it looks like it is time to leave Ontario
we got to fly to Nassau on a Disney plane
it was hard to provision this year, the shelves are bare
the boat is due to come in tomorrow .. too late for us
our ferry ride to Green Turtle Cay with our supplies and groceries
a full load of tourist today
up and down and up and down the ladder to store our luggage etc.
lunch in the shade of the boat
getting dinghy all pumped up
our tarp on the dinghy was missing when we returned .. it shredded into a million pieces
unwrapping the lines from the mast … our old t-shirts completely faded from black to grey
a ripe papaya from the Asian Abaco Market .. grown in their back yard
installing the anoide
a perfect boat for the shallow waters of the Abacoes .. twin keel
moving to the launching well
there she goes
touch down
walking to town, New Plymouth with Charlie and Chris
we attended the Festival of Lights
and enjoyed a great take a way meal for $10
November 20 - December 4, 2017
Well today is the day we leave Owen Sound. The city shut our water off at exactly 1 PM.
We disconnected the battery in my car and left it in the lane way.
Kim Ferenczy, SV Clarity picked us up at 3:50 after her day at school and drove us to our hotel, near Toronto Airport. We did stop for a quick bite to eat in Orangeville. Kims parents live very close by, she was heading their after for the evening. We sure appreciated Kim taking this time for us.
Our flight leaves at 9:15 and we arrived by shuttle at 7AM, in lots of time. We got thru customs and security with no problem, my carry on bag was checked because of tuna and salmon tins. I did manage to keep them all.
West Jet flight goes straight to Nassau and there is a 5 hour lay over.
We managed to buy our Bahama Sim card and cell package at the airport for my I-Pad. Joe uses Rogers and he has roam like home
package. The flight to Marsh Harbour is only 35 minutes and we
arrive in the dark. Our taxi lady friend Elizabeth was
happy to see us again. Because we arrive after dark there is no ferry running, so we have to take a motel room. There is not many
places to stay in Marsh Harbour, just for one night, the price of the room jumped from $89 - $149 US, prices, per night.
Elizabeth (taxi) picked us up after she delivered her school kids to school at about 8:45 the next day. Then took us to the liquor/beer store, Abaco Asian store, Hardware and Maxwells groceries. We did all this in 1 1/4 hours. Now a 35 minute ride to the ferry dock, north
of Treasure Cay $100. Elizabeth radioed the ferry driver to see if he would wait for us, and he did. I think he was shocked at all of the groceries and supplies we had.
We arrived at Abaco Yacht Services (AYS) at 11am, the temperature was 90 F, hot hot hot, with no wind in the yard. Which means
the Noseeums are out in full force, they are so small that they can get thru the screen. I ended up with about 100 bites in one night.
A quick check in at the office to get our keys, and up and down, up and down the ladder we went. The boat was in good shape, no mold, no critters aboard. The first job was to make room in the V-Berth and sheets on the bed. Then solar panels got installed, Joe checked the batteries and the starter was not holding a charge. So we had to buy a
new battery $250 (only two years old). The 4 golf cart house batteries are moderate and Joe installed our new shore power charger and equalized these batteries. And they still are not performing very well.
We did not need to paint the bottom, so that saved us $600.
Friday, November 24 we launched and stayed the night on the dock. We needed low tide to install the blades on our wind generator.
The next morning we left the dock and motored to Donnys Mooring Ball. What we didn't realize was that our transmission cable
broke and we were stuck in forward. Joe grabbed the ball, but I could not get the boat into neutral, so the ball scrapped its self all the way down the STB side of Modaki.
We radioed Donny for help and realized that our outdoor VHF speaker was not working, and still is not working. We cannot find the problem. After about 3 times around the mooring field we attempted the ball again. This time we shut off the engine on the approach to the ball and Joe caught it the first try. We were afraid to shut off the motor, because some boats won't start again in gear, and we have never tried this.
We spent about 5 days getting the boat ready for the season, sails on and goods stored. One day we had 2 inches of rain, so we collected enough water for our tanks. In the Bahamas you have to by your water. Joe used the fresh water in the dinghy to clean the smudge mark from the mooring ball, that scrapped down the side of the boat, and then he had a fresh water bath, in the dinghy.
Friday December 1, we left Black Sound at high tide, 7am, and headed for Munjack. To get in and out of Black Sound and White Sound you have to go on high tide.
We picked up my boat orchids, that have been hanging in a tree for the last 7 months. One of them came with a colony of tiny tiny ants, that decided to come out of the pot and made a winding path in the ceiling of the boat. That freaked me out.
We met up with
Wingspread, Charlie and Chris, from Victoria Harbour. They spent the last 4 nights at Munjack, but was unable to get off the boat for 3 days due to high winds. We dinghyed to the north part of Munjack to see the sharks and rays. Only 3 rays today, I guess the tour boats have not yet arrived to feed them.
We had Happy Hour on Modaki, which turned into a supper.
Saturday, Dec 2, we set sail further north to Powell Cay. Wingspread followed an hour later, and we are the only boats at anchor.
No one lives on Powell Cay and it has 5 separate beaches, some on the ocean side and some on the Sea of Abaco.
The next day was boat chores, our bilge pump was coming on too much and the stuffing box is leaking way too fast. Joe removed everything from our parking garage (Port aft berth) into the salon and cockpit, everything except the locking nut moved, we have lubericated it and it still will not budge. This will have to wait until
we are closer to civilization (just incase it breaks off).
We take a break and dinghy to shore, find the trail that leads to the ocean, walk about 20 minutes, up and down hills, thru a wet area, around Poison Wood trees and over grown palm bushes. Finally we arrive and of course the beach is all to our selves.
There is so much on the beach including flip flops, plastic jugs, tooth paste, gas cans, old clocks, fishing floats, hard hats, lines and nets, washed ashore during storms. I don't know how this happened but we found a measuring cup, that I needed.
Also a fender in excellent shape for Wingspread, a glass fishing float and sea beans.
You could never clean up all of the debris … I read an article once
that some people cleaned an area of beach 30 ft long, from low tide to high tide mark and within a few days it was littered again. Wind, waves, storms filled this clean area up.
Sundowners on Wingspread, Chris makes the best water chestnuts wrapped in bacon appetizers. We brought veggie spring rolls, with my bean sprouts that I grow on Modaki.
Wingspread is still having fuel/engine problems and had to be towed in to Donnys dock.
We are on a mooring ball, Donnys . There is so much happening in New Plymouth this Christmas and New Year Day, that we decided
to stay on the north side of the Whale for a month.
Tomorrow we go by ferry to get a rented car and head into Marsh Harbour for supplies and groceries.
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