Better Off Left Alone

     Update on the photo uploading issue mentioned in my previous blog entry.  It appears that deep in the bowels of the Google sacred castle, there is a dungeon filled with computer gurus who have decided to reinvent the wheel.  They figured a round wheel can and will be perfected.  The google version of the wheel is shaped like a triangle, and the sudden thud heard around the world was the wheel set into motion and landing on one of its flat sides.  Actually, the noise was from Google falling flat on its face!  Many of Google's blooogers are experiencing the same SNAFU that I have experienced and some have tried to circumvent the issue by taking drastic measures only to be regretting their actions.  Some bloggers claim to have email & Facebook addresses for the powers that be, but it's one of those cases where the lights are on but nobody's home!

     Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Mother Nature has flexed her muscle once again here in Paradise.  Today's forecast is to be followed by 5 more days of the same - windy with passing squalls.  Windy is sustained 20 knots and gusting to 25.  Translation:  not a good idea to dinghy ashore unless you like a salt spray shower.  No problem.  Once you get to shore, the passing rain squall will rinse off the salt.  What about the trip back to the boat?  You catch my drift. These next 5 days will not fall into the category of being 315 days.

     As a counter measure to being "trapped" on the boat for an extended period, I have decided to do absolutely nothing today.  Then, when I am totally bored out of my mind tomorrow, I can start a new book or rebuild a few water pumps, or figure out why our VHF radio transmits but does not receive.  The boat list goes on and on and on and.................  Or I can sit and wait out the weather, just like I'm going to wait for Google to return the blogging world to its normal configuration when it was better off left alone.

Plan B

     I was in the process of uploading 5 new photos for the "Big Run Blog" when I received this notification:

"Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos.

Photos are stored in your Picasa Web Albums account and are included in your 1 GB free quota for photos. Additional storage you purchase is shared between several Google products and is in addition to your free quota."

     I think it's time to develop a Plan B.

M/V Lady Frances

      This is M/V Lady Frances, hailing from Nassau, Bahamas.  She is the backbone of the outter islands and the lifeline to the civilized world.  In the Bahamas she is quite often called the mail boat.  There are many mail boats in the Bahamas.  Most resemble the Lady Francis.  Although called a mail boat, she carries everything and anything.  Remember there are no roads from there to here.  If you're building a house, the mail boat brought the materials.  If you bought a new car, the mail boat brought it.  When the mail boat arrives it's a social event in Black Point Settlement, everybody comes to the government dock.  We always look forward to the mail boat's arrival for she brings fresh produce.

315 Day

     The Bahamas Meteorology Department boasts that the Bahamas are bathed in sunshine for 315+ days a year, and today was one of those days.  So much so that we have started calling those weather perfect days a "315 day".  

       Today was the first day we were able to get the kayaks down and do some paddling.  Until today, it has been too windy to enjoy a good paddle.  Our trip started at 9:30 this morning after a hearty breakfast pizza Sharon made on the grill.  Yea, I get pizza for breakfast.  Our destination was Jack's Bay Cove, just to the south of Plain Bay at White Point.  From Plain Bay it is a 2.5 mile paddle that took us about 1.5 hours to reach the cove.  A slight breeze pushed us down along the west side of Great Guana Cay giving us an opportunity to view all the creatures lurking in the shallow waters along the edge of the cay.  We did see briefly a loggerhead turtle, but mostly small fish.  This was our first visit for this year to the cove.  Compared to previous visits last year, the cove did experience some beach erosion from Hurricane Sandy and it did have a lot of sea grass deposited on the beach.  The return paddle to Plain Bay has us slipping the head breeze by hugging the cliffs where we did find the cave shown in the photos below.  As we crossed Plain Bay back to Big Run, the head wind did not slow us down.  This was truly a 315 day! 

This cave was big enough to  accommodate 20 kayakers!

Reason To Celebrate

     Early Saturday afternoon we arrived at Black Point Settlement in the Bahamas.  We were quite surprised to find an empty harbor.  The lack of boats here in the Exumas is probably due to it being early in the season, Hurricane Sandy and the persistent blow that has been plaguing the Bahamas since this past Tuesday.  If we didn't have the weather window that we did on Monday and Tuesday, Big Run would still be sitting in Miami. 

     One of the first things we did when we got to Black Point was to launch the dinghy and dinghy over to the government dock so we could go for a walk.  We decided to walk over to the east side of the island and check the beach to see the effects that Hurricane Sandy had on the beaches.  As we walked through the town we noticed that the homes had weathered the hurricane very well.  A few missing shingles but no extensive damage for an area that experienced 105 MPH winds.  The beaches were actually in very good condition also with little or no beach erosion.  Despite the blowing winds and spray from the surf, we did a little beachcoming.  Sharon was on the hunt for sea glass, and I was looking for small pieces of drift wood  and fishing buoy floats.  I found one nice float to add to the S/V Meant To Be collection and we both managed to find  about two handfuls of nicely  "polished" sea glass.

     On the bright side of all these winds is that our wind generator is producing electricity very nicely, thank you very much. Before retiring each night I check the battery charge state.  Last night it was minus 60 amp hours.  This morning when I checked the batteries it was minus 67 amp hours.  In 9 hours we had a deficit of 7 amp hours.  Thanks to the new refrigeration system and some stout winds we have reason to celebrate.

The Bahamians love to express themselves with brilliant colors.  (Black Point Settlement)

    

Stay

    Our first year in the Bahamas, we were given 30 days on our cruising permit at the Bimini Immigrations Office and spent the last 10 days of that initial permit trying to get an extension, which we did receive while in Georgetown.  Last year, our second trip to the Bahamas I sweet-talked the young lady at the Bimini Immigrations Office into giving us 120 days.  We also needed to get an extension for that permit because our transmission died  when we were attempting to cross the Tongue Of The Ocean while heading back to the United States.  This year, our first time checking in at Nassau, the officials, one customs agent and one immigration agent, came to the boat at the marina and granted us 180 days.  They don't want us to leave; we may have to stay!

Diesel Engine

       Last Thursday, as Sharon and I studied the latest weather forecast we noticed a weather window of opportunity for Monday and Tuesday to cross over to the Bahamas.  All of our sources confirmed the same prediction, low winds.  Low winds translate into a good sea state for Big Run.  Usually, we don't give any credence to weather predictions over 2 days out, but we still had to prepare.  Thursday afternoon I started  doing maintenance work when I noticed our water maker was throwing a hissy fit.  After a few phone calls to the local watermaker dealer and Rick (M/V Broulee), we decided to head north back to West Palm Beach area where a very reputable watermaker dealer is located.  Well, there goes the crossing opportunity out the window.  As we traveled north I worked the phones and was able to get a different dealer in Ft. Lauderdale to look at the watermaker on Saturday.  What was thought to be catastrophic failure may have been operator error.  Chalk that one up to the learning curve.  We did manage to salvage the trip to Ft. Lauderdale by buying diesel fuel from Peterson's Fuel Barge for $.50 a gallon cheaper than the marinas' advertised price in Miami

      Back in Miami on Sunday and all was a go for a crossing Monday morning for the weather window got even better.  Monday morning the anchor was hauled by 6:10 a.m. Last year we hauled the anchor by 4 a.m.  But this year was going to be different.  Last year we traveled to Bimini and checked in.  This year our plans was to do an overnight crossing to Nassau.  Travel time was estimated to be 26 hours.

Inbound freighter as we exit government cut in Miami.

      Just after exiting government cut in Miami, the Coast Guard announced they were closing government cut due to inbound cruise ships, a common practice by the USCG and without warning.  We cleared that obstacle by 5 minutes.  One hour into our journey we found ourselves in the grip of the Gulf Stream.  The Gulf Stream is a northbound flow of water in the Florida Straits.  When you have any winds with a northerly component, the Gulf Stream can get a little bumpy but today it was very manageable.  So, between a strong drift north by the current and the northwest breeze, our first 20 miles were a little bit of a challenge.  Six hours into the crossing both the current and sea state started to relax its grip on Big Run.  By 2 p.m., we had crossed the Florida Straits and were just south of Bimini on the The Great Bahama Bank.  For the next 9 hours we experienced almost dead flat calm conditions, barely a ripple on the water as we crossed the bank.  In the photo below you'll notice a near "lost horizon" condition, where the horizon between the water and sky merge to the point of being invisible.

Traveling the The Great Bahama Bank, twenty miles from anywhere, a weary traveler takes a rest on our pulpit.

     By 11 p.m. we arrived at the Northwest Channel, the upper reach of the Tongue Of The Ocean. This was our next crucial point in time. The Tongue Of The Ocean has been our second arch nemesis, next to the Albermarle Sound in North Carolina.  As we entered the deep water of the Northwest Channel, we found that the water had been tamed by the lack of winds.  Again, dead flat calm conditions.   We felt like we were in a dream, perfect conditions for Big Run. No hobby horsing by the bow of the boat, no pitching side to side as the boat was rolled by beam seas.  What a ride!  Conditions were so good we had to throttle back so as not to arrive at the Nassau marina before they opened.  This was the ultimate crossing.  As a matter of fact, from the time we entered the Great Bahama Bank to the entrance to Nassau Harbour, the only way you could tell the boat was moving was by the low rumbling sound of Big Run's diesel engine.

Sunrise on The Tongue Of The Ocean.  Note the inbound cruise ship on the left heading for Nassau Harbour on the right.

The old and the new.  Lighthouse at Nassau Harbor entrance overshadowed by Atlantis looming in the background.