Stuck in West Bay

Today is Wednesday, April 12th. Last you heard from me was on Thursday, the 6th, as we were in anticipation of the delivery of a used filter housing. Well, that never came to be…the part was apparently in bad shape according to Chris, the man who was going to bring us the part. But the good news is that we were able to order a new one through Chris. We actually ordered two, one for each engine while we're at it. Sometime today the courier service should be flying in so we should be in possession of the parts by tomorrow. And also tomorrow our fuel additive/cleaner, AJX, we originally came here for, should be available to pick up. We can’t leave this anchorage without the items and we also can’t leave because the weather is not good right now! It’s raining heavily on and off, the wind waves and swells are huge and the wind is high. It’s very uncomfortable out here on the hook!

Backing up a bit to a nicer sunnier day on April 7th, we dinghy’d to the closest beach, Jaw’s Beach in Clifton National Park and drug our dinghy up on shore. Our plan was to walk to the nearest grocery store and stock up on provisions. As we were walking on the road we kept our eyes out for a taxi but to no avail. We ended up walking 5 miles to a Solomon’s Fresh Market. This store was very nice..reminded me of a Whole Foods Market. And the prices were comparable as well..Haha. The biggest price tag was on a bag of grapes for $16.59! Our total bill came to $300 something and we really didn’t go hog wild like we would have at a Sam’s or Costco. On top of the total, there was the Vat Tax tacked on of 10%. I understand things are more expensive and have been warned that things are more expensive here because everything is basically imported. It’s an island! But still the same, it was a shocker to see the grand total. After stuffing the groceries into our back packs, and a bag we had to purchase for the rest, we called for a Taxi. We did not want to walk 5 miles schlepping groceries in our flip flops back to the anchorage. The taxi driver who came to get us, Ivan, was very nice and returned us straight to the beach where the dinghy was…$15.00 plus a $5.00 tip later. The price a bit steep, but it was definitely worth it!

We soon got our things in the dinghy, shoved off shore and made it back to the boat right before a heavy downpour..which continued all night. April 8th the rain was still coming down, but it fortunately cleared up just after lunch so we could dinghy to shore and walk around on the beach and also swim. The water is so beautiful here in the Bahamas…clear and just the right temperature. April 9th the wind was light so we decided to take down the headsail in order to make some needed adjustments on the standing rigging. Later we went to shore, walked the beach and along a trail inside the park and ended the walk with a swim. Two of my favorite things…walking and swimming. So it was a good afternoon! April 10th we woke to a very calm, sunny warm day! The water looked like satin it was so smooth. Since it was such a nice day and the forecast after this day looked bleak…rain, thunder, lightning, wind, rough big seas for quite some time, we thought we’d better go do some exploring on land while we could. So we dinghy’d to shore, tied up the dinghy to a post in the water close-by and called a Taxi. Sharone (yes…with an ‘e’ at the end) was our driver. We told her we wanted to walk around Old Town and to see the Straw Market. Off we went. She was driving a van where the steering wheel was on the right side which looks so odd to me. But it also makes sense if you’re going to be driving on the ‘wrong side’ of the road. Once getting closer to the Straw Market we saw mobs of people milling around. Our jaws dropped wondering what we had gotten into. Was there some other attraction to see? Oh well, we had to check out the area especially since our friend Jack and Brenda had highly recommended we go there. $50.00 later plus a tip, we let Sharone know that we’d be calling her later for a ride back to Jaw’s Beach. So we made our way through the crowds and walked through the market a little bit. We found out later all of these people came off of the cruise ships. 7 total. After hearing this, I wasn’t keen on squeezing my way through people to see the souvenirs etc. especially squeezing through people from Cruise Ships because it seems the passengers all return home sick! So I guess the threat of catching something was my main motivation to go elsewhere, and Rick just isn’t big on crowds. We happened to find a place to eat lunch minus the crowd. After lunch we wanted to see the Atlantis on Paradise Island something else our friends told us we needed to see. It was a little over a 2 mile walk. We figured we could handle it after our 5 mile walk the other day.

Once we got to the Atlantis which is on Paradise Island, a large tall bridge away from Old Town Nassau. The Sidney Poitier Bridge to be exact. We wandered around the marina and the little shops and eventually made it to the Atlantis Resort Hotel and Casino. The Atlantis appears to be a little world of it’s own. It was huge! I’m sure we did not see all of it, but what we went for was to see the Aquarium which is inside the hotel. There were many other things to do and see there that we didn’t attempt to do. There were dark clouds looming and we wanted to get back to the dinghy and the boat before the rain came!

We called Sharone, who was on the other side of town, just as it started to sprinkle and waited 30 minutes for her to pick us up. By the time she arrived and we got in her van, the rain came down fiercely! You could hardly see the car in front of you and the streets were flooded. We were feeling nervous to see what condition our dinghy would be in when we returned. Sure enough when we got back to the dinghy it was full to the brim of water! Somehow we managed to drain the dinghy and a man (fellow boat owner) came along and offered to help us get the dinghy back in the water. Puttering slowly back to the boat, the swells were getting larger and the wind was piping up! We made it back to the boat without getting too wet and Rick put the dinghy back on the davits since with the rain etc, we wouldn’t be using it for a few days. That evening and all night long (we did not sleep a wink) into the next day, it rained, and it poured, the seas were 4-5’ high and the winds were up to 32kts plus. It was very uncomfortable inside the boat. The boat was rocking side to side, forward and backwards, and spinning around on the anchor. You definitely needed both hands empty, arms stretched out in front of you, with your legs spread apart while moving around for balance and so you could grab things to prevent a fall. We kind of looked like Zombies. Today we are still dealing with lots of rain and clouds but less wind and minor swell. Still anxious to see sunshine and to open a hatch, but we no sooner open one and the rain begins. Since it has been so cloudy we are not getting much input from our solar panels for power, so we’ve had to turn on the generator. Unfortunately the generator has been causing us a few problems and it turns off shortly after it’s been on. So today Rick has been working on trying to fix it. He has cleaned the intake strainer and has replaced the impeller so far. It seems one really needs to be a ‘Jack of all trades’ when you own a boat…an electrician, a plumber, a mechanic and so on! So grateful Rick is able to do these things. After we get the engine and fuel issues taken care of and there is a good weather window, we hope to head for the Exumas.