Bahamas 2013

We listened to the 'net' at 8:15. There is a big 'low' west of FL which will impact the area and another deepening low off the NC coast. Rain and higher winds are predicted around Friday and Saturday. Time to go ashore in search of batteries and to check things out Iris, ever concerned about trash, was eager to go to Long's Landing dumpster. So we brought about 5 days worth with us in the dink. But where did the Long's Landing dock go? It was a wreck, with a sunken boat and shattered wood (destroyed by Sandy). Now what? We saw a couple of other dinghies headed towards what we found out was a fairly new dinghy dock at the Union Jack landing. Very nice dinghy dock - but no dumpster. That wasn't our order of business - getting a generator starter battery was. Our first, and last, stop for this shore adventure was National Marine - where Fred got his battery. We went straight back to the boat - where Fred hooked up the battery in order to do our generator/refrigeration run. After an early lunch, Fred installed the battery (last replaced in 2006).

Time to go ashore again - while it rained on and off. Iris was on a mission to get a BTC Bahamas (BTC Batelco) SIM card for her cell phone. Research ahead of time confirmed that a)the Xprt had the right GSM frequencies b)Sprint confirmed that the Xprt was unlocked for international use c) that international calls, texting, local calling and data were very reasonable. As we walked towards where we thought the BTC office was, we spoke with some other cruisers who told us that the dumpster was still near Long's Landing about 100 yards from the Union Jack dock. The Batelco of 2013 was a major improvement from 2003. The security guard outside welcomed us and told us to go to the cashier. The cashier sold Iris the SIM for $15, $10 of prepaid calling, and a 30 day/1GB prepaid data plan, usually for $30 but on sale for $20. Then, the customer service/sales person in the main part of the store configured Iris' phone with great proficiency and professionalism. Iris had selected the Xprt a couple of years earlier because of it's world-phone capability and finally she was getting to use it! The phone would provide us with email capability when in anchorages without WIMAX hotspots and GSM coverage was available throughout the Abacos from Little Harbour all the way to Allans Pensacola and Foxtown. The internet junkie was satisfied.

We stopped off at Standard Hardware and explored, primarily because it was pouring outside. It is a very well stocked store. We looked for a replacement peg for what Iris had broken a few days earlier, but Fred said he'd make something when we get home. We returned to pick up our trash at the dinghy dock, dropped it off at the Long's Landing dumpster and walked along restaurant row to see if there was anyplace we'd like to check out for dinner. We stopped at a small convenience store for some ice cream and then headed back to the boat.

During the afternoon, we read and surfed the internet. Iris used her 'new' phone to make reservations at the Jib Room at Marsh Harbour Marina for 7:15. Wed. night is Barbecue night with choice of Ribs, Chicken or Fish. (see Iris's review at: Jib Room). We hadn't gone on prior stays in Marsh. The evening was enjoyable enhanced by the Rake N Scrape band and the twice weekly limbo show/contest. Back at the boat after dinner, we were unable to get a good Wimax connection. Tomorrow's plan - head to Tahiti Beach. Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay is favored by several cruisers we knew, and we'd never anchored there.

Another quiet night. Iris got up at 5:30 and looked at email and weather in the cockpit. Rain and wind were still in the forecast. After breakfast, Fred looked at the main battery bank voltage and was not pleased. The batteries were not holding a charge. This was similar to the failure we experienced back in 2003 after several days of hard motoring. Then, it led to a battery hunt throughout Puerto Rico. We listened to the Net while we discussed options. We clearly were NOT headed to Tahiti Beach. We used the phone to call several places that might have the Group 31 Gel cell batteries we needed. Only one place thought they might have something that fits - AID/NAPA hardware. We went ashore at noon to look at what AID had - not gel but would/could fit in the space and they were sealed batteries and they had 3. Iris spoke with one of the sales people who said that they'd give us a ride to the Union Jack dock, when she enquired about putting a deposit on a shopping cart'. While close to the BTC offices once again, Iris went to customer service to register her phone number which would enable her to create an online account so that she could add to her prepaid minutes online. They also told her that she still had 1 GB left (so she'd barely used anything in phone surfing).

Back at the boat for lunch, we continued our discussion - go or stay? Tahiti Beach offered us what we came here to do - swim, snorkel, walk, make water and a good anchorage for the forecast winds from SE/S/W. But if the batteries totally failed while there, we'd have to jump start the engine from the generator. We decided to stay and buy two of the batteries. This was going to be another expedition. (The batteries are very heavy and we had experience doing this in Boqueron in PR.) The young man who had assisted us earlier had gone to lunch. The cashier attempted to reach him regarding his offer to drive us to the dinghy dock. Iris once again pursued renting the shopping cart - but the cashier said no - let's find the guy (and now the truck). She came up with an alternative solution - another local customer (who works on cars for a living) gave us a ride to the dock. He was quite tall, and quite strong - lifting the batteries out of the shopping cart and into his mini-van as if they weighed nothing. Fred manhandled each battery into the dinghy and then had the difficult task of lifting each battery onto the boat, then down into interior. Fred immediately tested the batteries' charges; when he asked that they be tested the salesman said 'all of our batteries are charged'. It didn't appear to be that way. One of the two was way down. Fred installed them and we found a place for the two 'used' batteries against the mast. We only replaced two of the four batteries in the main bank. That means we'd be at 50% of capacity for the remainder of the trip. However Fred estimated that with our four batteries failing, we were at 10% of capacity - so we'd actually improved our situation. We ramn the engine for awhile to partially charge the batteries. We read and internet surfed in the evening.

Iris got up several times at night. We had fairly strong winds - up to 28 knots when she checked at 4am. We finally got up at around 7:30. After running the generator (charging the main bank) and running the engine a little more as well, Fred decided that the batteries were good. We handled correspondence and websites, spoke with Iris' mother via Skype and stayed aboard all day due to the blustery weather. We couldn't swim in the harbour so availed ourselves of showers below, and discovered that our shower sump pump switch was difficult to engage. We thought about leaving in late afternoon, but decided to wait til the morning. Dinner in the cockpit and our first try at one of the big 'boxed' wines. Actually pretty drinkable and convenient!

Wind and very heavy rain overnight. Iris saw 20 Knots+ on wind-speed but no lightening. She got up at 6 and did email at 6:30. After breakfast, Fred dinghied ashore for a trash run. We'd decided not to use our salt-water hose on the anchor and Iris regretted it; we raised a huge ball of clay and clams and it took awhle to shake it off. But we were off around 9:30, headed to Water Cay (half-way between Marsh Harbor and Treasure Cay). Winds were projected to be from the west, and the anchorage purportedly offered some wreck snorkeling. We motored over and saw another sailboat already in the anchorage. The crew dinghied over to us just after we anchored in what were NE winds with small waves whipping around the corner. They said that they had been there overnight and had explored what looked like beaches, but which were in fact rocky coral. They'd not known about any wrecks but hadn't seen any. We did see a wrecked pier as the area had been a conch farm previously. OK - scratch that idea - we turned it into a lunch stop and then raised anchor, headed to our original intended destination of Lubber's Quarters Cay/Tahiti Beach in the opposite direction. We motor-sailed part of the way. Our chart-plotter kept failing so we relied on our backup tablet app/charts described previously and approached the beautiful anchorage already occupied by two trawlers and a catamaran. Our anchoring was less than elegant as we dragged a significant distance prior to setting. By evening the trawlers left and were replaced by another sailboat. We both swam and Fred scrubbed the hull some more. We plan to explore tomorrow as the area is new to us and we could see the gorgeous sand-bar a short distance away. The skies were dark with more rain on the way.

The new house batteries were performing well. Fred disconnected the two remaining originals (Bank 2) from the charger. We had a great internet connection and discovered that our primary email id had been compromised sometime during the week we hadn't had access. Time for a password change drill. Finally we could also make water again - Watermaker: 430ppm after 5 minutes, 370ppm after 30 minutes.

Iris got up at 6. We'd had very heav rain overnight. While we'd hoped to dinghy ashore and walk the 1 1/2 miles to Abaco Inn for Sunday brunch, we decided to forego the hike and had our own 'Sunday breakfast' aboard. Since we hadn't been able to make water in a few days, we ran the watermaker with the morning generator run. Watermaker: 460ppm after 5 minutes, 380 after 30 minutes). The ppm was starting to creep up - directly sea-water temperature related. On prior trips Iris had freaked out over the higher ppms, but a couple of nights ago she found an in-depth article on the Nordhavn website (Making Water) describing US drinking water standards allowing up to 600ppm, World Health Org. standards considering drinking water to be 1000 ppm, and the relationship between sea-water temperature/watermaker output/water ppm. The sea-water temperature had been creeping up to the mid 80's.

It was time to explore. We dinghied around Baker's Rock and beached the dink. We spoke with a young woman with 2 children who was staying with friends on Elbow Cay while awaiting her husband and another friend who had just purchased a 50' sailboat and were sailing it up from the southern Caribbean. We walked around the tip of Tahiti Beach. Iris stayed near the beautiful sands while Fred headed around the point to see the Atlantic side. There were many folks - some arriving by electric carts, others by boats, wandering on the sand bar or wading in the warm, wave-free waters. Shell-hunting was good as well. We sat in the shallow water and enjoyed the view, after which we decided to check out the roads towards White Sound and Abaco Inn. The colors and shapes/styles of the (rental) cottages and the variation in landscaping made for very pretty surroundings.

Back at the boat and after lunch, we did our swimming and joy bath thing as well as reading and web-surfing. Around 3, between rain showers, we decided to check out Cracker P's beach bar on Lubber's Quarters Cay. It was a long, planing dinghy ride and it started to rain when we were half-way there. After tying up at their dock, we climbed the stairs to their bar/dining room. The bar-tender (owner?) told us that peak season is June-July and that currently dinner was only served Thursday and Saturday. (see Iris' review at: Cracker P's Review). After pina coladas and their hot fish dip, we took a stroll down their nature trail. Iris bailed at the last 200 yards of deep muck on the trail, but Fred continued to the western shore of Lubber's Quarters Cay. Mosquitos were in full force and we made a quick trip back to the dinghy, and a fast trip back to Windwalker. Using our internet access plus Skype-to-landline, we checked phone messages and made some calls. As we planned tomorrow's destination, we took into account continued forecasts for West winds. Since prevailing conditions are easterly, we'd be heading to new-to-us spots. Our evening watermaker run stats: 447ppm after 5 minutes, 385ppm after 30 minutes. A beautiful blue ketch anchored in front of us at dusk.

Overnight, the wind kicked up from the North - the worse possible direction for our anchorage. The boat was moving around with stern to shore and/or to Baker's Rock. We debated moving prior to breakfast but since our anchor was set well, we decided to wait. Fred pointed out that the ketch that had come in last night was much closer to shore than we. I went into the cockpit to see and the situation for the ketch was even worse. It was no longer in the anchorage but aground in about 3' of water on the Tahiti Beach sandbar. We had just passed high tide so this was the worst possible scenario for the ketch. Their engine was still running, no one seemed to be taking any steps to put out an anchor or kedge off. Nor did anyone seem alarmed or called out on the vhf for help - otherwise we would have attempted to assist them. We brought up our outboard, raised anchor and were on our way by 8. The forecast winds were to be from the NW, so we planned to check out Sugarloaf Cay and if that didn't pan out, go on to Snake Cay. Sugarloaf looked interesting, but there was some wave action, so we continued on to the northernmost of the two Snake Cay anchorages indicated on our chart and anchored. The shore looked very Maine-like with rocks, sand beaches and tall trees but with 83 degree water! We were the only boat there at 10am.

We dinghied ashore around 11. There was a dirt road leading to a BBQ area. In the opposite direction we followed the road quite awhile passing tall Bahamian pine trees and seeing and hearing many variety of birds including woodpeckers and red-wing black birds. Continuing to explore by dinghy, we went over to Cormorant Cay, (frightening a turtle who rapidly swam off) but there was really no place to walk after landing a dinghy. We saw several red and black starfish and small conch in the clear shallow waters. After lunch we read and Iris used her phone to check msgs and email. We saw cars and trucks in the distance at the southern Snake Cay anchorage site. We'd been a little disconcerted to see quite a few shot-gun shells near the BBQ area ashore and Snake Cay was clearly accessible from the 'mainland'. We both swam on the anchor at around 2. It wasn't a great set, but good enough. We saw lots of fish sheltered under a big box. We also saw what looked like a PVC bimini structure under our chain - perhaps an issue when we would have to move? As we were swimming another boat anchored and by dinnertime there were 3 other vessels in the anchorage. As with any dream anchorage - there are always negatives. In this case, we were attacked by biting flies that resembled deer-flies while in the water and in our cockpit. Meanwhile, below-decks, regular black flies decided our salon was just dandy. Time for the fly-swatter. We were later to find out that Snake Cay (southern point) was a major oil depot for awhile and even earlier, a lumbering facility with a significant economic impact on the Abacos. Just like we'd seen in the Chesapeake - towns come and go with industry - and clearly Snake Cay was not thriving now. Watermaker run: 414ppm after 5 minutes, 380ppm after 30 minutes.

We enjoyed a quiet, calm night. After breakfast we decided to dinghy explore a bit more as there was a passage to interior creeks and islets. The area still looked like Maine and was quite lovely and lake-like. We passed a couple kayaking into the area as we departed; a kayak would be perfect for more intimate exploration of the shallow waters. We raised anchor at around 9:30 and motored by the southern Snake Cay anchorage looking at both sides of the point which was bulkheaded from its prior history. Our goal, given the winds, was to attempt to anchor at Sandy Cay and finally snorkel what many say is the best reef in the area at the Sandy Cay National Park. We'd tried a couple of times on previous trips and the anchorage is very rolly and where the small boat moorings are was usually rough as well. This time was no different and after waiting a few minutes to see if we were willing to attempt it, we opted to backtrack to Bucaroon Bay. Bucaroon Bay was another 'new to us' anchorage good in west winds. We hated to interrupt the privacy of the other sailboat already in the anchorage, but using our tablet app/chart combination we worked ourselves much closer to shore and were nowhere near the other sailboat. After lunch we dinghied ashore and explored the pretty beach strewn with conch shells and lined with more tall pine trees. We did not approach what probably was a wrecked house. As we continued to explore by dinghy, we saw a ray startled by our approach as well as many more starfish and potentially conch ;-) We'd read how starfish actually eat conch by jamming one of their legs into the conch shell, inhibiting the conch from retracting its foot. Then the starfish extends its stomach around the conch's muscle and starts digesting in place. Pretty disgusting, really.

We spent the afternoon relaxing and reading in the cockpit. 3G data coverage was flakey but Iris' phone signal seemed strong. She checked her prepaid call balance (*44) and found that she had $5.43 remaining. Time to swim/snorkel. Iris pointed out a conch to Fred - but it was far too small - there were other types of shellfish as well. Mid-afternoon a 3rd sailboat arrived, It was a very large catamaran that we were to see again in several anchorages. Dinner in the cockpit (sans flies). Watermaker run: 423ppm after 5 minutes; 380ppm after 30 minutes. Bucaroon Bay was a totally lovely place.

Plans change with the winds. At around midnight, the winds shifted to the SE. The forecast predicted S/SE for several days. We'd hoped to try again for Sandy Cay and then move on down to the Bight of Old Robinson. We could already see whitecaps. Iris suggested Tavern Cay, just south of Lubber's/Tahiti Beach and Tiloo Cut. We'd anchored there on our last time in the Bahamas. We raised anchor at 9am and were anchored at Tavern at 10:15, arriving a few moments after another sailboat anchored in the vicinity. The attraction was going to be some boat-accessible snorkeling spots. After we anchored we looked towards Tahiti Beach and were surprised and saddened to see that the blue ketch was still on its side, aground. Someone was still aboard her, as we saw the dinghy go to/fro the boat. OK - it's time to snorkel. We weren't too far from the rocks marked as the snorkel spots and checked on the anchor. Oh oh - the reason it was so easy to set the anchor was that we'd snagged a submerged (but not buried) cable running from the tip of Tavern Cay to what looked like a gazebo on Tiloo Cay's northernmost tip. Definitely not in the Dodge book. We can't stay here and need to free ourselves right away! Fred kept diving on the anchor until he was able to lift it and get the anchor and chain free of the cable. He nominally hand-set the anchor. Now we were both in the water with our boat not well anchored if at all. We returned aboard, and Fred started the engine and reversed on the anchor. We dragged many boat lengths prior to the anchor grabbing. At this point we were quite a distance from the rocks we'd planned to snorkel on. But we both felt we could do it and strong current didn't seem to be an issue. (We were about 1/10th mi away when we measured on a chart later). As we passed our anchor we saw that it was a classic, perfect set. The point was down and the anchor was buried. Good thing because dragging had brought Windwalker pretty close to shallows. The small reef was pretty with many small fish and small barracuda. As we continued on, both Fred and I stopped and backed up in a hurry - that barracuda with its jaws open was one of those black ocean-going 6 footers. Enough snorkeling - we have a long swim back, once again without any conch. Joy baths back at the boat. After lunch, Iris signed up for another week of Bahamas Wi-max. Perhaps she should have waited. After making her payment, we had a lousy connection. By late afternoon we were surrounded by around 8 other boats. Not again - we also had Northerly winds - not in the forecast and not good for this location. Watermaker: 428ppm at 5 minutes, 401ppm after 30 minutes.

We slept poorly, both upset over something that had happened back at home that we learned about via the internet the prior evening. But it was actually a nice night at anchor. We were up early and raised anchor at 8:40. We noticed that the ketch was gone. Great! It must have gotten off the prior evening at high tide! Iris called ABC moorings ahead of our approach to Hope Town (best choice for the predicted winds). The going rate for a mooring was $20/night. We were told to just pick up a mooring and the owner would come by 9am the following morning if he didn't see us around in the evening. We picked up one of the ABC moorings in the SW part of the harbour and got ready for our shore excursion. We had only been to Hope Town once previously, about 13 years earlier. Our first stop was the Wyannie Malone Historical Museum (see Iris' review Hope Town Museum). Afterwards, Iris had picked out On Da Beach as the place for lunch. We walked and walked (and perhaps this wasn't within walking distance?) and ended up passing the Hope Town Lodge, an elementary school in session and ended up at a cemetary. Fred was getting hungry and was tired of searching for this place. So we turned around and ended up at Harbour's Edge with a nice harbour view. (see Iris' review Harbour's Edge) Refreshed, we headed towards the northenmost point of Elbow Cay. Or that was our intent. We gave up and later saw on a map that the road we were on wouldn't have gotten us there anyway. We explored the town some more and then returned to Windwalker. By then Iris felt overheated and heat-sick. While she cooled off, Fred worked on bills and correspondence online. Some friends had suggested we go to Hope Town Lodge for rum-runners. Around 6pm we dinghied ashore but their beach bar had already closed. We didn't want to go back to Harbour's Edge so ended up at Cap'n Jacks (see Iris' review Cap'n Jacks) for drinks and conch fritters. Time for ice cream! Fred had decided we needed an ice cream fix so we made a straight line for the Sugar Shack featuring Edy's Ice Cream. Back for the night, Iris corresponded with her mother. We'd discovered that none of the text msgs Iris had sent in the last couple of days had been received. Iris' fault - she needed to make sure +1 was inserted for the international text. No watermaker run in an enclosed harbour.

We'd heard on the net that Hope Town had cruiser trash pickup somewhere on Wed. and Fri between 8:30am and 9:30am. Fred, together with six days of trash, headed off in the general direction of docks which might be the place and found the trash truck at the government dock. Right as he was returning to the boat, a young lady with her dog in a hard dinghy, came by to ask if we'd paid for the mooring the night before. We said no and handed her our $20. We were ready to go - although Fred noticed some water in our bilge and was concerned. We released the mooring at 9:30 and motor/motor-sailed to Great Guana Cay. We saw that Caneel - the Valiant was in the anchorage already. Right after we anchored and Fred was on deck putting on the chain snubber, Jerry Stadulis (the owner) introduced himself. His crew was Mary Wesley Harvey. Caneel was 2007 Valiant 50 -114. They were headed into Settlement Harbour. We opted to stay aboard for lunch and then walk to Nipper's to snorkel on the nearby reef. So we collected our snorkel gear, beached the dinghy at Grabber's Beach Bar and walked to Nippers. We weren't sure exactly where the reef was. The surf was quite rough. Fred pointed to a very rocky area. Iris climbed the steps back up to Nippers and inquired. The waitress pointed to both the location Fred said as well as another to the right. Iris balked at the leftmost reef and the rough surf - but eventually we snorkeled in poor viz on the rightmost rocks. There were fish when we could see them. But it wasn't especially pleasant. On shore, a tractor was rebuilding the sand dunes. Dunes throughout the area had been severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy the previous autumn. We dried off and climbed the Nippers stairs to reward ourselves with drinks. Jerry and Mary Wesley were up there and we chatted some more. Jerry mentioned that they planned to take a dive/snorkel trip with Dive Guana tomorrow and we said we'd be interested. Jerry was concerned there wouldn't be enough folks so was eager for us to join in the fun. Fred bought us Nipper's signature house drink (see Iris' review of Nippers Nipper's) - which was a potent concoction with rum. We walked back to our dinghy at Grabbers while Jerry and Mary Wesley availed themselves of the Nippers shuttle to Settlement Harbour. Enroute back to the boat, we stopped at the Dive Guana dock and made reservations for tomorrow's 1/2 day trip to Fowl Cay national marine park. They told us to arrive between 9:30 at 9:45 for a 10am departure. Back aboard, Fred snorkeled on the anchor and we both took joy baths. We had excellent internet coverage. By evening we counted over 17 boats in the anchorage. For some reason, the anchorage was very rolly. Watermaker: 458ppm at 5 minutes; 418ppm at 45 minutes. Creeping up (as is the water temperature).

Iris slept poorly once again - due to the rough water and noises. She turned on her phone's anchor alarm app and also checked our position but all was well. Up at 6:30am - we rushed in a generator run for refrigeration between 8am and 9:20 and then headed over to Dive Guana's dock. We enjoyed our snorkel on Fowl Cay - stopping at Grouper Alley and Parrotfish ? (see Iris review: Dive Guana Review). Back at around 1 or so, we dinghied over to Grabbers for lunch. Watch out when you drink the trademark 'grabber'; it's pretty potent! (see Iris's review: Grabbers Review). We made a side-trip over to Caneel to hand them one of our boat cards, as we'd gotten Jerry's the previous day. We were stuffed and wiped out from our exercise and the Grabber so had a late, light dinner. There were over 30 boats in the anchorage - perhaps all looking to go to Nipper's Pig Roast early on Sunday.The winds are clocking once again - perhaps Tahiti Beach again tomorrow since we want a place with internet access to call Iris' mom for Mother's Day. Watermaker: 465ppm after 5 minutes, 427ppm after 50 minutes water temp over 85 degrees.

Another rolly, noisy night as the mast sang through the night. Up at 6:30. Iris made a big Sunday breakfast since we'd decided to pass on Nipper's. We left at 9:30 hoping that Tahiti Beach would be the right spot for the forecast frontal passage and strong SE/S/W winds. We motored (as usual) and were the only boat in the anchorage. Our first attempt to set our anchor was unsuccessful. We tried again and set at around 12:15pm. Alone for now but don't expect it to remain that way. We did chores and cleanup and after a light lunch, decided to head back to the sand bar. The outboard went back on the dink and off we went. Unfortunately, as we were sitting in the shallows, two young men who had arrived on a jet-ski decided to kite-surf around us with several close calls. Figuring we'd have a better swim at the boat, we dinghied back and already wet, decided to swim on the anchor. Both Iris and Fred arrived at the anchor and stared in horror. Another submerged, but not buried cable - this one leading between Lubber's Quarters and Elbow Cay just in the Baker's Rock anchorage in 7' of water lay under our chain. We hadn't hooked it but would upon raising anchor. Once again, Fred lifted the anchor and chain over the cable. Once again, we were not anchored. We quickly swam back to the boat and met with another obstacle. Another ocean going big black barracuda was swimming under the keel. It then placed itself right under the swim ladder. He didn't look like he was going anywhere soon and we needed to move. Fred got into the dinghy and helped hoist Iris aboard like a beached whale ;-) We got aboard our boat and Fred started the engine. We selected another spot far from the cable and reanchored in 8' in grass and dragged until it set. Iris swam on it - no barracuda and a safe set. But we were getting upset with these unmarked cables. As Iris followed the chain to the anchor, she finally spied a full-size, mature, queen conch trying to get away from the movement of the chain. She told Fred that here was our chance. But if this poor conch had survived the winter cruising season, it deserved to live. Fred later swam on the conch, picked it up and also decided to save it. Another couple of boats arrived early evening, a trawler setting his anchor close to the cable. Iris made her Mother's Day call via Skype but no one was home. She finally got through later in the evening. Watermaker: 470 ppm at 5 minutes, 454ppm at 30 minutes.

We left at 9. Fred's day had already gotten off to a rocky start when he was adding oil to the generator while a powerboat pass closeby and 'waked' us. The oil spilled everywhere in the engine compartment - big mess. As we departed the anchorage we saw the trawler trying to raise anchor and then the crew going to the bow. Perhaps they had snagged the cable. Menace. We motored to Marsh Harbour and once again saw Caneel at the mouth of the harbour. We planned on taking on fuel at Marsh Harbour Marina for our return trip, since it was a BoatUS participating marina. However the fuel dock was occupied by a huge yacht, so we radio'ed Conch Harbour and took on diesel and outboard gas there. We anchored closer to the Jib Room, hoping to get a better internet connection. Poor Fred had another oily disaster as he was adding oil to the outboard gas tank and was once again hit with a wake. After lunch, our task was to rid ourselves of more trash, and to top off our provisions at Maxwell's supermarket - a new to us addition. Wow - the store was amazing by Bahamas standards. It had everything and was well stocked. We hauled our purchases in 4 canvas bags back to the dinghy and then to the boat. The wind, meanwhile, had shifted from the S to W. The forecast frontal passage was in progress. It cooled things off. We enjoyed our new Windwalker drink concoction (V8 Fusion strawberry/banana w rum and a twist of lime). Iris added $10 to her prepaid account via BTC Batelco online and immediately received a text confirmation. Everything about the BTC experience had been very professional. We stayed aboard for dinner and Fred spent the evening doing some PC/internet work. After dark, a large catamaran came in flashing a spotlight to find an anchoring spot. Our neighboring sailboat turned on his deck lights as did we, until they'd put down their anchor elsewhere.

The front passed overnight with strong winds. After breakfast we discussed the pros/cons of leaving or staying. Our new position brought us uncomfortably (but safely) close to the single-hander sailboat that looked like it had been in-place a long time. We went ashore for an enjoyable lunch at Mangoes (see Iris review at Mangoes Review) and then a hike over to Boat Harbour Marina to see what had changed since we'd last been there. We had a great view of the Sea of Abaco from there and could see the choppy conditions. As we were leaving Mangoes, the Caneel crew (now with a 3rd person who would be joining them for their passage back to the US) was parking their dinghy. We told them of our plans to go to Treasure Cay tomorrow for Iris' birthday. They were thinking about going to Hope Town to give the new crew-member a taste of the Abacos as well as familiarize her with the boat. We had an extremely wet ride back to Windwalker. Iris did some research on where to eat at Treasure Cay - and set her heart on Treasure Sands Club based on TripAdvisor reviews. She made reservations for the restaurant, as well as for a slip at Treasure Cay Marina. We were going to splurge! At around 4:30 the sailor on the boat next to us sat in his cockpit and glared at Iris sitting in hers. She went below to Fred and said "I think he's trying to send us a message that he wants us to move". Fred called out to him, but the man didn't respond, just kept staring. OK - it's time to move. He was there first and anchoring etiquette would have us move if the boat there first was unhappy with our position. We did so at the expense of our expiring internet connection. Iris had made plans to call a friend in CA via Skype but was unable to leave more than a garbled message. The winds remained high over night.

Fred had a birthday card out for Iris when she awoke. Nice start to her birthday. After breakfast we raised the outboard and put the dinghy on deck. That would make docking easier at the marina, as well as making our anticipated Whale Cay passage the following day easier. We raised anchor around 9:30 and motored/motorsailed/sailed to Treasure Cay. Another sailboat passed us just as we were entering the channel, and docked immediately before us in the slip next to us. We were docked at around 12:15 or so. Iris checked us into the marina - we took water and power (splurging) and were pleased to see that we'd also have free wifi. This avoided needing to re-up on our expiring Wimax contract. Iris asked the dockmaster if the water was potable. He replied that it was the city water and some people put it in their tanks. We tasted it (was ok), and tested it (450ppm) and then put it in the tanks along with some chlorine. . Fred hosed down the boat and then we went to the beach bar to sample their pina coladas and conch fritters. Afterwards, we started to walk on beautiful Treasure Cay beach towards Treasure Sands Club - which was 3 miles away. Everyone we spoke to told us we couldn't walk there and we confirmed it after walking less than half way. We returned to the marina, wondering if we should cancel the reservations. A stop at the golf-cart rental place made us decide to continue (see Iris review of Treasure Sands Club including our driving experience Treasure Sands Club). We took showers at the Marina and enjoyed unlimited hot, running water for a change! Back aboard, Fred worked on pc stuff while Iris read. We got dressed up and left around 6:15 for our drive to the restaurant. After a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and after returning the golf-cart, Iris used the internet to reach all of her friends/family for birthday calls. We'd thoroughly enjoyed our day at Treasure Cay and decided perhaps we should do something like this once per trip.

The marina told us that checkout was noon but we could stay longer if we liked. Iris was up at 6 wanting to avail herself of the wifi to get out an email mailing. She'd hoped to finish by 7, but the connection wasn't great and she took a break to make breakfast and then resumed - finally finishing at 8:45. Fred took a shower while Iris got rid of trash and purchased ice - altho' she still had some from home 3 weeks ago. We left the marina at 10:30. If the Whale looked passable then we planned to go through. Otherwise, we'd anchor at Baker's Bay, Great Guana Cay - although since it became a resort we had no desire to see what had become of one of our favorite places. As we approached the Whale it looked like 2-4' swells. Better than our prior trip through. We motor sailed through the Whale and then sailed on to Manjack. Iris did a bad job of furling the main just prior to anchoring. We dragged in our first spot and the anchor caught on our 2nd attempt - with our position exactly on the Dodge guide's anchor symbol ;-) We put down the dinghy and outboard and dinghy explored mid afternoon. The tide was going out however and we didn't want to get stuck. We walked a bit on Crab Cay and passed the two wrecks and limestone bluffs noted in the cruising guide. We'd anchored here before but hadn't dinghy explored. More to do tomorrow.

Quiet evening with dinner below and reading late into the evening. Watermaker: 445ppm after 5 minutes, 433ppm after 15 minutes.

We had a very quiet night and a lazy morning. We decided not to move to the northern anchorage but to explore some more. We ran the generator and then took our first trip of the morning. Since the dinghy and outboard were performing so flawlessly so far on the trip, we took the 2 mi ride up to Manjack Beach and landed the dinghy near the wrecked docks. Picnic tables on the beach were labeled as reserved for Brendels (dive guides). We took some of the trails (now with signs) King's Highway to Bay to Bay Blvd to N Bay (which came out at the northern anchorage we planned to go to next) and then walked around the cay via the beach. New to us was a small yellow house on the beach at N Bay. It was a slightly more wet return to the boat against the wind, but not bad. Lunch aboard and then it was time to take advantage of the incoming tide to explore the mangrove shallows and other beaches. The mangrove shallows were very pretty and the 'creek' was very wide. We saw a house and mast towards the end, but didn't want to impose on the privacy of the owners, so turned around. Going in the opposite direction, we walked on the beaches of both Manjack and Crab Cay, then dinghied over to the closer of the two wrecks and snorkeled. Lots of pretty small fish protected from human predators by the Crab Cay Marine Preserve. Back to the boat for snorkeling for conch (no joy) and Joy baths. Manjack is great! Later in the afternoon Fred made a dinghy repair, lubricated one of the rope clutches and refurled the mainsail properly. Iris, meanwhile, did some more housekeeping down below. Watermaker: 467ppm at 5 minutes, 443ppm at 20 minutes.

Fred is getting ansy and wants to be home-bound. The weather looks like it'll be changing by the end of the week as well. So we blow off back-tracking to Green Turtle and decide it will have to wait until another trip. Raising anchor at 9am, we motored very slowly to the north end of Manjack so that we could complete our refrigerator run. The north end anchorage can be a bit rolly, as it is right at a pass to the Atlantic. We had also had difficulty anchoring there on past trips. We couldn't set in the grass on our first attempt, so we moved and tried again with more scope and just waited. This time we set. Once again we were the only boat in the anchorage but as usual - that was not to last. Five minutes later a small rental boat came in - many more would throughout the day. Dive operators feed sting-rays at a corner of the beach and people come to 'play' with the sting-rays (a la Sting-Ray City in Grand Cayman). We went ashore at around 10:30, taking Bay to Bay Blvd to Ocean Blvd to Kings Hwy to the Beach, ending at a strongly built gazebo with some roof issues. We walked the beautiful beach and spoke with a cruising couple from Naples. A 'new to us' house faced the beach and the couple said that in 2007 when they were last there, the owner was actively building it. Clearly something had happened as it was incomplete. We asked them how he got his materials to the site. They said that construction materials and prefab sections came by boat to the Sea of Abaco side and then were trucked down King's Hwy to Ocean Blvd.

Our return hike was via Kings Hwy to Bay to Bay Blvd to Poisonwood. The trail ended at the yellow house facing the northern anchorage. The house and its out building were posted with signs listing all the items that were NOT stored there, so as to discourage vandalism. The pretty yellow house attracted two hummingbirds. The anchorage was now fully active - several day-tripper vessels as well as a large motor-catamaran and another sailboat. We swam off the beach for a little while and then snorkeled on the anchor (and alas - no conch), took our joy baths and had a late lunch in the cockpit. Lazy afternoon. Two boats left. A trimaran arrived; another sailboat (catamaran) had difficulty setting anchor and tried several times before success. After dinner we were visited by an assertive laughing gull. He/she sat on our dinghy outboard and begged. Iris found some bread and it caught most of our throws. We tired of the game and the gull went to check out another boat. Watermaker: 468ppm at 5 minutes, 434ppm at 30 minutes.

As expected, we experienced a rolly night wihout much wind. We raised anchor at 8:45 and motored over to Powell. There were rain showers as we left the anchorage. Powell is another place that can have iffy holding due to grass - We found a sandy spot and felt a good set at 10:15. There were two power boats and two sailboats in the very large anchorage area. The weather is forecast to deteriorate on Tues-Wed with significant rain. We'll probably try for Allans Pensacola tomorrow and Angelfish Point/Crab Cay on Tuesday - for wind protection. Powell is another anchorage with hiking trails. We beached the dinghy near the wreck of an old dock towards the northern end and looked for the memorial for a young woman who loved Powell and died many years ago. We walked to the northernmost point we could on the western beach; Fred found a little cave he couldn't resist entering. We hiked the well-marked (by strategically placed flotsam) trail to the oceanside - noting how much the terrain changed while crossing the island. Iris' Tevas had worn blisters on both her feet, so she hung out by the dinghy and checked out the fish and a small barracuda, while Fred did the bluff trail.

Back to the boat for lunch, then time to explore the southern end of the cay. There is another well marked trail to the east side where we took a long walk on the beautiful, but heavily sea-weed laden shore. We came back via the same trail and did some swimming and wading off the beach with the dinghy before returning to the boat to snorkel on the anchor and do our joy bath routine. Fred continued to scrub the hull trying to remove the green fuzzy stuff that seemed to grow only on a patch on the port aft quarter - weird stuff. We were surprised that other boats hadn't come in. It was clearly pouring on Great Abaco. To leave or not to leave for FL? West winds were forecast for W/Thurs through Friday and there aren't a lot of great anchorages choices. We used the phone data to check weather on Barometer Bob frequently. We could get to Mangrove Cay tomorrow and do our crossing on Tuesday. Watermaker: 495ppm at 5 minutes, 454ppm after 25 minutes.

Iris woke up adamant - she didn't want to be crossing the Gulfstream with major thunderstorms forecast. After heated discussion, we decided to head to Allans-Pensacola and we still could get to Mangrove on Tuesday and cross on Wednesday - or if plans changed, wait at Great Sale. In any case - it was time to leave and we raised anchor at 8 and got to Allans at around 10:20. Another spot with poor-holding and it took us two tries to set in the shallow water. It started getting dark and began pouring just as we completed anchoring. Maybe today wouldn't have been such a great day to head for Mangrove or Great Sale. We stayed below for lunch and a game of dominoes while we waited for a break in the weather. Around 2:30 we jumped in the dinghy and headed in search of the trail to the ocean side. It took a couple of tries, but we found the shell-marked trail entrance. It was nowhere near as pretty as we'd remembered it from 2003. Nor were we recognizing the Atlantic side. We had at least one picture on our website with the signing tree - which had spread to include several. However we thought we remembered a pretty beach and all we saw was a fairly rocky, coral stretch with perhaps sand much further down. Either our memories were faulty (likely), or perhaps storms had washed away sand and made for no beach at high tide? We'll have to check when we get back. The water wasn't inviting back on the anchorage side and we returned to Windwalker at around 4.

The weather forecast is unchanged. We have a window Tues.-Wed. and then the winds shift and we can't tell how long they'll stay westerly and northerly. It's not a great window since there have been severe thunderstorms in FL and in the straits of FL. But once we leave Allans Pensacola we'll have to rely on VHF (or use the SSB and weatherfax). It's been great using the phone/data to see the radar and the forecasts. We're going for it - so we bring up the dinghy and the outboard and stow all the related paraphernalia. Since Iris had call dollars and over 900mb left on data, she called her mother with a float plan and sent an email float plan to her and Fred's sister, Lynn - both listed as epirb contacts. We checked our various websites and phone messages and get ready for an early start. Iris is not entirely ready to leave yet - there's still more than 10 days to the end of the month!

Iris checked the weather several times during the night. There was a giant blob of high-intensity thunderstorms between Florida and Grand Bahama Island, heading east. But by her check at 6am, the blob had broken up and the weather looked a bit better. We raised anchor at 7am. After we'd left the Cay, we lost our tach - and continued to do so for the rest of the day. There was a loose connection in the wire-bundle which Fred would jiggle and we'd be charging the batteries once again. Not great. Later in the day, the chart-plotter started acting up as well.As we passed Foxtown, Iris sent 'final' text messages. That would be it for her Bahamas phone coverage. Sailing was too slow. so we ended up motor-sailing towards Mangrove. We'd decided to forego stopping at Great Sale which would result in losing a day, and forged ahead. For much of the day we saw thunderstorms but of course we had to go through one as we reached our anchorage. The winds were clocking, probably due to the storms in the area, and we saw W to N to E to S. We did the refrigeration run using the engine so that a generator run wouldn't be necessary in the evening. There was only one other boat when we arrived - a catamaran anchored quite far away to the south. By evening there were 8 boats - 5 sail and 3 power. At dusk, strong winds from another thunderstorm caused a couple of the power boats to drag. One in particular kept resetting and put himself right in front of us (possibly over our anchor). Fred took some pictures of the boat just in case he dragged into us during the night. We planned to be off at 4am - so prepared for sea. Jacklines installed, harnesses ready as we'd be leaving in the dark, ditch bag ready, flashlights ready for raising anchor. The forecast seas seem fine - it's the thunderstorms that pose the potential problem. But we're not staying here!

Iris got up at 3am and got Fred up at 3:15. We raised anchor smoothly in the dark. As we motored away, we saw that two other vessels had departed awhile after we did - we saw their running lights. We raised sail (as it was our hope to sail all the way back - which was part of our motivation for taking this window). That was the end of the smooth part of the day. About 30 minutes after leaving the autopilot failed - the wheel would only turn in one direction. We tried various combinations of turning it off, using a different console, to no avail. We were out of practice and had many, many hours to go. Could have been worse - we could have been on a multi-day passage! It just made for a more tiring passage as one of us had to be at the helm at all times. We saw very little traffic: one westbound sailboat, several small eastbound power boats and lots of thunderstorms around us. AIS proved quite useful - freighter traffic was easily identifiable as not a factor and in a particularly close tug/tow approach which would have been much to close for comfort - we altered course. Particularly frustrating was seeing the shore for several hours but making only 3 knots and little progress. We'd reefed due to the storms, the wind was unpredictable, the seas were lumpy and it was getting late. We were surprised at how few fishing boats were out - probably due to several days of very lousy weather. We did see a rainbow :-)! Iris once again did a refrigerator run during the last hour of the engine to avoid the evening generator run. Fred had hoped to get to our slip upon arriving, but we only reached the inlet at around 7pm and anchored by 7:15 at our usual spot.

We closed our float plan. Since we'd gotten back prior to our (significant) anniversary milestone - Iris made the anniversary dinner while Fred called CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) to check us in. We now had 24 hours to report to CBP in either Riviera Beach or the airport. Nice dinner, we unwound. Not so fast! We had a 'firedrill' as Fred thought he'd lost his glasses overboard somewhere enroute. We tore apart the boat and couldn't find them. We faded fast - it had been a tough way to end the trip.

We had a quiet and calm night. But compared to the Abacos, it was very hot and humid. Iris asked Fred to describe where he would have put his glasses when he went below. He said the nav station. She searched again and found them lodged behind the radar display - they probably had flown around during the passage. All is good! We had a leisurely breakfast before raising anchor at 9. As we approached the Parker Bridge - a sailboat in front of us radioed and asked that we go ahead since their draft was deep and there was shoaling on the other side of the bridge. Iris called out as we passed, asking what they drew. They replied 6 feet. I said we were 5 1/2. They said there was a big problem up ahead. We'd noticed that we touched near the center of the channel last time we went through. We did see 8 1/2 - which at high meant there is a developing shoaling problem at the bridge. Our return to our slip was awkward as well. The winds were westerly and there was a very large motoryacht across the channel - so it took a few attempts to get into the slip. In addition, we'd left some of our lines and one on our port aft piling had fallen into the water and then fell off completely. What should have taken a few minutes instead took about 1/2 hour. But we were back, we were safely attached and now the clock was ticking to get to CBP. Showers, clean clothes and at noon - we headed off to Riviera Beach. The most interesting part of the experience was entering the small lobby with a few seats and a window/counter for service and clearly a two-way mirror. The sign said to push the button (which looked like a small doorbell button on the counter that didn't seem to be attached to anything). After a few minutes the agent came to get our information and then she disappeared. We both felt like we were under observation. Soon she was back and we were officially back! We had a great trip and are glad we went. Now the projects begin.