In between Holidays with good weather

 So the initial holidays are past and for the most part everyone can look forward to the New Year having had all of the family together for celebrations. While we are located remotely we still manage to have a good time during the holiday season with many folks down here. We also have folks back in the States working with us to make things happen thus enabling our comfort and continued success.

 For example, Vic's DC http://www.vicsdc.com/ worked with me over a scratchy internet telephone and email connection when our starboard engine's alternator failed. In spite of the remote location and difficult connections we were able to diagnose a balky alternator on the starboard engine and facilitate repairs with a minimum of replacement parts. An alternator may sound like a simple item to swap out but when they are gear driven and almost 30 years old parts are difficult to come by and easy to damage when maintaining them.    

 Today I installed a new voltage regulator on to that alternator and it sprang back to life. This was a wonderful Christmas present as it means we can move the boat around with more confidence now since we don't have to worry about draining the battery on the starboard engine. While the load on this battery is light, the notion of not having a fall back alternator when running off shore in another country is intimidating. 

 As well, Village Marine converted our water maker to a higher powered 220 VAC unit free of charge (excepting my labor) and with new membranes installed it is producing water at a decent rate and good quality.

 So some of the mechanical issues that have plagued us have been resolved and the outlook for heading South to the Exumas in the Spring of 2011 is improving. Given some say oil will hit new highs again in 2012, it would seem our decision to retire at our earliest opportunity was a good decision. If it gets as high as it did in 2008 the boating industry is going to take yet another serious hit to its bottom line since no one will want to pay to play. Regardless of our ability to pay the notion of scarce oil will put a damper on anyone's travel plans and that scarcity has taken a toll over here already. There are a number of facilities that have not had fuel available for traveling boats let alone golf carts on their islands. People like to knock the development of electric cars, but if they can make them better I am sure sunny environments like the Bahamas will benefit from their efforts. 

  

 ANYWAY,

 Today we found ourselves here on a very pleasant day with light winds and calm water within the Seas of Abaco. A great day to get out in the dink. Having explored quite a bit of the area we decided that since the dink was running so well we should take a shot at Man O War Cay. The information I have indicates this Cay (pronounced key) has been named after the Man-O-War bird or Frigate. If you have more detail feel free to comment. Looking at this Cay along the main road at "The Narrows" we can clearly see the Atlantic side which is inside the reef, and the Sea of Abaco on the left. If you click on the right hand photo you will readily see the difference in sea state. Certainly we were not up for a ride on the Atlantic which has been stirred up quite a bit lately. In support of this we encounterred 1-2 foot swells and chop when traveling over the bars in between Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cays. Even though these areas are inside the barrier reef, plenty of water was coming in beyond them to upset the ride. Otherwise we were able to maintain about 13 knots of speed in both directions. I should have brought the dive suit with me since we were traveling over prime conch grounds but having two in the freezer already is plenty and there is no need to waste it. 

 But I am ahead of myself.

 Last night we were down at the Sea Spray resort and Marina where a rather impromptu fund raiser occured. In what seems like a couple of weeks, a pleasant young woman named Lauren Chu organised The New Entry Band and Dan Baily with the Living Rhythm band along with Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to put on a great show that had what must have been 500 people hopping. While the Chili's are not my favorite band, without question Chad is a fantastic drummer who fills any void the other musicians might leave open. Watching him play one could easily see his head moving at least 5 to 6 times as fast as the beat of the music thus defining the tempo. 

 The fund raiser was for Every Child Counts here in the Abacos http://www.everychildcountsabaco.org/ and without question the bands did a fantastic job of bringing in the crowd AND entertaining it.  All of this was for a good cause and contributed towards making this one of the best concerts I have attended in recent memory. It took me back to some of the block parties I was lucky enough to attend in NYC. It was that kind of environment. Everyone was up close with the band and dancing within 10 feet of them. It seemed as though the band and the crowd all fed off of each other making for a lively experience.

 Very cool.

 It was fun to listen to the drum exchanges between the African bongo played by Dan and the minimal drum set that Chad was working to extremes.

 It was enough to keep me up past 10:30 last night. Wow. Good training for New Years Eve I suppose. No dis, it was indeed a great evening. 

  

 The GPS tracks of the trip in the dink have been updated, and I've uploaded some photos into the photobucket at the link provided in the blog body.

A walk on the beach

 While the weather here in the Abacos has been relatively stable things are happening in the Northern Atlantic, and those situations have been propagating their large swells all the way down here. Since the ocean swell was out of the North and East while at the same time the wind was out of the West it made for some scenic views from the shore line. The waves were rolling in and their tops were being ripped off by the wind. Generally speaking the ocean didn't look too bad at first, but a circumspect examination of the horizon indicated the water was high out there. Whenever the horizon appears close in, it's because the wave height is extreme.

 In evidence of this notion people taking their boats around Whale Cay were reporting swells between 5 and 8 feet. Certainly this is beyond our comfort zone but a good sail boat with the sheets up would be relatively stable in spite of the water. I've been out fishing in a 26 footer in that kind of water and it all depends on the boat. And this was the sentiment we heard along with the wave heights. The reports generally indicated it was doable but that caution should be exercised. 

 However our interests at this point were simple. All we were interested in was getting a little exercise via a walk on the beach.  It just so happened we wound up at "On Da Beach" which is a conveniently located spot on the Atlantic side of Elbow Cay. It's convenient because it is a decent walk South from Hope Town. Not too far mind you, but enough to justify having a beverage before the return trip. 

 After stopping in at On Da Beach, we walked down on to the beach and headed North towards Hope Town. Along the way back North we watched as a Heron (?) landed on the beach and froze in its tracks. As we approached it was content to sit tight and not move a muscle so we wondered if it was on the hunt. The closer we got the more apparant that became. Right in front of this little guy was a crab hole and he was not going to give in and retreat thus losing out on the prospect of a tastey morsel. He let me get within maybe 10 feet and didn't flinch. We didn't get to see him pounce but I'm betting there was enough persistence there to capture the quarry. Usually a relatively small bird will not let a person get to close so I felt lucky to get a shot yet not disturb the hunt.

  Moving on it seemed like things were laying down as the afternoon wore on which is a good thing for the folks looking to head South from Green Turtle etc.. But the forecast is against them. A quick check of Windfinder.com for Green Turtle indicates some significant wave heights for the next several days. Hopefully things work out for them with regard to their destinations and the holidays.

All conched out

 Today was one of those days we come to the Bahamas for. The sky was clear and blue, while the winds and water were calm. So let's go out for some conch we thought, and that we did. Upon departing Hope Town Harbour we were greeted with flat water all the way out to the reef that isolates the Sea of Abaco from the Atlantic. Today there was no need of insulation from the Atlantic as the Atlantic was calm as well. In fact boats coming around the Whale reported that the only rough water they encountered was from the wake of another boat.

 It didn't take us long to locate some conch that meets the harvest criteria. They were all over the place and given how calm the water was we didn't need the look bucket to spot them.  I was able to run  the dink at 16 knots and see them well enough to decide whether or not they were keepers. We passed up quite a few before settling in on a spot to jump in for the harvest.

 And that was an experience. I'm very happy I had the 3 mil suit on because it was not exactly warm water. Can you spell "Pucker"? But after a moment or two in the water I was more or less, ok less, acclimated to the temperature. Fortunately, in no time at all I had three keepers in the dink with Deb. I was glad I picked over where we wanted to stop as I was only in the water a few minutes at most. Perhaps the water temperature was an incentive to making quick work of the harvest.

 After collecting the conch we motored out towards the reef hoping to take in some underwater sights via the look bucket. Given we did not actually cross over the reef 'proper' we never got a look at the spectacular sights a reef provides, but we were able to spot several varieties of fish, no lobster antennas but plenty of fish. Perhaps next time. 

 After a pleasant ride back to Hope Town I unloaded the conch at the dock and pulled the animals out of the shells. At this point I gave them to Deb to skin since I had to run across the harbour to purchase fish from Down Deep Charters. I had a great excuse to skip out on skinning these crites. Down Deep was at the dock and had plenty of Grouper, Lobster and salads at a reasonable price. With this perfect excuse to bail out of skinning a slimy tough skinned crite I dumped and ran. The best part of this was knowing that I left the eye stalks on the animals so when Deb started to work on them the eyes were staring at her. 

 Anyway, we have conch for various recipes, as well as fresh grouper and lobster tails. And Deb will have nightmares due to the eye stalks staring at her. There isn't a cloud in the sky and the sun is going down on a very pleasant Bahamian day.
 The GPS data is up to date including the run in the dink.

She's still doing cart-wheels

 With a long awaited break in the weather we were able to get out onto the Sea of Abaco in the dink and get around. So we took a ride from Hope Town around to White Sound where we pulled in at the Abaco Inn for lunch. In the past we learned to expect a good lunch with a terrific view and we were not disappointed this year.

 The tuna appy and shrimp po-boy were both very good and thoroughly enjoyed. We enjoyed them almost as much as we enjoyed the view of the Atlantic with the people surfing and fishing in the calm seas. 

 On the way back about half way in between White Sound and Hope Town there is this statue of a girl doing cartwheels. It looks like she is still at it. I'm thinking this is some of the work out of Pete's Pub which is located down South a bit in Little Harbour.

Elbow Cay and not exactly Bust

 For a while we thought we were never going to arrive. But through determination and quite a bit of sweat in the form of exertion and concern, we have finally pulled into the Hope Town Marina. While the facility is undergoing an extreme make over, Aaron is terrific and doing everything he can to ensure we have a pleasant stay. Let's face it given the location he doesn't have to work too hard to enable that.

 The ride over from Guana Cay was a bit lumpy with maybe 1-2 feet of chop on the Sea of Abaco as we crossed the openings between the Cays along the way. And of course, we were greeted by a boat headed to Marsh that wanted to play chicken and refused to back off or steer a bit to indicate he was yielding right of way in spite of our being the stand on vessel. That's two years in a row someone off of Man O War has pulled this stunt. But given all the room out here, it's not such a big deal as much as it is a message to people coming to the Bahamas.

 Once beyond ManOWar the Sea of Abaco laid down and we pulled up to the slip in the marina for a month's stay. With the transom facing East we have great sunrises and the aft deck stays cooler in the afternoon. Even though this side of the harbour has no access by road, everything is very conveniently located across the harbour only short dink ride away. Usually several folks are aboard their boats out in the harbour making for a pleasant dink ride with social calls along the way.


A little video of Freedom on the move near Spanish Cay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woBj-ec7twc 

 The GPS data is up to date, and the photo bucket has several new photos including a view of the area around the light house.  

Around the Whale

 Ever since we arrived at the Bluff House on Green Turtle we have had an eye on the weather since we want to spend the holidays in Hope Town on Elbow Cay. Hope Town has a bit more happening than other places in the Outer Islands thus making for a better experience. Especially on New Years Eve.

 We did manage to get the dink in the water yesterday and head over to New Plymouth. The Sea of Abaco had laid down in the afternoon so this was an uneventful ride in the dink. From my point of view New Plymouth is looking better in and around the harbour. Perhaps everyone has been busy with paint as well as patching up here and there. It just seemed a bit brighter this year. Sadly groceries were a bit on the cher side compared to the other outer islands.

 Over the five days leading up to our departure from Green Turtle we spent (probably) a total of an hour a day checking and rechecking various sites to see how the weather models were progressing as time went on. Throughout our 5 night stay the preoccupation was "how will the Whale look tomorrow". We based our criteria for departure on light winds for a couple of days along with lower swells either locally generated by the wind or, distantly generated in the Atlantic. With the winds we had upon arrival it was a no brainer we were going to be on Green Turtle a bit. We needed to be patient and let things lay down. 

 We could have gone around yesterday in the morning and in fact several of the boats left White Sound either for Dont Rock or the Whale Channel out to the Atlantic. I gave a call out to some folks that were traveling around the Whale and they reported it was "do-able, not a bad ride" but the forecast indicated improving conditions on the Atlantic over night so we sat it out. The additional wait paid off and we were rewarded with mild swells once out side Whale Cay all the way to Loggerhead Channel. The only time things were remotely dicey was when we crossed over the bar at the North East end of Whale Cay.  Here we were greeted by 4 foot rollers at about a 3 second interval but thankfully the bar is narrow and we were through this in short order. Once out in the Atlantic we found ourselves in 2-3 with about a foot of chop on top. It was a following sea as well which made for a decent ride.

 Once around the Whale and into Loggerhead Channel the water settled down and I was able to engage the autopilot through Bakers Bay to Orchid Bay. This part of the ride was very comfortable because now the apprehension of being out in the Atlantic was over, and all we had in front of us were the submerged steel pole that were used to mark Loggerhead Channel for the cruise ships that never came. Originally Loggerhead was dug out for cruise ships. The idea was to provide a stop for them that encouraged the local economy. It's a shame it didn't work out, but in another sense perhaps that's a good thing. A review of what has happened in Freeport and Lucaya might give pause to this sort of development in the future.  

 Anyway, we're safe in the shallows of the bank again and that is comforting. The only down side is that we have yet again disturbed Ray. On the upside, our buddy the green heron is still seeking out transom lights in his quest for bait fish snacks. I went to get a photo of him but the new camera has a distance sensing light that is kind of bright in the dark and it scared him away.

 I've loaded up the GPS data and we'll put more photos in the bucket when we arrive in Hope Town.

Across the Little Bahama Bank - Sunrise to Sunset

 We left the dock on Saturday 12/4 just prior to the crack of dawn as the sky was lighting up. Heading out onto large water there is always a sense of apprehension but they were assuaged quickly. The Northwest Providence Channel was calm so once we cleared the shallow water I pushed the throttles to the stops and Freedom responded. We hopped up and we started making great time towards the Grand Lucaya Waterway. This was important since our total planned trip was about 94 nm and we had to maintain at least 10 knots to get to Spanish Cay before sunset. Having the calm water at the outset was certainly beneficial.

 It also helped us avoid all of the dive shop mooring balls and crab pot floats we encountered along the way. Having wasted no time out on the N.P. Channel we turned into the Waterway and pulled back on the throttles since the canal and its side canals have many houses with docks and boats exposed to our wake. But we did manage to keep a decent pace in the canal and after a couple of hours we could make out Dover Sound. However there was a work barge visible and we did not know if it was blocking the channel leading out of the water way. This channel is about 2 boat widths wide with little room for error. Fortunately the barge with crane were pushed up onto the shallows and well outside the channel.
 Since we had been waiting for high tide and weather (wind) to line up with our arrival we were pleased to see that we timed it well and we had plenty of water under us as we lined up in the channel leading from the water way. Just consider that plenty of water in this case means 4.5 feet under our depth sounder transducer, which only leaves a couple of feet under the keel, props and rudders.
 Once out on the sound we motored along at about 9 knots and to our surprise we picked up a little shove from tide that moved us along at about 10.5 knots or so it seems. This was great news for us and in spite of the wind out of the North and the developing chop we made great progress rounding Mangrove Cay on schedule.
 That was when I looked at the gauges again and saw the starboard alternator had stopped working. At this point we were about 1/2 way along and we both knew that turning back was not a good option since the tide was going out and that would take away all of the clearance we needed to get back into the water way. So on we went with Deb at the helm while I reviewed the schematics for Freedom's DC power. Luck was on our side since all of the important equipment was being supplied by the port side alternator. The starboard alternator and battery merely supplied the power for the starboard gauges, starter motor and generator starter. With the built in solenoid to jump the engines from each other we felt safe continuing since in addition we have to 8D AGMs to draw on if we need to start the generator.

 Once we turned to the ESE to track to the South of Great Sale Cay the wind started to clock around to the WNW and then from the West while the water laid down becoming calm. While progress is slow at 10 knots and you're all alone out there, with a change in weather coming during the evening, sometimes you get a pleasant surprise and ours was a playful dolphin that jumped along with us for a minute. By the time we had the camera ready it was gone.

 It wasn't long before Little Abaco came into view followed by The Center of the World Rock, which was our decision point. Once here we planned to review our progress and decide if we had time to travel to Green Turtle Cay. We don't travel at night and the time was tight. But our nav software told us we would arrive at sunset so we pushed down the throttles for a while and ran at 16 knots to provide a buffer in the schedule. As we turned into White Sound the sun was setting on a long day but a day of excellent progress in spite of the alternator calamity.

 Given the battery charged overnight and started the engine the next day we figure we are good to move on to Hope Town where we will reside for a few months. While Freedom is getting on in years I'm still glad we chose her since her engines are all mechanically injected and throttled. All we need to be able to do is start them. And hopefully that's what they will continue to do.

 But right now we're very glad to be at the Bluff House Marina on Green Turtle Cay. Running the extra distance paid some very large dividends because the wind kicked up considerably over night and it has made the Sea of Abaco quite choppy. This would have made a stay at Spanish Cay a bit more uncomfortable because the wind was out of the West and brisk. Here on Green Turtle we are much better protected and we don't have to worry about slogging it out in 1-2 feet of chop which is something a beautifully restored Bertram Moppie(?) appears right at home in.

 The GPS tracks have been updated but given the bandwidth here additional photos will have to wait but we'll get them into the bucket soon. I'll post a link to them then.

Small fry in a big fish pond

Here at the Grand Bahama Yacht club we've learned some humility. But only up to a point. The Affinity Yacht sporty off our bow facing starboard is quite a boat and it dwarfs Freedom.

They pulled in a day after us and proceeded to have all sorts of issues that included power and etc.. After flicking breakers on all the power towers (ours included) several times, my patience ran out and I let the owner hear it. At least I am not alone. The crew quit the day they arrived with some rather unflattering words.

After all of this, with several folks aboard working on the boat, the dockmaster knocks on the side of our boat hoping we have some duct tape to lend him. Yes, now he wants my duct tape also.

 Ok we let him have some.

 After this we took a ride in the dink to blow it out for the season. As it turns out we got about a mile away from the facility and the next round of Dan vs. Tohatsu was rung in. Sadly, there was no scantily clad woman nearby holding up the round number. Deb and I smelled some gas. I pulled the bonnet off the outboard and sure enough there was some gas leaking from the accelerator pump. Fortunately it only leaked at high rpm so we could safely putt back to the marina at a slow speed.

 Given our experiences with this outboard last year, this season we left with a complete rebuild kit in our bag of spares and I went to work on the carburetor yet again. This time I think it's really fixed but time will tell. For the first time in many years I have not seen gas weeping out of the accelerator pump bellows after a good run.

 As far as moving on goes, we are hoping the predictions for Saturday hold up so we can make a run for Spanish Cay. It's a long run of about 100 nm that we need to get done in a hurry because there is foul weather coming and we don't want to anchor out in it. Thus what we would do over two days normally will be done in a single day this time. There were some days we could have made the trip if the tide aligned with our departure of the North end of the Grand Lucayan Canal but with the tide running high late in the day we could not make the trip. The North end of the canal dumps out into a stretch of pilings that mark the most shallow water we have ever taken Freedom through. Tomorrow morning we should have high tide there, and that gives us a couple of feet of water under the running gear to spare so we'll plan to be there then.