We have been "fixing" our watermaker brush every 5 days or so, to keep us in water, but finally after two months of limping along - the brush is truly done, and any fix would involve a bit of redesign - so we made the call to return to the U.S about two weeks earlier than planned.
Since we were buddy boating with Breathe, we had a backup for water, so did a bit more exploring while we had time, and glad we did. We stopped at Davis Point, where there was supposed to be an old abandoned logging camp, and we thought it would be interesting to see, but the great part of the trip were the dolphins.
What amazing animals
We had a pod of 3 or 4 coastal bottlenose dolphins come and check us out as we were taking the dinghy into shore.
Hard to take good photos, shooting underwater from dinghy
They came within 2' of the dinghy
OK - enough dolphin photos - I have many more
After our dolphin encounter we headed to shore to explore the logging camp ruins. We were unsuccessful. Found a concrete block, some trash and rusted metal, but no path inland where the main camp was supposed to be.
The concrete block
Don't think this little guy sees many humans, as he was close and very curious
Jason walking rocky shoreline, looking for a path
After our explore, we decided to head further north, as the anchorage was exposed, and not great. We headed up to Randall's Cay.
Next day went for a shore explore - not a lot to see. Low lying island, lots of rock with neat layers, and mangrove swampy land.
Breathe and Charm in anchorage
Calm day, exploring the area
Went for a snorkel at Jones rock, preparing for disappointment, as we have not seen a lot of life except a few fish and the dolphins of course. We were pleasantly surprised.
Lots of large angelfish
Nice school of little guys. Fun to snorkel through
Bar Jack (I think) and Porcupine fish
Dean relaxing in dink after snorkel, Jones rock in background
After the snorkel, Dean jumped in the water, and found that our starboard prop hub had some play in it in the fwd/aft motion - not good. We decided to press on north under one engine and in the next anchorage, with calm seas, take a better look.
We had a nice sail, and short motor through a cut up to Little Cave Cay. Next morning Jason came over with his dive hookah, and Dean and Jason removed our prop and hub, found the issue, and were able to fix it. It seems an additional spacer was needed, as the old hubs had been modified for line cutters, that we removed. Luckily we had saved our old parts, and had the spacer on hand. Port side had a new hub, so no issue on that side. Funny is that we have been using the hub/prop as is since September, and this issue had been present since then - and we have had no issues - so it was probably fine, but always concerning when parts move a direction they are not supposed to. We could not have done the work without our buddy boat Breathe and their help with the dive hookah. Jason also did a great job assisting Dean underwater - so a big thanks to Jason and Monica. And yes - we have started shopping for our own dive hookah.
Jason and Dean working on the prop/hub
On shore at Little Cave Cay
Net in dead branches
Calm weather, dinks anchored while exploring ashore
We left early in the morning on the 27th, headed for the USA.
Done with the Bahama flag - 5 months of wear and tear.
Light winds, and nice sail for about 8 hours, then got rougher, and we hit the open seas between the Bahamas and the Florida coast. Had good wind, but lumpy seas, and then around 2:00 a microburst, with 30 knots hit us. Handled that OK, but then the winds just died, so motorsailed in somewhat lumpy seas until came to Ft. Pierce inlet, then just motored.
Nice sunrise as we approach the USA
Approach to Ft. Pierce - not in the Bahamas anymore
More boats and people than we have seen in the last few months
We headed up to Vero Beach, as we know we can get items shipped in there. Breathe is with us, and we will spend part of the week upgrading some of their electrical, and doing projects on our boat. Our friends Scott and Tina have a home here, and they graciously offered a use of their car, so all day Saturday we did the American thing - and spent money. We went to a Auto parts store for new batteries for Breathe, Home Depot for plumbing parts and some wood, Wal Mart for groceries, Lowes for other plumbing parts, Goodwill to drop of clothes and bedding we no longer need, Ace Hardware - looking for parts we did not find, McDonalds for lunch 😀, and Publix (large grocery) for more groceries. Had to make a trip back to boats to unload part way through, as we ran out of room in the car.
Also did a couple loads of laundry - big stuff like mattress pad and blankets that are hard to wash on the boat. Watched a little bunny hop around while waiting on laundry.
This little guy must live near the marina.
Next week will be project week - but also fun times visiting with our friends Scott and Tina, and more.
We are continuing to buddy boat with Jason on Monica on Breathe - a Manta 40. They take much better photos than us - and you can view daily photos and their blog on their facebook page.We left our nice anchorage at Hawksnest Cay in the Berry Islands on Monday sailed the 30 miles up to Sandy
Point, on Great Abaco Island. Winds much higher than forecast, so bit of a bumpy ride. Did have a nice sunrise to start the day.
Sandy Point is on the SW corner of the island. We went there as there are new Manta
catamaran owners that have a house there.
The boat they bought is located in Anacortes, Washington, and they will
head there to spend some time on it, and eventually bring it through the canal
over to the Bahamas. We wanted to say
hello to them, and also learn about their work with Bahamas Marine Mammal
Research Organization. (BMMRO).
Charlotte and Diane pretty much are the BMMRO, and study several
different variety of whales, dolphins, manatees in the Bahamas. They have done some fascinating work. We went over to their very nice home on the
beach on Sandy Point for dinner on Monday after we arrived. Had a good time and great conversation. The anchorage was a bit bumpy, but forecast winds were to switch around to the NE and die down.
Next day turned out to be a boat day, as the winds
forecasted did not happen, and we ended up spending a very lumpy day on the
boat with swell and wind not the same direction, so very confused waters.
Next day we were able to get off the boat, and had a nice
walk into town.The town is quite small,
but clean and nice for the most part.
Very small community, surprised to see a fire station - old trucks but appear to still work.
Nice school, with some pretty nice murals on the building
Stopped at small grocery and got a few supplies.
Nicely maintained roads
Nice palm on the beach
On Thursday, we went again into Diane and Charlottes home,
where they showed us the varied bones from marine mammals, and explained more
about their work, which is quite fascinating. Learn more here: http://www.bahamaswhales.org/home.aspx
Small seahorse sitting on sperm whale tooth (tooth is about 6" long)
Diane, showing the skull collection, and educating us
Charlotte in the computer lab/office with more interesting information
They then took us down to Rock Point, where they knew there
was good snorkeling, and they were right.
Lots of fish, and healthy corals.
Had a great snorkel.
Beautiful large area full of sea fans
Healthy coral, nice to see
There were lots of healthy Elkhorn coral, and lots of fish
A truly beautiful spot to snorkel.
Later in the evening we met Charlotte and Diane for dinner at a local restaurant for a nice dinner out.
Left to right on top row: Monica, Jason, Diane. Bottom row left to right: Charlotte, Dean, Kris
A change in winds forecasted so we left early Friday, and sailed about 25 miles north into
the The Marls.
The Marls are a
large areaof shallow waterand low lying small islandsdotted by mangrove stand.It is a popular area for Bonefishing, and is
supposed to be one of the most unique and productive fisheries in the
Bahamas.We did see some fish, and
turtles, but there is lots of hurricane damage still, and not as much wildlife
as we thought there might be.
We will move
today and do some more exploring in The Marls for a few more days.
We went for a nice snorkel on Monday at the north end of Bonds Cay. Not much coral to see, but some large parrot fish and quite a few of them. Took the dink to land, but did not see any good trails on the island.
Had a nice rain on Monday, got about 15 to 20 gallons in the tank, and boat was nicely washed off. We motored up to Hoffman's Cay, as strong northeast to east winds projected - with rain.
We sat on the boat for the next two days while the winds blew 25 plus knots, and it rained. Good time to read books, relax, watch movies, and make bread and cookies. Went over to Breathe for a delicious taco dinner, with chocolate lava cake for dessert - so yummy. Made the dink trip in the rain worth it (plus the company was nice :)
The rain stopped and the sun came out on Thursday. We got off the boat and went for a hike to a blue hole, some ruins, and the ocean side of Hoffman's.
At the Blue Hole on Hoffman's Cay, unique overhang on west side.
Our friends Monica and Jason on Breathe - a Manta 40 joined us in West Bay. We went for a nice walk, to the staircase, which is just some steep stairs cut through rock leading to a rocky shore. We also snorkeled the statue Ocean Atlas, a underwater sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor. He has done several underwater sculptures. The water was a bit murky, and filled with small jellyfish. Some thumb sized, some half dollar sized, and a few large ones. You could not avoid them, there were so many, but we avoided the larger ones.
We stayed in Nassau until Monday, as we wanted to check and see if we could get brushes from a local shop in Nassau. Dean called about 4 electric motor repair/rebuild businesses - but they all said the same thing "You won't find those in the Bahamas". So we decided to give up and moved from Nassau proper around to West Bay, - still on New Providence Island. West Bay is much calmer, without the chop and bounce from constant boat traffic that you get in Nassau.
We also wanted to make water, and even though you can see the bottom in when you get around 8' deep in Nassau harbor, we did pull up an old tire on our chain, and you just know the chance of the water there being a bit icky is high.
We were lucky, the watermaker worked and we ran it for about 3 hours.
Next day was calm, so we headed out for a snorkel on the north end of Goulding Cay to explore the reef. At one time, this was one of the most beautiful reefs in the world - or so says some information on the internet. Snorkeling it, we can believe it. The reef structure is phenomenal. Unfortunately, most the reef is dead, and not many fish. It was like snorkeling through a ghost town. Kinda cool, but sad at the same time.
The white on the coral is dead coral. You can see the interesting shapes still
Lots of vertical coral formations - but mostly dead
Saw a couple of parrot fish, and a few others, but not many fish
Formations were very cool
Some formations tall - this one at least 10' from floor to top
Did see some signs of coral making a comeback, so hopefully that will continue.
Next day we took a walk, the only public access point is a small public beach called Jaws Beach, which also has a nice dumpster - so we got rid of our trash. Walked the road, and we were going to walk back through Clifton Heritage National Park on the trail - but it was $16.50 per person, so we opted out, and just walked back on the road again. Back at the beach, we walked the beach to explore an old sailboat washed up on shore.
At the SW corner of the island there is a large ship loading/offloading dock
West Bay anchorage as seen from beach
The sailboat "Moriah" from Oriental, NC. Has been hard ashore for a while, and mostly gutted inside.
Pretty boring the rest of the week. Winds picked up so had a couple of boat days. Kris did taxes and made brownies. Dean cleaned the boat bottom, and added some seal to a lower thru hull.
We did laundry - and made water again - but only after having to repair the motor brush again.
Our friends on Breathe arrived last night - and we will hang out here out West Bay today, and then will buddy boat with them for a bit over to Andros Island - were we plan on renting a car and touring the island - which will be fun. We understand that Andros also offers free good water - so don't have to worry about the watermaker for a while.
