Breeze On

We left Hatchet Bay just before sunrise yesterday morning and motored to Current Cut, arriving at slack high tide. We weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the calm conditions to travel and go through the cut. We had to wait for two boats to pass through from the west and another boat waited for us while we went through. There was yet a fifth boat that came through not long after we did. The cut is wide enough for boats to pass each other but I believe we are all happiest if we don’t have to do that.  After anchoring in Spanish Wells—still feeling grateful that the windlass is working—we dinghied to shore to run some errands. Spanish Wells is a lovely town with lots of conveniences but no dinghy dock. It has a concrete wall the length of the waterfront and cruisers try to find a space near steps or stairs to tie up. It was all the more challenging yesterday due to an extra low tide. There were several spots that were too shallow for a dinghy to reach the wall. We did eventually...

Yesterday’s storm was not too bad. We had wind up to 41 knots and heavy rain, sometimes so heavy that we couldn’t see the boat next to ours. It was quite calm by last night and the calm conditions continued overnight and through the day today. We left Rock Sound early this morning and motored north to South Palmetto Point where we dropped the anchor, dinghied ashore, and walked to Eleuthera Island Farms to buy vegetables. On the remains of a concrete dock next to where we beached the dinghy, we chatted briefly with a Bahamian who told us that a tornado had hit a nearby settlement yesterday. Yikes! He also said the concrete dock used to extend far out into the water before a hurricane destroyed it. It extended into water deep enough for supply ships to dock. Unfortunately, there is no discussion about replacing it.  After returning from Eleuthera Island Farms we decided to continue motoring north so that we would be able to go through Current Cut at tomorrow morning’s slack high tid...

The rain started this morning and has continued off and on all day. We were treated to a bright and full rainbow early this morning that was so close I couldn’t get all of it in one photo. We have moved 1.5 miles across the harbor to the western side with the expectation that the strongest winds in this storm system will come from the west. We took advantage of a break in the rain this afternoon to dinghy back across the harbor and join Dee and Ron for a late lunch at Louis Delights. (George enjoyed another milkshake!) By the time we returned the rain had started again but, fortunately, we had our foul weather jackets in to keep us (mostly) dry.  Rainbow in Rock Sound Harbour.  We took a walk to the beach on the East side of the island yesterday with Matt and Marty. 

The weather in the Bahamas this winter has, in general, been better than other years. It had been much better than last year when we had cold front after cold front, causing the wind to clock around a few times a week. We had to spend long stretches of time in protected anchorages and were unable to go to other places we wanted to visit. This year we have had fewer cold fronts—until this week. We have been in Rock Sound for a week and had planned to sail to Spanish Wells on the northern end of Eleuthera. However, the this morning’s forecast showed bad weather—strong winds and potential storms—for early next week. We decided to stay in Rock Sound for another few days until that passes.  Forecast from the Windy app. Greens and blues indicate lighter winds, Yellow, orange, red and purple indicate stronger winds. The forecast for the place we had planned to go was 32 mph sustained wind with higher wind in the gusts and even higher if there was a squall.  During our walk today we t...

Two days ago we had the pleasure of witnessing a Falcon 9 launch and the return of the first stage to earth. SpaceX formed a partnership with the Bahamas to land the first stage on a drone ship landing pad between the Exumas and Eleuthera. Since we are now in Eleuthera we were able to see it and it was quite a sight.  Yesterday we walked a little over 1/2 mile S of town to see the cathedral cave. The long roots of the trees extending down to the bottom of the cave are something. Today we went for a walk with Matt and Marty from Runaway. It was great to see them again, especially since we have barely crossed paths this year. In the afternoon we went back to Louis Delights for another ice cream and milkshake. Yum! George walking in the cave

We had a late lunch at Louis Delights today with a milkshake and ice cream included. As George said when he was paying, he had been thinking about the milkshake for two days! It didn’t disappoint.  Earlier today George ran the watermaker and I did some laundry. We debated about whether we should wash the clothes on board or go to the laundromat. After we went to shore we were happy we had chosen to wash the clothes on board. We encountered a couple walking to the dock with a bag of laundry. They told us the laundromat had been so busy they weren’t able to get their clothes washed before it closed at 3 pm. They had to carry their dirty clothes back to the boat.  We are enjoying the calm anchorage here in Rock Sound—no surge and no wakes from boats racing by. It is so quiet at night, although we may be hearing loud music once the weekend rolls around.  George’s milkshake.  Louis Delights.  Pretty bougainvilleas we passed on our walk. 

Over the past two days we have sailed 80 miles from Staniel Cay to Rock Sound, Eleuthera. We dropped the mooring lines at Staniel Cay yesterday morning and had no trouble leaving the small, narrow mooring field—in spite of the strong current and nearby rocks. We sailed N to Hawksbill Cay in the northern Exumas. Our plan was to stay in a place that had some protection from the waves coming from the SE and traveling up the entire Exuma chain. We also thought leaving from Hawksbill would give us a nice sailing angle to cross Exuma Sound to Eleuthera today.  Our night at Hawksbill was a little bumpy and rolly but I don’t think we could have done much better anywhere else in the vicinity. We took a walk on the beach in the late afternoon and had long chats with two separate couples at different points in the walk. One couple was on a chartered catamaran and have a dream to sail their own boat in the Bahamas someday. They wanted to pick our brains about our favorite places and they even ...

The new parts arrived and the windlass is reassembled, reinstalled, and working! I can’t tell you how relieved we are. This job has been tedious, difficult, and frustrating but we are so happy the effort paid off. Now, if we can keep it working until we get home in April we will be even happier.  George raised the anchor by hand in Black Point yesterday morning. It was windier than it has been so he was very careful to clip the chain to his safety line and let go of the chain whenever the boat swung and the chain became taut—much to my relief. I had visions of his hands being caught and crushed between the chain and the boat.  The parts had not yet arrived in Staniel Cay but we were ready for a change of scenery. Also, we were fairly confident they would arrive by the end of the day. We picked the last mooring ball in a location that had enough depth for Breeze On. Then we dinghied ashore and walked to the Bottom Line restaurant for a nice late lunch of Bahamian food. Then we ...

We are waiting for the windlass parts to be flown from Fort Lauderdale to Staniel Cay. George just called to see if they had arrived yet and they have not.  During our walk yesterday I took some photos of the various ways the residents of Black Point use cinderblocks.  Wall at a new house under construction.  Secure a sign.  Prop up a boat trailer.  Bleachers at the school.  Prop up some trees. 

What do we do with our down time when we are on board, not sailing, fixing things, or doing chores? We both enjoy reading so we spend a fair amount of our down time reading books on our Kindles. In the evening we watch TV shows on George’s iPad. We just finished the most recent season of The Great British Baking Show. What a great season!  This winter I have also been knitting socks, often while listening to audiobooks. I started knitting last spring after joining former Purdue grad school friends in Indiana where we had gathered to watch the eclipse. One of my friends was knitting a gorgeous sweater and it inspired me to try knitting. I had found myself in need of warmer clothes when we returned from the Bahamas last March. Brrr! I thought I would enjoy knitting if I could make something practical for myself, like a sweater. I found YouTube instructions for knitting a sweater for beginners and bought the supplies I needed. Our daughter—who has been an excellent knitter for years—g...

The parts we need for the windlass have been ordered. We are hoping they will arrive in Fort Lauderdale by Tuesday and then be flown to Staniel Cay soon after that. Early this morning George pulled the anchor up by hand and we moved a few miles N to Black Point. We love the Little Bay anchorage but it can get rolly when the wind moves beyond 90°. The forecast shows a few episodes of  ESE wind in the next few days so we moved to the busier—but more protected from ESE wind—anchorage of Black Point.  George spent a few hours cleaning the windlass gears and other parts. He did a great job avoiding getting grease all over himself and the boat. Next he will put new grease on the parts in preparation for reassembling the windlass.  In the afternoon we went to the High Tide Cafe for a late lunch. The food was great and the location is beautiful. After lunch we took a walk to the blowhole and noticed several newly constructed houses. Black Point seems to be thriving.  Cleaned...

George was dismantling the windlass yesterday, it was all going fairly well, and—notwithstanding some stuck screws—he was able to open the windlass. We were both optimistic that the windlass would have a new motor and be functioning again by the afternoon. However, once the windlass was open he found that a bearing was missing and there were tiny pieces of metal lying inside. It appears that the bearing had broken into tiny pieces.  That part number for the bearing is not in the Quick company’s computer system and someone from the customer service is looking into whether they have the part. So, we wait once again.  In the meantime we are in a lovely anchorage, discussing options if we are unable to fix the windlass.  Dismantled windlass, lying on is side.  The tiny black things are apparently pieces of the missing bearing that should have been inside the gear that is removed and sitting at the top of the photo.  The Little Bay anchorage. Breeze On is on the far ...

George is making some progress on the windlass and feeling a bit more optimistic that he will be able to fix it. First off—he was able to release the bolts that held it in place and then pry it loose from the deck. As I mentioned before—the poor access made removal of the nuts and washers quite difficult. He had to do half of the work by feel alone, and with his left hand. Next, we dinghied 2.5 miles to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to pick up the new motor and various other parts he had ordered. While we were there we enjoyed lunch at the club.  This morning George pulled the anchor up by hand and we had a lovely sail 6 miles S to the Little Bay anchorage. All went well until we turned into the anchorage and attempted to furl the mainsail. It came down about halfway then wouldn’t furl anymore. We raised the sail, tried again and the same thing happened. We made adjustments in the lines, tried again and it happened again. It clearly wasn’t furling properly on the spindle but we couldn...

This morning we dropped our mooring lines and set sail NW from George Town toward Staniel Cay, where we will pick up our new windlass motor. We had hoped to have the forecast winds—E in the mid-teens—but instead they were much lower most of the time. The seas, however, were not calm so it was a bumpy, rolly sail in light wind. The most wind we saw was when we were entering the cut at Galliot Cay. By then it was blowing 19. The wind against current exiting the cut created waves like a washing machine which made the entrance quite challenging. We heard one cruiser describe it as “terrifying” on the VHF radio. Fortunately, once we were in the shallower waters of the banks the sailing was quite nice.  We had the option of picking up another mooring ball at Staniel Cay but George said he didn’t like the idea of being on a mooring at that location with its’ strong current. We have found that the current can cause the mooring ball to bash up against the hull. So, we are anchored at Bitter...

Our time on a mooring ball at the Chat ‘N’ Chill mooring field has been a pleasant surprise. We chose this location for the convenience while our daughter and son-in-law visited. It is close to shore, restaurants, and trails. We thought we would be able to visit those places even if we had strong wind from the NE and that proved to be true. We were concerned, however, that being located near such a busy beach would mean we would have lots of noise and wakes from boats coming and going. That was not the case at all and it has worked out quite well. We plan to stay another two days, then sail NW to Staniel Cay where we will pick up our new windlass motor. The motor is now at Makers Air in Fort Lauderdale and they will fly it to Staniel Cay within a few days.  George has been busy working on disconnecting our windlass, which is no easy task. The poor access, poor visibility,  copious amounts of sealant on the nuts and bolts, and the need to work left-handed have made it challengi...