Saturday, July 16, 2022

March 31-April 8, 2022 Water maker maintenance and lazy days in Spanish Wells

3-31 Thursday.  Doerr’s were leaving today about noon.  They ran a few errands, shopping and getting their covid test to return via airplane to the US.  We met at the dock and they handed over all their leftover groceries, including a couple bottles of booze.  Should have had happy hour at their cottage last night.  We sent them off on the ferry to the main land.  From there, they have a taxi waiting to take them about 10 minutes to the airport.  


 

We went back to the boat and crashed.  Over the past few days, my hip & back had been getting steadily more painful.  I’ve had issues over the past couple of years that I thought had been resolved.  But sitting on the boat for several days coming over here must have aggravated old problems.  And riding in the dinghy may add to it.


4-1 Friday.  Back to boat life.  We made water and did a load of laundry.  
4-2 Saturday My hip and back weren’t improving, so I decided to schedule a massage.  It has helped in the past.  After a few phone calls, I finally made an appointment for Monday.  This massage therapist has a mobile table and comes to you.  Well, that does’t work well on a boat.  She had a beach in mind to have a massage on a private beach.  
We just had a lazy day of watching movies or reading.
4-3 Sunday. Still not feeling well, so out of sympathy, Dave joined me in another lazy day.
4-4 Monday.  My massage therapist called and said we should reschedule on Thursday because of inclement weather for a massage on the beach.  Well, I couldn’t sit around and do nothing for 3 more days.  I tried a workout video.  It was a little painful but felt better overall.
Dave has always wanted to make a sauce using sapadillos.  Now that they were ripe, he tried to make one by mixing it with apple and orange to eat over pork.  Don’t need to try that one again.  
4-5 Tuesday More laundry and eating
4-6 Wednesday. We went into town today for gas and groceries (and take in our garbage).  We went to a couple hardware/marine supply stores to look for the oxalic acid rust remover.  No one had the Starbrite brand, but found a cheaper version of it made by Awesome, a brand I have seen in Dollar stores in the states.  It worked, but not really.  So we’re going to live with the rust until we’re back in the states.
4-7 Thursday. We took the dinghy over to the main island to meet my massage therapist.  I hopped in her car and we headed to the beach by Preacher’s Cave.  We were both surprised to see about 4 cars unloading with a large group heading to the beach.  So we headed back towards the dock where we met and went to a beach a few blocks down the shore to an uninhabited area.  It was a good massage, but not as therapeutic as I am used to in Brunswick.  And for $120, it wasn’t the answer to all my problems.  By the time I waited for Dave and road the dinghy back to the boat, I think I had lost all the benefit of the massage.  Frustrating. 


4-8 Friday Back is still an issue for me.  Tried my yoga for lower back and hips and seemed to help.  
Today, Dave changed the water maker filters.  He had noticed that the water wasn’t producing as fast as usual.  And they had been in use long enough.  There is a screen on the raw water intake to clear out the larger items in the water.  These two filters are large and small micron filters to clean the water further before it goes into the water maker.  Very similar to what you would have in your house, especially if you had a well.  Which we did in Rapid City.  Another life experience that prepared Dave for the boat life.  
Like all projects, something else showed up to deal with.  The Boost Pump that brings was water to the main pump was leaking.  The main pump pushes the water through the filters.  Luckily we had a rebuild kit.  There are certain spare parts Dave likes having on board, especially for the water maker.  After putting the pump back together, Dave noticed the fittings that connect the pump to the hose were leaking, when they hadn’t before.  Dave doesn’t always replace the o-rings when rebuilding something.  And he didn’t expect the rebuild kit to come with o-rings for the fittings, so he didn’t use them.  Now he decided to use them.  Good call.  After the pump was rebuilt, Dave was able to replace the filters.  Remember, he is working in a small space behind our settee in the salon, like everything else on the boat, neatly tucked away.  
After all this was completed, we were able to make water more efficiently.



filters and the pump are mounted behind our settee (bench at our table)


replaced diaphragms

replaced this part

replaced diaphragm

March 30, 2022 tour of the north half of Eleuthera, Bahamas

Yesterday we made arrangements for a rental car to tour the main island.  We were in town by 8:30 to catch a the ferry to the mainland, Gene’s Bay.  It’s $10/per person round trip.  Doerr’s landlord gave us Ricky’s phone number to rent the car (242-551-1726 for future reference).  A man that works for Ricky picked us up.  After getting our van at Ricky’s property, we set off. 


First we stopped at the Sapphire Blue Hole on the northern end of the island.  We had been here 3 years ago and I had jumped in with a friend.  They had improved the jumping platform and the ropes for climbing out.  But no jumpers today.  We didn’t dress for swimming/getting wet.  

 

Close by is Preacher’s Cave.  I described it in detail 3 years ago.  Basically, the first settlers wrecked their boat on the reef off shore north of the island.  They found this cave and lived in it for months.  They were seeking religious freedom and used this cave for services for 100 years.  



Praying mantis

From here, you can walk to a beautiful beach that is usually deserted.  Great photo op.


 

We headed south on the Queen’s highway, only major road running the length of the island.  We stoped at the Glass Window.  This is a narrow stretch connected by a bridge with beautiful crashing waves on the eastern Atlantic side spilling over under the bridge onto the calm bay on the western side.  






We stopped a little further south at the Queen’s Bathtub on the Atlantic side.  There were large pools of water and crashing waves.  I would come back with a swimsuit next time.

 



 

As we drove through Gregory Town, we passed the Catholic Church.  I had them stop so I could ask about the time of the services.  We plan to head this way or further south over the next couple of weeks, which included Palm Sunday and Easter.  I met Kevin, the organist.  He explained that the same priest presides over mass here at 8:00am, in Hatchet Bay at 10:00 and in Governor’s Harbour at 12:00.  I wasn’t sure if we’d be back in Gregory town, so I took a quick peak inside the church.  They are all so different.


Someone had recommended having lunch in James Cistern.  There are a couple restaurants on the water with great views.  We stopped at Delish Lifestyle.  As we were getting out of the car, the people next to us said we picked the best place, and they were right.  We had the best conch fritters ever.  Besides actually having a generous portion of conch in them, the seasoning and finely chopped vegetables made them unique.  I had fried grouper and salad.  Dave had cracked conch (breaded and fried) and fries.  Both were outstanding.  After eating, Dave and Harold watched the owner pound the conch to tenderize it.  That’s what makes the difference.


 


I liked the sailboat on the coca cola sign



grouper
conch
"BS-ing" with the owner as he pounds conch to tenderize it

We moved on to Governor’s Harbour.  We just drove through town and then over the hill to the ocean side.  We found a beach with obvious pink sand.  Eleuthera brags about their pink sand beaches on the ocean side.  I have seen faint pink in the right lighting, but this was obvious.  I have seen pieces of coral with rosy speckles in it, which I am assuming where the pink sand comes from.  


love these paths through the dunes





 

 

We headed back north from here.  We stopped at a vegetable stand along the road between Hatchet Bay and Gregory Town.  I had been here years ago and was excited to stop again.  We bought tomatoes, bread and sapodillas (a local sweet fruit).  I followed the owner into his garden as he picked my fresh herbs, mint, dill and basil.  Doesn’t get any fresher.  


pomegranate tree

Next stop was Gregory town for ice cream, but the shop had closed for the day.  So we did a little shopping and moved on.  We stopped in Lower Bogue to refuel the van and found an ice cream shop within a block of the station.  We can’t keep ice cream in our freezer, so it’s a special treat.  We returned the car and caught the ferry back to Spanish Wells.


 

 

There was one restaurant left to try, Wreckers at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven.  In the past we have had great $3 happy hour drinks, so I ordered the table a round of their coconut mojitos.  They were pretty tasty, so during dinner, we had another round.  Come to find out, the special was $9!!  $72 for drinks!  I guess that’s why we don’t spend the night on the town anymore.