed and told the tales of each others' journeys until 11:00. 

Around 4:30 this morning, we awoke to some strong gusts of wind.  We'd known they would arrive but weren't sure exactly when.  The anchorages in Nassau are notorious for having poor holding.  The current is strong so scours the bottom down to the hard pan sand that is mostly covered with sea grass.  Finding a sandy patch where the anchor can dig in is difficult.  Fortunately the water is so clear that you can check to see that the anchor is dug into the bottom, only in our case, it was just barely dug in.  We knew we were living on borrowed time.  Anyway, for the first couple of hours of wind, we seemed to be holding.  Then after a particularly blustery gust, I looked out and saw the sweet little neighbor sloop from South Africa just twenty feet or so abeam of us.  YIKES!  We scrambled to turn on the motor while the tousled but friendly South African gent put out his rubber fenders and stood ready to fend us off.  We apologized, but he smiled and said something that we couldn't understand that I think was suggesting a spot farther up, probably far away from him.  We motored around the anchorage till we found a big patch of sand without any grass at all and dropped the anchor.  This time we knew it set well.  All day we've had gusts up to 20 knots without any problems.  What a way to start the day.

We were going to show Jan and Don the sights of Nassau, but they were wiped out not only by their journey but by their month of hard work on their boat, so decided to stay aboard and rest today.  Turned out to be a good idea.  This afternoon we heard a honk on someone's airhorn and looked out to see Plane to Sea sliding sideways through the anchorage right toward a catamaran whose captain was on deck ready to fend off.  We saw Don, who'd been sleeping after his long journey, scramble to the helm and motor forward just in the nick of time.  Whew! 

Preparing conch burger at Doc Sands Food Stand

Yesterday Dave and I had a delicious supper at a little food stand that is located among many others under one of the bridges right near the area where the fishing boats dock.  There are also several vegetable stands.  The prices aren't cheap but are reasonable and the atmosphere is real.  It's funky with Rastafarians, bleary-eyed fishermen, smart-dressed guys with bling, and tidy businesswomen who come for take-out food.  Dave enjoyed a grilled fish with rice and peas, cole slaw, and fried plantains.  I had a yummy conch burger with everything on it.  I noticed that the woman who prepared the food chopped up a bit of habanero pepper.  Hmm.  I wonder how she avoids getting the oil in her eyes...

Bright Bahamian blue house

Dave and I went for a walk through some neighborhoods and found these signs amusing:

Yikes!  Hope we make it through!

Nassau!

Just a quick note as we finally got an internet connection here on the boat and we don't know how long it will last.  Plus we are tired after our two days of joyful sailing - 55+ miles yesterday and 30+ miles today.  What a blast! 

As we approached the entrance to Nassau Harbour right after wrestling down the sails, a squall kicked up as we shared the channel with tour boats and ferries.  Ah, well, it was a free boat wash!  Our friends went to Atlantis, the giant resort hotel and marina and we oldsters went to the free anchorage.  The holding here is iffy as is the weather, so we decided to stay onboard till we see how we settle in.  Tomorrow we'll explore Nassau.  What a difference in scenery compared to the last couple of evenings' rural and quiet anchorages.  We have a view of Atlantis, which we could see from about 12 miles away actually.  Tour boats playing loud music cruise up and down, and one with especially loud music that Dave saw was called, Booze and Cruise.  Nice.

Mega yacht cruising by Atlantis - Double the decadence

Our friends, Don and Jan, are finishing up their projects in Florida and hope to leave when the next weather window opens.  We're going to see about getting the refrigerator serviced here and will do that if it's not too expensive.  It's running well, but we want to keep it maintained so it continues to do so. 

On the way to Nassau

1/21/12  5am

Had a beautiful sail yesterday – probably the best we’ve had so far on Wayward Wind.  We covered close to 60 miles in 8 hours so averaged around 7.5 knots.  On one wave, we slid down for a few seconds at 10 knots!  We only motored in and out of the harbors; the rest we sailed.  The weather was sunny with small puffs of clouds.  The wind was 10 – 15 knots mostly on the beam.  The seas had a 5 foot swell every 8 to 10 seconds, with a light chop on top between our stern and beam so not bad at all.  Dave put out the fishing line but there was so much sargasso grass that the lure got fouled.  It was sweater weather in the cockpit, but warm behind the shelter of the dodger in the sun.  Lovely, lovely day.  I remarked to Dave that I finally felt on this day that we were doing what we'd set out to do - sail in far off places. 

Happy, happy Captain Dave

We left the anchorage just north of Little Harbour at 6:30 am with just enough light to see the entrance into the Atlantic.  The day before was quite blustery with a lot of chop, so we wanted to make sure the entrance would be settled before we passed.  It’s a little unnerving to see breakers on either side but the entrance itself was smooth with just a gentle swell.  We arrived at the small protected harbor of Royal Island to find a half dozen sailboats and motorboats anchored, several that we recognized from Hope Town.  This morning we’ll leave at 6:45 for Nassau.



Back in Marsh Harbour, the Abaco Cruisers Net comes on the VHF radio every morning at 8:15.  Anyone can tune in and add something at the appropriate time.  It begins with the moderator asking for any emergency calls, then weather, community information, “invitations” from local restaurants and businesses, new arrivals, departures, and anything else, and ends with a weather recap.  It lasts about 40 minutes and is a great way to find out about the area or ask a question.  We introduced ourselves and said that we were headed to Nassau and asked if anyone had information to share to please call or stop by the boat.  Afterwards we got a call from Epiphany who said they were going in a few days.


Epiphany is a lovely 47-foot Vagabond that looks a bit like a pirate ship.  Phil and Susan and their two daughters, Samantha, 9, and Grace, 6, sailed from Maine to and around the Bahamas for the past month.  Phil owns his own cleaning service which allows him to take the time off.  What a nice family.  We visited them on their boat (actually it’s their friend’s boat – their own boat is in Maine) to plan the trip.   On Thursday we met up at the anchorage in Little Harbour where they dinghied over to WW to hone our plans.  We decided to break up the trip into two days because it would be a push to make it to Nassau before dark in one day.  And after yesterday’s sail, we’re so glad we did.  After we anchored and settled in yesterday afternoon, the Epiphany crew, (I realize we don’t even know their last name, but it doesn’t matter) dinghied over to WW to recap the day.  Dave and I enjoy their company.  They are such pleasant folks, and it’s fun being around their girls who are sweeties.  We sat around and basked in the joy of the day’s wonderful sail.  We were all so happy and decided that if we even have half as good a day today, it would be fine. 

Our buddy boat, Epiphany, sailing to Nassau

Hopetown to Little Harbour

The beautiful Atlantic

Met with Phil and Susan and daughters Samantha and Grace on Epiphany from Maine.  We will travel south from Hopetown either this afternoon or tomorrow to Little Harbour.  From there we will enter the Atlantic Ocean at dawn on Friday morning and have a full day's sail (or motor sail) to Nassau.  Won't have internet until Saturday or Sunday.  Much love to all.

Atlantic beach

Hopetown, Great Abaco Island

Hopetown Lighthouse

We came to Hopetown yesterday.  Had to motor as the wind was against us and didn't want to wait another two days.  Also it was just ten miles, about two hours in 15 to 20 knot winds with a bit of chop.  Not a bad ride.  Hopetown is quite picturesque with pastel colored cottages and streets just wide enough for two golfcarts.  Also a lovely red and white candy striped light house with a wind up mechanism.  Hopetown was settled after the American Revolutionary War by loyalists who left the new nation.



We've just met a nice couple, Tom and Joyce, on Valentino from the SF/Palo Alto area.  They've been visiting the Abaco for 12 years.  Enjoying coffee with them at the coffee shop while I use the wifi.  Nice people with a lot of knowledge and experience with cruising the Bahamas.

Pastel home

Hopetown School

Trying to decide how best to get to Nassau.  Have spoken to several different people with lots of ideas.  Will keep you posted.

Hopetown Memorial Garden

Marsh Harbour Days

Sunrise in Marsh Harbour

Enjoying a warm cup of Roastaroma tea with soymilk on this blustery morning, the sun about to rise.  A cold front came in from the north bringing temperatures in the 60s during the day and high 50s at night.  Fortunately we’d thawed out (finally!) the Thanksgiving turkey breast so cooked it yesterday – yams, potatoes, parsnips and cranberry sauce – warming up the cabin nicely.  Now we’ll have turkey sandwiches and wraps for days to come.  We are thankful to be here.


Yesterday we dug into the steering system to tackle the leak.  Jeff had done this a couple of months back, but as we only had a couple of packages of the Teflon impregnated flax packing, we only put in two layers.  That didn’t quite do as there was still a drip.  Dave and I took off the steering quadrant and added another layer of packing.  It took us most of the day.  Hopefully this will take care of it.

Marsh Harbour Home

We’ve gone into town a couple of times.  We found a wonderful little bakery called “Da Bes Yet,” and it is!  We asked to try a beef pasty, which looked like a turnover stuffed with ground meat, piping hot just out of the oven.  We also bought a loaf of wheat bread, nice and firm unlike the squishy pillows from big American stores.  As we waited for the baker to wrap our goods, a TV up in the corner scrolled flower-accented funeral notices for locals recently deceased while the fire and brimstone rant of a woman shouted out.  The Baptists are in the Bahamas.  In my travels, I’ve always been intrigued by how Christianity weaves its way into local customs and morphs into something unique to the locale. 
 

Back to the pasty.  Dave and I stepped outside into the shade and split the hot treat.  It was so good, we had to buy another.  Dave tried some humor and said to the baker, “There was a problem with the pasty.”  She furrowed her brow.  He added, “It was so good that we ate it up and need another.”  Her worried look disappeared into her beaming smile.  The British influence is seen in subtle ways here, including the pasty, BUT the flavors made it a spicy, savory Bahamian treat.



Tow truck out of commission for quite some time (note trunk beneath)

We also visited a modern superstore, Maxwell’s, to get a few mundane things.  We were surprised to find such a store here; however, Marsh Harbour is the largest town of the Abacos, so it makes sense.  Marsh Harbour supports four small marinas so caters to the boating tourists.  There is at least one charter boat company, as well.  Fortunately the tourist influence is low-key and not hugely developed and the town is small enough to easily walk.  The locals are friendly and helpful.  Marsh Harbour has been a good point of entry to the Bahamas and now we’re itchin’ to move on.  We still have a lot to research concerning weather, currents, best routes, etc.  It’s a whole new ball game here, but we are learning. 


We’re in email contact with our Texan friends, Don and Jan, who are wrapping up mechanical and electrical projects on their boat, Plane to Sea, in Florida.  Our current plan is to meet up in Nassau next week.  It’s a little tricky because, of course, weather is a factor, not to mention boat “issues” that may pop up.  Plus we don’t know what the email/phone situation will be in Nassau.  But we’ll make a go of it and connect up somehow.  After that we will most likely go down the beautiful chain of islands called the Exumas to Georgetown, where many of our fellow cruisers are, to rest and enjoy warmer weather. 

Bahamas Bound

Jeff fixing the jib sheave up the mast

Jeff arrived on Thursday morning and got down to work by going up the mast, in fact three times in three days.  It turns out that the sheave (roller) for the jib (foresail) must have been damaged and dropped down the mast, so the jib halyard (line) was rubbing against the metal opening of the mast and chafed until it broke.  It's a special sheave so Jeff will order it to install at a later date.  In the meantime, we'll use the flasher (other foresail) halyard.   He fixed and adjusted a few other things over the course of the following days.  We docked at the Charleston City Marina on Friday night so we could fully charge the batteries, and fill the water tank and diesel spare jugs.  The hot showers were great, too! 

Farewell, Charleston

The wind was brisk as we left Charleston at 4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.  We pushed ourselves to leave so that we could catch the wind blowing east.  As we left the harbor, we raised both sails and sailed for a bit but soon turned on the engine to get going at seven knots.  A weather system was predicted to blow into Marsh Harbor on Wednesday, so we wanted to keep up a good pace so as to arrive before the front.  

Let's go to the Bahamas!

Jeff with The Battery of Charleston behind him

The first night was pretty rough with 5- to 6-foot seas and the occasional 9-footer.  It was cold, too, and somewhat wet in the cockpit as waves were splashing over the bow although we were protected behind the dodger.  I felt fine while in the cockpit doing a night watch with Dave but got a bit seasick when I went below; fortunately it wasn't too bad.  We all wore our foulies.  The material is slippery and, as we were fairly heeled over, every time a big wave would hit us from the side, I would slide off of the seat.

Several things went awry that night.  The dinghy hanging from the davits (metal arch) was not lashed down well and was swinging around and possibly being chafed.  Jeff managed to secure it.  We'd taken down the jib which also became untied and, as it's located on the foredeck, bow waves would splash into its folds thereby making it heavy and causing it to sag over the edge.  Jeff went up on the bucking bow and tied down the jib, twice.  Also we noticed that water was coming up through the floor in the stern cabin.  The rear rudder seal had a slight leak, which we'd known about, but since we were heeled quite a bit, the water was seeping into the cabin rather than into the bilge.  Jeff managed to tighten the seal somewhat though it still leaked a bit.  The worst thing was that the autopilot went out, so we had to hand steer the rest of the night.  The compass is right in front of the wheel.  The trick is to hold the compass course even though the waves push you back and forth.  And since the waves were strong, the wheel was stiff and took some muscle to turn.  The good thing is that it was not boring and therefore easy to stay awake.  Also the moon was nearly full and shone brightly.

The next day, the seas calmed.  I felt much better after getting some sleep.  As we entered the Gulf Stream, the air warmed -- such a contrast from the night before.  I put on shorts and a tank top and enjoyed the sun.  I went up to the bow and sat for a time breathing it all in.  finally we are doing what we've been striving to do for a year or more.  The Gulf Stream waters are an amazingly beautiful dark indigo blue, almost purple.  Jeff had fixed the autopilot, so we didn't have to constantly stay at the helm.  I went below and Dave called me to come up to see dolphins surfing on our bow wake.  We were just feet away from them as we watched from the deck.  There were six altogether playing, jumping, frolicking.  Dave whistled to them, but I doubt they could hear him.

That night during my watch, the lights of a ship appeared on the horizon directly in front of us.  Jeff showed me how to tune the radar and how to tell where the ship was going.  It was about eight miles off, then less than a half mile off as we passed it.  It looked to be either a research vessel.  The next night I got more practice with other ships.  Now I know what to do when bright lights appear on the horizon.
The following day and night were calm and without problems except that on my watch, the motor suddenly petered out and shut down.  We'd run out of diesel in the forward tank.  We switched to the aft tank, Jeff bled the lines and we were on our way again.  I plotted our locations on the chart and used dead reckoning to estimate our location a few hours forward based on our speed.  Jeff said that on one of his trips to the Bahamas, all of the electronics went out, so he had to estimate where he was and avoid hitting a reef.  His dead reckoning skills were put to the test and he made it safely to harbor.  He is a big fan of knowing where you are at all times and using a paper chart to record your progress as you go as well as not depending on the electronic GPS and chartplotter. 

Pre-dawn approach to Marsh Harbor

On Tuesday before dawn, our excitement trumped our exhaustion as the lights of the Abacos appeared.  It was still dark as we passed Chubb Cay to approach Marsh Harbor.  It was good practice for us.  Later the sun rose as the moon set.

Sunrise and....

Moonset as we approach Marsh Harbor

We docked at Harbor View Marina for fuel, water and to wash the salt off the boat.  We also checked in with Immigration and Customs which went smoothly.  At the restaurant/bar next door hangs a sign on the wall that says, "Paradise is expensive."  A cruising permit costs $300 in the Bahamas which is the most expensive country to visit in the Caribbean area, so we've heard.  The fuel cost $470.  Three loads of laundry that we did ourselves cost us $24.  A six-pack of Corona beer costs $14.  Ah, well, we don't have house payments right now, so it all comes out in the wash.

Wayward Wind (dark blue hull) anchored in Marsh Harbor

We're anchored in the harbor with a couple of dozen other cruisers; many are Canadians.  We took Jeff out to dinner last night at Snappa's and all enjoyed conch stewed with vegetables in coconut rum.  It was absolutely delicious.  Also enjoyed the local Kalik beer.  I even bought a Cuban cigar but did not smoke it yet.  I smoke a cigar about once every five years, so don't worry, Mom, I'm not taking up a new vice.

Enjoying the sunset at Snappa's

This morning we said good-bye to Jeff before he taxied to the airport.

So long, Jeff, and THANKS, mon.

Bahamian pastel buildings

Bahamian curly tailed lizard