Welcome back, Windy!

 

Windy, trying to appear humble, but actually looks quite smug

 

We found it slightly ironic that as soon as our wind generator died, we finally began to experience wonderful windy days. This of course, did us no good, and we discovered our solar panels really can't keep up with our refrigerator system. Each morning Hans would wake up to find our batteries seriously drained so he'd fire up the Honda for an hour, and then for another hour before bed. This, however, started to put a serious strain on our gasoline supply and Blackpoint doesn't sell fuel.

Each day we would go ashore and Hans would check the shipping status of the new generator. In the meantime he'd been in contact with Watermaker's Air in Ft. Lauderdale who had assured us it would indeed arrive in Blackpoint. Watermaker's flies into Blackpoint twice a day and our generator arrived promptly on a Tuesday morning. It was then immediately placed on a boat (that probably zipped right past us in the anchorage) and sent straight to Staniel Cay where Watermaker's Air is based. We found this out after walking all the way to the airstrip in the blistering sun. Of course this was at noon, everyone was at lunch, and we didn't see any packages sitting around the empty and unlocked, tiny airport building.

Just try communicating with businesses in the Bahamas. It's not like in the states, where even though you may get put on hold, at least someone answers the damn phone (or in this case the radio). Staniel Cay is an extremely busy and extremely understaffed place. No one ever answers the radio and when you get to the office and tell them this, they will point to their radio (which is squawking with some other poor sap desperately trying to get through), and with big innocent Bahamian eyes, assure you that your radio must not be working.

While still in Blackpoint we tried to radio Staniel Yacht Club in order to find out the status of our package because we really feared it may have been sent back to the states. No one answered so Hans called Ft. Lauderdale where we were assured it would be waiting for us in Staniel. This is when we parted company with our friends and headed back north.

Hans was just itching to get that wind generator up and working and had hatched one of his ingenious 'in theory that should have worked' plans he's talked me into far too many times over the years. Initially he'd wanted to lower the whole top heavy tower into a dinghy where surgery would then be performed. Did I mention he wanted to do this at anchor, with bouncing waves and wakes from passing boats? With visions of nuts and bolts flying overboard (and perhaps a huge scream fest on my part for the whole anchorage to witness), I firmly put the kibosh to that little plan. But, Hans is a manager and therefore likes to manage and so he came up with Plan B.

We approached the Staniel Cay Yacht Club with the desire to pick up our generator, top off our diesel, buy some gas, and get a slip for Hans' brilliant new plan. I don't know why we even bothered to try hailing them on the radio but we did and of course there was no answer. We noticed that the fuel dock is very small, and a little run-about boat was tied smack dab in the middle of it leaving no room for anyone else. We kept trying to radio the club in an effort to get a slip and with still no response we headed for a long dock with an open space. It wasn't easy, especially with little boats crossing right in our path, and the wind and current were pushing us off, but we finally got tied up to the dock.

A good while later Hans arrived back at the boat with our generator and was quite happy to report that the paperwork had been processed properly and we only had to pay for Watermaker's Air fare from the states plus a $10.00 stamp tax and *no duty fees since this was a warranty replacement!

Then he informed me that the slip we were assigned to was exactly on the other side of the dock were sitting at. This meant, in addition to all the bouncy wake we were experiencing in this very busy marina, instead of being pushed off the dock, we would now get pushed onto the dock. Staniel Cay Yacht Club is unprotected and when the wind blows from the west everyone gets kicked out. We were there in moderate east winds and I thought it was awful. Even Hans thought it was less than ideal and had asked if someone could please help us move. Help arrived in the form of an elderly man with one arm. This much I knew; it had taken all of the strength from both of my much younger arms to secure our dock lines. We asked if it were possible to please just stay where we were. No. Two huge yachts were due to arrive and we were in the way. In the meantime a young couple in a power boat sped into our allotted slip, tied up, and hied it to the bar.

The hell with it, Hans said, and decided now was the time to put his new plan into action. This involved waiting for low tide where Hans would then stand on the dock and with the boat sitting low in the water, the top of the wind generator would now be within easy reach. Except it wasn't. The current kept the boat too far off the dock, and the constant chop bounced it around like a cork. With every move Hans made I interjected with, "I don't like this," "I want the hell our of here," "This is crazy." Hans finally agreed that Plan B wasn't going to work and when I told him let's just walk our gas cans to the fuel dock he informed me that he'd been told by the little one armed man that they were out of gas and the fuel boat wouldn't arrive until Friday.

So we anchored out, used almost the last of our gas for the Honda and found out the next day they had plenty of gas and why did we think they didn't? We also noted that the long dock we'd been told we needed to vacate for the two huge yachts, remained empty until the next day.

We dinghied ashore the next morning, got that damned gas, walked to Isles' General Store for some provisions, and purchased a much needed bottle of vodka at the laundromat (the Bahamians definitely got something right, there).

Once again we headed north with Palm Cay Marina in Nassau as our next destination. We'd heard that diesel was cheap, water and laundry were free, and Hans still wanted to give Plan B a shot. We found diesel to be a little more reasonable and water was free but it's bad, and laundry involved walking to a condo and using the one washing machine available and then taking your wet laundry back to the marina to use the one dryer. Since we have no idea how much water we have (and I fear it's very little) Hans drove a courtesy car to the store (and you have to remember to drive on the left side) and bought 10 gallons. I took Wilbur for a walk where he almost had a heat stroke and kept collapsing in the shade.

We'd only intended to stay one day but since we needed a low tide for Hans' plan, we stayed for two. Finally, it was time for operation wind generator. After pulling the boat in as tightly as we could and argued over how this was going to work (I was accused of overthinking, and I asked Hans if he'd even bothered to look at the manual), we actually got the generator off the pole and then lowered the whole thing onto the dock. Hans cut old wires, crimped new wires, tested the unit to make sure it was good (and verified that the old one was indeed fried), and then we pushed it back up into place. After a minor discussion on exactly how the supporting struts were previously placed (I found a picture on my phone to prove I was right), we tightened all the screws and waited for some wind.

Finally after a month we were able to accomplish something

New generator ready to go

A huge shout of joy was heard from the Knotty Cat when we witnessed Windy point her delicate nose into the wind and purr like a kitten while in the nav station the gauge showed her putting juice into the batteries.

The only downside to this successful maneuver is the fact that one of Hans' many hairbrained schemes has finally paid off and I fear just what he may come up with in the future.

 

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*If you need parts sent to you in the Bahamas; make sure you send the freight provider (whoever is getting this part from the USA to the Bahamas, in our case it was Watermaker's Air) a copy of your cruising permit. We also sent a copy to the company in Montreal and told them to staple it to our invoice with the notation 'Warranty Replacement'. There should be no duty charged to warranty parts.

 

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Schedules, plans, and reality

 

I don't wanna go home yet!

 

Just as one should never work a New York Times crossword puzzle in ink (although we do. That Hans is a wild and crazy guy), one should never expect plans and schedules to go off without a hitch while cruising. We just call it 'writing our plans in the sand'.

When we set out on this journey it was with the intention of working our way down to Georgetown, staying there for a couple of weeks or more, and then on our way back up the Exumas chain we would visit the cays that we previously missed.

Thanks to the worst weather the Bahamas has experienced in the last 30 years and the fact that our wind generator blew out in a huge storm, we never did reach Georgetown. It was in Staniel Cay, on Cinco de Mayo Wednesday, that Windy screamed her final breath. We arrived in Blackpoint on Thursday, and were so excited to be there and take advantage off all the good things Blackpoint has to offer that it wasn't until Saturday that we realized we hadn't called the wind generator company for a replacement. Hans dinghied ashore bright and early (something like noon) on Monday, skyped the company and just like that a new generator was on its way to us at no charge since it was still under warranty.

The replacement would be sent to Ft. Lauderdale and then flown via Watermaker's straight to Blackpoint. Normally, Watermaker's flies into Staniel but their air strip was being repaired so this was perfect for us. It would take about a week to get there and Hans decided we'd go ahead and jump down to Georgetown and pick it up on our way back. We waved goodbye to our friends, weighed anchor, and set out into choppy seas.

An hour later we waved hello to these same, but very puzzled friends when we re-anchored in nearly the same spot we'd been in that morning. The seas had been choppy and we would've had to motor the whole way to the next stop which was Farmer's Cay but we decided we didn't have to go and we really did like Blackpoint anyway so why not just wait there for the generator to be delivered. (A week later the generator arrived as promised but since we weren't personally at the air strip to receive it, it was sent by boat to Staniel!). During our remaining time in Blackpoint we discovered that Wilbur Beach, at low tide, was an absolute Sand Dollar Extravaganza. Finding a whole sand dollar and not just a piece of one, to me, is like winning the lottery. Wilbur and I both spotted the first one at the same time and we actually fought over it. "It's mine!" I shouted as I rudely shoved him aside. "It's mine! It's mine!" Wilbur snorted as he frantically dug his big pit bull nails into the sand. I won and immediately hid my prize behind my back. Wilbur loves anything that reeks of fish. Hans found the second one, and I was hooked. We spent our last two days on the beach at low tide and found a total of 15 sand dollars and a star fish. I gave a few of them away to our cruising friends before we departed to head back to Staniel and hopefully find our wind generator waiting for us.

 

 

Blackpoint became the final stopping point before parting ways for all of us who'd traveled together from Florida. Most of us were turning back but one couple continued on as they have a three year plan to sail the Caribbean.

We could have squeezed Georgetown in if we'd really wanted to. Originally, we'd intended to spend up to a month there but as it was we would have only had a few days. If I'd really liked it I would have hated to leave it so soon.

I do believe I said I'll never sail back to the Bahamas again but if we do then we'll have to leave earlier in the year and I'll have Georgetown to look forward to.

Wilbur, our VPR guide

(Visual Pilot Rules)

 

 

 

 

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Staniel Cay and more weather.

 

Starting to build

 

 

"This is the worst weather we've experienced here in the Bahamas since November, thirty years ago." This was the announcement made on our daily VHF weather report the other day which is broadcast from Staniel Cay at 8:30 AM every day. We can believe it.

 

When we left the states for this cruise we thought we were being very proactive, what with having solar panels (the sun always shines in the Bahamas!), a wind generator (there's always a breeze in the Bahamas!), and a Honda 2000 gas generator (won't be needed in the Bahamas!), an item I'd heavily campaigned for, and I'm very happy I won that battle. I can't count how many sunless and windless days we've experienced in the last month and now that we no longer have a working wind generator I'm kicking myself that I didn't make Hans buy an additional gas can in order to keep our Honda running.

Hmmm, no wind generator? Well, let me explain.

The wind generator now lassoed down so it can't move

We really considered ourselves lucky to have been in Warderwick Wells for a week during the threat of storm # ? (I don't know, I've lost count). Anyway, it's an extremely well protected horse shoe shaped mooring field with no anchoring allowed. All week long we would hear the plaintive cries of cruisers (and one woman really did cry) hailing Exuma Park, begging for a mooring in order to get somewhere safe. But, limited space didn't allow for that and I kept telling Hans that I didn't care if he thought a week was far too long to spend in any one place! Why the hell would we want to leave a safe harbor only to search out another. We stayed put.

And then the weather cleared and we all left Warderick Wells in a mass exodus. It was quickly filled with a new group of cruisers desirous of finding a hidey-hole because, guess what? Another storm was brewing.

Our next stop was Staniel Cay which is protected from everything but west winds but we weren't worried because nothing was predicted to blow in from the west. Until it did.

Staniel Cay is one of the main reasons we came to the Exumas and I'm almost embarrassed to admit it's because it was on my bucket list (I try not to over expect from life). Otherwise known as piggy beach, this is where pigs literally swim to your dinghy looking for food. I've seen countless videos of this adorable phenomenon and just couldn't wait to see it for myself. On our first day in Staniel we did get to the beach but we were disappointed to be met by only two very fat, surly, sows, and no babies. The sows had ugly upturned snouts complete with dangerous looking, crooked yellow teeth, and they grunted in an alarming manner upon approaching us. I'd soon had enough of that scary business and then we were off to snorkel at Thunderball Grotto which was not on my bucket list but should have been. This is where the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed. Not being a James Bond fan I haven't seen it but of course now that I've been privy to the fantastic snorkeling to be had there, I'll be sure to watch it sometime in the future. I'm claustrophobic at heart and snorkeling in a cave is not something I would normally do, but since there were probably a dozen or more of us hanging out together I didn't want to be a killjoy.

It was fabulous. We anchored our dinghies in about 2 feet of water and snorkeled into the cave which doesn't really seem 'cave like' because sunlight filters through huge overhead holes. Schools of brightly colored fish darted around us and with the tide beginning to come in (you can only snorkel here at slack tide) if you swam to the far side of the cave and let the current carry you back it felt like you were flying over a fish bowl. I was all about getting there again the next day but of course another weather system moved in.

A couple of days later we made plans along with our cruising friends to go ashore in the evening to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a Cinco de Mayo party. But in the meantime we decided we'd snorkel at low tide (late afternoon) and maybe visit piggy beach again. It was an overcast morning and we were playing backgammon when I commented that the music we were listening to sounded kind of ominous. Hans checked our radio and announced it was called 'Nightmare' and for some reason it was set on repeat and not shuffle. Ha Ha we said, and gee we hoped this wasn't some kind of omen.

We were in the home stretch of one of our backgammon games and I was clearly ahead and getting ready to gloat when the wind kicked up. In a very short amount of time things really did get ominous when it started pouring rain and the winds began gusting. Hans asked how the solar panels were doing and just as I said they looked okay a gust of wind hit and the panels looked like twin magic carpets whipping about the deck on their tethers. Crap! Why the hell hadn't we put them away since the wind generator was doing such a good job. I went to go up front to retrieve them and was shocked to feel stinging rain and the wind was blowing so hard it took my breath away. Together we rolled up the panels and crab walked back to the cockpit. I stayed in the cockpit and monitored the wind speed which was gathering force and watched with alarm as the compass showed us heading more and more due west. The seas started to build and the wind was holding steady in the 30's when our wind generator started screaming and let out a horrific sound like a fog horn, and then it died. It kept spinning but was no longer generating.

By now we had the engines running, the wind was hovering near 40 knots, the waves were about 4-5 feet, and as I sat shaking in the cockpit I watched as other boats hobby horsed over and over with their bows diving nose first and then rearing up and straining at their anchors. The wind picked up even more and whipped at the very tops of the waves creating a haze like effect that ripped past us. I could hear people in another anchorage on the radio frantically calling out to each other as they were dragging and when someone (no doubt a teacher's pet in earlier years) told them they were using a hailing channel and needed to move, the resulting answer was, "F*ck you!" Sometimes the wind would ebb to the mid 30's but then my heart would slam when it would pick back up and when I saw it climb into the 40's and then hit 46 knots I didn't know what to think.

In all, I think we ran our engines for about an hour and the storm itself lasted about three hours. When the wind finally started dying down and I was seeing 25 or so knots, it seemed like heaven. We radioed our friends on shore and let them know their boats were still there and I told Hans no way were we going in for the Cinco de Mayo party. Slowly the weather cleared up and we finally dried out. By 5:00 it was dead calm and we actually went ashore for the party and it was still calm when we all came back at eight.

The next day we woke up, got a game of backgammon going, and the radio started playing the Nightmare music again.

We got off lucky though, the winds only blew 25 that afternoon.

Piece of cake!

 

 

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