After all the talk on the Cruisers Net about Whale Cay Channel, we were anxious as we set out.  It can be terrible with North through East winds. Fortunately we had blusterous South East winds. It turned into a delightful passage.

The tide was down and the rocks were clearly visible on the starboard side as we crept into Black Sound. We found The Other Side Club and they had room for us on the long dock. After five days on moorings it was great to plug in, turn off the genset and tune in to ESPN and watch the tennis matches.
 

Marion went ashore while I got the boat settled. "Get your swim suit on," she said, "beyond those trees is a swimming pool down by the water." It was hot and I was ready, "I will be just a minute. A cold beer is called for." The pool was filled with salt water but was nevertheless refreshing.

After the swim we biked to New Plymouth for a late lunch. New Plymouth is one of the original Loyalist settlements in the Abacos.  It has three museums: the Albert Lowe museum, a bronze sculpture garden honoring the Loyalist Settlers, and  Ye Olde Goal (jail). It's clean and neat as a pin. There are three general stores featuring groceries. We were pretty well supplied so we didn't stock up.

We had run low on Imodium AD so I made it a point to look for some.

"Yes, we carry Imodium," the sales lady said before she actually looked at the shelf, "Oh my, It appears we are out. There will surely be some on this afternoon's supply boat."

We went to another store. I found the place on the shelf where it should have been... next to the PeptoBismal. "Do you usually carry Imodium?" I asked the sales lady.

"Yes, we do, but there's been a run on it."

 "A run on Imodium," I smiled and mused, "how appropriate ... that's funny."

We took the dinghy to explore the other sound at Green Turtle Cay. That's where the fancy resorts are. There were dozens of boats anchored in White Sound. We saw M/Y Legend, M/Y Sybarite II,  S/V Westwind and S/V Daze Off. We had met these cruisers along the way and now we were all in one spot.

"Let us all have cocktails together on our boat," offered Sybarite II.

"Fine by us," I replied, "How about tomorrow?"

"Let's make it the day after, I have maintenance things that have the boat in a mess right now."

It was agreed. Neil and Gail O'Donnell have Sybarite II, a new Great Harbor 37 Trawler. We followed them into Man-O-War in the rain, and later met them walking on the island. We always seemed to end up in the other harbour from where they were.

We pulled along side Westwind and introduced ourselves. Robby and Helen Loadman remembered us from Man-O-War, where we had switched moorings with them. They have more experience in the Abacos than we, so I asked where there might be good snorkeling.

"Ya mus go ta Gillham Bay," answered Robby in his very thick Australian accent.

"And where might that be?" I was attempting an Irish brogue.

"It's down your harbour... and over the hill. There is a dock... then cross the road and through the pasture..." he was going on when I interrupted.

"Do you have snorkeling stuff?" I asked.

"Sure do," he replied.

"Well how about you and Helen act like tour guides, and take us there tomorrow?" I asked. "We will pick you up in our dinghy."  It was agreed, snorkeling in the morning then lunch in town.

On the way back to Remedy I opened up the throttle on the dinghy. We were going at least 20 on the flat water. "Ed, I'm getting wet feet, the boat is leaking ," Marion called to me.

The water was visibly coming in on port side. I cut the speed, and the flow stopped. I sped up, and it returned. "The boat is leaking," I observed.

"That's what I said," she replied as if I had not heard her the first time.

We often have these kind of exchanges when things go wrong. She observes the problem, I confirm the problem, then she thinks I was not paying attention.  Actually my delayed response is due to the fact that I am trying to diagnose the severity of the problem, and how to fix it, before I acknowledge the problem. This time it was no different. "Move over to the starboard side," I requested, "That might stop the flow."

It seemed to slow the flow of water. I pulled the drain plug so the water would drain while we were on plane. "See, the water is going out as fast as it is coming in," I observed.

"I think you are going to have to fix the dink," she said. She was clearly not going to buy this solution.

"You are right," I agreed, "we can't go on like this. But I need to hoist it, and dry it out, before I can fix it."
 
 

Gillham Bay Next day I went alone to pick up Robby and Helen.  Marion would join us when we came back by Remedy. I brought the camera along.  I wanted a good picture of Westwind.  She is a well equipped 30 foot sloop they bought in Florida.  It's been their home for the past six months cruising the Bahamas. They rely on fans and a wind scoop for cooling. It's more Spartan than we could endure, but proves cruising can be enjoyed on a shoestring budget.

This picture was taken by a passing Hermit Crab on the beach. Gillham Bay is a postcard perfect shallow bay.  We spent the morning finding sand dollars on the white sand bottom. The water was mid thigh deep, crystal clear with 6 inch wavelets. The sandy bottom had tiny underwater dunes which partially hid the sand dollars. The sand was in constant motion, caused by the gentle surf "blowing" the tops off the dunes.  It was mesmerizing to watch.

After lunch we toured the town with Robby and Helen as our guides. The sculpture garden has a collection of twenty or so famous persons in the history of the Abacos. After the tour we returned to Remedy and I did a set of boat cards with the photo of Westwind taken that morning.  Ain't technology great?

That afternoon I hauled the dinghy and discovered that the glue holding the buoyancy tube to the hard bottom had failed. A two foot long section in the bow was loose. No wonder we were taking on water.

The damaged area was dry the next morning. It was patched and tested, before the day got too hot to work. Part of the test was a high speed run to Gillham Bay. This time we found conch as well as Sand Dollars. That afternoon we checked out of the marina and moved over to the anchorage in White Sound.

We celebrated our last night in the Abacos with the cocktail hour on Sybarite II.  We were joined by the crews of Westwind and Daze Off.  Neil and Gail gave us a tour of their Great Harbor 37 Trawler. It is a very well equipped boat and considering its length it has a lot of living area. If you say, "It is a lovely boat", Neil will correct you. "No it's actually an ugly boat... but very functional."

I agree because it looks like a cross between a tug boat and a river boat. It's truly a coastal cruiser and optimized for comfortable living on calm waters.

Next the party moved ashore to the Green Turtle Club. We listened and danced to some hot Bahamian music. We gave Robby and Helen a tow in their dinghy to Westwind and retired for the night.

Homeward Bound

The weather had been great for the past four days. We had not even worried about it. Now it was time to head back to Florida. The forecast was for good weather the next three days. That's all we needed to get back to the US.

Great Sale Anchorage was our first stop. It was just 51 miles. We arrived after skirting a thunderstorm. We actually were disappointed because a good rain would have rinsed the boat and provided freshwater for a cool bath.

"Hello all stations. This is Motor Yacht Remedy providing weather conditions at Great Sale anchorage." I announced on VHF 16, "All interested parties should switch to channel 68 for a brief report."

"Remedy, Remedy, this is Sybarite II," came a responese from Neil.

"This is Remedy, good to hear from you... didn't think you were coming."

Neil explained, "We decided to move on about an hour after you left. We should be in Great Sale in an hour or so... will listen for your report."

On VHF 68 I gave the following report:

"This is Motor Yacht Remedy advising of conditions at Great Sale Anchorage. Winds are South East at about 10 knots. We are anchored in 8 feet of water about 1/2 mile due East of the Cay and about 1 mile above the southern tip. There is just a slight ripple on the water. If the winds hold from the South East we will have a comfortable night. The current  population in the anchorage is one power boat. We have room for about 9,500 more boats with 150 feet of rode out."

As the afternoon progressed eight boats came to the anchorage. Neil and Gail came over on their dinghy and we wound down the day with stories of places we have been and places to visit next. They would go on to Lucaya and we were off to West End.

On our trip to West End we passed three large thunderstorms. Again we did not get a free rinse down. As we neared our destination, we could see the water tower at the end of the island. One boat ahead of us reported a waterspout blocking his view of the water tower. That was scary. All we could see was the huge black cloud that moved over the West End Settlement. It was 2 miles to the East of us.

The charts indicate a 7 foot channel with 5 foot depth on either side. That's shallow enough to make me slow down. "Marion, will you please go to the bow," I called, "We are approaching some shallow water."

She went forward. "Ed, look over the the side," she called to me, "there are star fish all over the bottom. Real big ones too."

I was busy watching a depth sounder reading 6 feet and charts showing we should be in 8 feet. But I did take a glance or two at the beautiful scene we were passing over.

The tide tables said we were at low water and the markers we passed had lots of growth showing. Ahead was the spot where the channel was advertised as 5 feet. (recall we start rubbing at 4.5). By this time I had reduced speed to 1/2 knot. It did not help that the water was so clear that we seemed ready to hit the nearby rocks. It also did not help that there was a trawler ahead that appeared to be standing still. Was he aground?  Would we be next?

We were an eternity (actually about 10 minutes) in this perilous suspense. Then the depth went to 7.. 8.. 12... and suddenly 30 feet. We were clear of the Bahamas Bank.

All this time I had been attempting to reach Old Bahama Bay Marina. The dockmaster answered on a handheld VHF, and we could not hear him. Finally, at a range of less than a mile, we established two way communications. Another boat Attitude Adjustment seemed to be negotiating a reservation ahead of us. As we approached, the dockmaster asked if we would be happy on the wall near the fuel dock. Not knowing any better, I said that would be fine. We were ready to get tied up because the weather did not appear to be improving. We were ushered right in and Attitude Adjustment was instructed to stand by outside the harbour.  I felt a little guilty getting in first, but I didn't hold back.

The marina is in the heart of a very nice resort community... Timeshare condos, canal lot estates, and a first class marina with a high priced restaurant and gift shop. At $2.44 a foot it was the most expensive night we spent in the Bahamas.  Marion got even by buying a nice Tee shirt on sale. She saved about $8. We also ordered the Seafood platter off the Lunch menu instead of the Dinner menu and saved another $12. That gives the restaurant a rating of ***$$.

The weather report was kind of "iffy" but we decided that another day at these prices was not a happy prospect. We paid our bill and stuck our nose out into the Gulf Stream. We could always return, if it was bad.  The weather changed from "iffy, with scattered showers in the distance" to "Downright pleasant with a 2 foot chop."  That weather pattern was with us until the last 45 minutes.

Big Black Cloud a Coming

As we approached Lake Worth Inlet there were four distinct storm cells coming off the mainland to greet us.  I put out a call for anyone with local knowledge of conditions at the inlet.

"Remedy this is (forgot-his-name) anchored inside Lake Worth Inlet.. The wind has just shifted fron 12 knots South East to 40 knots out of the West. Tide is going out at 2.5 kts. This is not a good time to be coming in."

"Thanks for the advice" I replied.

I changed course to head for a crack between the two largest storm cells. We were still a good 6 miles off the coast. This maneuver worked for a while. I could even see blue sky through the crack. Within ten minutes the crack closed and we faced a solid black wall ten miles wide and three miles deep. We were buttoned up and had been through these before. The wind picked up to 40 and the rains came in blinding sheets.

Marion came topside with her life preserver on, and one ready for me. She also had towels to mop up the water.

"Point it into the wind," called Marion.  She knew the drill,  and was cheering me on!

"I've put her into the wind," I replied in my calmest tone. "The wind isn't co-operating."

"A little more left," she advised.

"Yep, a little left," I acknowledged.

We could hear the radio crackling with calls for help. There was even a Mayday call.

The rain found every small crack in the dodger and was blowing in under the enclosure skirt. The whole top rattled in the high gusts. They must have hit 60 mph.

But no problem, me and my honey have done this before, and we were working like a team.

It was calm and pleasant a half hour later as we coasted gently into Lake Worth Inlet. The picnics were going on like nothing had happened. The fishermen were fishing like nothing had happened. We were safe inside.

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