sittononthebeach.com

OK, wow where do I start, I haven’t been to confession in….  uh/…  I guess I mean to say: its been a long time since I blogged and I’m not sure where to begin.  I think I’ll start with what ever comes out first… hey its my blog..

SYL is back in civilization…. Jono and I left Nassau last Friday (5 days ago) for an overnight run to Florida.  We crossed the banks with some wind dodging squalls by paying close attention to the radar.  Actually we just got lucky with the storm cells, we didn’t have to deviate from our intended path until Monday off the coast of Coral Gables… and then it didn’t help, we still got hammered by one storm.  We saw it on radar and angled offshore to avoid it.  Unfortunately the storm began making up offshore faster than we could round it so we took down the sails and decided to punch on thru.

The 6 mile wide cell had lots of wind and lightning around the perimeter but not so much in the middle of it (where we stayed for the next 3 hours).  About half way thru the storm our dinghy came loose from its davits in the blowing rain and 6′ seas.  So we had to drop it off the davits into the water to keep it from totally capsizing.  After getting it away from the boat so we wouldn’t destroy it we saw it floating free half full of water blowing downwind in the stinging rain, I told Jono to not take is eyes off it while I maneuvered for the recovery.  For some reason my starboard engine had died and wouldn’t restart….. after attempt number 3 (on one engine) to get close enough to get a hand on the dinghy.. I stopped trying to find out why my engine wasn’t working.  I was having lots of trouble getting close without running over the boat without full control.

I found the problem……… while untying the dinghy to save it from destruction a stray line got wrapped around the prop of the starboard engine… so now I have a loose dink and a crippled catamaran.  After another couple runs at the dink I figured out where I had to be to approach the boat and Jono got a hand on it, we tied it to the stern and went on to fix the next problem…. the fouled prop.  There was no way to get it completely unwrapped from above or behind the boat off the stern.  I ended up putting a pair of pliers and a screwdriver in my pocket and bailing off the boat in the water… 6’ers and all to free the rope.  Thankfully it went quickly and I can hold my breath for long periods of time while the big waves passed overhead while under the boat….. I was in the water less than 3 minutes and we were back in action!   Instead of continuing out of the rain cell toward the nearest cell wall, we decided to just head out toward our destination and let the storm blow itself out as it pleased….. Unfortunately it liked us a lot and followed (directly over us) for the next 3 hours….  we were directly in the center of the storm no matter which way we went… so we just took up our heading and drove on…….

So that’s the only fracas we were involved in and it turned out to be without loss of skin, blood or attitudes.  Finally we just started laughing and working the problems as they came….  I guess we lost 2 or 3 hours progress that day but nothing more.

Speaking of progress toward Texas, we have been making quite a bit of it.  We are in central Florida and about to head to the panhandle… next stop Destin.  Our initial thrust was almost 200 miles from Nassau to the Florida Keys in 26 hours.  We averaged about 7.5 knots.  If the gulfstream had not been dead, we would have been over 8.  We saw a lot of 9’s, some 10’s with a top speed of 11.5.  I suspect our 32 hour passage to Destin might be followed up by something similar toward New Orleans.

So anyway…. as we sit in Clearwater Municipal marina in the AC, life is good.  It’s likely we will be here another night before our passage to the NW.  Today was pretty calm, not much wind.  We travelled from Venice Inlet offshore to Clearwater.  Toward the end we were seeing some consistent 7 knot stages, but mostly it was hustling to stay over 5.5.  The calm offshore seas were enjoyable to look at…. lots of fish, rays and dolphin today.

Its my bedtime… Ill try to blog more tomorrow.

SYL, Rusty

The boat is ready for the next passenger.  When everyone left 2 days ago lots of luggage left with them.  The boat looks pretty good this evening.  I filled the tanks with gas today and made a grocery run, were stocked and ready for a week with my good sailing buddy Tom from back home.

I’ll finally get to show Tom some of the wonderful sights we found here in the Exumas.  This isn’t his first time to see pretty water, he’s well travelled, but there is plenty to point at here in the Bahamas.  His flight is due in a out 2 hours.

We’ve had very high and low tides lately with the full moon..  I heard some say it was a “super moon” that’s closer than normal to the earth.  I haven’t looked that up, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

We plan to make a long run tomorrow, maybe go all the way to Staniel, it’s only 55 miles so if we have enough wind we can make it easily.  It will be downwind, so forward progress will negate some apparent wind.  If it blows like it did today we will be fine.  SYL has full gas, water and propane tanks so I’m setting on Go!

Not much more to report…. My replacement generator is due in to GT Wednesday.  It’s amazing how many fees you have to pay to get something shipped to the Bahamas.  10% “luxury tax” plus a 1% handling fee for customs! airfare from Florida, local shipper handling fees plus $20 to get it from the airport.  There are probably 6 or 7 “fees” to get what you already own into the Bahamas.

I guess I’ll rest an hour or so before heading to the Exuma Market to pick up Tom.  I doubt I’ll be blogging much this week….. Who knows.

Sea Yawl Later !!    Rusty

I got up early to listen to weather, all good news, it’s supposed to be drier after today becoming settled and nice next week.  I just got a quick but fairly powerful shower come over the boat, glad I was well protected and on anchor rather than out at sea for that one.  The skies look good to the East so I think ill dinghy to town soon, it’s before 8am so no need to hurry, nobody’s open yet.

Georgetown harbor is lightly populated these days, I can see 4 boats at monument beach, 3 at the chat n chill, one at sand dollar and 7 others here with me in Kidd Cove.

8:15 and some of my on boat chores are accomplished.  We decided to clear the starboard Vberth for use as a bed instead of he aft double we use as a garage when we don’t have guests.  The aft berth doesn’t have as much air circulation so now that all Linda’s clothes are out of the “club” just forward of the kitchen…..  The forward bed is now available for occupancy with its large opening hatch.  It will no doubt be cooler and much appreciated in the coming month.

There are rain streaks on the other side of the harbor but SYL is in the sun.  I guess I better close up before I go to town, not leave any hatches open.  Winds are around 20 at times, Chris said he expected today to be the liveliest day for quite a while.  I’ll be taking the umbrella to town with me.  Wow there’s a bright rainbow that ends at Regatta Park in GT (right behind me)….. Nice.

Guess I better get on to town, see what I can get done.  SYL  Rusty

Our first guests for the year just left and took my wife with them!  We had a really nice time with our friends here on SYL.  Linda went home to be with Erin in her last trimester of pregnancy so I’m batching it for a couple days before a friend of mine flys in for a week.  We don’t have any special plans…. Just to sail around, look at the pretty water and do some snorkeling.

Yeah I miss my wife, but the big thing is I miss my boat gourmet cook!  Today for lunch I had a ham sandwich, this evening I had a spicy tai tuna fish sandwich.  Tomorrow I’m going for some of the taco soup Linda left in the refrigerator so I do have some good stuff for a few days anyway.

Going from me and 4 women on the boat to only me is a big change….. I don’t know what to do with myself.  The sun just set so it’s almost bed time…..

Tomorrow I have some boat chores I want to accomplish before Tom gets here so that will occupy some of my time.. and I have pick up my laundry so I guess I do have an agenda of sorts.  Maybe I’ll pick up some Chinese food while I’m in town.

The weather looks good for the next week or so, I guess we had one dreary day while the first bunch was here but everybody just pulled out a book and chilled the day it rained.  Tonight I’ll have 12 to 15 knot winds so it will be pleasant sleeping under the open hatch.

We had a major malfunction last week, my little Honda 2000 generator broke.  It has fire and it has gas but it has little to no compression.  I had a feeling this particular generator wasn’t right from day one, but it was new so we trusted the name.  It’s still in warranty but how in the world can I get it serviced out here…. The answer is I can’t.  I’ll have it fixed when I get home but I had to buy another generator to get me there….. Boat stuff…. always something happening you don’t expect.

Luckily a good friend of ours has a boat moored here in GT so they let me borrow theirs until mine comes in next week.  I’ve only had to run it once, but I expect I’ll charge up again in the morning.

Well, it’s after 8pm so it’s legal to go lay down below…lol. Happy travels to my wife and our good friends, thanks Michael for your help getting the car home!  Rusty

Linda and I seem to always make our major life decisions while bobbing in the water…… the past few days have been no exception.  Our current ritual has been to do what we need to do during the day.. than about 4PM we swim under the boat and solve the worlds problems (or a least our little corner of it) until it’s time to eat dinner.  We can always get to the heart of and  issue when we are bobbing around in a pool… or under the boat.  Lately we have decided made the decision to not leave SYL in Florida… but bring her home to Texas.  The short of it is…. Im not sure I could stand it not having my boat to play with… even in water where I can’t see more than 3′ deep.  Also, there are always things that need tinkering with on a boat.  If it’s in Texas…… I can do all that before we leave rather than during the trip.  SYL is in pretty darn good shape overall…. new sails, new motors, etc…. but she does need fresh batteries and a good polish job.

Linda gets under the boat and I tell you what it’s almost as good as water boarding…….. she tells me everything I want to know and ask her about… lol.  Our place has always been “in the water”  wether it was on Berry Road in Beaumont….  or anywhere there is water with a bit of shade around it.

Today I met “BIG FRED”  he’s a major personality here in GT.  Apparently he has a little money because he was buying beer for everybody that walked into the liquor store.  I heard Big Fred about a block before I walked in….. my goal today was to meet the Propane truck that comes on wednesday at 10:30 to fill up a near empty propane tank.  The truck was late and I didn’t have a watch so I walked across the street from the boat ramp (where the truck meets all the cruisers to fill tanks) to a liquor store to check the time… Big Fred had an entourage (friends) he was loudly chastising and praising all at the same time while insisting they all drink beer he paid for.  Anybody that walked in the door was offered a free beer by Fred, and often more than one.  Fred and I bonded immediately.  He loves other people almost as much as himself…. lol.  I was told by one of his compadres that he really is a good man and I believe it.

After my first Kalik (the national beer of the Bahamas) I attempted to turn down a second beer many times…… after my third beer, I feigned  an exaggerated wobble out the door, man hugged my new friend Big Fred and bid the locals goodbye.  Big Fred had called the propane truck and found out he broke down, so he wouldn’t be coming today… not sure when if ever he would (typical island timing) so it was decision time… either stay and get drunk or leave to go back to the boat…….

Linda was happy to see me she  I got back a little after noon.  I brought chinese food!  We have found a new love in GT, there is a chinese restaurant in town.  Linda was pleased as punch I brought 2 take out plates, we ate one for lunch and the second for dinner.  I knew after being gone for hours I better not show up empty handed…. lol.  Linda understands island time.. I knew she knew the truck may never show….. but it was nice to have General Tao chicken with egg fried rice, and Sweet Garlic chicken and rice to share when I got home.

Another good day in GT… g’night

The weather looks amazing next week, as the summer progresses high pressure areas dominate and winds are light and sweet.  Certainly as our guests arrive our outside passage from GT to the rest of the Exumas will be pleasant.  It’s only 15 to 20 miles of ocean exposure before we get in the main body of the wonderful Exuma chain and it looks like a weather window to move North is at our leisure.

Amazingly, when we used to charter boats for 2 weeks, I always looked at weather, but we could always just get on the boat and head from Miami across the gulf stream to the Bahamas without worrying about finding a weather window…. we were lucky.  Since we bought and cruise often we know more about waiting for weather than we ever had to worry about when we only had 2 weeks a year… That’s dumb luck.  It seems our first group of friends have that luck with them as well.

Today I was snorkeling around the boat and found some great shells right here inside GT harbor.  They are very fragile fans that have wonderful iridescent pink coloring.  I looked them up online and the shell hunters covet them because they never find a whole one…. They are so fragile.  I think I have 7 or 8 complete ones so I’m all happy.  It seems no matter where you are in the Bahamas snorkeling reveals unexpected treasures.  I never figured this anchorage for rare fan shells… But they are here!  GT harbor is a pretty amazing place.  It’s 10 miles of harbor (actually a sound) with more to look at than you have time to see… Right here in the harbor.

Reefs, starfish, sand dollars, now unique shells…. It seems the new things to find here in GT will never end.  We found a great Chinese place in town, our eating habits when we come now are totally different than previous years.

Linda brought it to my attention, but the water here is not as clear as it is up the Exuma chain… Certainly not as good as the out islands.  Don’t get me wrong… It’s probably 40 or 50 foot visibility…. Nice by any standards… but outside the harbor it’s generally 90’+.  On a hazy day you can see further underwater than over it.

Mmmmmm Linda’s black beans and cornbread are pretty good this evening.  We moved back to sand dollar beach today, the wind picked up a little so we went for better protection.  Waves are probably 6″ when it gets rough… Lol.  Like I said…. Our guests will like their first outside voyage better than most Due to the perfect weather.  Tomorrow I may get up at 6:30 and listen to the real forecast rather than looking at weather online but I’m pretty confident about next week.  Talking about weather more than a week away is pretty much useless, about one week is all the forecasters will own up to.

Linda and I are looking forward to having guests.  We wanted time to roam to our hearts content before coming to GT and we have done that.  Linda just reminded me what yesterday was….. we knew it was coming up but we both forgot our 13th anniversary!   It was yesterday!  That’s what happens when Mondays are just like Sundays that are just like Wednesdays…… Time slipped by us.  Wow, if we were in the states we would have been tuned into every moment of time… Planned the day for weeks and went out and spent a weeks pay on dinner!  Happy anniversary darling.  Thank you for following me around the Bahamas this year.  I don’t know if this….. Or the rat race is better…. Yes I do actually but both admittedly have their advantages.

TV (programming) is a powerful thing.  Had we been in tune with the world we would have certainly bought the things the TV tells us we need to buy and spent money as the “programmers” tell us to for this momentous occasion, it’s important… But more to us……. than the retailers that live off making us believe we need “stuff” all the time.  There is something to be said about being 400 miles from the closest WalMart or jewelry store.  Linda seems pretty happy with stuff I found on the beach and fashioned by my own hands just for her.  She’s pretty happy with her sea glass pendants…..” Life is good”

The sun is going down.. We are here to see it rather than watching who killed who on the news, listening to John Bainer argue irrelevant point and Obama doing nothing for us but harshly focus on somehow making his political party gain some advantage over the other that means absolutely nothing to you and I.  Government gridlock by design…. Politics at their best…. Serving only those who go to Washington for the “lawyer win” of making it big in the system.  Yeah I’m on my soapbox……. Why is it that a common man can make as much as the president or members of congress….. Yet politicians retire with millions more than they went into office with.  Smells fishy to me.  I recently read the Hunger Game series……. the fictional story apparently reinforced my disdain for our “leaders” I guess you could say.

I still don’t understand how the government can take something from you (taxes) remove what it costs to pay themselves, then give you back more than they took from you in the first place……. Hmmmm.  Think about that.  That’s bound to be a lawyer trick huh?  How does that make things better.  Yes we need an infrastructure, roads, police, etc.  but we don’t need fat cat lawyers taking our money for doing nothing but promoting themselves all the while wanting us to believe “politics” has not degenerated into an obscene distortion of the American Dream….. OK I’m done now, sorry for the rant… Sort of.

The sun has set…. Conch horns have blown across the harbor, time to go down and read in bed.  Like I said, life is good.

Sea Yawl Later !!   Rusty

Every day we get a little more done towards receiving guests.  We could get it all done in a day or two….. But why… we have all the time we need.  Lately my main chore is to get our charging system and AC working acceptably.  I’ve found multiple electrical connections that needed cleaning or replacing.  I’ve taken almost the whole 110 volt system apart including the inverter/charger looking for Voltage leaks.  I’ve found several small ones but no magic bullet that would solve all my issues.  It’s come down to batteries, my batteries aren’t toast, in fact they are almost new…. but one of them is weak and 3 batteries aren’t enough juice to run the boat comfortably with all the appliances we use during the day.

I am running the generator quite often now to see if I can revive the one questionable battery and reinforce the others with a full charge.  No big issue.. But it’s what I have spent a lot of time on lately.  The ice maker quit working a while back… But I found if I hit it hard with a screwdriver it works well for a while so I keep a screwdriver next to it now.

The weather is looking pretty good for our first group of guest.  Their arrival is still 6 days away so forecasting that far out is risky…. But generally wind/weather patterns look good!  I’m looking forward to having friends on the boat… Its always fun to see new things… But when you can share them with friends it’s all that much better.

Today I filled back up with gas ($200) most of it thru the generator.  We are making water quite a bit each day so we will be full when they arrive.  It will be me and 4 ladies on the boat so water will become a precious commodity.  Linda is used to being frugal with water, but getting people to understand they need to turn off the water while they brush their teeth….  Things we never think about at home become pretty important with limited supplies.  In the past I’ve handed out one gallon jugs of water telling guests…. “here this is yours, either drink it or wash with it Today…. Your choice”. It’s not quite that bad since we got the watrermaker, but it can’t keep up with more than 2 people.  We will be buying water too, I think it’s .40 cents a gallon in Staniel Cay.  I remember when gas got to fourty cents a gallon…..  It was almost too much to pay for something that would propel your car…. But now we are glad to pay it to wash our hair…… Lol.

Today has been beautiful…. Sunny skies, just enough wind to keep you cool.  It’s been in the low to mid 80’s here and we are pretty acclimated.  Hopefully our guests don’t have their home thermostat set on 65 degrees.  It will be a shock to go off air conditioning if they are used to sleeping cold.  I do run the AC at night if there is absolutely no wind….. Or if it’s been rainy to dry out the boat, but generally we keep the boat open.  It costs about $20 bucks in gas a night to run the AC……. Some nights I’d pay $100 if it took it to sleep on crispy sheets.

Im going down the check the iceman… See if it needs a whack with the screwdriver…. Where is a Wal Mart when you really need one?

Laters…… Rusty

We slipped easily into GT  the day before yesterday as predicted, it was the driest and best day to make the short outside passage.  We have not seen the rain as we expected last night and today.  Clouds are broken and it’s a decent day. I have had a some issues with weak batteries here on SYL so yesterday I removed all 4 of my house batteries, cleaned connections and topped off liquid levels.  I also did a diagnostic on each cell.  One battery tested poorly, but I’m hoping it will revive itself with the added liquid.  I have two banks of batterles, so I isolated the questionable battery on a separate circuit so I can turn it off independently if it proves faulty.  Last night was a bit muggy so I decided to run the air conditioner but it would not run well.  Shortly after turning it on voltage dropped and it shut itself off.  After hours of feeling wires for heat and searching I found a burned butt splice connector near the inverter And replaced the splice.  The AC ran all night without a hitch.

All my electrical problems are not solved, but heading in the right direction.  I was up until almost 2AM piddling with it last night.  Not that I felt I had to get it all done last night, I just felt like pursuing it so I did.

We are anchored at sand dollar beach.  GT is pretty empty this time of year.  There are maybe 30 boats in the harbor, maybe not.  We have been to the supermarket and found a very acceptable Chinese diner in town.

We met a couple from Idaho yesterday.  We were bobbing under the boat at the beach when they walked by.  Interesting couple, quite accomplished, he’s built an airplane and climbed very tall mountains.  He told us about scaling “Denali”…. Apparently its 18,000 feet tall.  We had a nice dinner of peas and rice,    with Caesar salad, they brought home made bread and sliced oranges.  Their boat is a Hunter 45.

I have a couple projects in mind today, if I get to them fine…. If not I’ll take care of it tomorrow… or not.  There are always ways to improve a boat, plenty “opportunities” to keep from being bored.

We just ate lunch and I feel a nap coming on…….. More later, or not.

Rusty

Who is the one that made it rain…… In the Bahamas!   We have seen several days of rain, with more expected this week.  Hopefully it will all be over before our guests show up.  Generally it’s not a show stopper, but the water is so much prettier with full sun.

SYL currently sits at Children’s Cay, 15 miles from Georgetown.  With the rain and thunder showers we opted to head for GT early so we could pick our weather.  Today we did 32 miles, an easy day leaving Black Point about 10:AM.  Whoever owns Children’s Bay Cay is pouring in the money…. New construction is evident all over the island.  I can’t fathom how much it takes to run an island… Much less build one up from scratch like they do here in the Bahamas.

I’ve seen Buffets airplane here, the runway is right on the beach….. There is a concrete ramp so a seaplane can roll up onshore after water landings.  I’m not sure who owns the island, but he must be doing OK even in today’s economy.  I can hear the very large generator that powers the island running from the boat.  We met several new cruisers….. The last couple are both dentists who bought their 50′ Privelidge catamaran in Thailand.  They intend to sail around the world in stages, working the business in between cruises.  Nice couple.  Another new acquaintance from Staniel Cay is a couple from Ohio, we enjoyed their wonderful company last week.  They flew out Monday and left the Bahamas to us…..

I understand there are not many boats in GT, that might actually be nice.  Often when we show up for a regatta there can be 300 to 400 boats in the harbor.  I understand there are about 10 now.

I have been playing with my sea glass lately, I always use this best pieces first so I need to make a new search.  I’ve made about 20 new pieces.  Linda captures her favorites, I try to keep some available as gifts.  I completed a couple yesterday and worked on a few more, so I have enough for now.  I probably still have 200 pieces to work with.  This trip I found some excellent sources in the Exumas.  You want to know where I go?  Yeah I bet!   Lately the beaches I go to are hard to land on… Big surf, big waves so you need to go when it’s fairly calm.  I go when I get close no matter the waves.  Landing the dinghy is not the challenge…. It’s getting off the big beach into the surf…but that’s where you find the good stuff so that’s where I go.

I did find an easy beach that yields pretty nice glass.  I’m sure I’ll bring my guests to it so they can gather some jewelry grade pieces.  Maybe we can make it together while they are here.  I have all my tools on the boat.

Well, it’s almost sunset…..  Guess I’ll get off here and settle in for the night.  We are in an excellent anchorage with good protection.  6:30 in the morning we will check on the outside passage with Chris Parker.  I suspect we will be in GT noonish.

Sea Yawl Later !!   Rusty

Today is wash day, we filled up 7 of the 12 washing machines at the “Dockside Laundry”.  Ada is the hard working proprietor, she has basic hardware, washing supplies of course and a very select group of items every sailboat needs.

We now sit at a restaurant on Black Point waiting for our clothes to dry.  Instead of Lorraine’s we were told to try Deshamon’s, it’s straight across from Adderly’s grocery.  Our fish burgers are due out soon, here in the Bahamas, a fish burger has a fish in it… not a fish patty that contains various fish parts ground up and packed together, covered with some sort of frozen breading.  A fish burger here is quite a treat.

We met several new cruisers in the past few days, today one of those couples Bob and Ellen are drifting North to the next island today.  We really enjoyed talking to them and may move with them for a few days.  Last night “Ship O’ Fools” hosted a big pizza party, they provided the dough, just bring your ingredients….. it was great.  Before that, everyone was at our boat swimming so we had quite a good visiting day yesterday.  Charles and Hillary are on a nicely rigged Shuttleworth.  Bob and Ellen are on a Pacific Seacraft, it’s a true yawl where the aft mast is behind the rudder. and Julie and Matthew are on a big black pirate ship ketch.

Our food is here and I officially recommend Dashamon’s.  By the time we finish eating Ada will have our clothes dried and folded at the laundromat.  We got a shower earlier and the sun popped out so it’s pretty steamy on Black Point right now.

I talked to Van “Smashie” while Linda was at the laundry.  Van builds and races Bahamian sloops.  He’s been racing for years and brought home many trophies.  Last time we were here in 2011 he was working on a new “C” class boat for a customer.  The frame was complete and he was planking the hull.

Well, lunch is over so I’ll sign off and head back for Laundry and SYL.  Rusty