First two weeks in The Bahamas

(Announcer): When last we left our intrepid voyagers, they were setting out for the Bahamas, promising to keep in touch via satellite phone technology and posting to sailblog! Now, back to the madmen!

Well.... I knew the satellite phone was finicky, so multiply that by two or three (the number of additional bits of electronica involved) and add in my serious lack of motivation while tired and damp and nervous and I should have predicted no posts. Sorry...I DO feel bad about it. If only I had an easy way of simply posting my location, something built-in to Iridium but lacking with Inmarsat.

The weather forecast looked weird, turbulent, highly variable depending on a few tens of miles change in location.. but OK... and I felt bad about keeping Cynthia in Florida longer. So we departed and headed south, hugging the coast, trying to get far enough south to cross the Gulf Stream without ending up in South Carolina. The wind (or lack thereof) didn't help.... we finally tried crossing and ended up twenty miles north of Abaco, a south wind that could have helped us cross twelve hours earlier becoming stronger and stronger and pushing us north. This sucked and grew rougher and rougher, but we did what we could and Cynthia even studied for her boards....

and then the main halyard snapped and the sail dropped....and the broken line fell into the water and fouled the propeller.

Well, wasn't THIS delightful! I really didn't want to sail into a strange harbor without a working engine, although I would have if I couldn't figure a safe way to handle it. We continued to sail for the Man-O-War entrance at Abaco Island sound and contemplated methods, then put the best into action.

Heaving-to during a brief lull in the wind (down to perhaps fifteen knots?) left the boat moving along at about a knot or so, slow enough that I could keep up by swimming if needed. With Cynthia as safety engineer and general assistant, a line in one hand, and a dive knife strapped to a leg, I snorkeled down, cut and unwrapped the line from the propeller shaft, and climbed back aboard. Easy!

We made our way to Marsh Harbor and called out on the radio for any marinas that could take a boat with our length and draft (everything in the Bahamas is SHALLOW) and a fellow responded and guided us in... to a shoal. And then onto another.. Enough: we dropped anchor and rowed over, checked in through Customs and Immigration, and headed back to the boat.

I could go on. Our outboard engine won't start and we need to put some effort into that. We replaced the main halyard and it chafed again (but we caught it in time. We smoothed the spot we guessed might be causing the chafing, but to no avail and will need to climb again and get more line. A leak developed again along the rudder post, so I tightened the compression nut. A couple fellows befriended us in Marsh Harbor and showed us the ropes, even helping get my spare phone set up for the Bahamas. We sailed south toward George Town in Great Exuma, but changed our minds part way and ducked in to Rock Sound Harbor in the south end of Eleuthra, enjoying the people there and hunting lionfish (Cynthia got eight)

on the way out Wednesday noon. We sailed for Great Inagua, but stopped at Cat Island instead... and were visited by a couple out for a hour or so in a cat boat!

The weather is FINALLY getting warm as we travel south. And the stars are SO bright. And dolphins played around the bow as we approached Cat Island today

and did acrobatics as we headed toward Eleuthra last week. And sunrises and sunsets delight.

And we both love cranberry pancakes for breakfast...

Tomorrow we should see what we can do about finding more lionfish, installing collars on the masts, fixing the fridge, solving the chafing halyard issue, etc, etc, etc.

Out of Florida, heading ... south? east?

The new cable bobstay in place of the old chain looks great and ready for adventure.

I don't think the bilge pump has turned on more than a time or two since we repaired things, at least I've never caught it in action. The new alternator belt is finally tight enough.. I hope... that we will no longer open the engine room to find piles of rubber dust and a loose belt. Cynthia has packed every space in the boat with goodies and I have no idea where most things are, but I'll find them. Yesterday she even made a fitted sheet for our bed in the aft stateroom. And we've done so many more things! I think we are ready, finally, to depart....even though the dinghy leaks abominably (I'll fix it as we sail).

And, of course, when one is ready, the weather has to butt-in with issues.... it looks QUITE interesting, enough so that I even considered odd options. I think we will simply head south, spend a day on Cay Sal Bank, then continue southeast toward the Virgin Islands. Possibly we may stop in the Bahamas or Turks and Caicos, or we may push on through. We shall see.

I've found a good blog site and an email service that will work over my satellite phone, but it is all plain text: even signing into gmail would take hours at the slow data rate available. So, if you want to follow us, go to https://www.sailblogs.com/member/hydrophilia/
or contact us at hydrophilia@satxgate.com

I'll post our location and a few words at least once per day, probably twice. We may go fast and get to St John in ten days, but more likely will mess about and get there in a matter of three or four weeks.

Adventure!

Sonoma visit December 2018

How fast the decades pass! Nearly three of them have gone by since I gutted the house my folks bought and rebuilt it for them. And they have mostly been quite happy with it. Of course, there are things that need work from time to time. Last time I was here I replaced a few deck planks, this time I'm working in the attic (nice and cool this time of year), crawling under the house, pruning, etc.

Progress remains slow: although I've recovered considerably in the years since I quit my carpentry here, I still find that working in the attic (or under the house or weeding or on the deck) leaves me hurting rather quickly... and, day by day, I was finding myself stiffer and groaning more loudly: time wounds all heels (not to mention backs and knees). After over ten days, however, I think I've found an amount of work that, combined with yoga and walking each day, leaves me no worse off than the day before.

And solving problems and fixing things brings satisfaction. Doing a good job brings satisfaction. And I get to visit my folks and extended family. And Chris (an old friend) and I checked out Jack London museum and walked around the remains of his amazing house.

And, yes, I am eager to get back aboard the boat and point her nose toward adventure.