Thursday, February 27, 2014

Abaco to Eleuthera

February 27, 2014

We have now transited from the Abacos to Eleuthera. 

On Monday (2/24) we left Marsh Harbour and moved down the Sea of Abaco and anchored near Lynyard Cay.  This staged us for an early morning departure on Tuesday (2/25) out Little Harbour Cut and across the North East Providence Channel (Hole in the Wall)  to Eleuthera.  This is blue-water passage  (maximum water depth around 15,000 feet) across a very busy shipping channel.

We saw a number of large freighters with which we had comfortable crossings.  One freighter crossing, however, was WAY TOO CLOSE.  From bearings and AIS information I figured that he would pass astern of us but very close.  This put me in an 'awkward' position.  To cut back and try to cross across his stern would require a very aggressive move and might conflict with his plan. Speeding up might have helped, but might also cause confusion.  I was about to try to contact him by radio when he turned to the left, increasing the distance he would pass behind us to about 0.8 nautical miles.   This may seem like a lot, but when the ship is about a 1/4 mile long, believe me it doesn't seem like too much.

The weather was very mild.  There was little wind and a modest sea swell. No sailing, but our faithful Yanmar engine kept us moving along.  About 10 hours after our 0630 departure from Little Harbour, we anchored at Royal Island.

We originally planned to keep moving and head down to Rock Sound, but an increase in wind and seas have delayed us; we may now spend a few days in Spanish Wells.


Tom
Anchored Royal Island
Near Eleuthera 

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Marsh Harbour Friends

February 23, 2014

We have been docked at Harbour View Marina http://www.harbourviewmarina.com/ in Marsh Harbour, Abaco for the last three weeks. It has been a great time to catch up on boat maintenance, laundry, cleaning, and renew some friendships from our visit here almost two years ago.

Harbour View is a very nice marina in a great location, near some great stores, restaurants, and coffee shops.  We especially enjoy the short walk to the very nice bathroom/showers and pool. We don't dock that much during the winter and at our home marina in Florida it is a long walk to these facilities, so HVM is a special treat. It is run by Troy Cornea and assisted by his father and mother Bob and Phyllis Cornea.  They are great folks and it was nice to catch up with them.  Unfortunately,  Bob fell and broke his hip a while ago, but is starting to get around better.




The highlight of the visit was returning to Grace Baptist Church in Dundas Town.  We have developed a special relationship with this small church and the people there.  On our first visit this year, Jackie Robins, the pastor's wife introduced and welcomed us from the platform and said "You are not visitors, you are family".  It was a special moment and a sentiment that we feel towards them as well! 

The church was founded by Bishop Henfield, Jackie's father, who along with his wife are still very active as an Overseers. Shawn Robbins, Jackie's husband is the current pastor. 

The services are lively, very moving, and a bit long by American standards, but you really don't  notice until you look at your watch as you're leaving and are surprised that it is 2 1/2 hours after the start of the service.

At our last visit there two years ago, Bishop Henfield prayed for two things for us: a safe trip home and a quick sale of our house in Syracuse.  I was able to share a testimony how God wonderfully answered those prayers!

We had the Robbins and Henfields over to the marina and boat for a dessert on Sunday - it was a great time!

The extended Henfield family also run a great local restaurant here called Ju' Novia's.  It is a locals go-to and has great Bahamian food.  If you are interested in exploring Bahamian breakfasts, they have the most expansive menu I have ever seen.  I expanded my experiences this year with a Sheep's Tongue Souse - it was delicious - along with old favorites of Steam Cornbeef and Stew Fish.  Yum!



One friend that was missing was Ashley from Java's Coffee house. She has moved to Seattle and her mother now runs the cafĂ© by herself.  Although we know that Ashley has better opportunities there, we were sorry that we didn't get to see her.

The lowlight of our time here was a week-long intestinal 'bug' that had me (Tom) quite sick.  All better now and all in all, this was not a bad place to be sick.

On Monday we head down the Sea of Abaco to near Little Harbour to stage for a trip south to Eleuthera on Tuesday.  This is 'blue-water' passage across a very busy shipping lane.

Tom
Docked at Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco


Thursday, February 6, 2014

Abaco Yacht Services - New Outboard

February 6, 2013

I usually don't post just about new boat stuff, but we had such a great experience buying a new outboard at Abaco Yacht Services  http://www.go-abacos.com/ays/ays_serv.html in Green Turtle that I just had to give them a shout-out.

We bought a 15HP Yamaha outboard for our recently purchased dinghy.  The dinghy that we got with the boat 4 years ago did a yeoman's job, but it was not fast nor stable enough for a cruising dinghy that you use as your 'SUV'.  This summer we bought a 10' AB dinghy from Suncoast Inflatables (who also were very knowledgeable and helpful). 

Our new AB dinghy and 15HP Yamaha OB

Our 8HP Yamaha outboard ran fine, but was not powerful enough to plane (go fast) the new dinghy, so we knew that we needed to get another one. 

Scott and Crystal at AYS were great!   They had a 15HP in stock and offered a fair price.  They did a great job of setting it up, helping us mount it, and gave use great break-in guidance.

We were not sure exactly what we were going to do with the old one.  It ran great and we could have kept it as a spare, but really didn't want to give up the space or carry the extra weight.  Scott offered to sell the old one for us.  He asked what we wanted to get out of it; we never discussed terms, it was a handshake deal. 

A few weeks later we got an email saying that they had sold it and wanted to know how they could get us the money. We had moved on from Green Turtle and were planning to be in Marsh Harbour soon.  Crystal said that she goes to Marsh Harbour every Thursday and could stop by our boat.  On Thursday she came to the marina and gave us the proceeds - $100 more than the price I asked!  Needless to say we were very happy and pleased with their efforts on our behalf.

AYS is a Yamaha dealer, but also offers boat repairs, painting, and storage in a very well maintained yard in Black Sound.  The tie-downs that they use for boat storage are the best I have ever seen - the tie-downs are anchored in concrete in the rocky/coral ground of the island - they are not going anywhere.

If you need an outboard or other boat services, we heartily recommend AYS.  They don't come any better than Crystal & Scott at AYS. 

As a note, Abaco Outboard Service in Marsh Harbour is not associated with AYS - previously they were related but no longer are.  If you can, we recommend that you deal with AYS.

Tom
Docked in Marsh Harbour, Abaco


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Hopetown

February 3, 2014

We spent a week on a mooring in Hopetown Harbour on Elbow Cay.  Hopetown is a pleasant place, but probably the most 'touristy' of any of our destinations in the Bahamas.  There are a large number of winter residents and guest cottages for shorter term stays along with supporting restaurants and shops.

It is home, however, to the iconic Elbow Cay Lighthouse.  This was one of several lighthouses built in the late 19th century by the Imperial Lighthouse Service to help reduce the number of ships coming to grieve on the reefs that fringe the Bahamas.  As we discussed in our blog entry on crossing the Providence Channel, the Bahamas Bank forms a large roadblock to ships transiting to North America, with only a few deep-water passages across. Interestingly, the local residents at that time, who made a substantial part of their income as 'wreckers', were not in favor of building lighthouses and tried to impede their construction.

 

The lighthouse is lit every night, but looking at it any time after midnight will assure you that it is not a serious aid to navigation;  it may or may not be burning brightly and is rarely turning so as to display the proper characteristic early in the morning.

It is, however, one of only a few functioning lighthouses using 19th century technology so it has great historical significance.

The light is fueled by pressurized kerosene (for campers, think of a large Coleman lantern).  The light is rotated by a clock mechanism powered by a large weight that must be cranking to the top of the structure every few hours.


Kerosene pressure vessels


Clockworks that rotate the light


View of the harbour from the top of the lighthouse


One of the other landmarks in town is the Cholera Cemetery. A devastating epidemic hit the Bahamas in 1850's.  A very interesting book, that gives a great view of the Loyalist experience in the Bahamas, including the Cholera epidemic, is Wind From the Carolinas.  We heartily recommend it to anyone wanting to better understand the history of the Bahamas.



Sailboat racing is a very popular activity in the Bahamas and Hopetown is home to the 'Rage'.  The Bahamian racing sloops are 'rocket ships' that carry an enormous amount of sail.  They must be balanced by multiple crew members out on hiking boards; they also capsize regularly.




Note the length of the boom - HUGE!

We attended the Methodist Church family service on Sunday.  There we found a great Canadian couple on staff (Andrew and Nicole) working with youth and coordinating the family service.  We were really impressed by their obvious love for the Lord and their enthusiasm in sharing. 

Our favorite restaurant here is the Bahamian owned and run Harbour's Edge.  We went there late in our visit here two years ago and were impressed with their food and friendly service.  This time we visited earlier (and often :-)) and were not disappointed. 

On Monday, we transited the Sea of Abaco to  Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour.  We plan to stay here for a couple of weeks as we reprovision and catch up on laundry, boat cleaning, and repairs;  it has been over a month since we docked and the laundry situation was getting desperate.  We also hope to visit our friends at Grace Baptist Church in Dundas Town.

Tom
Docked at Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco