May 19, 2019 Meeks Patch, Eleuthera

We moved to Meeks Patch, a couple islands off of Spanish Wells, because of the changing wind direction with some squalls yet today.  We spent the early part of the day making bread.  Then Devyn had “dinghy captain” lessons.  Devyn and I went snorkeling off the shore.

videos: 1)short one of starfish moving,  didn't edit, sorry
             2) these jelly fish are about the size of the end of a finger. also our rudder, prop and keel

lots of starfish

grey angelfish and blue tang

helmet conch

look for the barracuda lurking not too far away, seems closer in person

 We had a beautiful sunset with more rain.

Devyn's first homemade bread

warm bread with peanut butter, yummy

crazy sunset with the rain

May 17-18, 2019 Devyn Killion arrived

Friday
Today we had another guest arrive.  Devyn Killion is the 20 year old daughter of Brian and Jackie Killion, our long time friends from Rapid City, SD.  We have known Devyn since she was born.  She and her sister, Morgan, spent a lot of time in the summers with Dave when they were between needing a baby sitter and staying home alone.  Dave called them his “yard apes” and taught them how to use our riding lawn mower, etc.  Then they would stop for a tea party.  He also told people they were his girlfriends, he needed two because they were so little.  Needless to say, she was ready for Dave’s teasing. 

She arrived late afternoon, and we had mahi tacos on the boat.

arriving on Pinder's ferry

Devyn's first sunset

opposite direction from the sunset

Saturday
We moved the boat to Royal Island, about 5 miles west for better wind protection.  Between squalls, we went snorkeling at Little Egg Island.  Devyn loves to cook and is planning to attend culinary school in the fall.  She made us a nice Asian glaze to put on mahi for dinner.  We have lots of mahi to eat before we leave for the states next week. 

Devyn heading snorkeling

nice variety right away

sea urchins

Devyn is a natural

it's a good snorkel when I get to see my favorite, queen angelfish

interesting gullies

nice grouping

a grouper and french angelfish from the top

French Angelfish

this is a type of grouper, spotted.  he thought he was hiding

full moon

May 13-16, 2019 Top of the mast to under the hull

We spent this week outside of Spanish Wells doing “boat chores”.  We did laundry a couple days.  And that means we had to make water a couple days.   When the generator is running for the water maker, the computer can be powered for me to catch up on this blog.

I spent time cleaning for one last guest.  Devyn Killion will be here Friday.  I was also doing some meal planning trying to use the last of our provisions. 

Dave used the Airline Hookah system to change the zincs.  They were probably half eaten away, but Dave changed them anyway.  We plan to head back to the states after Devyn leaves, so this job is over while we are in clear blue water instead of back at a marina in the states.  He also greased the prop. 

Dave added the shirt with pockets so he had a place to put parts, the hat protects his head from hitting the boat

On Thursday, Dave climbed the mast to change the LED festoon light bulb, which we believed burned out during a lightning/thunderstorm.  He often does this by himself, but I helped today, which made the process go a little faster.  Dave wore a climbing harness today.  Sometimes he uses a Bosun seat.  He used 2 Jumar ascenders on the same rope.  One Jumar was attached to the harness, the other was attached to 2 webbing step ladders, one for each foot. First Dave moved the harness jumar up the rope, sat back in the harness, then moved the other Jumar up the rope to to move his feet up.  Then he stood up straight, which put the weight on the second Jumar and allowed him to move the first one up the rope again.  This moved about 6-8 inches at a time, and the mast is about 50 feet off the deck.  All the while, we watched for possible squalls on the horizon.  We also had an occasional boater pass by, which made the boat AND mast sway.  He had a second line attached to his harness as a back up.  I was keeping tension on that line in the cockpit around a winch. 

multitasking: climbing the mast and doing laundry

 
 
Part way up the mast, he realized he had left his parts/tool bag on the deck.  Once he reached the top, he sent down the backup halyard to me.  I attached the bag and hauled it back up. 

Dave cleaned the contacts and old the bulb worked. He used contact cleaner files, and sprayed anti-corode goop called No-oxide.  When he was finished, I lowered him using the winch as friction.  Otherwise it would have been the reverse action of 6 inches at a time.

We have been very happy with all the LED lights we have on the boat, which we bought from Marine Beam.  The anchor light and the bow lights were new in 2015, after a lightning strike.  And our LED lights inside the boat were new in 2013. 

We always need time in paradise to do the routine chores.  One more week of playing, then it’s back to the states.   AND we finished all of the Avengers movies up to Avengers 4/ Infinity Wars. 

May 12, 2019 Mother's Day and spinnaker sail north

I was able to attend church at St Ann’s in Rock Sound.  It was a “communion service”, not a mass because we had a deacon, not a priest.  I remember being here for Mother’s Day 3 years ago.  They did a special blessing for all the mothers.  And we each received a plate of fresh fruit.  I didn’t take one, because I wasn’t sure there was enough.  But they came to me towards the end and gave me one, too.  How nice.  They even had a special welcome for me.  I was the only visitor.  There were probably about 30 people there.  I have notice that all the women wear dresses, and the men wear dress pants and some jackets.  But since I have to climb up a ladder out of the dinghy, I wear capri pants.  No problem, just an observation. 

remembered to take a photo after I broke into the tray for the grapes

The church service was at 9:00.  So after I returned to the boat, we took off towards the Current Cut, just south of Spanish Wells.

We were able to use our spinnaker sail today.  You have to have the right wind conditions.  It is such a big beautiful sail. 
 
 
 
We planned to anchor on the south side of the Current Cut.  We would snorkel the area in the morning, then make the passage through the cut at the appropriate time with the tide and current.  The overnight winds had changed, so it really would be best to be on the north side to anchor tonight.  We checked a couple sources for tide.  High tide in Nassau was at 3:00.  High tide at the cut is about 2 hours later.  We arrived at the cut about 6:30, at the beginning of the ebb flow, which means we would travel with the current.  That’s ok, you just don’t want to be at the fastest time of the flow.  We figured we’d be fine or we would turn around and wait until morning.  Luckily, there weren’t any other boats coming or going.  We were going about 7 knots as we entered the cut.  The current took us unto 11.3 knots at the strongest point of the flow.  Quite the ride for us.  It seems we have always made this passage with the current.  If you go against the current, you have to be able to power up against the current or you could be pushed to the side and into the rocks.  You also don’t want a strong wind opposing the current.  We also had a calm night to our advantage.  Another successful passage!

Once we were through the cut, we thought we’d anchor just to the north side.  We decided to continue on the Meeks Patch, about 2 miles outside of Spanish Wells.  We were anchored by 7:30, just as the sun set behind the island.  We really made some miles today. 

We are both have our minds set on heading back to the states.  We will spend the next couple days prepping the boat for that passage and for one week of company.  We will meet Devyn in Spanish Wells on Friday.  It’s also comforting to be early at the place you need to meet guests.  And we are excited to “play” for a week with Devyn. 

May 11, 2019 Rock Sound, Eleuthera fuel and provisions

We were able to accomplish several things while we were here.  We took the jerry cans to shore to fill at Dingle’s station.  They have a dinghy dock across the street and through a path to the shore.  Dave wanted me to help him today.  He learned last time we were here, that moving full 5 gallon jerry cans from the dock, down and ladder and into our new dinghy was tricky by yourself.  This dinghy seems to want to squirt around.  And the floor is v shaped, not plat.  So the full cans don’t sit nicely on the floor.  Having an extra set of hands to pass the cans and stable the dinghy made it much easier. 

After returning the fuel to the boat, we picked up our garbage and went to the public dock.  We also took backpacks to walk to a small grocery store.  We really didn’t need to stop, but a little more milk and fresh fruit was nice to have.  And the walk was nice to stretch our legs and get a little exercise. 

We walked by the grade school.  They had all the national symbols on the building.  There also was a sign explaining inappropriate clothing, even for visitors.  I had to google pum-pum shorts.  I found a youtube video of a song, but didn’t have the wifi to watch it.  Something to look forward to, I guess.

tree-lignum vitae, flower-yellow elder, bird-flamingo, fish-marlin, and the flag

We even fit in making bread earlier today.  We spent the evening watching a movie and eating the cheese popcorn we found at the grocery store for $4, our treat. 

May 10, 2019 snorkeling Little San Salvador

We took off late morning to snorkel the reef on the south side of the island.  We don’t go that direction if there is a cruise ship anchored here.  So we took advantage of no company in the area.  The first place we stopped had the largest assortment of fish we have seen all winter.  The wind took us back towards our boat, so we drifted along several reefs with the dinghy.

trigger fish and parrot fish

grouper with a parrot fish behind it

grouper

parrot fish in the middle of the tang

school of tang

elkhorn coral

trigger fish

unusual to see the mix of colors

today's barracuda

We headed to the north side of the island for a picnic on the beach and for more snorkeling.  When we rounded the west end, it was really rough on the north side.  We decided we had enough.  We headed back to the boat and took off for Eleuthera.  We figured we could anchor in the dark, since we were pretty familiar with Rock Sound.  Plus our boat rolls side to side at this anchorage, and neither of us slept that great last night.

Off we went.  We had the wind assisting us, so it only took 6 hours.  We anchored by 8:30, an hour after sunset.  I had cooked mahi and pasta while under way, so we were able to call it a night.