Boat is in the shop and we went EATING

Day 35: Monday, March 30, 2015

Believe it or not, I didn’t sleep well in my first night in a large, king size bed that didn’t roll.  I got up in the middle of the night and typed on the blog but that wasn’t enough to stimulate sleep either.

We were at the breakfast bar in the motel when they opened at 6:30 and enjoyed the Hispanic chef who tried his best to make the wakeup on Monday morning for his guests a positive experience. 

Removing old Keel

I left the motel before 7:00, drove to Sandspit Park where we had left the boat, hooked her up behind the truck and arrived at the Hake Yacht factory at 7:25 as the workers were unlocking the gates. 

I backed the boat into the yard and they immediately moved her into the large bay and proceeded to work on removing the mast and finally the old keel.  They had to remove the cover over the winch that raises the board and then the winch. The original winch is still good, however, they have a new high tensile strength rope system that raises the keel so I get to purchase a new winch that facilitates that system.  I assumed that they would have to raise the boat really high to get the board out but they actually took it out through the top.  They attached a winch to the board and easily lifted it out.

The newly fabricated keel has 3 stainless steel all thread rods that are imbedded in the full length of the structure and will bolt the 990 pound

lead “torpedo” onto the bottom.  One workman and the shop foreman worked all day mounting the new winch, configuring the board, wiring in a new switch system for raising the board, and finally installing the new keel.  Tomorrow, the boat will be lifted off the trailer and the torpedo will be bolted in place.  They will then add fiberglass fairings to streamline the whole structure.

Old Keel where missing Torpedo was attached

At the end of the day, I returned to the motel and picked up Janine who spent the day doing our large pile of laundry and we headed for downtown Stuart for dinner.  The historic downtown area is really neat with many high end shops and eating establishments, obviously an attraction for the tourists who flock to this area at

Installing new Keel

this time of the year 

We selected a place called Mulligans for our dining pleasure.  We both enjoyed what was almost a lobster salad with parmesan cheese on toasted flat bread.  After dinner we walked the streets looking in shop windows and had a cup of New Orleans praline ice cream.

New keel from under the boat showing the three stainless steel all thread rods.

Installing new 990 pound lead  torpedo onto the bottom of keel

Back in the motel, we both started reading and when my phone dinged for a text message, we realized that we had both fallen asleep and had passed through our usual bedtime hour.

Prparing the Boat for the Repairs and EATING

Day 34:  Sunday March 29, 2015

Not much to report today.  We did have memorable meals today, however.  We ran out of sausage, but we still have some gravy mix left and, as a safety precaution, I brought along several jars of chipped beef. So for breakfast, we had chipped beef on Bahamian coconut toast (SOS Bahamian style!) It was my favorite breakfast when I was in the service.  For lunch, I was privileged to have Spam with Horsey Sauce on the last remnants of Bahamian coconut bread and for dinner we ate at the Clarian Motel restaurant.  What I ate there was not as important as the atmosphere in which we dined.  We were told that they had a good band starting at 6:30 so we decided to get to get there early to beat the potential crowd.  The dining room was located just off the lounge.  There were probably 10 tables set up but only three had table cloths and those were in the entrance to the lounge.  The lounge had a number of tables around a large dance floor.  At one end, a man and wife were setting up their electronic key boards and adjusting their volumes. The lights were dim and the mood was set by LED spot lights that changed colors and flashed in random patterns. 

We selected a table in the second row away from the dance floor but were told by a very skilled waitress that our selection was reserved, so we picked one of the tables in the dining room. The waitress took our order. 

As the hour of entertainment approached elderly couples began to file in.  And, as they arrived, they hugged and kissed every other elderly person there. Most of the men were dressed in Hawaiian shirts and the ladies wore fancy tops and slacks. One gal wore cowboy boots with stiletto heels.  These folks were all most animated and talkative.  One gal loudly discussed the fact that she had light eyebrows and had gotten tired of drawing them on everyday so she went to a tattoo artist and had eyebrows and eyeliner permanently inked into her face for $1,000.00.  But, in a number of months, they disappeared so she went back and the artist told her that she was “one of those” who sucked in the ink but that for $500.00 she would replace them.  Well that wouldn’t do because being “one of those,” they would just be sucked in again.  She then spent an inordinate amount of time talking about where the eyebrows had gone and that when they cut her up, who knew where they would find them.  She also talked about her sciatica and the fact that it made her legs hot so she was wearing slacks with mesh designs (holes) in them to keep her legs cool.

  The singer and the keyboarder were also of the older set and they obviously knew and were known by all of the crowd because they too were part of the hugging and kissing group. 

When the hour of kick off for the band arrived, the key board guy started playing a repetitious set of chords and the singer began the Tina Turner prolog for Proud Mary as the folks began to flow out onto the dance floor.  At one end, a group of about 7 or 8 ladies formed a circle and danced to the rhythm while at the other end several couples danced.  When the tempo changed you would see some of the ladies in the big circle go back and get their partners.  These animated ladies would lead their men out onto the floor. Most of the guys went through the motions as their partners strutted and gyrated. 

It was really fun watching this large group of friends (senior groupies) enjoying themselves.  A sign on the lounge door stated that, in order to keep the band, a minimum order of 2 drinks per person was required if you did not order a meal. Very few were eating. Need I say more?

And other than dining?  We cleaned out the storage area under the v-berth where the factory staff will be working.  The stuff in that area was put in the truck to be taken to the motel.  We took down the mast.  I disconnected all of the mast’s rigging to allow for the installation of the keel’s wiring.

The factory told us to plan for three days’ time for the repairs.  We will have the boat at the factory gate when they open at 7:30 tomorrow.  

Into Manatee Pocket and Pull Out of the Water

Day 33: Saturday March 28, 2015

What a way to end this grand adventure!  Our last night on the water and it was a stormy, windy one.  We lay in bed in bed hearing all of the sounds of the wind in the rigging and the twang of the taunt anchor rode wondering which sound is new and which is significant.  Again, the anchor held and we were safe.  Last year, on two occasions, the anchor drug a significant distance causing us to do research over the winter and to purchase a new and improved model.  That said, the experts warn that there is no one anchor that holds well in all types of bottoms but our new one scored high.

We pulled the anchor in a strong north wind and headed towards Stuart which is only 5 miles north up the Intracoastal Waterway.  The air was quite chilly and I layered up against the chill.  The Waterway is quite narrow most of the way so waves were not a problem.

We pulled into the Manatee Pocket off the St Lucie River at about 10:00 with

Is she happy about being back in the US?

apprehensions of landing in the high winds but as we approached the dock we were rewarded with calm water and fairly light air.  I pulled in close to reconnoiter the area, made a 270 degree circle and glided alongside of the dock in a 9.7 grade landing. 

I called a cab to take me to pick up the truck and trailer.  He said he would be there in 30 minutes.  About 25 minutes later, I received a phone call from the driver asking me if I had called the cab and I affirmed that I had and he said that he was in the Lincoln sitting at the end of the dock.  He was this old guy retired guy (probably 3 years older than me) who was using his personal car to haul people around.  We had an interesting conversation during the ride to the storage lot.

Our welcoming committee

Back at the dock, I backed the trailer into the water and easily slid the boat onto the trailer and thus ended a truly epic journey for us.

The rest of the day was spent packaging the boat in preparation for the trip to the factory.  We have stored under our bed a lot of spare parts and stuff that we seldom need all of that will have to come out so that they can modify the wiring for the keel winch.  Some of it will have to go into the motel room while we stuff the remainder into nooks and crannies within the boat.

At dinner time, we drove around looking for a restaurant that is not on the water and not going to soak our remaining cruising fund.  We ended up at a place called Cowboys.  I had barbeque ribs and Janine had mahi mahi.

I wonder how we will sleep on a boat that is not rocking.

West Palm Beach to Peck Lake

Day 32:  Friday March 27, 2015

Our anchorage was sound last night but the thunderstorms and rain continued through the night. Our anchor held so although the boat tossed all night, when we hit the sack, we both slept soundly.

We had pancakes with Tyson’s bacon for breakfast and messed around the boat until 8:00 when we called the US Customs and Border Patrol to do our official reentry screening.  You may recall that earlier we signed up for a Small Recreational Vessel System through which we filled out paperwork, submitted it for their inspection then presented ourselves for face to face interviews.  It was somewhat of a hassle but the program is supposed to cut the paperwork and inspection processes when a boat returns from a foreign port. 

Immediately before leaving the States, you are to fill out a float plan and submit it to the SRVS folks.  I did that and since I didn’t have a printer, I could not make a personal copy of it.  I dug out the paperwork for the program yesterday when we returned and it said that you were to report between 8:00am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday.  So before I called them at 8:00, I went on line looking for my float plan and the site said that I had no float plan.  I assumed that this snafu would cause me to go before the tribunal for lashes or the rack!

So, at 8:00, I made my call and got a guy in Miami.  He asked a number of questions including where we were at that moment.  I told him and he said OK then he wanted to know when we arrived and I told him yesterday afternoon and he let me know in no uncertain terms that I was required to report immediately upon entering the country.  I told him about the 8 to 4 office hours and he said that some of the smaller offices had those hours but his office was open 24 hours a day.  (I received no penalty points for that one)  I told him about my attempt to file a float plan and he said OK.  (No penalty points for that one either.)  He then asked a bunch more questions before becoming very chatty.  We talked for quite a long time and he finally said, “OK, you are free to proceed to your next destination!”  WoW!  We were assuming we would have to take the boat to a specific location for a search and interview but the SRVS program is such that if you dot most of the :”I”s and cross most of the “t”s, you don’t have to go through the customs hassle.  He finished the conversation by offering that if I ever had any questions or problems, I could call his office and they would be most willing to help us.  Amazing!

Our destination for the day was to be Stuart FL which is by way of the Intracoastal Waterway.  We got underway at about 10:00 and immediately began having trouble getting the drawbridge sequence down.  We would arrive 10 minutes after they opened and have to wait in a following wind for 20 minutes until the next opening.  At one bridge, we arrived at 7 minutes before the hour and began calling to request passage but to no avail.  The bridge had a sign that said that it would be opened on the hour and the half hour but since he did not respond to my calls, he did not open it.  We could see him walking around in the control house.  At 10 after the hour, I tried again at 10 after the hour and he answered.  He said the next opening would be at 11:30.  I asked him what happened to the 11:00 opening and he said that he did not receive a call therefore he did not open the bridge.  I told him that I tried 8  times and he replied that his radio was working.  “Sorry for your inconvenience!” 

As we progressed through the afternoon, the wind became intense, there were thunderstorm crashing around us and finally we were hit with an intense driving rain.  We were about 5 miles from our final destination when we swung into a wide spot in the waterway, dropped the anchor on the fly and crawled in the boat as the storm raged on.  Luckily, the anchor set well and held for the rest of the night as the wind howled and the rains fell.  We were both still quite tired for our overnight passage so we had no difficulty convincing ourselves that this was the place to spend the night.    

 

And the Crossing

Day 31: Thursday, March 26, 2015

As planned, we awoke around 11:30 last night and got ready to get underway for the Crossing.  Our friends, Francois and Nathalie, began stirring about at midnight and by 12:30, we cast off our mooring lines, backed out of the slip and headed into the great dark ocean. 

Francois and I discussed our game plan and it was decided that I would lead and use our course that I had logged into our chartplotter as our guide.  Their boat had a bigger engine and the potential to travel faster than ours but they agreed that since our boat was a bit structurally compromised, they would stay with us. So, as we left the harbor at Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina, I pushed the throttle to wide open and we headed into a light rolling sea.  The wind and waves were coming from the south southwest to south so the boat would wallow from side to side as the waves rolled under us.  As we moved further from land, the size of the rollers increased to probably 3 to 4 feet but there was little chop so the ride was rolly but not rough. 

As we traveled, our boat was making really good time at about 6.4 knots and, to our surprise, we were pulling away from our friends on Athena.  I called them on the radio to check and they replied that all things were going well.  Throughout the night, although we never lost sight of their lights, they would fall far behind and then catch up with us.  It wasn’t until daylight that we could actually see them and realized that they had raised their sails and had sailed all the way across.

The temperature was mild and the ride was not uncomfortable.  We snacked throughout the night on granola bars and coffee.  Neither of us slept in the boat but at times one or the other of us would cat nap sitting up.  All night passages are long and I for one checked my watch continuously hoping to move it along.  However, compared to the first Crossing, this one was really easy. Our time on this trip a bit over 9 ½ hours.  And when compared to our original 14 hour trip, this one was really easy.

As we were pulling into the Lake Worth Inlet, my phone rang and our son, Trevor, called to see if by chance we were within phone range.  It was good to be able to tell him that we had arrived and were heading for an anchorage and some rest.  He told me that he was surprised that we had made the move considering the weather forecast for the Palm Beach area.  I told him that I had checked the mid Gulf Stream weather but not the weather in the coastal regions and he informed me that they were predicting thunderstorms and some rough weather.  At the time of our conversation, the skies were cloudy but not particularly threatening.

Once in Lake Worth, we slowed down and waited for Athena with the intention of dropping anchor in the same vicinity but they planned to travel on north on the Intercostal Waterway so we said our thanks and goodbyes and found a place to drop our anchor not far from Riviera Beach where we would have to clear customs. 

In celebration of our arrival in the US I broke out a can of SPAM and joyously enjoyed a SPAM and mayo on Bahamian coconut bread sandwich.  It was wonderful.

We both crawled into bed and slept for about an hour before we were awakened by howling winds and a swinging rocking boat.  The predicted thunderstorms came through with vengeance.  The refreshing rain that accompanied the storm did a fine job of washing the accumulated salt from the boat. The wind continued to blow quite hard throughout the rest of the afternoon so we decided that we would put off our customs visit until tomorrow.

I was in charge of the evening meal so I prepared a gourmet cheesy fettuccini alfredo with SPAM dinner. (At this point I will asked Janine to be a guest contributor to the blog) It was sailboat gourmet! Janine

AND NOW!  We come to the end of the “Name the Dink” contest.   To monitor the final stages of the contest we have hired the chief legal council, Hugh Louis Dewey of the law firm of “Dewey, Cheethum and Howe,” who for so many years kept Click and Clack on the straight and narrow, to closely watch the voting and tabulation to preclude any of you from trying to stuff the ballot box.  The list on names submitted is fairly lengthy and it is the hope of the judged that you will vote one time. 

And Here They Are: in no particular order

Damn Dink II

Another Damn Dink

Breaking Wind

No Wind

Food Launch

C-wolf

Thyriod

SPAM

Depends  (she keeps you safe and dry)

Booney Yacht

Hillbilly Yacht

Lola

Dinghy Gale

Squirt

 

You may submit you vote to our unbiased judges at steve_holekamp@yahoo.com. The voting deadline is Easter. 

 

 

Mangrove Cay to West End

Our anchorage was a bit bumpy but, after nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we were ready to make our final jump onto Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina.  We were in no real hurry because the winds were light and the seas were calm so the outlook was good for a nice ride.

We raised the sails while at anchor and headed on in a nice beam reach.  We were able to sail for about 20 miles until the wind swung around to our nose.

At that point, we entered the narrow Indian Rock Passage which offered shallow waters and pinball machine like obstacles to keep us on our toes as we made the 5 mile passage. The final mile to OBBR was in the open waters of the Florida Strait and I was surprised to find that although there were some swells, the chop was down and the waters were quite passable.

At the entrance to the harbor, we called the marina on the radio and were once

Second Wind At rest in Old Bahama Bay Marine

again tied to a dock in a place that offered a great number of amenities. 

Before heading to settle up with the dock master, I opened our weather program and was impressed that the 7 day forecast did not look at all favorable for a Crossing.  So, I contracted with the guy at the dock for a minimum of a 3 day stay and bought some tokens for the washers and dryers and made plans for the much needed shower.  It was hot and humid and there was little air moving so the perspiration valves were open wide and running. 

Francois and Natalie's Athena, Our buddy boat on the crossing

As I was leaving, another sailboat came drifting up to the dock and the skipper skillfully laid her against the pilings achieving a score of 9.9. I asked the lady from whence they came and she told me but her French accent did not allow for my understanding.  My next question was, “Where are you heading?” and she replied that they were going to make the Crossing tonight starting at 12 midnight.  We talked about that a bit and the seed was planted.  I headed back to the boat, told Janine of the encounter and again opened the weather program.  The winds would be moderate from the south running between 11 and 14 knots with gusts to 17 knots.  The only winds that are more ideal than southerly winds are no winds at all.

The French Canadian couple, Francois and Nathalie, motored into the slip next to us and we asked if they would be interested in crossing with us as a buddy.  We discussed boat speed and also our ballast handicap and they were quite willing to have us go with them. 

We agreed to meet for dinner at the local restaurant so that we could discuss

The beach at Old Bahama Bay Resort

strategy.  There were things to do to get ready.  We pulled the dink up on the dock and deflated her, packaged her and secured her before the mast.  Our bodies were in a rather retched state of uncleanliness so showers (wonderful warm/cool showers) were next. We then toured the luscious grounds of this beautiful resort.  There was a ¼ mile long white sand beach lined with coconut palms, a really neat two tiered pool in which Francois and Nathalie were bathing, and a chess and checker board in which the chessmen were all about 3 feet tall and the board were pastel.

The two tiered pool at the resort

We met our new friends at 6:00 for dinner.  We shared a glass of wine and ate fine food as we explored each other’s past and present.  We agreed to head out for West Palm Beach and Lake Worth at 12:30 am. 

Back at the boat, we did a bit of emailing and laid down for a few hours of sleep before we disembarked. 

Hawkbill Cay to Mangrove Cay

Day 29:  Tuesday, March 25, 2015

Today was a travel day. We enjoyed a bacon and Tillamook cheese omelet for breakfast, straightened up the boat and were underway by 7:01.  We navigated the coral strewn waters for about two miles before entering the open waters of the sea of Abaco.

There was no wind.  I kicked the engine speed up and was surprised to find that we were making 6.2 knots.  I raised the centerboard and aligned the motor and the time rose to between 6.7 and 6.8 knots.  That is probably the top speed that the boat can travel.  Those in the field call it “Boat Speed.” 

Our goal was to make it to Great Sale Cay, a distance of 32 miles.  The weather

What a difference a day makes!  No wind.

forecast indicated that today would produce light winds, tomorrow would be a bit breezier and then the remainder of the week the winds would be high and adverse to our direction of travel.  From Great Sale Cay, the distance to Old Bahama Bay Marine at West End, our jumping off spot for the Crossing, is a bit over 42 miles.  We most likely could not make that in one day so I assumed that we would need two good days of weather to make that journey.  The forecast didn’t predict that.  I assumed that we would just have to wait it out in Great Sale until conditions improve. 

The problem with that is that if we get a good traveling day from Great Sale Cay, that same pattern might be a good one for a Crossing.  So, as we moved west over glassy seas, I decided that we could easily skip the Great Sale Cay anchorage and travel on another 20 miles to the intermediate anchorage at Mangrove Cay.

Although the total distance was a bit over 50 miles, the fact that we were just off Great Sale at 11:45, the decision to move on turned out to be a good one.  The Mangrove Cay anchorage is not a well-protected anchorage, but it put us to within 25 miles of Old Bahama Bay Marina. We arrived there at just after 3:00.

To celebrate that we had made such great time and had ice in our cooler, we enjoyed a cold beer.  I realize that I had expounded on the fact that warm beer was good, I must admit, this cold one was great.

The wind was still almost nonexistent and the air was hot and stifling.  I do feel a bit bad complaining about the heat.  I had talked to our daughter-in-law in Pittsburg last evening and she said that it was again snowing in Pennsylvania.

The other great thing that happened today was the occurrence of a super evening

The Lobster feast.  We had earlier enjoyed a COLD beer on board.

meal.  As I mentioned yesterday, we had bought three  large lobster tails and we prepared them along with mashed potatoes.  We had not previously fixed lobster tails to we were venturing into uncharted waters.  And, in this really remote location, there no phone or internet service to look up a recipe.  The lady from whom we bought the tails told us to cut the tail open along the back and remove the meat.  Next we were to put the shells in a pan with a bit of water and place the meat on top of the shells to keep it out of the water.  Then we were to steam them.  She didn’t tell us how long to cook them so we d

Second Wind on the hook at Mangrove Cay

ecided to try 5 minutes.  And, bingo, they were perfect!  A real trip highlight.

After dinner, we climbed in the dink and headed for shore.  This island has no sand beaches.  The mangrove grows all along the edge of the water and is not at all inviting to explore

Back at the boat, we spent the evening reading and relaxing.  At one point, the wind started blowing quite hard and when I looked out I realized that a fairly large squall was heading directly for us.  We put away anything in the cockpit that would get wet, closed the port holes and hatches in preparation for a boat bathing rain.  Well, it only sprinkled so Second Wind is still coated with salt.

 

Layover Day at Hawkbill Cay and Foxtown

Day 28: Monday, March 23, 2015

It was a rough night.  The wind moved from the southwest to the west and continued to build throughout the night.  The boat rocked and bucked making sleep quite difficult. This location is not known for its good holding ground so I was up a number of times to make sure that we had not moved.  We leave the chartplotter on so that the “Anchor Drag Alarm” will alert us in case we move out of a preselected area.  It also marks a track so you can see where it has been.  It does use battery but on nights like last night you need it.

We fixed sausage gravy and served over flatbread.  Amazingly, the flatbread, like the tortillas, have not molded in the month that the have had them.

We basically sat most of the day.  We both read novels and did little else.  The wind finally began to back off at around 2:30 or so and at around 3:30, I mounted the motor onto the dinghy, loaded 5 little bags of trash and we headed over to Little Abaco Island and the little town of Foxtown.  The water was still rough but the little inflatable dinghy bobbed along with trouble.  We got splashed by big waves several times but the ¾ mile trip was uneventful.  We would have not been comfortable doing it in ole Damn Dink.

Rout into Foxtown and the Foxtown Dock

The route into the dock was relatively shallow and dotted with rock outcroppings.  The charts advise only the boats with the shallowest of draft attempt to make it, Of course, the dinghy had no trouble.  The dock was high and with the wind blowing, making the landing a bit tricky.  We got off of the boat, set out our little trash bags and were preparing to head to shore when a little very dark chunky Bahamian girl game to greet us.  Zianne was a talkative little 2nd grader who served as

Janine and our new friend, Zianna

the welcoming ambassador for the poor village of Foxtown.  We asked where we could drop our trash and in her out island dialect told us but we couldn’t understand. At the end of the dock we asked a young man the same question and he pointed to some large tubs nearby.  Little Zianna indignantly told me “I already told you that!” 

We also asked about groceries and they pointed to a little building across the street with no sign.  Went in and asked the rotund lady behind the counter if she had bread to which she replied “no” so I asked about eggs and she said, “In da cooler.”  There were very few food items on the shelves but what we did find was Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Mix.  We went back and paid the $7.50 for the two items and then headed across the street to the Da Valley Restaurant and Bar.  We walked in past a pool table and asked one of the 3 men standing around about dining and he pointed toward a room at the other side of the building.  We made our way into the main dining room where we were met by the owner, cook and waitress.  In very few words, she offered that we could sit outside on the deck that overlooks the water.  On our way out, Zianne, who had been shadowing our every move and talking incessantly, said that she would get the menus.  Out on the porch, she dropped the stack of one page menus which proceeded to blow down across the floor.  The owner, who was also quite heavy, came and took our

Foxtown Grocery

order for two COLD Kaliks.

The menu included various kinds of seafood and chicken dishes all of which were quite reasonably priced.  I orders cracked lobster which came with fries and coleslaw and Janine had blackened grouper.  Both meals were outstanding

Although the outside was well painted in pastel colors, the inside had plywood walls on which folks had signed and commented using markers.  Sitting at the bar were three very round ladies who were carrying on a very loud, animated discussion in a dialect that we couldn’t understand.

Da Valley Restaurant and Bar

Zianne had, on her verbal tour of the village, told us that the building next door was a fish building so I asked the restaurant owner about it and she said that her husband owned it and yes they had seafood for sale.  After the meal, I went inside to pay my bill and inquired of a man who was sitting, leaning up against the wall, if the fish house was his.  He confirmed it and said that he had various fish, lobsters, and stone crabs for sale.  We bought three large spiny lobster tails and a huge block of ice.  Janine was going to get cold beer tomorrow along with an onboard

Dining on the deck of Da Village Restaurant with a COLD beer.

lobster dinner.

The trip back to Second Wind was uneventful.  The winds and chop continued to diminish so the boat became less animated.  Not long after our return, we both noticed that the wind was again beginning to howl and the seas began to build again as the wind started clocking around to the north.  A fast moving squall will little rain passed through causing the boat to buck and rock again. Luckily, the rough weather lasted only a short while

Inside of Da Village Restaurant

and by the time we decided to go to bed, the winds had made it to the north and the water became calm.  It should be a much needed peaceful night.

Zianna working over a coconut.  She got it open and ate it all

Powell Cay to Hawkbill Cay

Day 27:  Sunday March 22, 2015

Today was a moving day.  We had an early breakfast of pancakes and bacon (we found another pouch of ready bacon deep in a bilge box).  We are running low on some of our breakfast foods.  We have enough to keep us covered for the next week or so and have saved some of our good choices until the end so we will be fine.

The wind picked up a bit during the night so sleeping was more rolly than it has been for the last several nights. The wind was coming from the west south west and provided us with some nice sailing to start our trip.  We had checked the weather forecast and it looks like the winds will kick up even more tomorrow so we changed our plans and took a more southerly route that would put us closer to the good secure anchorage of Great Sale Cay.  We had originally planned to go to Allen-Pensacola Cay but opted to head for Hawksbill Cay which is a short dinghy ride from the village of Foxtown.

I put a reef in the main sail and unfurled the full jib and we clipped along at about

Second Wind heading for Hawkbill Cay under a reefed main

5.2 knots.  It was a fun ride.  As the morning passed, the wind picked up and with the wind coming just aft of 45 degrees on the port side I started luffing the main to maintain an angle of heal of between 10 and 15 degrees.  At one point, we had a puff that pushed us on over until the rail as at the water.  I had released the autopilot just prior to the puff so I jammed the tiller to the lee side and the boat headed up.  The scary thing was that without the ballast, the boat did not pop back up as designed.  I furled about ½ of the jib and although the boat slowed down to around 4.5 knots, she behaved better.

Evening meal of brats and mashed with warm beer to wash it down

 

 

After about 12 miles or so of sailing, the wind had finally veered around toward the nose so we dropped the sails and motored.  The water had a fair chop but we were still able to easily motor at 5.5 knots.  The waves were becoming larger and the boat began the pounding on some of them.

At around 12 noon, we were able to turn south and make the 3 mile trek to an anchorage on the south side of Hawksbill Cay.  We found a place to drop the hook and carefully let out an extra amount of rode and used the motor to set the anchor. The location is between Hawksbill Cay and Little Abaco island and with the wind blowing from the west south west, there were none of the big rollers that we had encountered earlier but there was quite a bit of light chop that kept the boat dancing about the anchor all the remaining afternoon and into the night. Unless the wind dies down after dark, it is going to be a long night.  I weighed our options and I felt that we really had no other.

Sunset at Hawkbill Cay anchorage

We considered taking the dink into Foxtown but since it is Sunday and things close down in the Bahamas on Sunday, and the chop would make for a wet ride, we deferred our trip until tomorrow.  So, we spent the rest of the day reading and enjoyed a great sunset.  For our evening meal, Janine fixed a chicken fettucine Alfredo dinner.  We hope for calmer wind and waters for tomorrow.

Manjack Cay to Powell Cay

Day 26:  Saturday March 21, 2015

We awoke to a glassy bay.  There was not a breath of air moving.  That describes the entire day.  We started our day with pancakes and V-8 juice.

Our goal for the day was to make another short jump to another Cay as we move toward the western end of the northern Bahamas.  It doesn’t look like there is another good weather window for us to make the Crossing in the next 6 days so we are in no real hurry to get to the west jump off spot and just sit.

We fired up the engine at about 9:00 and spent the next 2 hours gliding across crystal clear smooth waters toward Powell Cay.  A good portion of the trip took us across fairly long stretches of water that were exposed to the Atlantic and we experienced swells of about 2 feet.  These are the huge waves that slowly lift the boat up and the lower it back down. 

We pulled into a fairly wide open bay that surrounded by a white sandy beach.  We motored up fairly close to the shore looking for a good place to drop our anchor.  We finally dropped it in about 7 feet of water but when I put out about 70 feet of rode, the boat swung over and drug on the very shallow water at the edge of the beach. 

The trip guide talks about trails on this cay so we decided to go looking.  We got into the dink and rowed to the shore.  Not far away from where we had anchored, a fisherman was casting from a rubber dinghy.  We asked him if he knew of the trails and he said that there was a sign down near the end of the beach.  On the way there, we noticed some junk laying back off of the beach a ways, including two soccer balls hanging from a tree branch in a net bag. I went over to check it out and noticed a Styrofoam float hanging from another tree further back in the woods and realized that there was a trail leading to it.  It turned out that we had entered a well-used trail that traversed the island.  Like other paths that we had been on, it was very narrow and unlike others, it was well marked with old shoes, bottles, floats, pieces of rope, a child overalls etc.  These were hanging from branches, stacked on the ground, or stuck on the end of twigs sticking out into the trail. 

We followed the trail for probably ½ mile until we came to an Atlantic beach.  Again, this was a truly beautiful beach that had heavy surf crashing.  We took some pictures and sat for a spell before returning to the trail and to other side of the Cay.

Back at the boat, we could see that she was dragging on the bottom in the falling tide so we pulled her forward, raised the anchor and moved further south down the cove towards the area where the fisherman had been.  We again dropped the hook and prepared lunch. 

The water was still glassy smooth and still no air was stirring.  The heat became oppressive. We were anchored in about 8 feet of water and you could see the bottom very clearly.  Looking around, I noticed that there was a rusting hull of a sunken vessel between us and the beach.  This is where the fisherman was catching fish.  We decided to get out our skin diving equipment and go have a look.  We were rewarded with a myriad of colorful fish and some coral that had moved onto the wreck.  Amongst the fish was a lionfish.  These beautiful creatures are real problem on the coral reefs.  They are vicious predators that are eating the young of other species and causing  changes in the coral ecosystems.   Their body is covered with long feathery looking spines that are reported to be poisonous.  This fish is an invasive species that arrived in the waters around southern Florida and since they have no real predators in these waters have spread throughout the Caribbean.  Later in the evening, we talked to a local fisherman who came to fish over the wreck he said that the Bahamian fish and game folk had been sponsoring tournaments and paying a bounty on all of the lionfish brought in.

We prepared our evening meal of bratwurst and mashed.  Our appetizer was kipper snacks on crackers and our beverage was Kilian’s for me and Kalik (a local Bahamian beer) for Janine. I  am not trying to sell anything, however, I have come to be able to enjoy warm beer.  The first few that we had early in the trip were a bit tough to take, however, now, I can honestly say that I enjoy them. 

Back down on the beach, we walked to the other end of the long expanse of sand looking for shells.  This beach had a lot more shells and interesting things to see than others on which we have searched.  We found a number of holes that had been freshly dug.  You could see where the crab (?) had kicked the sand out of the hole and then a multitude of tracks leading out and back in.  A crab has 10 walking legs, so when he walks, he makes a lot of foot marks in the sand.

Back at the boat we sat and watched the sunset and at late dusk, it was shower time.  We hung the solar shower from the boom, disrobed and had a nice warm shower in a cool (cold) breeze.  It wasn’t necessarily pretty but man did we feel better after the fact.