Magnolia departed Current Cut for Little Harbor Cut Abacos. The distance between the two is right at 60 miles which is a long day by sail boat standards, even we we have 16-21 knts on the starboard quarter (which Magnolia loves!!!) and seas running 4-6 feet. It was a real rocket ship ride!

The Little Harbor Cut was churning but we had favorable tide. We have also been in here once before which makes ALL the difference in the world. We dropped the hook off Lynyard Cay just before dark and did some serious snoring that night! We were bushed!

The next morning we set off for Hope Town only about 12 miles of the sound. There are a couple of tricky places such as near Tilloo Cut & Cay where a huge sand bar has formed shoaling the entire area except for a small navigable channel. Anxiety level…HIGH

We went into Hope Town where our friends on S/V Cutting Class had secured a mooring for us! Thank you Dan and Marcia!

Marcia is a big fan of Bakers Engine Room Bread so they brought some Lobster Tails that Dan caught and we had a mighty feast and celebration.

We traveled with Cutting Class year and we visited them at their home in Connecticut this last summer.

One of the minor problems we had during the passage was we lost the topping lift line which of course went to the top of the mast. I frankly have not been to the top of the mast and was sorta looking forward to the first time. Sadly Dan weighs 35 pounds less than me. That mean he would be the one using the winch to crank my fat but up the mast. He liked the being the once being cranked better so he won!

Dan and Marcia are both former teachers (SV Cutting Class get it?). They spend 2 1/2 months a year here in Hope Town and volunteer at the school occasionally. They asked if I wanted to come to the school for “Field Day” the next day and I said “Sure.” In the military “Field Day”  means clean up day which is what I thought I was signing up too…..but nooooo….“Field Day”  is a sports day oh boy! I will leave the disuccion of Irish Pennants to my friend Ty. Pictures below are all from Marcia

Lets just say this situation is about as far out of my element as I could get!!!

These kids are terrific and so well behaved it was scary. Every morning at school the day starts with a prayer, pledge of allegiance and sing the national anthem (Bahamian) led by the principal, young man with the beard.

I was responsible for the foot race…getting the athletes in on the line.

Unsuccessfully firing up the racers!

Dan handling the softball throw!

As you can see I have a little 3 year old helper there by my side. The high point of the day was when I went over and sat down on the bleachers…

She just walked over and plopped down next to me…not much better than that!

It seems “Field Day”  was a success!

Sadly as quickly as we said hello we also had to say goodbye as Dan & Marcia headed off to make their way back to CT via Florida.

We certainly hope to catch them before we get to the Chesapeake this spring, if not we plan to take Magnolia at least to RI & CT this summer!

First it appears there was a small loss of track data (“I suspect an ATES buffer over-run” – Geek Humor) so try and bear with us… Magnolia departed Cat Island headed for Eluethera. We decided we would split the 60 mile journey in two and Little San Salvador fit the bill! Carnival Cruise Line folks will know it as Half Moon Cay.

Half Moon Cay is about 2500 acres but truthfully only a small part is used for the cruise ships. Ideally we would arrive on a day when there is no cruise ships……

As we came into range our Automatic Identification System (AIS) told us the Carnival Fascination was anchored ahead. Oh well, we just need a place to over night anyway. As we approached of course we wanted to anchor directly on the other side of where the ship was parked! We called the ship and told them our intentions and for once seemed appreciative that we made the call. 

We passed behind the ship and came up her port side right into our desired anchorage.

We relaxed, read and watched all the people ashore. We had not seen so many people in one place for a long time….a little disconcerting. A little horse beach ride would be fun.

Late in the afternoon with really amazing speed Fascination loaded her passengers and got underway.

The ship used thrusters to rotate itself right around and I think they enjoyed point there bow right at us!!!

After departing Little San Salvador we rounded the tip of Eluethera and entered Rock Sound.

We were finally able meet up with a our sister boat KellyNicole and of course we did not get one picture!! It was a fun couple of nights and we yacked and yacked the evenings away! Annette and I walked (it’s a LONG way) to Rosie’s North Side restaurant and had a lovely dinner with a terrific view.

On a sad note…as we approached Rock Sound we noted someone out Kite Boarding. It struck me because of the sheer distance out in the sound the individual was. I know nothing of the sport but based on the speed it appeared he could go a long way in a short time! The next day upon returning to the boat from shore we heard on the radio the gentlemen was attacked by a shark and sadly did not survive his injuries. So sad! Life sometimes a little too real…. The below is actually a moon rise which ended out stay in Rock Sound.

After departing Rock Sound Magnolia made an overnight stop in Alabaster Bay and traversed Current Cut and set the anchor on the western shore. The persistent east winds continues to the anchorage affords us great protection.

Tomorrow at dawn or earlier we will head out across North East Providence Channel to make sure we make the 60 mile passage in day light and arriving Great Abaco before dusk, Will certainly be a full day, and yes that water really is more than 3 miles deep!

Vessel and Crew are well!

The Admiral enjoying a walk on the beach…in truth she is on the hunt for a particular type of palm leaf for a basket she is weaving!

Our dinghy “Blossom” with “Magnolia” in the background at anchor.

It may appear the Captain is taking a little time off and enjoying a Rum drink….

In reality he is keeping a keen eye on Magnolia….yea ok, enjoying a rum drink!

The other night we met and enjoyed a wonderful evening with Andrew & Gwendy. They are enjoying a vacation away from their home in England. We spent the evening comparing politics in the US & UK. We enjoyed our evening so much so we closed the place down. Just had to pop back ashore for a drink before we departed. Meetings like these really make this life special!

After saying our good byes we were off first thing this morning for Arthur Town. We had a terrific sail and made a point of staying well west of the Angel Reef! We also had a dolphin travel with us for a while. I will put a video up in the YouTube channel when we get better internet. We enjoyed a walk around town and purchased some local breads and pastries.

le.

Tomorrow we are off on a short sail over to Little San Salvador or Half Moon Cay for those Carnival Cruise Lines customers. We will be making a brief over-night stop on our way to Eluthera.

As we departed George Town Harbor I just had to get a picture of this little guy, one of the rarest of rares in the Bahamas. Yes that is a channel marker, the only one in Conch Cut which is the entrance to George Town. In the USA there would be 20 marks guiding vessels into the harbor, in the Bahamas, one!

In full disclosure there is one other, the light on the other side of the channel. I don’t think that one should count though because the “light” can only be used during the day since God only knows the last time it actually lit!!!! Oh, BTW there is the issue of the reef in the entrance between the channel and the light!

As you can see the transit takes us out across the sound so there is only one thing to do…

Get a line in the water!!! We use a hand reel, 100lb test line and a weighted lure that way about  half a pound, and of course leather gloves. We are not after Large Mouth Bass here! We are after Mahi Tuna out here. Any where between 24 and 56 inches is not uncommon.

(Stock Photo)

Windward winch could come in handy

Working hard just waiting for the strike….which never came. Oh well, we are back out in the sound on the way to Eluthera next week, so you just never know….

We anticipated some strong SE wind soon after our arrival so we tucked in next to the town of Old Bight just as tight as we could. We have never been to Old Bight so looked forward to doing a little exploring as soon as the wind laid down.

Color match is no so good in the panorama…

That wind took a solid 24 hours before we could get the dinghy in the water  so as soon as it was safe we were off. There is supposedly a Old Bight Landing along the beach but we did not see it. We did notice a creek entrance so we made a right hand turn into there.

As we entered the inlet we noted the creek continued south and there was a road there as well. As all cruisers know, its easier to dinghy than walk to we stayed in “Blossom” as long as we could.

Sadly after about a 1/2 mile the creek ran out not seeing anywhere to land we went back and landed near the “road.”

BTW, when I said road, I meant the gravel road..We walked about 1/4 of a mile and found the “main” road.

There is a custom on this island if someone dies inside a house, the house is abandoned. There are empty houses all over the place. It sure is different….

I think this is the party my friend Ty would support if he lived here….”DUCK!”

As we were walking, excuse me for saying this but it was getting pretty darn hot. In the distance I saw a sign that said “Cold One.” Yea not that’s what I am talking about! Well actually it said Cold Zone so we continued walking.

In case you cannot read the sign it says “Kings Car Wash.” I bet business booms here once and a GREAT while!

After a couple miles we found Missy’s Take-Away where todays special was Cranked Conk which was delicious! As you can see you can sit on either side of the road depending on how the sun is!

As you can see the sun was getting low in the sky so a nice lady picked us up and took us back to where we left the dinghy.  We arrived back aboard Magnolia just after the sunset> Just had to get a picture of our girl with the beautiful light!

Tomorrow we head to Fernandez Bay to wait out yet another weather front coming through on Saturday!

Some people depend on that hairy creature to crawl out of a hole and see his shadow to determine when winter is going to end. For us its that first 100 a/h day that makes it clear the days are getting longer. (more sun, more “ampies”). We usea about 138ish everyday so the more solar ampies, less generator run time. We are at about 30 min a day right now.

The upside of running the generator is a warm engine room…where the heck else is the bread dough going to rise?

S/V Second Sally finally made it to the Bahamas so it was great to catch up with Greg & Marie. We anchored a couple miles out of George Town proper in Masters Harbor which was a great escape from the harbor!

The Bahamas have their own music style called Rake & Scrape which strikes me closest to what you would hear in Louisiana…that’s just my assessment and I am surely no music expert!

None the less our friend Prudence had to get out on the dance “floor.”

The Admiral does not generally get to involved in drink mixing but when she does, she certainly excels! A little rum, coconut and mango juice!

We assume many people believe all we do is consume drinks with umbrellas like those above. I am not going to make the ludicrous statement like hardly ever or we come here for the educational possibilities, but the truth is in the middle. Below is the book/movie exchange table. We do a lot of reading, I am currently working on “The Heir Apparent, the Life of Edward VII” (I am trying to take a break from my traditional biographies of famous American Politicians.

This lady is giving a presentation on actions to preserve and protect the local reefs.

There are a fair number of families in which the kids are “boat schooled.” I can only imagine the self confidence these kids will have when they return to a more traditional life.

Of course there is a lecture on batteries and charging systems. I know you may be shocked but there are a few thing to know about how to charge batteries safely and so they last. Most all of Magnolia’s major systems depend on battery power. It’s a really big part of our life out here.

George Town has earned its nick name – “Adult Day Care” as well as its motto “A transitional step to assisted living”

Truth be told, we have spent longer here in George Town than we planned. The last 3 weeks the US has been getting hammered with cold and snow we get those same weather systems as high winds. This pattern seems to be breaking down so we are going to make a move out to Cat Island on Wednesday. Its about a 50 mile sail over some really deep water (ie fishing opportunity). More on that soon!

Magnolia arrived in George Town just before a good size “blow” and so we dropped the hook to give us good protection against the expected strong westerly’s.

As you can see, we dropped the hook in the “Kidd Cove” anchorage just outside Lake Victoria. Though not obvious, there is a bridge, more like a tunnel, boat entrance into Lake Victoria. There are dinghy docks inside for the Grocery Store, the gas station and a couple other local businesses. The grocery store docks provides free Reverse Osmosis water which is terrific.

I am not sure there is really any well water anywhere in the Bahamas. A good number of the residences have cisterns where rain water is collected. The other option is RO Water which is converted sea water. Most places in the Bahamas we have to pay .30 to .40 cents a gallon for water. Magnolia carries 135 in her tank plus we keep 25 gallons in jugs for emergencies. Magnolia also carries 115 gallons of diesel fuel in her tank plus another 12 in jugs.

We last took on fuel and water in Nassau when we arrived in the Bahamas last month. We average 5.9 gallons of water per day and .85 gallons of diesel when the engine is running. The generator uses .35 – .60 gallons of diesel per hour as well. That means this day I am hauling 95 gallons of water and another 36 gallons of diesel fuel. Whenever possible we keep the tanks topped particularly when we are outside the USA. Essentially this gives Magnolia a range of over 700 miles and her crew 3 three weeks before we start to stink! BTW, we also generate all our own electricity with generator and solar panels. We use on average 134.6 amp/hrs a day (12 volts) Right now our split is about 60%-40%  (Generator-Solar) but as the days get longer that will continue to move towards solar. Under the category of “Carbon Footprint,” we really don’t leave one.

After the immediate need to get things topped up, then it was time to take the Admiral to a nice dinner ashore!

Over-night, as forecast the front blew in bringing a few showers and lots of wind. Keep in mind at this same time, Boston was getting buried so not feeling too bad.

Of course, with all this wind, and all these boats there are going to be bad things happening. Boats dragging anchor, sometimes into each other. Tangled anchors chains it happens.

Every person on a boat knows that some-days you watch the show and some-days you are the show. The couple below were the show this day. The are in their 80s and have circumnavigated (sailed around the world) a COUPLE of times. Yet they got an anchor chain around their prop.  No fewer than 10 dinghies went to their assistance and got it sorted out. In an usually kind gesture they invited all who helped out for a drinks and appetizers a few days later.

Listening to their years of adventures was more than worth the price of admission. Can you imagine sailing a boat through the Suez Canal? This couple has!! Amazing!

Tuesday 10 February – 14:00 The next front is actually here today and I had to take a break from writing about the last storm to go and help get a big catamaran separated from a trawler who got there anchors tangled. Its blowing in the high 20s and gusting to 35 but sunny. Going to be a long night until this wind and sea lay down!

Ok, guilty but I am TRYING to catch up. We have been feeling like we are living in the middle of a whirlwind, figuratively and literally! Bare with me while describe the challenging weather we have been facing in the Bahamas…let skip that and say we have had one heck of a windy winter thus far and the long range forecasts only re-enforce that pattern! Its either calm or blowing 25 knts and above, we have given up and as semblance of balance! Here Magnolia sits at anchor off Great Guyana Cay (island), which is where the town of Black Point is located. 

Rockside Laundry and Ida (pictured below) are know throughout the cruising community as the nicest place in the Bahamas to get a haircut and wash cloths. 

Ida gives a mean haircut and the view from her saloon is the best I have ever experienced!

You might wonder why get a haircut when you live on a sailboat? Well I had not gotten one since Vero Beach and I just had to get a haircut to watch my one football game of the season. This year that game was the Super Bowl. Wow what a game…wow what a stupid call for the last play of the game! We enjoyed our evening with our friends Burt & Prudence from Mansfield OH!

Below is the entire 56 mile trip from Black Point to George Town. The trip was a little to long to make in one day in the daylight, a little too short to make as an overnight so just split the trip and stayed inside on the “banks”  the first and out on the sound the 2nd.

The Bahamas Islands as I understand it, sit on plateau and generally those island sit a long the edge of that plateau. The banks (dark blue below, light blue above) are generally about 15 feet deep and well protected. The sound side is literally a cliff that goes from that approximate 15 feet to 4500-5000 straight down. That huge vertical cliff can make for lets say some “interesting” sailing and water conditions along the sound side of the Bahamas.

Out first day trip to George Town we stayed on the banks and decided to push ourselves a little. The sail down from Black Point to Galliot Cay and Cut is straight forward with plenty of water. Once south of Galliot Cut though we are into full on Visual Piloting Rules (VPR) because of the minimal depths, shifting sandbars and the charts that do exist are not very good.

Galliot Cut is at the top of the picture which is where we would normally go out but we wanted to see the less traveled side of the Cays as well. In addition David Copperfield owns a couple of these. Not exactly sure if its Musha or Rudder Cut. Things went well through the most challenging part along Musha and that huge sand flat. Getting down to Rudder we needed a place to anchor so if you see that little triangle shape, that’s where we tried to tuck up close out of the wind. Well sadly the water went from about 3.5 meters to 1, about quick and we touched bottom. (No one was around so those groundings don’t count). It took us about 10 min to get “unstuck” then we slid down a bit to the red blob where we anchored for the night.

As you can see our track took us right along that cliff which happens to be a GREAT fishing area! With great anticipation I dropped a line over side.

Not more than 10 min, I had a hit and called for fish on! That quick and it was fish off as whatever hit, bit right through my wire leader. I have extra lures but no extra leaders so I was “off the field” before the game really got going!

The rest of the trip was boring boring (lost fish)

Coming into George Town is a little twisty but really straight forward. The read like this “proceed down the sound until you are due north of the crashing waves, then turn due south to avoid be smashed onto the rocks, once inside continue SE until you are due north of the house on the hill, (2nd yellow circle) head due south and then SE again until you clear the coral heads to your starboard and then head for the obelisk on the hill (3rd yellow circle.” Yup, that’s the reality of this……

Once again the Admiral brought is into a happy landing in George Town, more tomorrow!

A friend and colleague once suggested that “you are living my life, it just got mixed up and you are in my place.” Regular readers know that more times than not we have to pinch ourselves to believe we have actually been given this opportunity. If there was one thing we wish is that we could better share the special moments, places and people have met along the way.

Background: We have really had a lot of  “bad” weather recently. I know bad weather is relative, particularly in the Bahamas but after the last cold front passed through an invitation went through the anchorage to meet on this small little spit of land that is mostly covered at high tide to share a “sun-downer” and a sunset.

After being “trapped” on boats for a couple of days every boat in the anchorage was in full attendance.

The amazing thing is within this group you will find every social & economic class represented but every person there knows they are sharing a special moment. We are in the middle of a tropical preserve, on a little spit of land that in a few hours will erase every sand print as if we were never there. We will all board our individual boats, some we will see again, others probably not. None of us though forget friends and family from home, “cruisers” we have traveled with and wish they all could be on that little spit of land to share a “sun-downer” and a sunset.

We are lucky and a bit blessed and know it..wish you were here friend and colleague

Magnolia had been waiting for a weather window for nearly two weeks when finally our opportunity presented itself we were off! We departed Tuesday AM but actually we were a little of ahead of the of the “perfect” weather so on recommendation we stayed inside the Florida Reef transiting the Hawk Channel. In hindsight, it was a really lucky break. 

As you might remember we had the heat exchanger failure on the way to Marathon. As it turned out, that problem was not quite done with us. As we arrived in Marathon I am sure the alternator was functioning. I thought it was functioning when we did a small departure test but once we got underway for a couple hours, well it was definitely dead. Not a big deal because we do carry a spare and thankfully we were in the Hawk Channel so we could anchor and swap the alternator out. The swap and test took, 20 minutes so we were ready to go! Almost, as soon as we pulled up the anchor we picked up a piece of Dacron line which prevented the shaft from rotating. I donned snorkel gear and went over the side but as soon as I saw the wad of line I knew I was not going to get it with just snorkel gear. Not having scuba gear we called Tow Boat US for a diver. They are like the marine version of AAA roadside assistance.  Another hour and we were underway.

As long as we could get clear of the reef before dark we could still continue on to the Bahamas. As you can see we were not the last boat to get across the reef.

We continued on and had terrific weather crossing the Gulf Stream which can be a very rough ride but on this particular night, we had no problem whatsoever.

We crossed the Gulf Stream and continued across the Bahamas Banks across the top of the  Tongue Of The Ocean arriving Chub Cay on Wednesday afternoon. We dropped anchor and got a good nights sleep before continuing onto Nassau.

Early Thursday morning we made the short 7 hour transit to Nassau where we checked into Bahamas Customs & Immigration. We made a quick trip to the store for some supplies.

Our friends Ron & Nancy on Mandala had departed Wednesday from Ft Lauderdale and arrived  Nassau a few hours after we did. It was great to catch up for a great evening.

Magnolia got underway right away on Friday morning before a front was to arrive and anchored a couple miles west behind Rose Island. As you can see Exuberant had just got her anchor down with moments to spare!

We have been anchored behind Rose Island for about 36 hours and as the below track shows we have had wind from EVERY direction!

We are expecting a good 30 knt blow from the north tonight but expect that to pass quickly and expect to have a terrific down wind sail on Monday. We will be entering the Bahamas National Trust in the middle of the week for a several day visit. There is no internet or phone service so we will be out of touch for a few days.

We wish you all could be with us here! Be safe, be well!

This is a silly movie I made while we were in Miami. It was suppose to give a peek into the world that is Magnolia.

http://youtu.be/C0UB0VxJi5w