repairing what we thought was the leak, but it looks like it is the toe rail that is leaking
we are not too sure how to get to this area
a Nurse Shark swimming in the shallows
the hoods from cars …that will be turned into Lobster Condo's … they are soaked for weeks in the salt water to weigh them down
and then transported into the lobster grounds
a new pile of car hoods ready to be soaked
sailboats still hiding in the mangroves, from the threat of the hurricanes
leaving the other Bolo Ferry after he transferred his passenger to our ferry
winds gusting to 30 knots .. there was white caps in the Sound
putting water into our in boat tank … we only collected about 7 gallons
December 4, 2017
We sailed back south to Munjack and it was quite a lumpy ride passing the ocean opening, the tide was going out and the wind was coming in
against the tide. There was only one other boat at anchor, so we grabbed one of the many prime sandy spots. The wind was blowing SE at about
15 knots. Our wind generator pumping along, making us much needed power. Our house batteries are still struggling … we will get them super charged in Marsh Harbour, when we arrive in January. But it looks like we will have to replace them next winter.
We decided to make it a lazy day and stay on the boat. By 3 pm all the boats that just crossed the Gulf Stream and had gone to New Plymouth
to check in, came north again to anchor at Munjack Cay.
Tuesday the 5th …. we got up early to motor to New Plymouth and into Black Sound on the rising and high tide. Wingspread was anchored off New Plymouth and as we approached them, they radioed us to say that their motor was not running again. We were going to tow them into Black Sound with us. But then what, how do we pick up our mooring ball and how do we get them to the dock. Also their boat weighs twice that of Modaki
and is much larger. Coming in that narrow entrance with our small 20 HP motor was un-nerving. We radioed Donnys Marina and made arrangements for him to tow them to the dock. Joe and I quickly got to our mooring ball, the motor installed on the dinghy and got to the dock in time to receive there bow and stern lines. Wingspread has since had all the 30 gallons of diesel removed.
Joe and I grabbed our boat papers, passports, $150, dressed in our best boat clothes and heading to Customs and Immigration. Our cruising permit expires Dec 15, and we needed a new one. All went well and now we are good for another year of cruising and fishing in the Bahamas.
We picked up some bread, butter, eggs in New Plymouth. The boat arrives every Thursday, so fresh veggies are scarce. These grocery stores are
about the size of our convenience stores back in Canada. All meats are frozen, veggies are kept in a cooler, even tomatoes, cheese is on a shelf above
the potatoes and onions. A gallon jug of water is $3.99 and a case of 24 bottled water is $18.
Wednesday and Thursday 6th and 7th
Well its about time I washed the V-berth sheets, work clothes and play clothes. Since we are in Black Sound the only place for laundry
is AYS, the boat yard. Its $4 for a wash and then I take the clothes back to the boat and dry them on the life lines and shrouds. In
between rain showers I managed to get everything dry, with sun shining, wind and 90 F the sheets dried in about 1/2 hour, hanging on the shrouds, flapping like flags. Happy hour on Wingspread (motor still not running), with lovely cheese, salami and my guacamole with yellow corn chips.
The next day brought more boat chores, including washing the cabin floor. It was so hot and muggy
we both had cockpit showers. We are running out of water, our inboard tank holds 15 gal and we have 3 - 5 gal on deck jugs
and 4 - 1 gal jugs inside = 34 gal. in total, and thats not a lot of water .. The average 36 ft sailboat holds 200 gal. We need rain.
Friday 8th
We are up early cause we are going to the 3rd largest city in the Abacoes, Marsh Harbour.
Dinghy to shore and met with Charlie and Chris, Wingspread. The Bolo Ferry got us at 8:10 from Black Sound, the next pick up was at the
entrance to White Sound .. I have never seen this before .. we stopped and had our bow to the shore, another ferry came along side and
a Bahamian Carpenter with all his tools gracefully stepped from one boat to the other, amazing. Then we headed to another cove further north
and received another passenger. Then the ferry gunned it and headed across the Bay of Abaco for the ferry landing,
north of Treasure Cay.
Our rental car was waiting for us and we all headed back to the office to drop off the driver, sign papers and pay. You have to
pay with cash, and we asked about insurance, he said " the car is insured, don't worry mon, and no accidents right " Right..
Joe did an excellent job driving on the wrong side of the road (to us) and the round a bouts etc.
We first picked up our boat parts, ACE hardware, Scotia Bank, Napa Hardware, Bristols (wine), Jimmy's (beer), Asian Market (fresh
home grown veggies and fruit), Royal Bank, BTC (Cell Data), camera store, Jamie's for lunch, Maxwells (groceries).
All this time in Marsh Harbour it poured rain. In the parking lot at BTC, the water was over my ankles. Everyone got their sandals and feet well washed. It seems that Marsh Harbour does not have a good drainage system.
The car we rented has an issue, the drivers side door and window did not work from the inside. So we always had to let Joe out of the car at every stop. Charlie was in charge of this cause he sat in the back seat behind Joe. On one of our stops we all got out of the car and rushed
into the store (raining). I kept asking where is Joe, well we forgot to relieve him from the car. He had to crawl over a very high console to the passengers side and out that door… finally he appeared in the store but said nothing to us. Later over lunch he told us that we abandoned him..
trapped in the car.
Its a 35 min drive to the Ferry Landing from Marsh Harbour. We made it back and unloaded our goodies, Joe took the car back to rental place and
arrived just before the 3:30 departure .. To our excitement a bus load of school children, all dressed in uniform entered the ferry. All saying to
us total strangers "Good Afternoon".
We had a fast ride back to Green Turtle Cay and saw our Nova Scotia friends on Te Amor (Janice and Cam) arriving at New Plymouth
and anchoring off. The 13 school kids got dropped off and then the other tourists and finally us. Donny's Marina radioed the ferry and
said we would have to be dropped off at the Public Dock. These ferry captains are just like the Canadian Maritime Lobster fishermen,
they can manoeuvre their boats in to impossible places, and Josh did so for us (and its now low tide).
One way passage is $15/each and one day round trip is $21/each. Donny came with a golf cart and took all our supplies (too far to carry), deposited
Wingspread first and then us. After two dinghy loads later we had everything aboard.
It was a busy, tiring day, so we did not go to New Plymouth Liquor Store for cruisers happy hour. Yes the liquor store here lets you
buy, what ever at the regular price, they open the bottle, give you a real glass to drink from and keeps topping up your glass … they even supply
snacks. We will do this next Friday evening. We made phone calls back to Canada and family.
Saturday 9th
Over night we expected a low to come thru, but it was delayed until 2:45 PM, with a 10 degree drop in temperature, 30 knot winds in gusts and rain.
But before that Joe helped Wingspread change 2 fuel filters, clean the main filter, bled the engine. They worked for 2 1/2 hours, ran the motor and it stopped again after 20-30 minutes. The storm was coming and Joe got back to Modaki smelling of diesel and sweat, he had a cockpit shower, checked the radar and the temperature dropped and the wind and rain was upon us.
We tried to collect rain water, but the wind was too strong it flapped our canvas all over the place. We only collected about 7 gallons.
Our wind generator is working hard and the batteries are getting topped up.
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