George Town Rake and Scrape

George Town, Exumas, The Bahamas Rake and Scrape Band. The guitarist is to the right out of the picture, the guy in orange has a saw that he is playing rhythms on.    A typical song is "Mama don't allow no rake and scrape".  This band plays every Monday night at Eddies Edgewater in GT.

Mayaguana, Sopidilla Bay, Turks & Caicos, Amergris and Big Sand Cay

Seems like a whirlwind since we left Georgetown Friday Feb.10. We left at 4:15 pm and up till about 1 hr before that
Never Bored and Time Enough weren't coming with us which we were pretty bummed about. Then Chris looked at the weather window and decided to go and Time Enough II followed. They only stayed with us till midnight and headed toward Rum Cay due to battery problem. Tt was very rough seas and Ed was seasick and I just wanted to sleep so no cooking that trip or eating. We arrived in Mayaguana
2:00 am on Sunday the 12th. We stayed there till the 16th due to wind conditions and left at 4:30 pm for the Tiki Huts anchorage at the northwest corner of Provodenciales (Provo) of the Turks and Caicos and arrived there at 3:30am on the 18th. We left on the 19th at 6:15 am and headed to Sopidilla Bay.

Ed and Chris went to check in and it took only 5 hrs from the time they left the boat till they returned and Chris'
daughter Linda and partner Amy were coming in that afternoon. We sure didn't think they would be gone for 5 hours.
The next day, Ed and I explored Provo on foot, hitch hiking and had lunch at the Conch Hut; it was 90 deg. That evening we got
to meet the girls and had a nice happy hour together. On Tuesday Time Enough II joined us and they had caught
a Mahi so we had dinner on Never Bored along with Nepenthe-Alex and Carol also on way to Trinidad; I made Rum Cake. We
played music and sang. Wednesday was Happy Hr. on our boat and I made carmel rolls and we had appetizers. I played
my keyboard and Chris showed me some new ways to use it. Ed played guitar and Bob fiddled.

We left for Ambergris at sun up on Thurs. and arrived at 4:00pm and we motored then picked our way through coral heads for
an hour to get to the anchorage. We snorkeled over to a reef near the boat which was very nice but pretty
small fish. We should have explored more today. We left at 11:00 to head to Big Sand Cay and unfortunately had
to motor again and we went right into the waves 5-7 feet; not what we had planned. One fuel filter got clogged so we switched to the alternate so replacing it is a job before leaving for Luperon. Before this year we would have had to replace it enroute but Ed added an alternate filter.

Today we explored the beach. Ann found some nuts we call hamburger beans plus some pretty shells. We are leaving for Luperon now and we have winds from the ESE 15K maybe going more east and upto 18K so with a course of 173M we will definitely be sailing hopefully arriving outside the harbor near sunup and before the trades override the island lee.

Next post will be from Luperon.

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Georgetown to Mayaguana(Abraham's Bay)

We finally left George Town after nearly a month of activities; volleyball, beach parties, dances and meeting
lots of boaters. They also have restaurants and a grocery store and free water made by reverse osmosis which means it is very pure.

After much debate on Friday with our 2 other boating partners, Bob and Carol from Time Enough II and Chris and
Sheila from Never Bored, we all decided to head out of Georgetown at 4:00pm and head for Mayaguana. According
to our weather Guru, Chris Parker, there was going to be a window of opportunity for us. By midnight Time Enough II
had dead batteries and headed into Rum Cay and assured us that they would be fine and that we should continue so
we did. Ed was feeling pretty sick from the action of the waves and Ann just wanted to sleep and was zombie-like.
We finally arrived this morning at 2:00am. We anchored just inside the entrance so it was very rolly but later
in the morning we moved further down and it was more comfortable. At one point we were ready to turn around
and head back to Florida and sell the boat but we made it. Sailing is supposed to be fun but is sometimes a lot of stress when long distances are involved.

Tomorrow and in the next few days we will explore Mayaquana, a little out of the way island on the way to the Dominican Republic (DR) that has a protected achorage providing a stepping point to the Turks and Caicos islands. Given the prevailing easterly winds sailors must overnight to it from Rum Cay to the north. We did not stop at Rum this time because we had a short weather window to get here. We might have been able to continue to the T&Cs but 25K winds were expected in the morning, we would not have arrived until about 10AM and we were dead tired already. So, we are stuck here for a while until the seas and winds cooperate. And indeed the low pressure front passed us this morning on its way south and the north wind is as forecast. We have it pretty easy as sailors these days with accurate forecasts and GPS to find our way in and out of places.

Ed calls this wind "electric" because the wind generator whirs away completely charging our batteries for which we are thankful because our solar panels alone cannot. While sailing it can keep up with the chart plotter, GPS, radio, instruments and autopilot which steers better than we can under almost all conditions.

Next stop: T&Cs, then the DR.

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Waiting For Front

Hello everyone,

We wish we could say that we were farther south but we are in Georgetown, Great Exuma, the Bahamas and here is the simple reason: the wind has remained southeast and strong for almost the entire time we've been here. Like most cruisers we want to sail and if we motor to not motor into waves! Usually, cold fronts leave the US and push down to the Bahamas during the winter about once a week changing the wind speed and direction. This year, the fronts have been weak not reaching into the Bahamas so the southeast trades just keep on coming. We arrived in GT 2 and 1/2 weeks ago the wind generator has been spinning strong ever since. There is a possibility of a motoring opportunity next Tuesday-Thursday but two days of motoring is not an exciting prospect but we are getting anxious.

The great news is that we have come to love GT! There is so much to do here with several hundred boaters in this wonderful harbor. The boaters who come every winter for 3-5 months have so many organized activities and go out of there way to be open and friendly so that no one feels like there are cliques or unwelcome. We've been to two rock and roll dances, six beach gatherings, played volleyball, attended two seminars, gone on a bus tour, into a cave and made many new friends. If you have to be stuck, then this is the place.

We had to replace our windlass motor so we learned about customs processes. At least now it is working again. Yea!

Our sail from Galliot Cay to GT was uneventful but fast. We averaged about 7.2K with wind behind the beam 15-20K, what a great sail. The only thing was that it arrived late in the day so the harbor entrance was at night which I dislike and will avoid in the future. We have been in GT enough that we know the coordinates for the harbor twists and turns so we let the GPS be our guide and arrived just find but it creeped me out and I hope not to do it again.

We hope you are all well. Over and out from GT. Go Patriots.

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St. Marys to Staniel Cay

A lot has happened in the few months but I will keep the recap short because most of it is only interesting to Ann and I or someone with way too much time!

Way back in November we had lots of boat jobs to do, most of which we did, a few of which we decided not to do, and a bunch more of which we did not know. One job that we did was new canvas all around with protection for our exterior wood too which we will use next summer while the boat bakes in the tropical sun. We splashed on December 15th, ten days later than expected.

Our first stop was Fernandina Beach where the canvas work finished. We did try to leave before Christmas but had two engine problems at the same time resulting in us being towed back to the dock. A engine drain plug sprang a leak and Ed did not tighten a sea-water cooling hose resulting in a worrisome mix of antifreeze and salt water. Fortunately, this was due to two simple problems not one expensive engine problem!

We had Christmas dinner early in Fernandina Beach before heading outside with the goal of sailing to Fort Pierce in 36 hours. The weather was strong with NE winds 15-20 knots and a more easterly swell with the end result of Ed going a little green. So, after 20+ hours with the prospect of winds shifting to on the nose we went into the Ponce Inlet south of Daytona Beach then had a lovely motor-sail over the next few days to Vero Beach. It was interesting that our friends from NeverBored, Chris and Sheila, called us to suggest going inside just after we made that decision.

Ed managed to knock over a day marker a few minutes from Vero as he was distracted thinking about docking. Fortunately, we hit the pole on our anchor such that the damage to our boat was minimal, only a few scratches below the waterline. He probably will not hear the end of that for a while. We called the Coast Guard and filled out an incident report, I think that will be the end of it.

Yawl will be glad to know that our Homeland Security is on the job. We were questioned by Customs and Integration in Fernandina Beach and boarded and inspected by the Coast Guard in New Smyrna Beach.

We were glad to meet with some former cruising friends in Cocoa where we enjoyed some shopping, beer and pizza with Wayne and Beth from Gypsy Moon.

We celebrated New Years in Vero by dancing until 2AM. No hangovers, we walked about four miles that night going to and from several clubs but it was fun.

After Vero we headed down the Intracoastal Waterway to Lake Worth motor sailing and just plain motoring. At Lake Worth the weather changed and we had a beautiful spinnaker run down to Fort Lauderdale where we anchored at Lake Sylvia and the last of the three little ships, Time Enough II with Bob and Carole on board, caught up to us. After 1/2 day spent refueling the boats, stocking the larder and enjoying the food and drink at the Raw Bar we headed for the Bahamas.

As usual, another motor trip across to the Bahamas from Florida. We went 24 hours to Frazer Hog Cay arriving at 4PM, then woke up the next morning and headed for Rose Island outside of Nassau. Finally, we were sailing. It was a close reach, with apparent wind 30-35 degrees but strong enough to prevent much lee way. The next morning, by now January 9th, we got up and did it again this time close reaching 70 miles to Big Major Spot outside Staniel Cay. We anchored at 8PM under a nearly full moon.

We enjoyed a rest day yesterday, perhaps we should have taken advantage of the wind to move further south but now are sitting waiting for wind which should clock to the NW soon and then NE. We plan to ride these winds to Mayaguana and the Turks and Caicos next. We do not plan to motor much anymore, that is the word from those of flag ranks. Sail or sit!

Approximate lats and longs of the Bahamas Leg so far.

Ft Lauderdale 2606 8001
Great Isaac 2600 7902
Frazer Hog 2529 7755
Rose Island 2504 7714
Big Majors 2411 7629

Happy New Years and we will post again soon.

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Continuing the Engine Work Saga and The Bride Returns

Ann is here after her Michigan visit with her folks!   Woo hoo!   Plus, our friends Chris and Sheila (CS) arrived in St. Marys Monday after spending the weekend at Cumberland Island.  Monday, I ate dinner with them, Tuesday, the three of us went to West Marine then picked up Ann at the airport then went out for dinner and grocery shopping.

 

Ann and I were going to stay at a motel but are staying on the boat, at least for now.  Ann's parents are coming, we may go stay at the same motel to be closer to them.

 

Well, I promised the saga of continuing engine work, so here it is:

 

Saturday, I lifted the engine with a frame set in place above it and a long bungee cord (about 100 feet) wrapped around about 20 times to the engine hoist point.  Each of the 40 strands was tensioned to about 10 pounds and the engine rose.  I then was able to attempt to remove the motor mounts for replacement.   The bolts were extremely tight, I stripped one head with a bad socket, one broke because the stainless steel corroded and another busted because it would not budge.  The good news was that five came out.   Monday morning I called Island Packet and found out that there was a steel plate embedded in the fiberglass so I drilled and tapped holes next to the broken bolts and was still able to place the motor mounts in the same place.  I then undid the bungee loops and lowered the engine onto the new mounts.   By then it was Tuesday and time to pick up Ann.  Lots of angst involved in the motor mount job.

 

Today, Wednesday the 16th, I hooked up the drive shaft,  re-installed the new fuel filters, installed the lift pump, connected up the fuel lines.  I then tested the pump, by turning it on to fill up both filters.  Success, no leaks so far.   I am so tired tonight.

 

Remaining items on the "engine" agenda are to connect up the exhaust manifold (the current connection is poor, I am waiting for a new piece), to re-mount the coolant reservoir (the old mount is destroyed by corrosion) and to replace all the engine hoses.  Definitely, a couple of days more of this work, once I get all the parts.

 

The weather has been gorgeous with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s except for yesterday with hot humid weather heralding the approaching thunderstorms last night.  Today is overcast and warm just the way the noseeums love it.

 

Today may be a cleanup day plus some light work, first I need to get motivated.  Right now I am just tired.

 

Have fun,

 

Ed

Boatyard Progress Report #3

Adding it up and counting Monday, this is the sixth day in the yard.  Overall, my progress is about what I planned but I sure hope I finish two of the three engine jobs by the time Ann gets in on Tuesday!

 

I've got three things going on for our Yanmar 44HP engine:

1. Replace the motor mounts.  Tomorrow, I plan to tackle this job.   Today I picked up the bungee cord and wood frame for lifting the engine.  I also cleaned the engine and loosened the motor mount bolts.

2.  Install a new dual-fuel filter and lift pump.  I installed both today but need one new hose and an adapter which I will pick up on Monday.  I also need to provide power to the lift pump but that is merely reattaching of the old lift pump's wires.  This job is 90% complete.

3. Replace all the water hoses, hose clamps and oil cooler.  I am waiting on all the parts for the water hoses, oil cooler and hose clamps.  They will not even be ordered until Monday so I probably will not have the parts until Thursday.   I call this job at about 50% complete.

 

The weather stripping I installed around the hatches doesn't want to fully stick so I have to go to Plan B, whatever that is. 

 

I tried and failed at my attempt to radically improve the anchor hawse pipe though I made an incremental improvement just by moving things around.  Last year the chain sometimes did not go down the pipe leading to jamming but that was probably due to the links not moving slowly due to the fresh galvanic coating which bound links together.  So, I will call this done and keep my fingers crossed.

 

Ken "varnish boy" Hix has the first coat on the toe rails and they are looking good.

 

The weather continues to be sunny and mild, lows in the 40s and highs in the 70s.   

 

It is time to make dinner and clean the place up. All for now,

 

Ed