Gear Report – Bahia Boat Inflatable Dinghy

Overall Assessment:  Typical false-economy of a Chinese-made product.  This 7-foot, six-inch inflatable dinghy is a Chinese copy of what I believe is a Mercury 230 inflatable.  Bahia Boat’s web special sold them for $260 and sales representative Matthew Lewis said five Chinese plastics manufactures built test dinghies and Bahia Boat chose the best one for production.  Sounded good.  The dinghy arrived without any assembly instructions.  Another boater I know had the same problem.  From the factory, it arrived with a patch over a skin defect.  One air chamber has a slow leak.  After using it for a month, one oarlock broke suddenly and almost left me stranded.  Now both oars are tied on with rope instead of oarlocks.  It works, but is not the quality expected for a product that is warranted for five years.  Will Bahia Boat stand behind their warranty?  Probably not.  They did not return my phone calls when I was trying to order the boat brand new.  By the time this dinghy dies, I will gladly pay three times as much for a brand-name, trustworthy one with a real warranty.

1 - 7 April 2009

1 April 2009

Rowed the dinghy to the beach and walked two miles to town.  Bought 4 bags of groceries and carried them all the way back.  Updated the blog.  Wireless Internet service was available for $5 by the day in a third-world shack.  It was quite slow because so many people were using it.  Finally, in the afternoon the whole system simply quit, which meant it was time to go grocery shopping.  Later, while eating a hamburger at Eddie’s Edgewater Café, an obnoxious, older woman came in preaching loudly about why the world should recycle and demanding to know where she could recycle her trash.  The bar maid said she thought some guy in a green pickup truck collected beer bottles.  The lady was technically correct in the points she was making, but completely out of place and an embarrassment.  An ugly American out to save the world, preaching from a moral fortress.

 

2 April 2009

Lazy day.  Mark and Rakelle stopped by and we all went to the Chat-n-Chill, the main cruisers hangout on Stocking Island across the Georgetown Harbor.  Around the Chat-n-Chill are the big showoff boats.  Reminds me of Ego Alley in Annapolis, Maryland.  Mark and I hiked to the stone monument overlooking Stocking island.

 

3 April 2009

Kayaked into Georgetown.  Paddled 1.7 nautical miles in 45 minutes against a 15-knot wind and two-foot chop.  It was a good workout and much easier than walking from town with heavy groceries.  Checked out the Dive Exuma dive shop in Georgetown.  It is safely hidden in the gated community of February Point and obviously set up to cater to rich tourists.  Gear was limited to basic rental gear with high prices.  But, they send a boat out almost everyday, sometimes as far as Conception Island for a wall dive, then on to Long Island for a shark dive.  Will sail to Pigeon Cay tomorrow with Mark and Rackelle.  Looking forward to a remote anchorage with a chance to go spearfishing.

 

4 April 2009

Left Georgetown about 9:00 am.  Anchored northwest of Pigeon Cay about 1230WT at 2328 7536.  Am getting closer to the tropics.  Am now just one mile north of the Tropic of Cancer.  Paddled ashore on the surfboard but the swells were too small to ride.  We went spear fishing and Mark speared a decent lobster.  I took several shots at fish, but did not hit anything.

 

5 April 2009

Left Pigeon Cay at 10:10 am.  Moved southeast to Pelican Cays and anchored there at 1100WT 2327 7536.  Am finally in the tropics.  Snorkeled for a couple hours looking for lobsters or fish.  Found a few rocks where fish were hiding.  Took quite a few shots but did not spear anything.  One large grouper looked especially tasty.  Swam into a cave until the surge from the waves coming in from other side of the cay became too strong.

 

6 April 2009

Left Pelican Cays at 10:00 am.  Headed for Thompson Bay on Long Island.  Decided to navigate the 26-mile trip solely by dead reckoning to practice navigating without the GPS.  Position enroute:  1300WT 2326 7525.  Anchored in the north end of Thompson Bay at 1822WT 2322 7508.  A strong cold front is blowing through.  We used the clocking wind to sail to Long Island.  The trouble is that Thompson Bay is open to the West, so it is a rough anchorage until this westerly wind finishes clocking around.

 

7 April 2009

Wind shifted back southerly during the night, so I was sheltered during that time.  Cooked pancakes this morning.  Need to mix an egg with the Bisquick so the pancakes hold together better.  Am leery of buying eggs without refrigeration, but have heard they stay fresh if you turn them every couple days.  Rowed ashore and walked a couple miles to the main crossroads of Salt Pond, Long Island.  Along the way, saw a couple of good grocery stores and a decent marine supply store.  The business owners seem to be more self-motivated here than in some places.  Easy tourist dollars seem to harm the fragile Bahamian work ethic.  Or, maybe simple hunger is the only thing that gets them going. 

31 March 2009 - Haitian Deja Vu

Today a small handmade wooden boat sailed into the Georgetown Harbor carrying three Haitian men.  Over the years, illegal Haitian immigration has caused considerable turmoil in the Bahamas.  Bahamian Immigration was predictably excited by their arrival, but frustrated because this trip is sponsored by a Dutch citizen, Geert van der Kolk, accompanied by an American writer, Mary Houghton.  At first, I was wondering why such a sad chapter in history needs a sequel.  It turns out that Geert was sailing in the Bahamas several years ago with his family.  One night the Coast Guard unsuccessfully trtied to rescue a sinking Haitian boat.  Geert sailed to the area to assist, but could not get their in time.  All forty people onboard drowned.  Geert’s group started building the boat a year ago and they spent the last two weeks sailing towards America, where the boat will be placed in a Palm Beach museum.  Labelled the “Si Priz” Expedition, look for an upcoming article in Outside Magazine.  Late in the afternoon, the Haitians were engaged in protecting their boat from the barnacle-crusted dock pilings.  Simply moving the boat to the downwind side of the dock would have solved the problem, but they refused to move the boat without word from “Le Capitan”, who had eaten, showered, and retired to better accommodations.  When I left, one man was squatting on the boat holding it away from the dock, presumably for the rest of the night.  The other two Haitians were content to watch him work, but my guess is they 

23 March -- 30 March 2009

23 March 2009

Itching to keep moving south, but a couple more days of strong and gusting wind are in the forecast.  Scratched the itch by grocery shopping and blog updating, but the empty shelves of the grocery store were a grim site.  Tomorrow the supply boat comes in.  A middle-aged white lady in an older nondescript Japanese car gave me a ride to the grocery store.  Two black schoolgirls were riding in the back seat, so I assumed the lady was a school teacher or church sister.  Many of the local whites are descendants of British Loyalists who were disenfranchised after the American Revolution and moved to the Bahamas.  “Winds from the Carolinas” is an excellent historical novel describing this migration.  Whites here are a minority.  They are represented in all economic classes, but seem to provide the bulk of the nation’s middle class as business owners and professionals.  They are especially scarce in the social and political circles and almost non-existent in the local media.

 

24 March 2009

The supply boat arrived early this morning.  Pallets are lifted off the boat one at a time by an old crane driven onto the pier amidst a swarm of people looking for their stuff.  Seems like a lot of chaos and effort for something that happens every week.  Now, how long will it take the grocery store to fill its shelves?  Explored a cave south of town.  The mouth sits a few feet above the water level and the cave branches into several tunnels twisting back into the island.  Bought $57 worth of groceries in preparation for the next trip.

 

25 March 2009

Wind this morning seemed manageable and I almost ignored the forecast and headed out.  By mid-morning the wind was howling in the rigging and by noon two more boats ducked into the harbor.  While I was wearing swim trunks, they pulled in wearing full foul weather gear.  Outside the harbor must be wild.  The forecast did call for 10-foot ocean swells and 8-foot chop going in different directions.  Probably best to go to town, eat a hamburger, and wait until tomorrow.

 

26 March 2009

At 7:00 am some sort of native unrest started in town.  The bullhorns garbled the words, but it seemed like a political protest.  Maybe that is why all eight sailboats left the harbor within an hour.  The weather was great, but once south of the Bight of Eleuthera, the leftover swell and chop were rough.  Positions enroute:  1413WT 2434 7619, 1534WT 2424 7622, 1916WT 2415 7621.  The wind allowed me south to Dotham Cut in the Exumas.  Just after dark, I was heading in to anchor off Black Point Settlement, but the darkness, along with the surge, wave chop, and unknown tidal current in the narrow rocky cut led me to bail out, tack away, and head offshore to spend the night.  Yesterday, I diligently prepared food so I would not have to cook while sailing today.  It worked well until sometime in the night everything eaten today came back up.  Four heaves before it all escaped.

 

27 March 2009

Position enroute:  0224WT 2411 7613.  Just as dawn was breaking, arrived at Rudder Cut Cay.  Rudder Cut Cay is privately owned, so permission is required to go ashore, but it yields a few small anchorages sheltered from the ocean.  Found a small beach with a cave and by 7:30 am was anchored at 2352 7614 west of Rudder Cut Cay.  Soon the wind shifted south, pinning me in the small rocky anchorage, with two anchors down in six feet of water, backed up close to shore praying at least one anchor would hold.  The worst part was this south wind would have carried me to Long Island.  Instead it had me trapped in a dangerous spot.  The chop coming into the open south side kept me too queasy to eat until things calmed down around sunset.

 

28 March 2009

Stayed anchored at Rudder Cut Cay as the wind weakened and shifted.  Was lazy the whole day and felt bad about not getting much accomplished, until I realized that lounging around in swim trunks with no real cares or interruptions in such a beautiful, natural place was okay.

 

29 March 2009

The wind shifted south and the seas were mild, so I headed out about 2:00 pm.  Today, though, I was actually enjoying the lounging around and was almost too lazy to leave.  It is amazing how changing perspectives can change your whole outlook.  Still not sure where to go.  This wind might still be good enough to take me to Rum Cay, Conception Island, or Long Island.  Positions enroute:  1725WT 2346 7601, 1911WT 2345 7557.

 

30 March 2009

Positions enroute:  0203WT 2343 7548, 0619WT 2343 7543, 0938WT 2341 7549.  The wind almost died out last night and was too light for the boat to maintain course while I slept.  But, was able dream.  Dream sleep seems to be a threshold that allows adequate functioning the next day.  Woke up between Georgetown and the northern tip of Long Island. Which way to go?  Decided on Georgetown.  Anchored at 1536WT 2332 7547 by Goat Cay, two miles north of Georgetown.  There are approximately 150 cruising boats in Georgetown now.  Many cruisers spend the winter here until their insurance companies demand they leave the hurricane path each Summer.  The colors are amazing.  The water is several colors of blue, with the main color turquoise.  The water is clearer than many swimming pools.  A large starfish 8 feet below the boat is clearly visible.

Bahamas, 14-22 March 2009

14 Mar 09 –

Wanted to move out of the marina to the anchorage off Bullocks Harbor today, but spent too much time exploring the island the last couple of days, so now it is time to work.  Finished charging every battery big and small.  Filled the main water tank and several extra water jugs.  Walked into the village in the afternoon and bought a couple bags of groceries.  Going in, found a five-pound SCUBA weight along the road and stashed it to pick up on the way back, but received a ride back to the marina.  Will have to get the weight tomorrow.  Some local government recognition for the Pinder family was at the Rocky Hill Bar this evening.  About 8:00 pm the speeches were dying down and the food line was open, so I filled up on their free food.  John and Margie, who came in this morning on the S/V Free Spirit, were there for the free food too.  We talked until almost midnight.  John is from Denmark and they spent several years as missionaries in the Philippines.  Several people left today:  Mike and Harriet on the M/V Dual Dreams, Bill and Betty on the M/V Walkabout, and Dan and Myla on the S/V Keiros.

 

15 Mar 09 –

Left the marina around noon.  Spending $105 for three days’ stay is not bad.  Motored out to the anchorage, rowed to town, and picked up the SCUBA weight I found yesterday.  None of the stores were open on a Sunday afternoon, so it was really just a nice walk.  The two main Bahamas radio stations seem to be simply gospel shows, so Sunday is pretty focused on worship.  Sure enough, just after sundown an unintelligible grossly-amplified racket started up from the church in the village.  I cursed myself for anchoring so close to town.  No escape.  Eight boats were anchored in the darkness between me and the open water.  Stuck listening to a wounded buffalo bellowing in tongues through a cheap microphone.  There was nothing godly about that racket, so I figured the good Lord was too far away to hear my prayers.  But he did and she either keeled over, or the microphone shorted out, because the noise stopped and I was raptured into the mercy of sleep.

 

16 Mar 09 –

Headed northwest to Sandy Point in the Abacos.  Am playing the wind shifts to work my way east to Eleuthera.  Since the wind this time of year is predominantly from the east, it means jumping on any beneficial changes to work to windward.  It will be critical later in the trip working directly into the trade winds.  Left Bullocks Harbor at 0920WT.  Positions enroute:  1240WT 2552 7752, 1502WT 2558 7744, 1756WT 2600 7733.  Anchored at 2029WT 2601 7725.  By then it was dark and I anchored a ways off to avoid running aground.

 

17 Mar 2009 –

Pulled up the anchor and moved closer to town.  Rowed ashore and found one working phone booth.  Asked about the Internet at the phone company office and received a too-proud reply of, “Oh no, we don’t have that here”.  Walked to both ends of town and ate a lunch of fried chicken, salad, and French fries at Nancy’s Seafood, seemingly the only restaurant in town.  Two grossly-overweight, not yet sunburned, American couples were also eating there.  I just sat there in awe of their genuine display of ugly-americanism.  Bought a couple bags of groceries and 5-gallons of diesel, and rowed back to the boat.  Took a nap and woke up about 6:00 pm to find the wind was just right, so I pulled up the anchor and was underway for Eleuthera by 8:00 pm.

 

18 Mar 09 –

Several ships out in the channel.  Positions enroute:  0440WT 2539 7719, 0602WT 2536 7717, 1352WT 2524 7714, winds very light with a leftover 6-foot swell, 2345WT 2522 7706.

 

19 Mar 09 –

Quite a bit of rain last night.  Am wet all over and chilled.  Dug out the wool long underwear again.  Positions enroute:  0405WT 2519 7658, 0741WT 2513 7654, passed through Fleeming Channel into the Bight of Eleuthera.  Anchored at 1344WT 2510 7648 out in the open in 22-feet of rough water simply to sleep.  Thinking was very foggy and was making dumb mistakes.  Where to go now?  If the wind helps, I will go to Rock Sound, Eleuthera.  Decided last night not to go to Spanish Wells in northern Eleuthera, but to keep working south wile I can.

 

20 Mar 09 –

Woke up at 1:00 am and the boat was bouncing all over.  The wind still had not shifted enough.  May have to skip Eleuthera all together and head straight south to the Exumas.  Pulled up the anchor at 0908WT at 2509 7644.  Positions enroute:  1148WT 2508 7635, 1438WT 2508 7624, was able to set the wind vane, 1658WT 2502 7618, 1835WT 2456 7616.  Anchored off the town of Rock Sound at 2117WT 2451 7610.  From five miles away, I heard loud disco music.  Not sure what the event is, but maybe that is why they call this place Rock Sound.

 

21 Mar 09 –

Pulled up the anchor about 8:00 am.  Motored straight into a strong wind to get closer to town.  Seven other sailboats were anchored there and many of the people on the boats were watching the new guy.  Anchoring is the first test.  Nobody wants someone too close, or someone who might drag anchor and become a hazard.  Dropped anchor at 0900WT 2452 7610 just offshore from the new 4 Points Bar and Marina (lots of bar and no marina).  Spent a couple hours changing from sailing configuration to living configuration.  Rowed ashore and found a bank with an ATM.  The first I have seen in the Bahamas.  This ATM had a maximum limit of $3000 and did not charge any usage fee.  Why can’t we have ATMS like that in America?  Walked to the ocean side of the island.  Thank God for the harbor.  The ocean was a raging mess.  Stopped to look at a blue hole on the southern edge of town.  Met three couple from the other sailboats.  Sailors who anchor seem a little stoic and not as friendly as sailors who tie up in a marina.  Talked to several locals at the 4 Points Bar.  They complained that the tourism companies were building big self-contained developments isolated from the real Bahamas, so the locals saw very little of the tourist dollars.  It was ironic that the 4 Points Bar itself was created to capture those tourist dollars by busing passengers there from the cruise ship to see the “real Bahamas”.  The 4 Points Bar is a tacky, Disney parody of a tropical bar.

 

22 Mar 09 –

The wind was gusting 25-30 knots today and the boat was bouncing around on a one-half inch nylon anchor line.  Amazing that it holds.  My anchor routine is:  Pick a sandy spot.  Throw the anchor out about ten feet and let the weight of the chain pull it into the correct position as it sinks.  Let out about seven times as much line as the water depth.  Tidy up the boat and give the anchor at least an hour to wiggle itself into the bottom.  Strip down to swim trunks, rub shampoo into my hair, jump in the water, swim down to make sure the anchor is set properly, swim back to the boat, dry off, and put on clean clothes to go to town.  Today was Sunday.  Wasn’t sure what to expect in town.  The grocery store was closed, but their WiFi was still on.  Connected to the Internet for the first time in almost a month.  Walked to the northern side of the sound to see the beaches.  It is amazing how remote and undeveloped most of this country is.  I think the locals would be content to all sit under the same tree, drinking from the same bottle and listening to the same preacher.  They do not have the individualist, explorative nature that prompted Americans to settle a vast wilderness.  

New Google Maps tracker

Just added a new tracker using Google Maps.  Once the link comes up with a map, change to satellite view to get a track of the voyage.  The link is:  http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=102803066799210119349.000464e1cace9cd0e2ba6 , or use the link on the right-hand column by the other Satellite Tracker.  This track is the work of Jim Boernge, who has donated several much-appreciated hours as the shoreside support section of the Boats and Beaches World Tour.  Jim Boernge is a retired Navy SeaBee Captain, a fine sailor, and a good friend.

Bahamas, 28 Feb - 13 Mar 2009

Log of the Pequod

 

28 Feb 09 –

Left Key West, Florida, at midday.  In the morning, pulled in one anchor, stowed the folding kayak, and started the engine.  Battery was well charged after a week-and-a-half of living on solar panels, so green energy works.  Pulled up the second anchor at 1220 WT, motored out of the Key West anchorage, and then sailed south through the main ship channel.  Set a course for Elbow Cay on the western edge of the Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas, with an approach waypoint of 2353 8030.  The Cay Sal Banks are Bahamian territory, but there are no inhabitants, so the Bahamian Defense Force rarely patrols the waters.  Positions enroute were:  1637WT 2420 8139; 2007WT 2410 8118, 220WT 2406 8107.  Kept radio contact with Captain Ray O’Quinn and crew on the S/V Wind Dancer every two hours on the even hours.  They were about 18 miles behind me.  Caught a few short naps, but had to hand steer most of the way.  Sailed a close reach to close-hauled most of the way.  * The position notation I am using is my own shorthand method.  The first four numbers show the hours and minutes in 24-hour notation, followed by two letters, in this case WT means Watch Time for whatever time is on my watch.  The second group of four numbers shows the latitude in degrees and minutes and the third group of four numbers shows the longitude in degrees and minutes.  I skipped the N and S, E and W latitude and longitude designators, since I am traveling slowly and the quadrant of the globe is easy to figure out from the rest of the text.

 

1 Mar 09 –

Position enroute:  0405WT 2358 8047.  Sighted land at 0640WT just west of an abandoned lighthouse on Elbow Cay.  Surveyed the entire outside of Elbow Cay and then sailed through a 200-yard wide, 17-foot-deep cut on the south end to go inside the banks and survey the eastern side.  Sailed back through the cut and anchored just northwest of the lighthouse in 24 feet of clear water with a sandy bottom at 1130WT.  While waiting for Wind Dancer, I dove down to make sure the anchor was well set, then knocked a few barnacles off the boat and the propeller, but will save a thorough scrubbing for later with SCUBA gear.  Winds were forecast to shift to the northeast, so I moved to the southeast side of Elbow Cay to anchor for the night.  Moved just in time because a strong cold front came through at 6:00pm with wind gusts of more than 40 mph.  The second anchor spot was at 2357 8026.

 

2 Mar 09 –

Lazy from the previous all-night sail.  Kept napping until about 1000WT, when Mark from Wind Dancer dinghied over and woke me up.  All four of us, Ray O’Quinn, Ken Sasser, Mark, and I went ashore and explored the lighthouse and the island.  A very crude homemade raft was ashore, where it was probably left after carrying Cuban escapees.  A working Firefly 3 SOLAS strobe, manufactured in 01/07, was in the base of the old lighthouse, so people had been there within the last two years.  Found a cistern with several hundred gallons of fresh water, along with, stone house walls, and rock-fenced animal pens.  Surface of the island was very rocky.  Waves were beating hard on the NW side, but the SE side was peaceful.  At 2:00 pm, we snorkeled for supper.  I speared a foot-long fish from the mackerel family and Mark speared a Spanish lobster.  A 5-foot shark was shadowing me about 25 feet away, so I climbed in the dinghy.  Plus the 71-degree water chills you pretty fast.  Ray cooked the fish and lobster, along with some steak, and we had a great supper.

 

3 Mar 09 –

Worked on the boat in the morning to get things ready for sailing on to Anguilla Cay, Cay Sal Banks, Bahamas.  Ray and Ken stopped by in the afternoon and said they were leaving soon.  I wanted to leave in the morning and cross the shallow banks in the daylight, but went ahead and followed them.  Was sailing by 3:14 pm.  Enroute positions:  1810WT 2350 8014, 2119WT 2343 8000.  Was frustrated because Wind Dancer slowly pulled away from me the whole trip, but found out later they were using the motor.  The wind clocked around progressively from North to East, so the last part of the trip was tacking directly into an east wind.  Should have followed my own course set for the clocking wind instead of following their straight-line motorsailing course.

 

4 Mar 09 –

Arrived Anguilla Cay at 0730WT and anchored at 2334 7935, about midway on the west side.  Straightened up the boat and took a nap.  Woke up at 11:24 am as Ray, Ken, and Mark stopped by from exploring the island.  They found a huge loggerhead turtle skull that was larger than a cow skull.  We dove in the afternoon to catch some fish.  Saw many smaller fish and a beautiful reef, but did not spear anything.  One barracuda kept a close watch to snatch anything I speared.  They will attack you if you shoot at them and miss, and he was a big guy, so I left him alone.  Empty handed, we grilled a barracuda that Mark had caught the night before on the passage over.  Sitting around after the meal, I realized we four men were really predators sitting around enjoying life after eating a lesser predator.  Am not sure modern society appreciates how we are actually wired up.  Then, we pooled our brains to fix Ray’s dive compressor so we could use air tanks to dive deeper for better food.

 

 

5 Mar 09 –

About 8:00 am a small Coast Guard jet flew over real close, probably looking for drug smugglers.  About 9:30 am Ray pulled his anchor and headed south looking for a new beach.  I followed, but eventually we anchored right back in our original spot.  In the afternoon I rowed ashore and found a great spot for a bonfire that was sheltered from the wind and offered a good view of the sunset.  Built a stone fire ring, collected firewood, and built a bench from a driftwood plank.  Lit the fire about 5:00 pm while Ray, Ken, and Mark came ashore with hot dogs.  We spent the evening by the fire, eating hot dogs, telling stories, and watching the sunset.  Rowing back to Pequod in the dark was a challenge, with the wind carrying me much farther offshore than expected.  Was almost swept out to sea in the dark in a little rubber boat, with only a belly full of hot dogs.  Desperation adds a certain flavor to life.

 

6 Mar 09 –

A southerly swell and 30-knot gusts made last night rough.  Tightened up the rigging supporting my mast, because several times last night the mast was pumping in resonance and trying to tear the whole boat apart.  Ray has several pole spears missing elastic bands, so I made some out of surgical tubing.  Spent a couple hours studying the Bahamas charts and guidebook.  Still planning to leave early Sunday morning and head for the Ragged Islands in the southern Bahamas.  Took a nap.  Ate a spaghetti supper on Wind Dancer.  Plain marinara sauce laced with chopped polish sausage over undercooked fettuccine noodles was a real treat.

 

7 Mar 09 –

Should I cross the Atlantic in June to the Mediterranean, or spend another year in the Caribbean?  Deflated and packed the dinghy.  Ate a supper of beef stew thickened with instant garlic mashed potatoes.  Got my pole spear back from Wind Dancer, just in case we separate on this trip.  Not looking forward to tacking across the southern Bahamas bank directly into an east wind for a whole week.  The other option is to head north to Bimini, around the north end of Andros Island, clear in at Nassau, sail down the Tongue of the Ocean, then cross the banks to the Exumas and catch back up with Wind Dancer.

 

8 Mar 09 –

Is it Daylight Savings Time change today?  We pulled up anchors and moved south along the islands to see what the open-ocean conditions were in the Santarem and Nicholas channels.  Still some big swells and an east wind.  We anchored at 1230WT 2330 7932.  I was listening to the HF offshore weather forecast on a shortwave radio and did not hear Wind Dancer leave again in the afternoon.  I thought they had abandoned me, so I prepared to leave on my own course.  Thought about turning around and heading to Belize, but decided to continue to the Bahamas, by the northern route.  But, Wind Dancer returned just before I pulled up the anchor.  They had simply sailed south to check the open-ocean conditions again.  We all ate our fill of Ken’s homemade chili.  Will all head out for the Bahamas tomorrow morning, with Ray motoring straight east, while I sail northeast to the northern Bahamas.

 

9 Mar 09 –

Pulled up the anchor and was sailing south by 8:23 am.  Could have saved some distance by heading north around Anguilla Cays, but would have lost several miles of easting that I was not sure I could make up with the east wind and the strong northerly current.  Tacked east to clear the southern tip at 9:30 am and finally cleared the southern tip at 10:14 am.  Could have sailed 3 miles farther south and officially crossed into the Tropics, but decided to save it for later.  Positions enroute: 10321WT 2330 7929, 1232 WT 2338 7925, 1435WT 2346 7921, 1630WT 2354 7920, 1733WT 2359 7919, 1915WT 2406 7917, 2038WT 2412 7917.

 

10 Mar 09 –

Positions enroute:  0024WT 2427 7919, 0249WT 2435 7912 and just came onto the Great Bahama Bank, 0549WT 2445 7907, 0825WT 2455 7859, 1828WT 2523 7849 winds light, 2015WT 2518 7841.  During the night the wind shifted perfectly to allow sailing right around a shoal, then shifted back to send me to the next waypoint.  All day, sailed generally northeast.  Also spent the whole day deciding where to make landfall.  First thought, Morgan’s Bluff on Andros, but it does not have many services and I might be trapped by unfavorable wind in the Tongue of the Ocean.  Next, Chub Cay in the southern Berry Islands, but it is an expensive private development for sportfishermen and is not a real Bahamian settlement.  Then Spanish Wells or Rock Sound on Eleuthera, but they are far away and the wind is not right.  Might stop in Great Harbor Cay and Bullocks Harbor to clear in, rest, wait for the right wind, and then sail to Eleuthera.

 

11 Mar 09 –

Positions enroute:  0004WT 2520 7834, 0317WT 2533 7826, 0644WT 2541 7815, 0827WT 2544 7810, 0925WT 2546 7807.  Dropped the anchor at 1530WT 2545 7753 in Bullocks Harbor on the northwestern end of the Berry Islands, Bahamas.  Sighted land about 10:30 am.  The wind was right on the nose, but the land seemed closer than it really was, so I tacked three hours before finally starting the engine and motoring the last ten miles.  Sometimes the engine does not answer the throttle and simply idles.  Probably the governor races have developed grooves.  A whiff of ether revs it up and seems to shake things loose enough to get it working right.  Decided not to clear in right away, since clearing in at Bullocks Harbor requires tying up at the marina and waiting for both Customs and Immigration officers to drive from the local airport when they are not busy.  Island time said it was too late in the day.  Have been living on the boat for a month now without a marina, so why do I need one tonight?  Tomorrow will be a treat.  Anchored, inflated the dinghy, bathed in the ocean while jumping in to check the anchor and scrubbing the slime off the boat hull.  Rowed ashore about 5:30 pm in clean clothes and ate supper at a local restaurant called Couli Mae’s, which had a fence made of stacked-up conch shells.  Ate the fried snapper with plantains, steamed rice, and a drink, for $26.50.  A plain meal with a fancy price.  During supper, the sun was setting and I saw the famed “Green Flash” of the tropics.  Then walked around and located a grocery store and a phone booth.  Today’s walking and rowing has been work, but the aerobic exercise feels good after being on the boat for so long.

 

12 Mar 09 –

Woke to the sound of roosters crowing onshore.  At 8:30 am, called the Great Harbor Cay Marina on VHF 68 for a slip and headed into the harbor.  Spent the morning tying up the boat, clearing in, and meeting my new neighbors.  All the boaters seem to be desperate to meet each other.  Ate a hamburger with a couple of boaters at a nearby hut that turns out to be the island’s hottest nightspot, the Rocky Hill Bar.  It has a pool that shows very little use, probably because the water at the beach is much clearer.  Walked a couple miles to a tiny grocery store with prices double what you expect in the U.S.  Was given a ride on the way home.  It seems that the few people with cars offer rides when they can.  Went to the hut again and ate supper. About 15 customers were there because the other club on the island was already shut down at 6:30 pm.  The big talk was of a rumored WiFi hotspot left by some tourist.  Two people actually borrowed money from the bartender to pay personal expenses.  Since there are no ATMs or banks on the island, you actually have to go to Nassau to physically get cash, or borrow from someone.  By 9:00 pm the place was closed.  Internet basically does not exist.  Two pay phones work on the entire island, one at the marina and one at the airport.  Probably a few hundred permanent blacks, a hundred part-time whites, with a few tourists drifting by, all living in slow-motion chaos.  Three times now, little boys have accosted me with, “White man, give me dollar.”  The adults hide it well with smiles, but the kids learn it somewhere.

 

13 Mar 09 –

A new 130-foot yacht in the harbor belongs to the golfer Jack Nicholaus.  He is too busy designing golf courses to travel with his yacht, so he flies in for a day or two once the yacht arrives.  Maybe he should sell the boat so he does not have to work so hard.  Then buy a smaller, affordable boat that he can spend more time on.  But that philosophy did not make him a golfing legend.  Now he is trapped on a treadmill and time is running out.  Walked a mile to the Beach Club by the little airport.  Ate bacon and eggs, with French toast.  Have decided that the days are not long enough to allow eating three meals a day in the local restaurants.  Things happen at a slow pace.  Then walked 2 miles to the phone company and bought phone cards.  Back at the marina, the boat next to me left, so I was finally able to plug in to one of the few working electrical outlets.  Which allowed me to charge the computer and type this log.  Maybe tomorrow I will find a way to connect to the Internet and post this.