Breeze On

We left the New Bight anchorage yesterday morning and had a lovely sail 20 miles N to Bennett’s Harbour, Cat Island. We had one squall shortly after we left New Bight and dodged another one just before we anchored. In the evening several heavy squalls passed over us. During the night the wind shifted to the SE causing the anchorage to become rolly. We eventually gave up trying to sleep, raised the anchor, and set sail for Eleuthera. We had purposely picked today as our day to sail to Eleuthera because we thought we would have enough wind for sailing. We certainly did have the wind but we also had quite lumpy seas. We started out with 4’ seas with 4 second periods (4 seconds apart), increasing to 5-7’ with 8 second periods. After we rounded the southern end of Eleuthera the seas finally calmed down a bit and moved behind us which made the ride more comfortable. After nearly 60 miles we anchored at Poison Point, just outside the Rock Sound harbor, where we have some protection from the S...

We started our day yesterday with a walk on the beach at Old Bight, our favorite beach in the Bahamas. It is three miles long with beautiful, firm sand for walking, and gorgeous, clear water. Shortly after our walk we moved Breeze On four miles N to the New Bight anchorage. In the afternoon we went ashore for a fried chicken dinner at Cee Dee’s followed by ice cream at Lil Gippy’s. Yum.  This morning we went ashore to dump our trash at the convenient cans beside the police station then walked to Olive’s Bakery for cinnamon swirl bread, coconut and pineapple tarts, coconut cake, sesame cake, local eggs and guava duff. We had purchased guava duff elsewhere in the Bahamas several years ago and found it dry as a bone. This guava duff, unlike the last one, came with a sauce and was delicious.                                                        ...

We left the Thompson Bay anchorage yesterday morning and sailed-SAILED!-ten miles N along the coast of Long Island to anchor at Dilda Rocks. It was a treat to be able to raise and lower the mainsail again without any trouble. Once we were anchored George ran the water maker and I did a few loads of laundry. We normally hang the bed sheets on the jib sheets (lines) on the foredeck. The wind was blowing the sheets so much, though, that the blowing sheet would pull the clothespins off. We eventually had to hang the sheets from the bimini in the cockpit, and even then they would become disconnected.  Today we had a lovely sail from Long Island to Old Bight, Cat Island. Once again we appreciated being able to use the mainsail. We initially had seas of five feet in the deep water of the Atlantic Ocean but because the waves were spread ten seconds apart the ride was quite comfortable.                              ...

Today was a day of running errands in preparation for leaving Thompson Bay tomorrow morning. George dropped me off at the rock wall to dump garbage and pick up a few groceries while he went to Long Island Petroleum for three cans of diesel. Late this afternoon we joined Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael at Sou’ Side for a drink and to say goodbye (again!) The last time we said our goodbyes we weren’t sure we would meet up again and it just so happened that we did. This time it seems even less likely that we will cross paths again this winter. But you never know… Yesterday, after the NW wind had finally subsided and shifted to the N making the harbor was much calmer, we dinghied over to Tiny’s where we met the gang for lunch. George is going to miss Tiny’s pizza.  Basil’s dock, the private dock we have always been allowed to use as a dinghy dock, has still not been repaired after being damaged by Hurricane Melissa. We have seen some cruisers walk on it anyway. No way are we even ...

The NW wind has made the large harbor here at Thompson Bay choppy at times but we have still been able to get to shore both yesterday and today. Yesterday we dinghied into the cove with Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael and walked nearly a mile to Sou’ Side for lunch, then stopped at Hillside Food Supply for groceries. We were grateful that the stock at Hillside was much better than that at Exuma Market in George Town, where the produce section is bare at times. Early this morning we dinghied back to the cove and walked the mile to the farmers market. Once again I was pleased with my purchases—callaloo (a green similar to spinach), arugula, scallions, coconut tart, eggs, local honey, and sapodillas. I also tried a few things that were new to me—fever grass (similar to lemon grass), and Malaysian apples. Early this afternoon I baked a batch of brownies. I baked the first four brownies in the solar oven—that is all that will fit at one time—but clouds rolled in so I baked the rest in ...

Yesterday, our last full day in George Town, was beautiful and sunny. There was a little bit of wind but light enough to take the three mile dinghy ride into town. Our original intent was to take our two bags of trash to the garbage truck and then have lunch with friends. In the morning George was working under the v berth trying to chase down the reason our water pump comes on now and then when we aren’t using the water. I had my ear buds in so I didn’t hear someone calling “Breeze On, Breeze On!” George got my attention and we both went up into the cockpit to see a Bahamian, Rodney, in his pump out boat. For a fee Rodney will pump out your holding tank but he will also collect trash and pick up and deliver propane tanks. We already had our two trash bags in the dinghy so we handed them over to Rodney and paid him the same $10 it would have cost us to dump them at the garbage truck. What a great service! We had a delightful lunch with our friends, two of whom we haven’t seen in three ...

In the two days since our daughter and son-in-law left we have stayed on Breeze On. Well…there is one exception. George got into the dinghy this afternoon to help our new neighbor attach his mooring line.  It remained windy yesterday, and today we had just enough wind to discourage us from taking a potentially wet dinghy ride. In the meantime, we have been busy with chores. Today George ran the water maker and filled the water tank while I did three bucket loads of laundry.  I am still a big fan of our clothes spinner.  I forgot to mention in my last post that our daughter and son-in-law brought the leaf spring that we needed for the mainsail track (plus a spare) and George attached it and the new feeder track. Breeze On can be a sailboat again.  Some of the laundry drying on the lifelines. George has just finished running the water maker and is removing the hose from the water intake on the deck.  The water tank is under our berth. George props it up so he can ...

We had a wonderful time this week with our daughter and son-in-law. As often happens, we had the worst weather of the winter so far, but they were great sports about it. Granted, even though it seems cold to us it is much warmer here than their home in Massachusetts. We spent a few nights near Chat ‘n Chill where we went for a hike around the southern end of Stocking Island then lunch at Snappy Turtle. Next we moved over to Red Shanks for better protection from the W and NW winds. From there George took Pam and Brad over to the Man ‘O War Cay sandbar at low tide. Then, before returning to Breeze On, they did a reconnaissance run over to Brown’s Marine where their taxi was to pick them up this morning. We enjoyed games of Mexican Train and spent time planning our upcoming trip to England and Scotland to celebrate our 50th anniversary this year.  This morning Pam and Brad donned our foul weather jackets and pants and secured their luggage in garbage bags. They and George took a very ...

Since arriving in George Town we spent one night at anchor in Masters Harbour, then moved yesterday morning to “Da Middle,” an area roughly in the middle of the harbor but relatively close to town. We dinghied into town to get fuel, beer, and a few groceries. The harbor outside of George Town, known as Elizabeth Harbour, is huge and can hold hundreds of boats. When we were here in early December with my brother, Dave, there were only about 40 boats here. Now there are over 200. Everywhere we went while running our errands yesterday was crowded but we managed to get everything done. After returning to Breeze On we cleaned the cabin and I baked some chocolate chip cookies in the GoSun oven.  In the afternoon we raised the anchor and moved across the harbor to a mooring ball in the Gaviota Bay East mooring field, near the Chat ‘n Chill Beach Bar and Grill. It is close to shore and should allow us to get to shore for hikes and to eat out on occasion while our daughter and son-in-law ar...

Yesterday morning we left the boat bright and early so that I could go to the Farmers Market.  George stayed with the dinghy in order to avoid having to tie up to the iron shore. I had much better luck at the market this week, buying a large bunch of collard greens along with arugula, eggs, chives, a coconut tart, and two sapodilla fruits. I was disappointed that all of the delicious tiny tomatoes had already been snapped up by other vendors at the market. After I finished at the market I walked up to Hillside Food Supply to buy lettuce and a few other items.  Once we returned to Breeze On we raised the anchor and headed north to Hog Cay near the northern tip of Long Island. Hog Cay is a small private island with an unusual large octagonal house and a long, pretty beach. There is an osprey nest on the cupola of the house. The calls of the resident osprey pair remind us of the Chesapeake   The island also has a large habitat for West Indian Whistling Ducks. These are noctu...

Good news. The flex feeder is securely attached to the mast. The replacement leaf springs are on order (one to spare) and should arrive at our daughter’s house in time for her and her husband to bring them to us when they visit next week. Fingers crossed the shipment will arrive before the major storm hits their area this weekend.  The windy weather here continued through much of the day yesterday. George and I ventured off the boat briefly to cut each others’ hair on the beach. Today has been a lovely, calm, sunny day. We joined Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael at Dapple Cafe for lunch. George has been thinking of Dapple Cafe’s mocha smoothie ever since we arrived a week ago. We have so enjoyed hanging out with our friends but are all going our separate ways tomorrow.                                                         George’s mo...

Our time here at Thompson Bay has flown by. Yesterday we ate lunch at Sou’ Side with Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael. On our way back Dee and Ron stopped at Breeze On so that Ron could take a look at the stubborn screw that didn’t want to come out. He and George worked on it a while until the head came off the screw. In the meantime a front—which we had hoped would not come this far south—arrived and the wind picked up. George and Ron continued to work on removing what was left of the screw and tapping a new hole. At some point they noticed that the leaf spring—a part that goes under the flex feeder—had broken off. George suspects it had been cracked by whatever stresses ruined the old flex feeder. A new leaf spring was not included with our replacement flex feeder so George has ordered two new ones (one to spare.)  George and Ron have a bit of fine tuning to do on the flex feeder then we will wait for the new leaf spring.  The front brought quite a bit of rain last night...

George has been working on removing the old mainsail feeder track but is not done yet. He has been applying penetrating oil to the screws and tapping them with a hammer. In addition, he has been using his oscillating multitool and hot knife to cut away the plastic feeder track to allow better access to the screws. Then he heated the screws with the hot knife. The first screw came right out, but the second screw is proving to be more stubborn. He is applying more penetrating oil to that one and will allow the oil to do its work overnight before trying again tomorrow.  When we arrived in Thompson Bay, I was very much looking forward to going to the farmers market on Saturday morning.  Just as we were about to leave the boat for the market a heavy squall arrived. We waited for it to pass then went to shore.  I didn’t find nearly as much to buy there as I did two weeks ago, but did come back with some arugula, sapodillas (a very sweet, soft fruit that tastes like brown sugar)...

After stealing an idea from Dee and Ron we decided to leave George Town yesterday at noon, taking advantage of the SW wind to sail east to Thompson Bay, Long Island. The conditions were great and even allowed us to turn the engine off and sail with just our very small jib. We arrived about a half-hour street sunset. Thompson Bay is wide open to the SW and, although the anchorage was somewhat bouncy, it was tolerable. The anchorage calmed down after the wind moved further to the north overnight.  George attempted to replace the mainsail feeder track before we left George Town but wasn’t able to remove the old screws. He doesn’t want to strip the heads of the screws so he is proceeding very carefully.  This afternoon we joined Dee, Ron, Jean and Michael at Vantage Pointe for a late lunch. The food was delicious—George and I had the pan fried grouper and finished with key lime pie, yum.  It was a pleasure to be able to turn the engine off and sail with the jib. We won’t be u...

Our package containing the new mainsail feeder track arrived at Staniel Cay Yacht Club late yesterday afternoon.  There was a moment when we were concerned that it hadn’t arrived. George watched as the golf cart bringing the packages from the airport to the yacht club was unloaded and there weren’t any packages the size of our part. He was relieved when they said another golf cart was on the way. As soon as we got back to the dinghy with our package we raised the anchor and motored six miles south to Black Point, dropping the anchor just after sunset. This morning we were underway to George Town before sunrise. Although we were motoring into the wind the conditions weren’t bad since the wind was so light. We had just finished anchoring in George Town when a brief heavy squall arrived. We will stay here a day or two until the worst of the next cold front passes.                       George with the package containing our r...

It has been a gloomy day here as we wait for our part to arrive. There was a slight chance that the part would arrive at Staniel Cay today, but George called and found out it would not be arriving at Staniel Cay Yacht Club until about 3:30 tomorrow. We chose to wait at Bitter Guana Cay—2.5 miles south of Staniel Cay as the crow flies—because it is quieter and less crowded. The occasional tour boat comes by taking tourists to view (and possibly feed) the Exuma Island iguanas on the beach. We have visited the iguanas in the past but found some of them to be quite aggressive toward others so we passed it up this time. There were three sailboats with us in the anchorage last night. After they all left today a large motor yacht joined us. Later this afternoon a helicopter landed on the yacht, unloaded, then left, then another helicopter landed right after that. George took a video of the second helicopter which is posted below.  Our trip from Cat Island to Bitter Guana yesterday was une...