Positioning to Head South
Beginning of Squall
We determined that we have a weather window to sail to Eleuthera, the next major island south of Abaco. It shouldn’t be that difficult, though we have to cross the open Atlantic for about 50 miles. After getting our preparations done in Marsh Harbor, our plan was to move to a place called Little Harbor, where we could anchor and get going at the crack of dawn the next day.
Unfortunately, as with many sailing plans, that didn’t work out as we had a couple of issues. First, we couldn’t really lift the dinghy safely before weighing anchor in Marsh Harbor due to some significant rolling waves caused by an approaching cold front. So we decided to drag it behind us until we got around to the east side of the island in the lee of the wind and waves.
On the way around, we found the wind to be a steady 25 knots, pretty high given the calm conditions over the last couple of days and higher than predicted. We anchored in Boat Harbor intending only to lift the dinghy on to the davits. This is the same place we anchored about 3 weeks ago to check in through customs. As we set the anchor, a squall line approached and the wind picked up. We had to fiddle with the anchor snubbing more than normal and by time we had it set the rain started.
At first the rain was not bad, but soon it poured down like a waterfall. At the same time the wind kicked up to over 30 knots, it was quite the maelstrom for a while. The anchor held like a hero. It took a couple of hours for the storm to pass and by that time it was getting too late to arrive at Little Harbor in the daylight.
So our plan now is to leave before dawn tomorrow to sail down to Eleuthera. We aren’t in the perfect position for it but not bad. We might arrive in the dark like when we crossed the gulf stream, but that shouldn’t be bad. If we don’t go tomorrow we’ll probably have to wait another week, which is ok but hey, why wait?
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.
Marsh Harbor Provisioning and Boatwork
Solar Panels Up and Running
Ok, spent the last 4 days anchored here at Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco island. We headed over here from Great Guana Cay to finish up on the solar and re-provision for our trip south. Marsh Harbor is the best place along our route to get hardware and cheaper groceries. We have been spending at least two more days here than planned due to very high wind, up to 30 knots, blowing during the last two days preventing us from using the dinghy. The good news is our anchor held firm.
Today I finally completed the solar panel project. What a saga this has been. We ordered the panels while we were still in Vero Beach. It took a week or two before the distributer received the panels and by that time we were on our run south, so we picked them up at the dock near the Ft. Pierce inlet. They are semi-flexible panels, so you don’t want to let them bend too far or the cells will crack. That gave us no end in headaches storing and moving them around on the boat for the last month.
I initially wanted to pay someone to install them but because we were moving over to the Bahamas, I ended up doing the install myself. I mentioned several posts ago that we had a canvass guy install velcro on our bimini for the panels and that worked out very well actually.
The final part was the wiring, which turned into a mini science fair project. I had to pick out the correct wire and connector sizes, figure out how to run the cabling and come up with some way of allowing the panels to be disconnected and removed for when we want to store them for whatever reason. There are some decent hardware stores here at Marsh Harbor, but no good marine supply store. SO, I had to get a bit innovative. A secondary problem is that we are anchored out from a dock, making it hard to “run in” for supplies, but it just took a bit more time. In the end it was a fun project for me.
The panels are up and producing power! I am considering myself an expert at solar panel installation at this point and I expect I saved us about $1000 on the installation. Now hopefully we won’t have to run our generator so much.
I also noticed our shortwave radio antenna wire was getting frayed where it connected to the backstay (which is the antenna) and so had to repair that as well. The backstay is the cable that runs from the top of the mast to the stern (back) of the boat. Trivial compared to the panels, however.
Soon to be headed south!
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.
Hangin’ at Great Guana Cay
Crew of Good Karma
Today and yesterday were great “vacation” days for us. We pulled into Great Guana Cay to dock for the first time since Florida. I went for a (too) long run on the Cay, past the second homes of the wealthy all along the island. There seems to be a bit more money and fewer people on this island than any of the others we’ve been to so far. Shelly made bread and did more computer work, her favorite activity outside of sailing. The first night here I slept the sleep of the dead. I did wake up once at 3 a.m. to prove to myself I wasn’t dead, saw the lunar eclipse.
Today we went to a little farmer’s market in the morning and bought some fresh fruit to stave off scurvy. Then we went for a walk along the beaches and watched the big waves coming off the Atlantic. In the afternoon we headed to “Grabbers,” a beach bar and had our share of tropical drinks and lunch.
On the way back to the boat I bought a couple of Cuban cigars. Right out of Havana. Can’t find them in the states. I smoked one and it was somewhat smoother than others. Pretty good, but not exponentially better than U.S. “legal” cigars.
We’re hanging out here probably until Monday morning and then the plan is to head to Marsh Harbor to provision up for the further passage south.
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.
Namaste Helps
Namaste Catches a Wayward Fender!
Our plan today was to sail over to Great Guana Cay to ride out the upcoming days of high wind in relative comfort. After a bumpy day yesterday and last night at the anchorage (rent free livin’), the waves calmed down a bit in the morning. We took a dinghy ride in to get our canvass and solar panels just as the waves were picking up again. It was a rough ride and I got soaked from the waves splashing over but we made it ok.
The wind today was supposed to be 10-15 knots and I don’t think we saw anything below 16 as we did a short sail to the marina here, gusting up to 25. That is decently strong wind. Waves were probably 3-4 feet, not bad for our boat but definitely not smooth as they splashed over our bow.
As we arrived at the marina entrance, Shelly radioed to confirm our slip and ask which side we would dock on to prepare the lines and fenders. Fenders are cylindrical air-filled rubber “bumpers” that cushion your boat from the dock. The dock master was busy with two other boats that came in right in front of us, and they told her to stand by on which side to set up for. So she untied the fenders and waited for a docking side. Just then a wave rocked us and sent one of our big (and expensive) fenders rolling overboard.
With the sea as rough as it was, I didn’t think we’d have any way of retrieving it. We had been towing our dinghy Namaste, which was an unusual configuration for us as we would normally have it up on the davits but it was too rough to prepare and lift it and the outboard when we left. There are many reasons you don’t want to tow your dinghy, but that’s what you do if you don’t have a choice.
As the fender floated back from us, it got caught underneath Namaste’s bow. I turned to manage the steering and when I looked back, the fender was gone. I couldn’t see it anywhere, which made no sense, it should be floating away somewhere behind us. Then I saw it – caught between the transom and the tilted outboard of Namaste. That was a completely secure place as we towed it into the marina. You can see it in the picture above, it’s the white rectangle in the center back of the dinghy. There is no way a small mishap like this could have worked out any better!
More Tropical Fun
White Sand Beaches and Clear Turquoise Water of the Bahamas
We’re still here anchored at Man-O’-War Cay waiting for our solar panel mounting velcro to be sewed into our bimini. Finally got the call this afternoon that it was ready, but the waves are rocking a bit too much to get in on the dinghy at the moment. Weather is nice, temps in the 80s but there’s a westerly wind that’s giving us waves today.
So what’s it like living on a boat in the Bahamas? This was today’s agenda:
Wake up, make coffee and breakfast: Scrambled eggs with melted cheddar on toast. Sit out in the cockpit and eat while listening to the morning cruisers net on the VHF radio. After breakfast I jumped in the water for a quick swim. Shelly needed to speak with some customers of our fledgling computer consulting business, so I took the dinghy in to go for a run on the Cay.
This is the low season for tourism in the Bahamas, if you can believe it, so there wasn’t much activity in town or on the island. I ran along the main road, called “Queen’s Highway,” for the entire length of the island. The roads are about as wide as a concrete bike path and most people drive either a golf cart or a tiny vehicle. No sidewalks. The only part of the road that is paved is the section in the little town here.
This island is long and narrow, one section being only about 30 feet wide at best. I took a pic of the narrow section below. The Atlantic is on the right, the Sea of Abaco on the left. Not somewhere you’d want to be in a tropical storm, I’m guessing.
After my run, I dinghy back to the boat and take shower. I crank up the generator for a couple of hours over lunch, do some reading and take a nap. Later in the afternoon, I crack open a Kalik, the Bahamas beer. Dinner and more reading, then hit the sack early. It’s surprisingly easy to fall asleep shortly after dark here.
Sounds great, right? It is, but not always that fun. Yesterday I spent about 5 hours designing our solar panel electrical hookup, went into town to price out parts (which were far too expensive to buy here), bought some groceries and came back to the boat to research our future destinations. We both stressed out for a while trying to find a harbor in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands that would be an appropriate hurricane refuge. Many of the marinas either didn’t call back or were not appropriate for storm protection. We considered completely changing our sail plan to not go to the Caribbean in summer. Turned out we got a couple of good responses to Shelly’s inquiries this morning, which was a great relief.
So life alternates between quite a bit of hard work and tropical ease. Turns out it’s a great combination for us, we like it.
In the future I’ll describe the whole hurricane refuge problem, it’s an entire story in itself.
Narrow Section of the Queen’s Highway
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.
More Pics From the Bahamas
S/V Good Karma in the Sea of Abaco!
Off Great Sale Cay
Elbow Cay Lighthouse
Man O War Cay
Boats at Anchor Off the Island
After spending a few days at Elbow Cay, Good Karma made the short sail to Man O War Cay and anchored just outside the harbor. Elbow Cay was quite nice. Very tourist oriented, not overcrowded, and quite friendly. Met some other cruiser friends from Vero and had dinner with them, our team taking second place at trivia night in the bar. Made friends with Craig and Carol, sailing on Whisper, a 47-foot Passport brand like ours. We toured their boat and received a lot of good advice about Passport boats and sailing in general. Went for an excellent run on Elbow Cay – no sidewalks but almost no cars either. Finally got Shelly into the ocean on one hot afternoon, it was wavy but she stayed in for at least 20 minutes just swimming with me. Unfortunately there was a lot of talk about sharks later that day which put Shelly on the reluctant side of jumping into the water again.
The trip here to Man O War Cay was a last minute change of plans to attempt to get our solar panels mounted and running, there is a canvass worker recommended here. It’s quite difficult to get our batteries fully charged using the generator and the solar panels would help immensely. This is the problem: Our generator can output 100 amps, which is fantastic and in theory would charge even fully drained batteries in only two and a half hours. Unfortunately, marine batteries don’t work that way. They will initially accept the full 100 amps, but as they get charged, they accept less and less until you are only putting a relative trickle of current into them for hours and hours. It’s a real waste of diesel and wear-and-tear to only charge at ten percent of the capacity of the generator.
The solar panels would help immensely there. They will put out about 20 amps in sunlight and fill the batteries for the last few hours they need to become fully charged. Also, they’ll help offset usage during the day: The refrigerator is by far the largest power consumer, taking about 30 amps for 15-20 minutes every few hours or so. We would use very little power without that fridge. Oh well, the price you pay for cold beer, a necessity.
This is Super Bowl Sunday. Last year I was in New Zealand at a sports bar in Rotorua, one of five people watching the Broncos win. Today I’m on our boat in the Bahamas. One hell of a year!
The Sun Sinks Down Over the Sea of Abaco
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.
First Snorkeling of the Odyssey
Getting Ready to Snorkel the Atlantic
Today was the first day I was able to (finally) get some snorkeling. Up until now, we’ve either been in too cold, too murky, to wavy or uninteresting water. The coral and tropical fish were not fantastic here, but not too bad either. Hung out with several locals outside the beer store, where unlike in the U.S., it is not illegal to buy a beer and drink it outside the store.
And for the second time since we’ve been here in Hope Town Harbor, we’ve had another cruiser ride over in their dinghy and tell us what a beautiful boat we have. Of course that’s not unexpected when you have Good Karma! (Groooan!)
The Dark Patches are a Reef in the White Sands Offshore
Gulf Stream, Bahamas and Quarantine Flags
Sunset at Great Sale Cay, Bahamas
From Shelly:
We left Lake Worth, Florida at the crack of dawn last Wednesday and crossed a rolling gulf stream. Mark turned a little green but no lunches were tossed. We opted to motor sail which means the winds were less than 15 knots so you combine motor and sails to get enough speed so that you don’t go too far north in the Gulf Stream and miss the Bahamas altogether. By late afternoon we arrived on “the banks.”
The depth of the ocean literally goes from hundreds of feet to 25 feet in a matter of 30 minutes. You can see the sand flying underneath you. That’s very disconcerting because you could hit a stray rock. But we have tons of radios and a life raft. And seriously, how much trouble can you really get into in 30 feet of water. Not much hopefully, because the next step was to anchor at night at Mangrove Cay after continuing our crossing in the dark for another hour or so until we got there. We didn’t hit anyone else and the anchor dug first try. Actually, Bahamas is weirdly well charted and the ocean floor uniformly flat more or less and unless you try, it’s kind of hard to hit rocks.
The next day we still didn’t have much wind so we motor sailed to Great Sale Cay about 25 miles away. Mark was excited to try out his new snorkel gear although the water was super cold. It will warm up as we move south and we get through winter a bit more. We did not go ashore.
On Friday, we did a big push to Powell Cay and were able to sail much of that route. Yippie! Finally, sailing along in good wind with great weather and scenery and no schedule. We set anchor and Mark did his nightly routine of sending out a spot beacon and email “to the mothers” so people know we’re not dead. Mark, our communications specialist has programmed the SSB radio to send small emails out. But more importantly, he can pull down weather “grib” files so we know what’s in store. What turned out to be in store was a bit of a front with 20 to 30 knot winds by Sunday or Monday.
Armed with that knowledge we didn’t go ashore on Powell Cay on Saturday. Instead we high tailed it farther south, back out into the Atlantic for a mile or so, skirted around Whale Cay, back into the sea of Abaco and anchored at Treasure Cay. Otherwise we would have probably been stuck north of the Whale for days. Around the Whale, the conditions can be rough and the currents strong if wind is blowing water into the inlets since as with much of the Bahamas the water is being pushed up onto a much shallower area. There’s even a dedicated Whale weather report every day, it’s so notorious around here.
On Sunday we got our predicted 25 knot winds – a few hours early. Our plan was to go to the government dock at Marsh Harbor and check in through customs. The rules are that you fly your yellow quarantine flag until you check into a country and that you can anchor but not go on shore until you officially go through customs.
Most people go to a marina to check in but none of those marinas are ones I want to go to anyway so marching to our own tune – as usual – here we are on day 5 still flying the quarantine flag. It’s fairly difficult to dock in high wind plus it started to rain. Marsh Harbor is exposed to the wind blowing from this particular front so we bagged on that idea and went around behind March Harbor to a protected anchorage where we now sit. On the bright side – we were able to get a better feel for how Good Karma sails in 20 knots with only a reefed main up. It worked great. We were the only people with a sail up out there today, in the pelting rain. Whatever, we had a good time.
The weather is supposed to worsen tonight and then be same for tomorrow so we’re just chillin’ instead of going ashore. Nor will we tomorrow because doing a sloppy dash in the dingy in high wind and rain is not my idea of a good time. You should be starting to see a theme here… our feet have not been off the boat in days. The scenery is however, lovely.
Since we haven’t gone ashore yet, we don’t have SIM cards for our phones so no internet. 5 days without internet. Reminds me of camping on our mountaineering adventures except we’re dry and we have a toilet and fresh bread. We’re reading our books and Mark is getting intimately familiar with his SSB radio. I am not missing news about politics. We’ve been listening to “Missed in History” podcasts. We listened to one about the founder of Montessori recently and now I’ve decided I should be referred to as “The Directress.”
Once the weather clears up a bit and we get our checkin and communications life in order, we’ll go over to Hope Town at Elbow Cay, grab a mooring ball, walk around the little town and check out the various bars. Then it’s hopefully some snorkeling south of here and then staging for Eleuthera.
[Editor’s Note: The weather was great today and we were able to get internet connected. Thus the status post today]
Posted in Sailing by Mark with 1 comment.
West Palm Beach Divide
Shelly Fixing a Leak in the Ceiling
We spent this afternoon fixing a leak we’ve known about for months. Unfortunately we had to remove a huge panel from the ceiling of the galley to get to the bottom of the deck where Shelly suspected was the origin of the leak. Ah, boat work. Gotta love it. If you live on a boat you better love it because that is a big part of life here in paradise.
We are at the Riviera Beach City Marina. I went for a run today and noticed some things. The marina is fairly nice though not the top-end expensive kind. They’ve recently renovated the area around the marina to add a large park and new buildings that I assume will house shops and restaurants when open. However, just outside the marina, the neighborhood is a bit rough, not the worst I’ve ever seen but definitely low income. Everyone I passed was friendly and said hi as they do most places.
I read later on, and the people living on the boat next to us in the marina confirmed, this is a higher crime area. Shootings, apparently gang related and late at night, take place only blocks away. A shooting happened a couple nights ago. I have to reiterate that the neighborhood doesn’t seem THAT bad to me, it reminds me of the neighborhood I grew up in. I have seen far worse. But it is what it is.
On my run I crossed the Blue Heron bridge over to the Palm Beach Shores neighbors. This is 10 minutes across the water from the Riviera Beach side. The difference was like night and day, to use a cliche. Palm Beach Shores was a wealthy neighborhood with nice houses, parks, community events, lots of people walking around. Oh, and did I mention that on the Riviera side I saw mainly African Americans and on the Palm Beach Shore side I saw exclusively white folks. Separated only by a half-mile wide body of water.
It wasn’t that the wealthy side was a better location geographically, there are beaches on both sides. The poorer side had a lot of industrialization, like the Port of Palm Beach, and that is the main difference. Places people retire to vs. places people work.
Oh, and did I mention we’re only a couple miles north of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s exclusive resort?
Anyway, just another view of America where the good times don’t necessarily apply to all.
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.