Today as we were leaving our little slice of paradise (okay not ours exactly) but we get to look at it and dingy to it and swim from it (and move pianos onto it) we were all very sad. The weather however, has decided to become crazy windy tomorrow. Our little cove at Manjack has been great for us so far but it doesn’t have the protection from the NW winds and that’s why we have to leave. The prediction is that a front is coming in that will bring with it winds up to 40 knots and that’s just more than we want to sit through here. The anchorage will become bouncy and that much wind might cause us to drag our anchor.

Normally if we knew there was a big wind coming we could compensate by putting out more scope on the anchor we already have out or even putting out another anchor. The bottom at Manjack however, is sand over a layer of old coral so while the anchor may set seemingly well, if the winds are significant and a lot of strain is put on the line/chain the anchor only has 6 inches or a foot to dig in to after that it will hit the old coral and pop clear. If that happens, as it would, when the weather is bad it would be nearly impossible to re-anchor under the new, worse conditions. So of all our options running seemed the wisest thing to do. So we did, we pulled up anchor and headed for Treasure Cay.

Treasure Cay is on the “mainland” side of Abaco and is a much more protected area especially in a NW blow. First where the marinas and anchorage are is inside a small cove with a very narrow entrance so that reduces the rough water. Secondly the larger portion of the land is on the side where this wind will be coming from so the land will give us some additional protection from the wind.

Treasure Cay is farther into the Abacos than we have been yet. One reason for that is because we so enjoyed Manjack Cay so very much. Another reason for our delay in exploring further into the Abacos is because just below Green Turtle Cay is a section that the locals call The Whale. So that you get a better idea of the significance of “The Whale” I’ll tell you that there is a local report about “The Whale” that is given daily. If it’s a bad day at The Whale, it’s called a “Rage” and no one goes through. In fact the school aged kids who live on Green Turtle Cay and are past 6th grade have to go to school in Treasure Cay (the other side of The Whale) and if there is a “Rage” on the ferry doesn’t run and the kids can’t go to school; the Bahamian equivalent of a snow day.

Well fortunately we made it through The Whale with no problem, as we left enough before the weather to get through when the swells were only 1 ft. Boyd was a little tense even still as the cut that goes out into the Atlantic Ocean to go around The Whale is through coral heads and is very narrow and shallow. With just a 1 ft swell the ocean lifts and pushes the boat sideways with every wave.

I can’t even imagine what it’s like on the days the ferry doesn’t run, on a day like today. Two days after the big wind the swells were reported to be down to 8-12 ft. As we went through the cut around The Whale the 1 ft swells were causing waves to crash 4-6 ft up the island. I could see from the line of black running the length of the island that nothing grew in many areas along the whole island lower than 30-35 ft up and in from the water line.

Once on the “other” side of The Whale I was much more relaxed as most of my concerns centered on getting past that sticky point before the weather came in. As it turned out letting down my guard just after The Whale was premature and ill advised.

We had sailed through The Whale fine and were taking down the sails, (mizzen, jib and staysail, for those of you that are taking notes) and were just passing the first set of posts into the narrow and serpentine channel entering Treasure Cay when it happened.

It was windy, 20-25 knots by now, and the waves had picked up as a result. Still I was feeling pretty good as we were almost into this protected harbor and the sails were down and suddenly Boyd shattered all my warm fuzzy feelings by shouting, “We have no steering, we have to abort”. With 20-25 knots and no steering we “aborted” our negotiation of the narrow entrance to Treasure Cay narrowly missing the most southerly post as we backed into the wind with no rudder control.

Not knowing why we had once again lost rudder control we all scrambled for our posts. Paul and I who had been tying on dock lines on and putting fenders out quickly changed posts to man the anchor. Nicole hurried below to get the hand held VHF so we could announce our new condition and her life jacket. Boyd valiantly did his best to keep us backing out of the shallows and away from the island that the wind was trying to push us on to. On Boyd’s command Paul dropped the anchor and put out as much scope as we dared to try to keep us from dragging and yet not allow us to swing into too shallow water.

It was a harrowing time! Once we got the anchor down I cleared the main cabin and Boyd dove down below to try to ascertain what the cause of the loss of steering was. All the while the boat was again drawing closer to the shallows as the anchor kept catching and releasing. After what seemed an interminable amount of time Boyd reappeared, just in time to tell us that we were too close to the shallow water (something Paul and I had been yelling below somewhat urgently for several minutes) and we would have to pull the anchor and reset until he could try to fix the problem.

Over the next 10 minutes we reset the anchor and Boyd refilled the hydraulic fluid canister and within a few minutes we had steering back. After a couple of tests Boyd was satisfied that we had steering back. We pulled up the anchor and resumed our course into the marina. Inside of half an hour we were tied to a dock safe and sound.

The cause of the problem turned out to be two pinhole leaks in a hydraulic hose that had caused the total amount of fluid leaked down to a level that was insufficient to maintain pressure and thus caused us to loose steerage. By refilling the hydraulic fluid canister Boyd was able to recharge the system and regain control. We stayed two days in Treasure Cay as the winds blew through.

I for one was happy to be safely tied to the dock, and not to have to worry about steering problems or wind or dragging anchors. After having refilled the water tanks, dumping the trash and taking advantage of the marina showers we have moved on to Marsh Harbor where we may be able to find new hydraulic hose to complete the repair correctly.

The rhythm of life has been different since we arrived in the Bahamas. For the last 3 months, while making our way down the coast and through the ICW, and for the 14 months before that working incessantly to try to get this to all come together we have been at a frenetic pace. Days at home before we left were filled with work, personal commitments, hours of sanding, varnishing, sewing and fiberglassing. Often times Boyd and I would work a full day at work and then labor well into the night on one project or another trying desperately to finish in time to leave Maine.

Even once we left the urgency to make tracks south influenced our every waking moment. Frankly by that time (November) it sometime influenced our sleeping moments too as the temperature in the cabin dropped below 40 degrees at night. We were nearly manic to reach climates more conducive to, well living, more comfortably.

When we got as far as Georgia we changed focus and began to prepare for the jump to the Bahamas and while the focus shifted it was still an all consuming push to accomplish the task at hand. Ordering spare parts, anticipating issues with paperwork, straightening out medical stuff and tying up our rentals back in Maine so as to not have too many problems while we were out of the country made for busy days and nights.

Now we are here, we have made it to the Bahamas and suddenly the focus has changed. There is no urgency to go anywhere or to do much of anything. Most of the systems that needed to get done were completed back on the main land or we are going to just live with it until we get back. It’s like going from 100 mph to 0 and it’s a bit odd but I think I could get used to it! We have been snorkeling, hiking, swimming, and just walking on the beaches.
Yesterday however, was different, we saw an inflatable head out to our boat on plane and the person aboard asked us to turn on our radio for a call. We did and within moments the radio was squawking with information. Apparently there was a piano, yes, you heard me correctly a grand piano being delivered to the island and there was a general call for assistance to get it from the barge to it’s final destination. Within minutes of the call we heard the chugging of another engine and popping our heads out of the companion way we saw the barge approaching.

Quickly grabbing the camera and a few other items like work gloves and life jackets we made a dive for our trusty inflatable, Puddles, and we were off. The house that the piano was going to was across the island so after making it to shore we quickly hiked the 3 or so miles to the other house just in time to find the barge offloading huge boxes with a forklift. More than one of those boxes was enormous and we watched and helped as most of them were placed on the second story suspended porch.

Finally the piano was loaded onto the porch. Now we just had to figure out how to get it into the second floor loft a full story and a half above where it was, using only people power and without the benefit of a staircase. Fortunately many of the cruisers and all of the island inhabitants had come to help.

So yesterday, rather than working on the boat, swimming, snorkeling or walking on the beaches, we moved a piano. Nothing we’d ever have imaged we’d be doing when we woke up that morning but it was very rewarding. I’m sure we’ll all remember the day we moved the grand piano on Manjack Cay in the Bahamas.

Honestly not much time has gone by since we arrived in the Bahamas, less than a week actually but I’ve been pestering the guys to get me some local fish or lobsters pretty much constantly. Today Paul was invited to go “lobstering” with one of the semi-permanent cruisers. Their boat is Jazz, a 28 ft sailboat that came with a couple of kids (practically they are only 23 years old) all the way from France. Jeremy invited Paul and in the end, when he couldn’t get Jeremy’s boat going Boyd, Paul and Jeremy all went lobstering in our dinghy. They were gone several hours but came back with a cooler full of beautiful lobster.

Never having had Bahamian lobster before I was surprised when they cleaned them raw at the dock. In Maine we leave the lobsters whole until they are cooked and then clean them prior to eating them. Not one to look a free lobster in the face I decided to cook it the best I could and parboiled the tails first (as I don’t have a steamer on board) and then cutting them nearly in half down the middle stuffed butter into the slots and broiled them for a few minutes. I used the two cooking methods because I didn’t want to loose all the flavor of the lobster to the boiling water and I didn’t want to broil all the moisture out to the tails before we got to eat them.

It turned out to be an excellent choice. We had moist, sweet, buttery lobster for dinner at next to no cost. What a yummy treat!

Since we have arrived in the Bahamas I have yet to purchase any food (due to the prices and availability) so being able to eat something we catch is practical for both an economic and logistical reasons. Did I mention it’s also been yummy?! Anything we can catch and eat is one less thing that has to come out of the larder and that means we can stay just a little longer on the food stocks that I brought from Florida.

Are you buying what I’m selling? I love lobster and nearly any fresh seafood, heck the conch was great! I’d be happy to have it 3-4 times a week to cook with and to eat. Its very practical but it’s such a treat as well. I really can’t wait to talk someone into fishing, but for now I’ll be very happy with lobster and conch and anything else I can get my hands/teeth on.

Thanks to Paul, Boyd and Jeremy I’m certain we will be having lobster dinner again soon. I will be looking for a Hawaiian spear as soon as we find an island with stores again. Jeremy had some extras so we were able to borrow his to catch these lobsters but we will need our own once we leave Manjack. Believe me when I say that it’s at the top of my list of things to get!

Back to Manjack, remember Manjack? The little harbor with just a couple of houses that we were nearly forced to stay at before we got in to Green Turtle Cay. Well today Paul announced “I’d be fine if we stayed here a month”. Actually we’ve been here 3 days already and no one seems to feel the need to rush anywhere else.

It’s really a little slice of paradise, and it’s in the Bahamas! It has a lovely little harbor which seems comfortable enough in most weather. It has multiple beaches, which are all seemingly fantastically amazing. There are more white sandy beaches covered in wonderful sea creatures and littered with discarded shells within a 10 minute dinghy ride of here than there are in the state of Maine, sorry Maine!

Day before yesterday we walked to “Ocean Beach” on the other side of the island. We found it completely deserted, not a person anywhere. Yesterday we dinghied around and checked out the mangrove swamps, here the ocean almost divides the island through the middle. We also went back to the closest beach and met the entire population of the cove, one couple and a single guy.

Leslie and Bill are super and very generous with their time and island. They have gone to great lengths to cut back the dense foliage on the island and create paths from one side to the other. Leslie was also kind enough to show me her extensive gardens and then we went up to the house for a “limeade” with lilicoi. It was such a treat! Boyd talked to John, the only other inhabitant of the island and said he seems in total sync with Leslie and Bill. What a really nice place to live. Leslie and Bill have been here for 18 years.

Today we decided to try to “live off the land” a bit as we still haven’t gone fishing I did manage to talk Paul and Boyd into helping me look for some lobsters. Apparently they are all around down here and as long as you don’t scuba dive for them it’s okay. Since we don’t have scuba equipment that’s fine with me.

We went to the south end of the island through the cut to the mangroves and anchored the dinghy just off shore. It was a somewhat protected area that was only between 2 and 6 ft deep. Bill and Leslie, while not giving up any “secret spot” were kind enough to point us in the right direction.

We all got out the snorkeling gear and looked around. It was awesome and the kids loved it. No lobsters even showed though and while we saw some rather delishious looking fish (they nearly all look good enough to eat to me) we aren’t allowed to spearfish and we didn’t have any poles with us so we started home empty handed.

Nicole and I convinced Boyd to pull over to check out another beautiful sandy beach before we made it back to Passages and we must have spent 3 or 4 hours there picking up star fish, conch and sea biscuits. In the end we came home with 2 conch big enough to eat and a shell that’s huge (someone else dined on that one). What a fun filled, exhausting day it was.

Boyd cleaned the conch while I determined the best potential cooking options based on our current larder. Eventually, once Boyd managed to get the buggers out of the shell I prepared it. We had a Conch Fritter feast. Boyd, who must have been a bit discussed at the idea of eating the rather large slimy snail like creatures was amazed at how good dinner was. Everyone ate their fill and I was happy, not as happy as if I’d had lobsters to prepare, but really it was cool to find our own dinner.

Not that any of you out there have any extra conch that needs eating but just because you might be interested here’s a recipe of how I prepared the conch. Most of you know that Boyd is gluten intolerant so the flour I used is Gluten Free. It was, delicious, amazingly so if you’d have seen what they looked like before I cooked them.

I’m attaching the photos from the last several days just because “you’ve got to see this place to believe it”!

We finally made it to Green Turtle Cay and through some rather fancy maneuvering on Boyd’s part got both into White Sound, onto a mooring and then eventually into a slip, quite a story in itself but not one for now. Since you aren’t here looking at the charts I should probably clarify.

Initially the other Vagabond we came across with, Driven, recommended anchoring outside of Green Turtle Cay as the depth in either Black or White Sound (the two available protected areas of the island are quite shallow in their entrance. His draft, the same as ours, he said was too deep to get inside either of the sounds but he assured us that you could anchor at the entrance area and dingy in to New Plymouth to clear in.

Unfortunately when we arrived the wind, which had been beautiful for sailing down from Great Sale Cay made it impossible to anchor in the area he’d recommended. Driven’s captain couldn’t even get his anchor to hold and if we could have I don’t think we would have wanted to. It would have been a very uncomfortable place to try to sleep.

So we changed the plan and headed for Manjack just a couple of miles back up the way we had just come. It wasn’t a perfect anchorage as the wind was still high and the wave action a bit more active than desirable but in the bight of Manjack island it was more protected than the open water in front of Green Turtle Cay and we were able to get the anchor to hold. Unfortunately there’s no place to clear in on Manjack. In fact there are only a couple of houses on Manjack, no town or any other civilization to be seen. Someone did come to invite us to a beach dinner that night but since we were still technically under quarantine we were not able to go ashore.

Back to Green Turtle Cay, once we made it to the dock we still had to get back to New Plymouth to clear in and so we put the dinghy in and took off for New Plymouth back out through the anchorage area we’d just been through.

Let me tell you that was as rough a dinghy ride as I ever want to be in. First our dinghy “Puddles” as we affectionately refer to her, has been acting up. Well, the outboard has been giving us a bit of grief, so all the way across the 3/4 mile someone had to squeeze the fuel priming bulb on the fuel tank to make sure the engine didn’t cut out. That someone was me. Then, because it was so windy and the wave were rough there was no way to make it across without getting quite wet. We all wore raincoats so we wouldn’t look like complete drowned rats when we got to the customs office but we were still pretty soggy by the time we tied up.

Fortunately clearing in went extremely well. The customs agent, Bridget, was helpful, pleasant and fair. She recommended a nearby beach and stamped our passports giving us 180 days to visit the Bahama’s. What a nice place! After having made it across the bay and through customs we celebrated with a little local homemade ice cream from the store across the street and a long walk on the beach.

The kids and I all found coconuts that had fallen or in their case the whole tree had fallen and we each toted one back to the boat. In Florida they had talked me into buying a coconut (whole) in the store and after the Gulf Crossing we cracked it open and ate the entire thing, so this was the next logical step, find and open a coconut in the husk.

The way back to Green Turtle Cay was equally wet and bumpy but all four of us were happy anyway, after all we’d cleared in, had ice cream and scored free coconuts.

For nearly 1700 nautical miles we have heard this kind sentiment from almost everyone we know and many people we only barely know. Today we lived it. On the trip from Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay we really had Fair winds, which for our boat is somewhere between 15 and 25 knots. Once we rounded the top of the island to shoot towards Green Turtle Cay the seas became following.

With the wind and the seas from the same direction Boyd couldn’t wait to put up the jib. Even though we were still traveling with the other Vagabond 47′ and they were motoring Boyd put up the jib and nearly instantly cut the engine. Our new speed, 7.5 knots with just the jib. We managed to pace the other boat (a boat which, for all intents and purposes identical in hull speed to ours) all day without the engine. It wasn’t until our track changed and the wind got fluky that Boyd would even consider taking down the sails and starting the engine again.

It was an amazing time cruising along with the gorgeous water sliding by and the palm dotted coasts to either side of us. No engine, no noise other than the sound of the wind and the kids laughing. Enough water under the keel not to worry about the track, no bridges to worry about. It was really the best day of sailing, an eleven on a scale of 1 to 10. Boyd even remarked, “I think this is the best sailing day we have had in a long time”. The kids and I proceeded to make the case for it:

75 degree weather
Consistent wind from the right direction
Aquamarine water (temp around 70 degrees)
Sails up, no engine
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

In fact the only real downer since we got here is that we weren’t able to clear in today so we can’t go ashore yet. Tomorrow we’ll get to Green Turtle Cay, hopefully, it was too rough to go in today and the tide was wrong when we got there.

Clearing in hasn’t stopped the kids from having fun, they went swimming already yesterday at Great Sale Cay and tried out the new snorkel gear. Nicole, our fish, had to eventually be told to stop jumping off the boat. With her wet suit on she was so buoyant and warm that she must have jumped off the boat dozens of times. Paul, after an initial swim decided to work on his tan and observe the other boats.

When another boat came into the anchorage with two boys on it there was a bit of excitement.. the kids are always happy to see a “kids boat”. We didn’t have our dingy down but the kids dropped theirs into the water nearly before the anchor held and came directly over. We invited them and their grandparents over for an after dinner get-together and spent a very pleasant evening sharing a movie with the kids and drinks with the adults.

So far The Bahamas are a 2 thumbs up event, and we haven’t even gone ashore.

For the fourth or fifth time I find myself telling Nicole, there is no ICW to the Bahamas, honey. We have made it to Vero Beach and the next real stop is Lake Worth where we plan to jump across to The Bahamas. Nicole is beginning to express regular concern about “going outside” as anything off the coast is called. You can’t blame her; we have had some snotty weather in the past 1700 miles and she (like her mother, does get sea sick). Boyd seems completely immune to bad weather and Paul has seemed to “get over it” and have fewer issues with the roughness so it’s mostly just Nicole and I that “toss the cookies”.

As we have continued down the ICW on our way to Florida Nicole has said the words the rest of us are just thinking, what about “the crossing”. I’m pretty sure everyone is at least a little nervous about it, we sometimes mention “the crossing” but not that we are nervous about it. The Gulf Stream is notoriously rough and is prone to big, angry type waves. None of us, not even Boyd are looking forward to that, but no one else says it.

We do know that if the winds are from the North the waves are worse so we plan to avoid leaving with North winds if at all possible. We do know that the further South we go the more likely we are to be able to use the current rather than fight it. Sometimes the Gulf Stream current is as much as 4-5 knots and when the boat you are in does 6-7 knots it’s a bad idea to try to fight that much current.

Many cruisers go as far a Miami attempting to ride the current over to the Bahamas rather than cross it at a perpendicular angle. At the moment our plan is to go as far south as Lake Worth and angle across coming in around West End. We need to clear in through customs and West End would work as a spot to come into and also as a spot to clear in through as well. It is rather pricy to stay there and I have heard that if the weather is bad there isn’t much protection; I guess we’ll see. Until we do the rest of will have to just think about it while Nicole is the only one saying it out loud.

Along with the cooking and cleaning and other boat chores a new and increasingly important task has presented itself. Mending, now mending has historically been a task done as a practical way to continue utilizing clothes and other fabric items which would otherwise be rendered useless due to wear. As a child my mother showed me how to sew and let me use her needles and thread to create Barbie clothes and blankets and such. As I got older I learned how to sew buttons and use a sewing machine. Finally in high school I took the obligatory home economics class and made myself a half way decent skirt.

Today, in addition to other boat chores I find myself needing to recall the lessons of my youth because today I’ll be mending. Currently Nicole has two pairs of pants that have developed holes in them, a sweatshirt with a failed zipper and a rain jacket that has a small rip on the front pocket. Paul has a rain jacket I’m replacing a zipper in and a sweatshirt that also has a faulty zipper to contend with. Boyd wears everything with rips so I’m getting off easy on that front but for me there is a sweatshirt with a ripped open pocket and some minor sundries.

I also have to create a cover for the grill and one for the anchor windlass. When all of that is done there are covers for the hatches and a project I am working on to create custom screens which needs to be completed before we get into a “buggy” spot.

I guess all of that play sewing when I was younger was good practice because now I’m better able to mend clothes and create custom curtains, pillows, covers and such for the boat as needed. It does make me think about the days of old when this was a part of everyday chores for the women folk, as with them then my days seem consumed with practical useful but time consuming chores. Better stop typing and go get out the sewing machine

After the shuttle went off we headed again down the ICW to hang with our friends boat S/V Ishmael. They were behind us when we went outside but passed us when we waited for the shuttle launch. We caught up with them at Vero Beach, Florida. As we came into the Vero Beach Municipal Marina to grab a mooring and catch up with our friends, much to our surprise and delight we found that the majority of the Jekyll Island Harbor kids boat population had migrated. In addition to S/V Ishmael we found that S/V Gromit and S/V Shiver had also arrived.

Our kids had soundly lamented leaving all of these friends at Jekyll Island and were absolutely ecstatic to see so many of these familiar boats in one anchorage. Commence the land games, boat movies and shared dinners. The parents, I must admit were equally happy to see each other and to share time, meals and even boat repairs.

In addition to these friends we made a few new ones including meeting another boater with a Vagabond nearly identical (okay it’s in better shape than ours) to ours. We also reconnected with S/V Melodeon who we met the first time in Oriental NC and S/V Lighten Up from Maine who we met the first time in the Hamilton Marine store in Portland Maine while we were both shopping for new life jackets, small world I guess. In addition there were 4 other boats hailing from Maine and one from Alaska. It was tons of fun.

For a municipal marina this is a great place to go. Nice facilities and a public bus, free no less, that picks up right in front of the marina. We planned to only stay a day or two but ended up doing due to some last minute shopping, added to the day or two of rainy weather plus the kids begging 1-2 turned into 5 days in the end. Can’t say I regret it for a moment. We had to be someplace and when I paid the bill of $75 Nicole pointed out that we have spent that for one night before at the dock, so it was quite the deal.