Saturday, April 30, 2011

It's been a few days since I've been able to blog. We left Great Harbour Marina and went out to anchor at Big Stirrup Cay to wait for the proper time to cross to the Abacos. We thought Friday was supposed to be perfect. After hearing that the seas were to be 1 meter with 20 mph winds from the southeast, we decided to stick our nose out and if the waves were too big, we could turn around and come back. The waves started out being about 3 feet high, so we went on, hoping they would lay down after awhile. Instead, they got worse. We had 6 to 9 foot waves. We rocked and rolled so hard that the dinghy was jumping around on the hard top and one of the straps holding it down came unattached completely. We couldn't leave it like that or the dinghy would have worked its way off into the water. So, John (who doesn't like heights), put on his life jacket and went up on the top to resecure the dinghy. My job was to keep the boat from rocking as much as possible. That is the most scared I have been on this trip. The prayers were flying out of my mouth. Thank God, they were answered. John was able to secure the dinghy and return to the bridge safely. I kissed him hard when he was finished. We kept hoping that when we made out turn that it would get better, but it was worse. That's when John and I made the decision to turn around and head for Sandy Point to anchor. Once we turned completely around, it was a whole lot better. You should have seen the boat. It looked like a war zone. Between the things we laid down to keep them from falling and the things we never thought would fall, we had a mess. Norm and Sue opted to keep going. They were headed for Little Harbor.

Last night, while we were anchored at Sandy Point, we had thunderstorms all around us. There was lots of lightning and thunder, but not a lot of wind. John tells me it rained pretty steady, but I was so tired that I didn't hear a thing. This morning, we left there and came back to Great Harbour Cay Marina. We needed fuel and now the current plan is to wait for a weather window (hopefully better than the last one) and head to Port Lucaya (Freeport) for a few days. We are so glad to be able to relax here for awhile. Friday was rough.

Tuesday,April 26, 2011

Today we went to the little store at the marina in search of ice cream. Sue and I were craving ice cream; it's been so long since we've had any. They had a few pints of Haagendaz, but it cost $8 for a pint. We borrowed the Geo Tracker from the woman who rented it, to go to the grocery for eggs and ice cream. Neither of the stores had any eggs and only had strawberry ice cream which we didn't even ask the price.

There was a 60% chance of rain today, but we got no rain. John and Norm went fishing again this morning, but neither of them caught any fish. The weather report has changed and it now looks like we will be moving on tomorrow. The plan is to anchor out tomorrow night and then leave for the Abacos on Thursday morning. That means today is the last day of WIFI for awhile.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Today it rained briefly, but hard. We are expecting rain every day through Friday. John and Norm went fishing and Norm caught the only edible fish. They plan on going again in the morning if it's not raining. I spent a good part of the day reading cookbooks. I found so many recipes I want to try, but it will have to wait until we are back in the States because I don't seem to have the correct ingredients on hand and everything is so expensive here. If we are stuck inside tomorrow I can sew, read, or do genealogy research.

EASTER

Yesterday I was online a lot of the afternoon, doing genealogy research, with no problem. Last night when I tried to blog, I couldn't get connected. Go figure. Yesterday from 5:00 til 8:00, there was a little art show and a DJ at the pool bar here at the marina. Besides people from the marina, a lot of people from town (both residents and tourists) came to the art show. There were some really nice and different things, but no place to put more stuff in the boat. All we could do is look. The music entertained us long after we went back to our boat.

Happy Easter to everyone! Our Easter dinner is going to be surf and turf which we are preparing on the boat with Norm and Sue. Not your typical Easter, but it's nice to have their company. We miss you all.

ANOTHER CHANGE IN PLANS

We were ready to go out and anchor today, but when John went to pay for the last 3 days the dock master said he was sorry we were leaving. He gave us a deal on the moorage because the weather is supposed to get worse and the marina isn't full. So, we are still at Great Harbour Cay Marina where we have WIFI, probably until Thursday. At least that's what the weather forecast says currently.

A manatee came into the harbor this morning. The poor thing had healed marks on her back and a piece of her tail missing. Apparently the injuries are from long ago propeller strikes. We went for a dinghy ride and then we watched a man clean conch and then he made me a conch salad. I liked the conch fritters, conch chowder, and cracked conch, but the conch salad was too spicy. Live and learn.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Bad news, the dock master's contact didn't have the part. So, we won't be getting the pump that way. Tomorrow morning we are leaving the marina and moving just outside to anchor because it's too expensive to keep staying here. We will wait for the weather to improve before we move on to the Abacos. Today we rented a Geo Tracker. The car had 83,000 miles on it, but it looked like it had 383,000 miles on it. It was really rough! But, we got to see the island. We went to a bar called Hot Shotts for a drink and then went back there for dinner. Paula the cook (owner) was very nice to us. Some young people came there while we were there and were dancing. It was extremely entertaining. They were having a great time. We enjoyed ourselves and were glad that we rented the "car". Because we are going out to anchor tomorrow, we probably won't have Internet service until we reach the next marina, whenever that is. So, til then...

ONE LONG DAY

Wednesday John spent all day (7:30 til 4:30) in the engine room working on the generator. He replaced the impeller which was only slightly damaged. That wasn't the problem because it still wasn't working properly. He decided that it's a water pump that is leaking causing the trouble. So, the weather is not conducive to moving on in the foreseeable future (7 days), so John is going to try to order the pump and have it sent here ($$$$$$). The dock master told John that because it's Easter weekend coming up, there is a real good chance he could have the part by Friday. Planes will be going back and forth because of the holiday. We've got our fingers crossed. We can't anchor out for very long without the generator. By the way, John bought gas for the dinghy and the Honda generator. It was $6 a gallon. Yikes! At this rate we may be back in the States sooner than we thought.