2012 By the Numbers

April 27 to July 20

Here are some numbers for our 2012 Bahamas trip on FLUKE. This was our longest Bahamas trip yet in both days and miles.

The fuel usage numbers include the hours running the generator, primarily to recharge the batteries, but sometimes for cooking or laundry. This trip had a lot of rainy days that hurt the effectivity of the solar panels, but when the sun was out it was high in the sky and the panels cranked out a lot of amps. It was our most efficient Bahamas trip. The MPG numbers would be higher without the generator.

One thing I thought interesting was to compare this trip with 2011 trip to Canada. In the Bahamas we tend to spend more time at each stop. In 2011 we averaged 24.7 miles per day and this year we averaged 17 miles per day.

As usual, we did not spend any nights at the dock in the Bahamas. We did spend many more nights on moorings due to the weather that caused us to divert to Stuart and to stay at Hope Town twice. Moorings in the Bahamas were $20 per night.

2012 Bahamas Trip Statistics

Dates	April 27 to July 20
Days	85 (73 anchor, 11 mooring)
Engine Hours	212.1
Gallons Fuel	580
Nautical Miles	1255 (1443 Statute Miles)
Nautical MPG	2.16 (2.49 MPG)
Generator Hours	78.3 (about 55 min/day)

Let us know if there are any other numbers you would like to see. (You can Post a Comment to do so.)

Sep 18, 2012

We have been waiting since we got back from the Bahamas to get the boat hauled out of the water for hurricane season. The storage yards in Ft Pierce are both packed, but we finally got hauled out at Riverside Marina and Boatworks in Ft Pierce, where we were 2 years ago. Glad to have that out of the way even though the hurricane season is half over and seems to have slowed down, but it only takes one.

We have a long list of mostly minor things to do on FLUKE while she is out.

Bahamas 2012 on Tripline

September 2012

I recently discovered Tripline while reading another Kadey Krogen owner's blog (Muddy Waters).

I have made maps before using google but this looked much better and was very easy. I used it to create the following Map Player and Place List.

If you click on the play button near the top right on the following map, it will play. Enjoy the music! You can also click on "FULL SCREEN".
(Place List is below the map player)

The next section is a scrollable list of the same stuff as in the map player, but you can scroll at your own pace (and no music). Click on pics to expand into slide show.

The 2012 Grand Finale

July 5 – 20, 2012

In the last post I said that we had dropped the anchor in Wells Bay.  Wells Bay is adjacent to Grand Cay, Little Grand Cay, and Big Grand Cay.  I've commented before that there doesn't seem to be much logic used in naming some of the islands.  This is a good example whereby Grand Cay is much larger in land mass than Big Grand Cay.  Go figure!  The Grand Cays support a small settlement of people who are fishermen themselves or cater to the fishing tourists that frequent the area.  There are no posh resort accommodations, cheesy tourist boutiques, or fashionable restaurants.  You would only come here if you wanted to fish, and most people do that all day, every day, weather permitting.

EAGLE and FLUKE

Cruisers stop here to fish too and be with other cruisers of like interests.  The offshore reef is close to the anchorage, so it is easily accessible for bottom fishing, trolling, snorkeling, and spearfishing.  There are a lot of shallow water rocks and rocky bars in the vicinity that support big populations of lobsters.  We've seen some areas under rocks so packed full of lobsters there wasn't any room for fish.  We always miss out on a lobster feast since lobster season doesn't start until August 1, and we need to be back to Florida before then to prepare for the rest of hurricane season.

Wells Bay beach

The white sandy Wells Bay beach is about a mile long.  It's a great place to get some good walking exercise, especially if you choose to walk in the really soft sand and have your calves get stretched to the max.  It's not the best beach for beach combing since the water is shallow and sandy with minimal wave action so not much gets washed up.  There are other small cays in the area with some little beaches so you just have to be patient and hunt regularly to find “treasures”.

You can snorkel in the anchorage, and if you are patient and just pay attention, you will see some interesting sights.  I saw one hole that had 3 compartments containing a lobster, eel, and stone crab.  I saw locals regularly collect conch, and we picked up some nice shells on the beach leftover from someone making conch salad on Bahamian Independence Day, July 10.  The locals had a big beach party, but no one invited us.  

“Vision” check

If you've followed the other blog posts, you will know that Eddie and I are always on the lookout for pieces of driftwood, especially those that resemble something.  We both have the “vision”, and this photo is another check to see if you do too.  If you can't see that this is obviously a whale, you don't have it!

Early one morning Wayne and I took Ursa for a walk on Wells Bay beach.  We discovered the remains of a hawksbill and loggerhead turtle on the beach that were obviously killed the day before.  I had seen 3 locals on the beach for a long time, but I couldn't figure out what they were doing.  They took all the turtle meat, but left the shells floating in the water.  The hawksbill turtle is so beautiful, with intricate patterns on a shell that has pretty, spiked edges.  The loggerhead shell is only interesting because of its huge size, about 3'.  We are always sad to see the dead turtles, especially since the Bahamian government recently prohibited the killing of turtles.  We've also seen a few turtle nests that have been dug up to collect the eggs.

The sponge

I found this oval, 12” long sponge.  It is unusually symmetrical for a sponge, and clearly shows the numerous smaller incurrent holes around the outside and the one central excurrent hole in the top.  Sponges continually siphon water containing nutrients inward and expel the water back out the excurrent hole.

View from the top

With all the weather woes we've had to deal with, there has been ample time to do some beach combing and in addition to the sponge, we've collected lots of sea glass, other pieces of driftwood and shells.  9 out of the 15 days we spent anchored in Wells Bay, we had rain and/or a thunderstorm, most arriving between midnight and 3:00 a.m.  That doesn't make for a peaceful night's sleep.

Lighting up the night sky

We saw many clouds like this one.  You can even see the lightning bolt and the veil of rain pouring down.  These clouds are usually preceded by a very windy blast of cold air.  The cold air feels SO good, but it is not worth it at the expense of the nasty wind.

Hoping the anchor will hold

This photo, taken during daylight hours, gives you an idea how the bay gets kicked up when the squall line moves through.  When its day time, we can at least have a better feel if the anchor is holding or be able to see if another boat or water spout may be coming our way.  When the seas get kicked up at night, the neighborhood has a whole different feel; it is scarey.  That's why we don't like to anchor close to another boat, especially in Wells Bay which doesn't have the best holding.

One day we saw one of the little local boats with 3 people aboard break down near shore right before a heavy downpour.  They kept trying to work on the motor, but finally gave up and tied the boat to some rocks, which gave it a good beating.  When the storm let up, they tried pulling themselves along the shore.  We couldn't lend assistance because our dinghy had a steering problem.  We tried calling people of the local settlement on the VHF, but no one would answer.  After 4 hours, they were finally able to hail down another local and get help.

Taking care of business, rain or shine

Ursa feels best when she keeps on a regular schedule, for input and output.  That means pooping in the rain, and on this cruise, she has done that quite a few times.

Storm reward

I'm always glad when we make it through another storm unscathed and at least are treated to a pretty rainbow and time left in the day to be able to do other things.  The other things don't just include fun activities and socializing.  We always continue to have our regular share of maintenance issues.

The day after I remarked how great the freezer was working, the temperature started going up.  We have a lot of frozen vacuum packed fish, but the ice cream was getting soft, and we were in a crisis state.  Wayne could only make guesses as to how much gas to let in or out of the line depending on how the temperature was moving or if the line was freezing up.  It took several days, and just luck, to finally stabilize the freezer again.  It may need additional work after FLUKE gets hauled.

Undercover

Shortly before we left Florida, Eddie had scavenged an old sail in good condition from the municipal marina.  We cut it up and had the edges sewn and grommeted so that we could hang it over the boom and use it to shield the upper deck from the direct sun.  That also helps keep the main salon much cooler.  We think it turned out well, both functionally and aesthetically.

Cool dog

Obviously you can guess that the heat has been as issue, and we are always looking at ways to cool off the boat better.  Ursa was so hot and unsettled in the night that we went ahead and directly wired a 12V fan for her.  Not only has it helped keep her cool, the fan noise masks the sounds of the thunder which makes her anxious.  Some nights she jumps up on the bed table and waits for the fan to get turned on and then sleeps through the entire night.

We have an ongoing issue with the engine fuel line loosing its prime, like it has an air leak.  We discovered this when we went to start the engine after a few days of sitting idle, and it couldn't start because it was starved for fuel.  Eddie has had to manually pump the fuel filter to force fuel into the line before each start.  We have had a mysterious residue (presumably from a mist) in the engine room that we think might be tied to the problem, but we can't find an actual leak anywhere.  That is on the list to troubleshoot.

The guys had to change the raw water pump on the generator.  Right about that time, Eddie noticed that one of the alternator brackets is cracked; we don't know how long it has been like that.   However, we sure got paranoid wondering if the alternator would break off at a really bad time, like there is ever a good time for something like that to happen.

Get a grip

I told you early on that we were having trouble with the dinghy steering.  It progressively got worse, so the guys decided to screw on this wooden handle to give a manual assist to the steering assembly.  It helped some, but about 3 days before we were going to leave, the wooden handle broke in half.  Since we were down to our last gallon of gas for the dinghy we could have just called it quits, but our friends on EAGLE gave us two more gallons to hold us over until departure day.

The breakfast of champions

When Wayne wasn't fixing things or riding shotgun for our spearfishing expeditions, he kept busy baking.  This cranberry almond breakfast ring was a big hit with the crew.  He made a picture perfect braided semolina bread to share at a cruiser's group meal on EAGLE.

The gift surprise

Getting together with the other cruisers is a good way to exchange information about life aboard, anchorages, and experiences had.  Everyone has something to add to the conversations.  Carol and Bruce, from EAGLE, have been out cruising for years and are a wealth of information and seem to know everyone we run into.  Carol likes to paint with water colors in her spare time aboard, and had a stack of paintings for us to look at.  Imagine my surprise when she said I could pick out one to keep!

Getting primed

Once we settled into life at Wells Bay, we went out spearfishing as much as conditions permitted.  I had taken this photo of Eddie after he had gotten ready to go way ahead of time and was waiting for the tide to get slack.  When I looked at the photo, I laughed because I thought with those headphones, glasses, and diving skin on he looked like one of those old Russian cosmonauts.

2 pairs of hogs

Our spearfishing outings aren't just about trying to catch the next meal.  They are about visiting the underwater habitat and marveling about the myriad numbers of fascinating creatures of all sizes and shapes, the good, bad, and ugly.  Being able to put a healthy, gourmet meal on the table is the prize.  We never shoot anything we don't plan to eat, and we spend way more time in the water just looking and not getting anything.  However, this photo shows our best day.  Eddie is holding his 8 pound hogfish, which is the biggest he's ever shot, and one we would say was a day's prize if I hadn't managed to spear the 12.5 pound one I'm holding.  That is my new life record.  Just finding two like this in the same day was a stroke of luck.

We were also fortunate this year not to have to deal with sharks like we have in the past.  I don't know where they all went, but on all our dives from our Wells Bay anchorage, we never saw one of the “bad” sharks, like the reef, black tip, bull, or lemon sharks that tend to be aggressive.  Two separate times I gently bopped a big nurse shark with the blunt end of my spear when I thought it was getting too close to check me out at first sighting.  The nurse sharks are very passive for the most part and just seem to want to check you out and then they usually go on their way so we don't worry much about them.

Team grouper

One afternoon the FLUKESTERS went out for a dive with Carol and Bruce on EAGLE to a spot we had discussed but had never heard anyone diving at.  We were on the third dive in the area, not really seeing much.  Then Eddie spotted this big red grouper under a rock that you could see through from one side to the other.  Eddie scared the fish through to Bruce's side and Bruce got a kill shot on the fish.  Eddie cleaned the fish, and we all got together for another gourmet meal aboard FLUKE and had plenty left over for EAGLE to  serve another time.

Processing

Eddie does a fantastic job of cleaning the fish we catch.  He has a whole set of knives that he uses and keeps razor sharp.  He saves scraps for Visitor and throws pieces to Ursa, who is always “guarding” the area when he is cleaning.  If you put your hand near the fish that are to be cleaned, Ursa will growl.  She won't let Visitor even step out into the cockpit.  She has beat him up so many times, he won't even go near the door; he just stays back in the hallway and meows.  Poor kitty.

Eddie's fish cleaning had attracted a BIG barracuda to FLUKE.  Any time something was thrown overboard, including Ursa's pee mat, the fish would come out from under the boat and check it out.  One day, after a stormy night,  I decided to snorkel out to the anchor to see how it was set.  When I got in the water, the barracuda was there.  Most of the time, they just swim away and keep a steady distance.  This time, it followed way too closely with me, all the way out to the anchor (200').  I felt very intimidated by its actions and asked Wayne to come pick me up in the dinghy.  He was making English muffins, so Eddie had to come get me and yelled at me the whole way back, saying I shouldn't have gone in the water in the first place.  This is coming from the guy who had the shark bite the fish off the end of his spear!

I always dread when the day comes for us to leave.  I personally have mixed feelings about going back to Florida, but what ends up bothering me the most is Eddie's behavior.  I thought it may be different this year since Eddie didn't have the usual enthusiasm for going in the first place although he seemed to really get into it as the weeks in the Bahamas progressed.  When we told Eddie we would be leaving to go back in about a week, he started up.  He gets real mopey and whines about having to leave, especially if we are hanging out with other people and having good diving adventures.  So, nothing was different when the final day arrived and we went out for our LAST (emphasized by Eddie) dive.  Even having ice cream for lunch didn't cheer him up.  The melancholy had set in and continued on until we pulled up the dinghy and then the anchor at 3:00 p.m. to make our 4 hour run over to Mangrove Cay where we would anchor until 2:30 a.m.  Eddie just stands out on the shady side of the deck staring off into the distance, like a puppy getting taken from its litter mates, mumbling about why we can't stay longer.  Just one more dive, please!

We had a stifling hot (87 degrees) evening at Mangrove, and I was actually glad to get moving at 2:30 a.m. in hopes that it would make the boat feel cooler.

We had a light southeast wind behind us and lightly choppy, but fairly calm seas to everyone's pleasure.  Visitor never threw up, so that tells you it was calm.  We saw 3 ocean freighters and a cruise ship.  A school of dolphins surfed the bow wake for quite a while, but I still haven't been able to get any decent pictures.  While we trolled two lines, we didn't even get a bite on either line.  I'm not complaining though, because we had so many other great fishing adventures.  With the big push from the powerful Gulf Stream current we made over 10 KTS in speed for a while.  However, since we were traveling on a northwesterly course we had to steer as much as 40 degrees off our actual heading to account for the current's northerly push.

Despite spending over 12 hours at sea, the time seemed to go quickly.  After we leave the ocean at Ft. Pierce inlet, it takes about another 2 hours to get to the Vero Beach Municipal Marina where we planned to unload FLUKE.  That last leg of the trip just seemed to drag on for longer than two hours.  We picked up a mooring line at 5:30 p.m. and thanked FLUKE for another safe crossing and bringing us happily back to our home port.  We will need a week to unload the boat and then FLUKE will be like a “fish out of the water” when she gets hauled out and stored on land for the rest of the hurricane season.

Well, another adventure has come to an end.  Thanks to all of you who have followed along with us, posting comments and letting us know you are being educated and entertained.  We are kicking around some ideas for the next trip, date of departure still to be determined depending on where we decide to go.  Wayne will put together a summary post for the 2012 adventure with our days out, miles traveled, fuel used, etc.  If you want to know anything else, just ask and he can include that too.

Worth Repeating

June 30 – July 4, 2012

After we had finished our “business” in the Green Turtle Cay area, Wayne asked me where I wanted to stop next as we continued our move northward.  The answer was easy, Powell Cay.  We had not stopped there for several years, and I knew it would be a great island for beach combing, both on the ocean side and the Sea of Abaco beaches.

Powell is interesting because it is located in an area of already populated cays, yet it is still unoccupied, not one house on the whole island.  With the prevailing easterly winds, there is good holding on the island's western side, near a prominent bluff, one of the few “high” rocky outcroppings on any of the cays in this part of the Abacos.  Years ago when we anchored here, it was the first time I had ever seen the beautiful, bright white, tropic birds.  They nest in holes on the side of the bluff, and this year we were treated to the antics of 3 pairs as they glided gracefully on the air currents with their long plumage trailing behind.

Laying idle

There is a trail from the shore up to the area above the bluff.  We had not found it on our previous stops, so it was on the agenda to find this time.  Fortunately, someone had hung a sign indicating “Bluff Trail” so we had a good indication where to look for the trail this time.  However, with the heavy rains a lot of new growth had covered the entrance to the trail, but we manged to find it and headed up the path.  There were several large trees that had gotten blown over in recent storms laying across the path, so we had to duck under them.  Wayne was in the lead, so I could see him bending down, but he didn't tell me about the two tree trunks that were side by side.  From my level I could see the first one, but not the second one.  So, when I ducked under the first one I couldn't see the second one because of my hat, so I bent up right into the second trunk and smashed my forehead right into it.  Even through my hat, it broke the skin.  Eddie was behind me on the trail and couldn't see what happened, so he came to the two trees and did the same thing, so he couldn't make fun of me!

Happy trails to you

After we made the short hike up to the bluff, which is worth ducking under all the fallen trees for, we decided to hike over to the ocean side beach.  That trail was very obvious, as indicated by the above photo.

The well-used trail takes you through a variety of island habitats, open and shaded, including elevation changes.  Overall, the footing is easy, but you have to wear decent shoes to avoid getting punctured by thorny vegetation or sharp rocks and to keep from slipping.  One section of the trail is very low, and had standing water on it,  a good mosquito breeding ground, as evidenced by how many times we got buzzed in the thickly vegetated areas.

Mosquito goo trail

We walked into the neighborhood of a gray gnatcatcher.  We've run into the tiny, 4” chattering birds before.  They come real close to you and hop from branch to branch until you leave their area.  For being so small they have a lot of spunk!  They are the chihuahuas of the bird world.

Gray gnatcatcher

There is a nice high dune that you crest before you see the ocean.  You can look back the way you came and see other parts of the dense undulating island.

Great swimming beach

The beach has soft, clean white sand and a broad, expansive area 50 yards wide offshore with a clear sandy bottom.  We could see 4 nurse sharks placidly cruising along the bottom.  There were some offshore rocks and coral heads visible, and we decided we would take the dinghy out to them the following day.

Rather than taking the “public” trail back to the west side of the island, Wayne said that we should try walking around the north end of the island like we had done on a previous visit.  I thought I vaguely remembered having done that hike before and remarked that, if I remembered correctly, we had to wade in waist deep water part of the way.  Wayne said he wasn't sure that was the same episode he was thinking of, so I reluctantly agreed to go along.  I knew the tide was rising and was concerned that the waist deep water might require swimming instead, and we had “treasures” we were carrying that I wouldn't want to give up.

Shallow existence

The first part of the hike back wasn't too bad.  We had to forge our way through some knee high vegetation with only a few thorns until we reached the NE end of the island where there is another nice beach area.  Since the tide was still low we could walk on the sand most of the way.  There were many big invasive trees fallen over, probably from the 2011 hurricane season.  Looking in the photo above, you can see why the whole tree fell over instead of just getting blown apart from the wind.  The roots are shallow because of the iron rock base, some still clinging to the root ball, and the storms erode the earth and sand away from underneath. The native vegetation does a better job of surviving because of their slow, deep-rooting rate of growth which makes for stronger wood fibers and better holding.

We FLUKESTERS began to get spread out on this section of the walk.  Wayne had gotten farther in the lead, and with the curving shoreline was out of sight.  I was in the second position and stopped to figure out if we could manage to get a large piece of driftwood I knew was meant for me back to FLUKE.  I could see Eddie rounding the last bend and decided to call him over.  When he saw it, he agreed we wouldn't find another piece better than that on the rest of the walk so we should take it.  He said he would try to carry it for a while by himself, but I had my doubts as to how long he would be able to make it.

Eddie with good intentions

After about 100 yds, Eddie had had enough and suggested resting in the shade.  He asked where Wayne was, and I told him I thought he was up ahead since I hadn't seen him in 15 minutes.  While Eddie rested I rounded two more corners to try to find Wayne, but couldn't see him.  I wondered if he had found a trail through the brush since we had run out of beach and there were only rocks and thick vegetation to walk through along the water. 

Eddie and I began arguing about what Wayne may have done, with Eddie thinking that he was probably going on ahead to get the dinghy because he knew we had the big piece of driftwood.  I didn't think so and suggested that we could share the weight of carrying the log by each of us holding an end.  This banter went on for some time until we realized we had the dinghy key and Wayne wouldn't be able to pick us up!

Soon after we started moving again, Wayne showed back up and asked what happened until he saw the big driftwood piece.  Rather than make a fuss about it, he took on a resigned, good sport, attitude when he saw how we had already “bonded” with it.  He showed us the shoreline “path” he had taken on the way back to us.  On his return pass to us, he had waded through the water, but it had already risen too high for us to be able to do that with all we had to carry, so we were stuck having to scrape through the underbrush and rocky terrain right along the water's edge.  Wayne and Eddie had to pass the log through the brush since there wasn't enough room in most places to hold it across your body.  Wayne called it a “death march”!

We finally made it back to the flat, sandy, west side shoreline where it was easy to walk again, and Wayne took over carrying the big log.  We came upon several people who had beached their day boat where they were trying to cool off in the water.  One of the guys yelled out that he liked our driftwood – a man after my heart!  He, like Eddie and I, has THE VISION.

The following morning we took the dinghy back out to the east side of the island to check out the rocks and coral heads we had seen from the beach the day before.  Eddie speared a 3# grouper, but overall there weren't many fish to see.  Wayne said that we should get back to the west side of the island via the south end, but I told him I thought it was too shallow for the falling tide, but Wayne didn't think so.  Since he hadn't fussed about having to deal with the driftwood the day before, I decided to let him have his way about taking the southern route.  Never having said “I told you so”, I still wasn't happy having to help drag the heavy dinghy several times for quite a distance until we had deep enough water to run the motor.

We had yummy grouper sandwiches for lunch and then a little time to rest and try to stay cool.

Dog day afternoon

Sometimes the coolest air is located in the shade on the bridge deck, and we all retreat to that area at one time or another to try to catch a breeze swirling down the side of the boat.

When the winds increased and had a more westerly flow, we moved over to Angelfish Point.  Since it was already past 5:00, we knew we wouldn't be bothered much by boat wakes at that time of day.  We have always found good anchoring along the east side of Angelfish where we have ridden out some very high blows. 

I talked Wayne into driving the dinghy for me while I trolled along the east side of Crab Cay from its northern end to a few miles south down from where we were anchored.  I got several hits and had one fish up to the boat, but lost it before I could see what it was.

Moonrise over the thunderhead

On the morning of July 2 we moved to Allans-Pensacola where we rendezvoused with our friends, Carol and Bruce, on EAGLE.  We all went out to the offshore coral heads for a 4 hour marathon dive.  We don't know when to say when!  I speared a 4# grouper, but overall we didn't see many fish considering all the time we spent in the water.  There were 12 boats anchored at the cay for the night, the most we have seen at anchor at any of the small cays the entire time we have been cruising this year.

The following day, we moved over to the Fish Cays and went out for another dive trip.  While we did see more fish than the other places, it was still less fish than we had seen the previous two years.  Surprisingly, we haven't seen any sharks, which is unusual when we spear fish and stir up the neighborhood.  The visibility was poor, so maybe they were there, and we just couldn't see them.  But we KNOW they can see us, so we are always on the lookout.

We stayed anchored at the Fish Cays for the night, and EAGLE elected to go back over to Allans-Pensacola where they felt more comfortable.  We didn't mind being by ourselves, but it would have been nice if they took a couple thousand mosquitoes with them!

We rendezvoused with EAGLE in Moraine Cut the next morning where we planned to go out beyond the barrier reef and head westward to Wells Bay off the Grand Cays, which would be our final anchoring area before heading back to Florida.

Since our normal cruising speed is also great for trolling, we planned to try our luck trolling the 150 – 300' depths for the 7 hours it would take us to get over to Wells Bay.  We had our lines in the water as we went through the Moraine Cut and caught and released a jack.  That was the first fish of what would turn out to be an explosive Fourth of July fishing day for the FLUKESTERS.  Finally!

Eddie and the blackfin

You know that old saying “Be careful what you wish for”.  Well, when it was time to eat lunch, we had to pull in the fishing lines so that we wouldn't hook up any fish while we were trying to eat.  Then, by 2:00 p.m. we had to bring in both lines altogether because we were just too hot (it was 90 degrees in the pilothouse) and too tired to have to reel in the fish and take them off the line.  Our total for the day was 8 blackfin tuna (ranging in size from about 8 – 15# each), 1 spanish mackerel, and 1 jack.  We kept a 15# tuna for ourselves, released a couple of others, and Eddie gutted a few to give to friends of EAGLE once we arrived at the anchorage.

Arriving in Wells Bay once again brought back a lot of pleasant memories of great cruising adventures of the past.  We hoped the period of good weather that had been with us for the last week would continue.  Lloyd and Jacquelyn had diving plans swirling in their heads!  Jacquelyn had already made up her mind to make the dive again at Tea Table Cay where she almost took her last earthly breath to take up new residence at Davey Jones Locker.

Stranded Naked

June 29, 2012

This is one of those rare times I am writing the blog “real time”.  Today is really June 29, and I will be talking about what we did today.  If all goes well, we will be able to post this tomorrow.

After we left Hope Town harbor yesterday, we had a four hour run northward, including transiting the Whale Cay Passage again.  All was mostly calm and uneventful.

Since it was already past 6:00 p.m. when we rounded the Whale and were back in the Sea of Abaco, we decided to anchor in Crossing Bay, on the north end of the Treasure Cay beach.  Winds were forecast to be light out of the NW, so we thought we would be fine there.  We never did get enough west wind so gentle rollers rounded the northern tip of land off the beach making for too much roll to suit my comfort level.  Plus, around 3:00 a.m. no-see-ums started to attack.  Turning on the fan helped ward them off, but sure didn't help with the roll. 

I couldn't wait to pull up the anchor this morning and move north to Manjack, one of our favorite anchorages where we would have an easy dinghy ride over to the Stranded Naked party on Fiddle Cay this afternoon. 

Wayne and Ursa at the main sign

I think if you looked in the previous blogs where I have talked about this event you couldn't tell much difference from the photos I'll post today.  The sponsors reuse all the same “props”, tents, transportation vehicles, cooking gear etc.  We even recognize many of the same people year after year, and many people remember Ursa.  The whole party is very family oriented, including a big welcome for dogs.

Stranded Naked is the kick-off party for the annual event known as Regatta Time in Abaco.  Over the next week, sailing regattas and their accompanying award party celebrations will be held on several islands here in the Abacos.

Recognizing patriots

Even though this is a Bahamian party for their annual event, Stranded Naked is a swimwear line owned by an American couple who have sponsored this party for years.  Plus, mostly tourists attend the parties, so showing some American patriotism is acceptable.

Lines of people and boats

It is amazing what a great job the party goers do getting their boats all lined up in an organized fashion around the big sandbar on the west side of Fiddle Cay.

There are 3 main lines:  the food line, the bar line, and the merchandise line.  Believe it or not, the merchandise line is the one that moves the slowest.  Once the bar gets open, drinks fly out quickly until there isn't a line left, and you can just walk up and grab a drink.  Alcoholic choices are a rum punch or margarita.  There is regular punch or ice water for the non drinkers.

The food line moves at a moderate pace, while people choose between a total of two cheeseburgers or hot dogs.  Today, they didn't remember to thaw out the hot dogs ahead of time, so they put big blocks on the grill to try to thaw them.  So, people moving through the line early didn't even have a choice of hot dogs.  It looked like the hot dogs were really taking a beating by the time I got there.   After you get your meat, you move over to the french fryer and then on to the condiment table.  If you don't like what you got, you can't get your money back, because all of it is FREE!

The spa

People cool off before and after eating.  Some set up umbrellas and chairs right in the water and eat their food at sea.

THERE IS A LOT OF EXPOSED SKIN visible and sunburning in progress.  You can't be bored with all the people watching there is to do:  good, bad, and ugly.

Haul in the anchor

There are games and contests for the kids.  The sponsor is a HUGE Jimmy Buffett fan and his appropriate island music blares loudly from the big speakers.  JB memorabilia is strung up around the bar tent.

Safety first

The Green Turtle Cay Fire & Rescue had a booth this year soliciting donations and advertising an upcoming benefit steak dinner.  I thought their new logo was cute.

One more for the road

We made an early exit before the onrush of people who stayed and helped drain the bar supplies so there would be less to clean up decided to leave. 

Everyone had to notice that this was the most beautiful day of weather in 3 weeks: scattered clouds in a bright blue sky, moderate temperature, and very light wind.  A perfect day to start the Regatta Time in Abaco festivities.

We hope that this weather continues.  If all goes as planned, tomorrow we will back track a bit to nearby Green Turtle Cay to try to connect to the internet.  We hope to post this and run a couple of land errands in the morning. Then we will move north and westward, leaving behind our internet connection opportunities.  I'll keep writing about our adventures, but probably won't be able to post until we get back to Florida, within a month, depending on weather conditions.

There's Still Hope

June 24 – 28, 2012

With several days of poor weather in the forecast associated with tropical storm Debby, we made a good decision to go back to Hope Town where we could pick up a secure mooring.  We wouldn't have to worry about our anchor dragging and other boats running into us when the wind kicked up and the rains poured down.  We would have access to land and the internet and be around some of our cruising friends.  We could all commiserate together about the extended bad weather.

Public dock welcome sign

One morning Wayne, Ursa, and I took a walk all the way to the north end of the island, about 1 1/2 miles.  The road is one lane and mostly dirt with some shade, so it is good for getting a little protection from the sun, but all the vegetation proves to be a good place for the mosquitoes to hide.  The road gives you chances to see both the Atlantic Ocean side and the Sea of Abaco (bay side).

Natural fencing

Several homes use the Aralia plants as hedges.  All you need to do is cut off a stalk and stick it in the ground and it will grow into a new plant.

Warning sign

The owner of this property doesn't need a hedge.  I've mentioned before that most all the homes have a name associated with them and some go to great lengths to put up creative signs using all sorts of materials.

There are some tracts of undeveloped land.  When we came to one of the vacant Atlantic side lots, the property was blocked off and several signs said no golf carts we permitted, presumably to try to preserve the vegetation and help prohibit dune erosion.  I liked the sign that said “Let no one say, and say it to your shame, that all was beauty here, before you came!”  Fortunately a lot of the private home development on the island has landscaped with  native vegetation.

The lighthouse is on the west side of the harbor, and it has its own little dock where you can land your dinghy to make your visit.  You can't walk there from the main part of town because the harbor entrance splits the areas. 

One morning I had Wayne drop me off at a marina facility on the west side, south of the lighthouse, and I wanted to find a back way path to get to the lighthouse.  Eddie was being lazy and didn't want to go with me.  I asked a couple of locals who were working at the marina which way to go and soon found a road up through some thick underbrush.  I had Ursa with me and once we got in the thick vegetation out of the wind, we were both covered with mosquitoes, especially on Ursa's nose.

Mosquito gun

The old canon sits in front of Lighthouse Marina.  Two tour groups of teenagers had just been let off at the dock so they could visit the lighthouse.  Many of them wanted to stop and pet Ursa.  When Ursa and I were walking back to our pick up area I looked up and could see the kids on top of the lighthouse so I waved at them.  I could hear a couple of them say to the others “Look down there, it's the lady with the dog!”  Shortly after that, we got caught in a heavy downpour.

When I got back Eddie was still in his PJs.  In fact, he still had them on at 3:00 when Wayne suggested that they try to work on fixing the dinghy steering since it had continued to decline.  Eddie remarked that it was 3:00, quitting time, and Wayne and I both chimed in “You never even got started today!”  It is easy to put off things while we are aboard, and we all do it more than we should.  I think we should have a rule that we all should do something productive every day, but the guys don't like that idea.

My life is like this sign

By the third day, and with a 70% forecast of rain, I made the announcement that I was going to rent a bicycle in the morning and check out the southern end of the island, 3 miles away.  I knew that the road was paved in that direction.  I said I was tired of trying to figure out the rain forecast and if I got wet it wasn't the end of the world.  Both guys decided they wanted to go too.  The bikes had baskets, so Ursa could also go.

The bicycles are rented for $12/day, and coincidentally they are rented out by the same guy, Andrew, who owned the mooring ball we were on.   Wide tires, fat seats, and one speed, easy to pedal.  Andrew remarked that there was really only one hill on the route, but we ended up having to walk the bikes up several inclines, and I was a little nervous during some of the speedy downhill runs.  I didn't like thinking about crashing and having to go back to Marsh Harbor to get patched up.

Hope Town School

This is the cutest island school we have ever seen.  The month before when we were here they were putting on the newest addition, the one you see here, closest to the road.  The colors and shutters are so islandy!  The contractor was there checking everything, and I told him how great it turned out.

School emblem

Notice the things in the school emblem, all reflective of the heritage of the little settlement.

There was a new neighborhood outside of town, now only with a couple of homes on the platted lots.  One of its “claims to fame” was having a disc golf course scattered throughout the development.  You play it like golf, only you throw a frisbee-like disc and try to get it to land in the basket.

The hole

The course has shell rock tee boxes (most of which are overgrown) and a hole sign telling you the distance and what the par is for the hole.  The person with the least amount of throws is the winner.  This course is so tucked into the vegetation, if you have a poor throw that goes into the brush, you cannot retrieve the disc.  We determined that the course wasn't much of a draw for selling lots.

Parts of the southern end of the island are a lot more open and exposed than the northern end.  When hurricane Floyd hit the island in the 1999, the ocean washed over sandy section of the island, wiping out several homes and cutting the island in two pieces.  It took a LOT of fill to piece it back together again.

On the edge

Even today portions of the road show a lot of erosion, and it is difficult to justify funds for paving if the road is going to keep getting washed out.  This photo shows a popular surfing area, off the rocky point in the upper left hand portion.  I think this might be the only place to surf in the Bahamas, and it looks like a dangerous spot to me.  I had a hard enough time on the road just trying to stay out of all the holes.

We made it all the way to the end of the roadway, Tilloo Cut and Tahiti Beach with strong head winds.  I was glad to have the wind on my back helping me along for the return trip because it was past the noon feeding time and the sun was getting pretty hot.

We made a couple of more detours on side streets to look at some interesting homes and island yard art.

Tropical guards

In addition to the sculptures, notice the heavy rope and shells lining the road.  The driveway is made of freeform patches of concrete with turfgrass growing in between, very attractive.

Pay at the pump

These prices are why gas golf cars are so popular instead of everyone having an automobile.  We could have rented a golf car for $40/day, but we all agreed the bicycle ride was a lot more fun.  Plus, we could really use the exercise since our time in the water has been so limited.

One more letter

On the 28th, when the remnants of Debby finally passed, the harbor began to clear out.  I made one last trip to the Post Office (above photo) to mail a letter and say good bye to the post mistress, Nora.  I had asked her many questions, so she was probably glad to hear I was leaving!  Wayne wanted to get another key lime pie from Vernon, but when we went to the store in the morning, we were told the eggs hadn't arrived on the freight boat that morning and so no pies were made.  5000 calories were eliminated from the menu!

We turned in the keys to the bike locks to Andrew and wished him good luck for his sailing competition in the upcoming Regatta Time in Abaco races.  Then we waited for the tide to rise to mid level, 2:00 p.m., so we would have enough water to get out of the harbor and be on our way.

Potpourri

June 20 – 23, 2012

The title of this post wasn't named because we've been watching Jeopardy! or have seen Alex Trebek on one of the megayachts that has passed us.  I'm just going to talk about how we came full circle back to the Abacos and some of the sights along the way.

After we departed the Exumas Land and Sea Park, we had a windy ride up to Ship Channel Cay which would be our last stop in the Exuma chain.  The sun never came out, but we didn't have to deal with any thunderstorms and the wind was mostly off our starboard stern quarter, so it wasn't a rough ride.  Our cat comfort gauge never went off, i.e. Visitor didn't throw up.

A lot of cruisers miss taking advantage of using the good anchoring grounds off of Ship Channel Cay when the winds are out of the prevailing easterly direction.  There are even a few nice isolated coral heads nearby for snorkeling to pass the time.  I could only dream about doing that since the sky was too dark, and we wouldn't be there long enough to justify launching the dinghy anyway.

The following day we had a 7 hour crossing to get back to Current Island/Eleuthera area where we had last been on May 21.  We were only in deep trolling water for 1 1/4 hours and just managed to catch a couple of barracuda.  Can you hear the guys yelling?!

We arrived at the area where we wanted to anchor, just north of Current Cut off the settlement of Current, amidst a heavy thunderstorm.  We circled around almost an hour waiting for the rain and gusty winds to abate so we could drop the hook.  3 other small boats had been trying to go through Current Cut, but with the poor conditions, gave up and also ended up anchoring for the night.  They weren't are only neighbors.

A megapair

We have never seen this anchoring arrangement before.  The 180' megayacht on the right was already anchored when we came in.  After the squall line moved through, the sportfish on the left showed up, with the same paint job as its megayacht mothership, and backed up stern to the megayacht and tied off for the night.

After the squall line moved through, it was a nice, cool evening.  Even though we were a mile offshore, I could smell a sweet fragrance in the air coming from the tropical blossoms onshore.  We finally had a starlit night again!

We awoke on June 22 to a forecast for favorable winds and calm seas to allow us to comfortably make the 9 hour passage across the open ocean back to Lynyard Cay at the south end of Great Abaco.  Even though the ocean swell was running 3 – 4' making for a little roll, Wayne was able to make a normal loaf of bread while we were underway.  We trolled the whole way but only caught 1/2 of a big tuna.  We never saw what got the other half, other than all the water splashing up from when it was getting chewed in half.

Since we had departed Current Island area at sunrise, we arrived at Lynyard just after 3:00 so I had plenty of time to get into the water.  I finally finished cleaning the starboard side of the hull.  The port side looks worse than ever, and my scrubbing sponge has seen better days.  I'm not sure I'll be able to get it done.  I might have to put some pressure on the guys!

I wanted to stay in this area another day to snorkel at Sandy Cay,, an underwater preserve, but since it was Friday when we arrived, we would only have Saturday to try to find another clinic to take care of Eddie's ear infection so we had to leave.

Our only choice with our current geographical position was to try to make it to Marsh Harbor, the Hub of the Abacos, early enough on Saturday and hope that we could find a clinic that was open.  If not, it would mean we would be stuck in Marsh Harbor until Monday when we knew the government clinic would be open for sure.

Our armed neighbor

We left right after sun up again to make it to Marsh Harbor well before noon in case the clinic closed at noon.  We had put out a call on the VHF for clinic information, and had a reply from another cruiser that the government clinic was open until 3:00 p.m. The harbor wasn't crowded and we found an area with plenty of anchor room for us to feel comfortable in thinking that we would have to spend at least one night there.  This is the scene of the worst day in the FLUKESTERS' cruising lives (you can read about it in a past blog) so we are apprehensive about anchoring in the harbor with unsettled weather conditions.  We were less than pleased when a sailboat came and dropped anchor closer than we would have liked, even after telling him where our anchor was located.  Who can argue with someone that cruises with a cannon on the deck?!

The usual small workspace

See that metal bracket strap on the right?  That is used to secure one of the stays that holds our mast up.  Remember, we use the boom connected to the mast to hoist our 850# beast of a dinghy which we would need to launch to get to shore.  Eddie discovered that the bracket was loose, so much that there was a gap between the metal and the fiberglass; you could move the bolts with your fingers.  That hole is what you have to reach through to access the nuts that hold on the bolts.  However,  that access hole is not ordinarily visible.  There is a big fiberglass deck box that fills the space in front of it that we keep loaded with gear.  Before the hole could be accessed the deck box had to be emptied and moved.  Nothing is simply done in a straightaway fashion on a boat! 

When the deck box was unscrewed and moved from its wooden mounts, the wall and floor underneath were really filthy, so I cleaned all that and then turned the area over to the guys to  tighten the bolts through the one-hand-only hole.  This is the first time we have had to do that job and even wonder how the bolts came loose in the first place.

When everything was tightened properly, the deck box remounted, all the gear put back, we could then launch the dinghy and try to find a clinic for Eddie, about 1 1/2 miles from the dock. 

After eating an early lunch, it was a hot and dusty walk along the dirty, paved, busy with island traffic, main thoroughfare.  They are in the process of activating their second traffic light, and Marsh Harbor is the only town in the out islands that even has a light.  When we made it to the clinic, it turned out to be closed on the weekends.  We spoke to an employee at the newly-opened kidney center next door and was told a private clinic close to the dock we had first started from was open.

On the way back, I bought a small watermelon off a guy selling them from the back of his pickup truck, so I had to lug that the rest of the journey.  There are a limited number of signs along the streets (they all get blown away from hurricanes, and there are few spaces next to the road to mount them anyway) so after asking another 4 people where the clinic was, we finally found the place (Integrated Medical Centre).  Eddie was admitted with no waiting. 

The first attendant took his blood pressure with one of those standard electric machines that is mounted on wheels and gives a digital display.  It read 85/60, and she just calmly writes it down and gets ready to take his temperature!!  I said “What was that?  That can't be correct because if it is, I'll need to be looking for a cemetery”  Another attendant arrived and took a manual pressure reading and then another electronic one and they were about the same.  They asked Eddie if he was feeling faint or dizzy.  He wasn't, but I remarked that we had walked about 3 miles in the hot, humid weather and Eddie hadn't had anything to drink.  They said the doctor would have to evaluate the BP issue.

The doctor was a boater himself, so we exchanged pleasantries as he examined Eddie.  Eddie had already made up his mind not to squeal during the examination, thinking that the doctor in George Town may have missed some important “sights” when Eddie hadn't let him stick the otoscope all the way in.  This examination revealed that the infection was limited to the outer ear, and the eardrums were intact.  The doctor took his BP again, normal, at 110/65 and attributed the earlier readings to vasodillation from our heated walk.  He prescribed a prescription antibiotic and some eardrops, which required getting filled at a local pharmacy a short distance away.  The doctor also told Eddie not to wear headphones, which he described as “turbocharging” the infection because they reduced air circulation and draining.

Eddie got out of the clinic for $90.  The pharmacy bill was another $43.  Remember, the government clinic visit in George Town was $39 for everything. 

We made it back to FLUKE before the afternoon thunderstorms started their downpour and high winds.  I was glad that it was still daylight so that we could keep our eyes on the other boats, with good reason.  We were also happy that the storm came from the direction our anchor was set, so we felt pretty secure.

Dragging in the rain

This, thankfully small, sailboat began dragging across the harbor and no one was aboard to do anything to try to stop it or redirect its path.  You can see its anchor line and the line of the larger sailboat it is nearing.  Getting hit by another boat is bad, but if the other boat also pulls up your anchor, that can be much worse.

Taking a rest

The small sailboat came to rest alongside the bigger sailboat.  From the radio chatter, both of the boats were owned by locals who knew each other.  The woman resident of the big sailboat sounded like she was well into having had one too many sundowners and was only mildly alarmed to have the small sailboat resting alongside.  When the storm ended, several people showed up in a couple of dinghies to relocate the little sailboat to a new location.

Our insecurity alarm went off at 3:00 a.m. with the arrival of another thunderstorm from the OPPOSITE direction we set our anchor.  All the boats turned around, and we were on red alert to see if our anchor was going to hold.  The guy in the sailboat that had anchored too close to us was up on his deck with a flashlight shining it on us, hoping we didn't let loose and drag right into him.  So were we, and we were really angry that he had jeopardized both of us in the first place.  Fortunately we stayed secure during the 3 hour deluge.

Ironically the next morning, the guy on the sailboat yelled over telling us that when the storm came and reversed the boat positions we were only one boat length ahead of him, and he thought that was too close.  Well, duh, why do you think we said anything to him in the first place when he came in to anchor?  There was all kinds of room farther from us where he could have chosen to anchor.  He said we shouldn't have had out so much chain (125'), not understanding that we have a bow that is 10' off the water compared to his that is 4', and we draw 5 1/2' and have 4 times the windage he has with his sailboat.  In reality the 70' of chain he had out gave him more scope than what we had with our 125'.  We said we were leaving anyway, so he didn't have to worry about having us around anymore.

Harbor giant

There are two large, by out island standards, freighters that service Marsh Harbor.  They bring freight from the states or other foreign ports into the harbor, and then the inter-island smaller freighters, like the mailboats I mention, pick up the supplies from Marsh Harbor to deliver to the out islands.  That's why it is called “The Hub of the Abacos”.

Learning adventure

Several sailing vessels use Marsh Harbor as a base to take young kids out on sailing adventures.  We watched about a dozen teens board this ship.  They will come back different people after their working trip aboard.

We upped our anchor not long after they left the harbor, feeling as happy as the kids were to get under way again.  With high winds and even worse weather in the forecast, we had decided to head to Hope Town harbor and pick up a secure mooring again where we would be well-protected for the turbulent weather so we could sleep more peacefully at night.

Strung out

Eddie decided to “play” with Visitor on the way over to Hope Town.