Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Chub Cay to Nassau

                                                                                
                  Leaving Private Island Chub Cay....Freighter stocking Island with supplies

     The day dawned with a rapidly rising sun, no clouds and little breeze in Chub Cay. I checked the windy app and Sirius which both predicted 1 to 2 foot seas and little wind out of the North.  Blah! Blah! Blah!...this lasted for less than a mile out of the marina.   At first it was just a chop with some mild beam sea that I thought would settle down as we headed west and the wind was supposed to settle in at 10 knots......IT DIDN'T!
     Lucky One called and confirmed that it was pretty lumpy even a mile closer to the shore, so I decided maybe the rolling would improve if we ran on top and increased the speed to 16 knots. It worked for a short time but the rolls coming in from the north still struck us on the front port quarter and we rolled and bucked and rolled to the point that Beth had to make a hole with the couch cushions and keep her hand on top of Sophie so she wouldn't bounce out!  Spencer sat next to me in the helm chair glaring at me until he got sea sick and tried to get down to go back with Beth.
     "Ralph, can't you do something about this! The TV is going to break off of the wall!" yelled Beth.
     "The only thing I can do is slow down. No matter which direction I head there is no better ride. If I slow down we will just be longer in this mess and we are only half way across! Huckins says this boat will take a hell of a lot more than we can." I hollered back We were about to test their confidence. Beth bungy corded the TV to the rail as we flew forward.
     Three hours later we pushed well into Nassau Harbor to finally get out of the unforgiving waves.  Exhausted we stopped at the fuel dock and with a lot of help from Kevin, the dock master at Harbor Central Marina, got locked in to our slip.
                                                                           
                                                       Coming into Nassau Harbor
                                                                                
                                                                                      
Even the big boys run aground. Just took on 5000 gallons of fuel and could not make it back over sand bar

      Waiting patiently, we thought Lucky One may not make it or maybe turned around but within an hour of landing the radio cracked to life with Linda requesting the dock master to allow them to go directly to their slip.  Whew! Relief!
      With the mechanical issues they have developed ,they just keep rising above the challenge and push through.  Damn, that Huen is resilient and a master at  coming up with solutions. I believe I will nick name him McGyver!
                                                                                   
                                           They have very large apples at the Nassau Market 
                                 
                                                                                           
      
 

      Beth insisted I put on my best clothes to have dinner on Lucky One. We were dining there prior to our planned visit to the famous Atlantis Casino.  Huen had prepared a pot roast, whipped mash potatoes with gravy and peas.  The aroma had us salivating before we got settled into the seats.  A tall glass of wine did me in!  No I can drink more than a glass of wine but reaching for a second helping of peas (otherwise poor Lucky, the dog has to eat them), I tipped the wine glass and according to Beth "ruined my clothes!"
                                                                                  
                                                            Atlantis, Paradise Island
                                                                                 
            Atlantis, Paradise Island across from the Harbour Central Marina we stayed at.
                                               
                                                                                       
                                                               Pot of Gold over Atlantis
                                                                                   

     "Settle down. Nobody died!" I responded.
     A quick change into more comfortable clothes and we were off.  Casinos are not our thing but it was fun watching Huen win money on Black Jack and Linda winning money on computerized Roulette.
     For Beth the highlight of the evening was the parade by the Junkadoo band.  A colorful display of traditional Bahamian music using goat skinned oil barrels, cow bells, whistles and horns (tuba/trumpet/and trombones). Fast paced with wildly costumed dancers leading the pack, Beth laughed, clapped, and danced right along with them.
                                                                               Junkadoo      


     We finished up with some Ben and Jerry's ice cream then a viewing of the aquarium with its huge Manta Rays. This is the first time I have seen one of these magnificent Rays.  We got lucky as well. Clapping caused Beth to lose one of the charms from her bracelet and even with all the people tramping around Beth found it undamaged!
                                                                             

                                                                Atlantis, Paradise Island

         Huen is persistent and is continuing on "Even if I have to go on one motor!" he insisted.
     We are waiting for the next weather window while Huen cleans his engine room once again.
    

    
    

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Chub Cay and water spouts

      Lucky One was on the move a half hour before we lifted anchor.  This was going to be a long day for them, 75 miles at roughly 10 miles/hour.  Apparently, at this speed his engine doesn't lose hardly any oil.
                                                                                       
                 Leaving Honey Moon Harbour......cloudy but going to clear and be a nice day. 


      We on the other hand, can travel faster but decided to stay within a couple of miles and enjoy the cruise across the Bahamas Bank.   It was absolutely gorgeous. No sea swell, small less than one foot waves that settled down to no waves.  The blue water became crystal clear appearing almost as though we were looking through an ephemeral gas, easily able to view the star fish and flora 20 feet down.
                                                                                 
                                                                                   



     Spencer slept soundly in the helm chair beside me while Sophie nestled up to Beth on the couch in the galley.  It was calm enough that Beth finished her trashy Nora Roberts love story and took the helm, while I nestled up to Sophie for a 20 minute dog nap.  This reminded me of the dreamy days we had on Doc's Holiday, but of course it wasn't to last.
     The VHF radio cracked to life with Linda calmly asking, "Betsy do you see the water spout off your port side?"
      I looked behind me on the port side just in time to see a water spout about a mile away.  Huen, later described it well. He said, " A white funnel cloud seemed to suck up the water into the overhead cloud.  It swelled and turned black and then it started to rain."

                                                                                  

     Spencer picked up his head when he heard the fat rain drops start to hit the windshield.....I immediately picked up the boat speed to 16 knots and "got out of town!"  Sorry, Lucky One but we had enough of that crap on our trip with Doc's Holiday to Maine, when our boat couldn't out run one....It turned our boat around! (see 2012 Delaware Bay) Fortunately, Lucky One stayed ahead of the storm and had the same calm trip that we had all the way to Chub Cay.
                                                                               
                                        Tucked in safe and sound Chub Cay Marina and Resort

                                                                                   
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
 


      We were about 2 hours ahead of them but they called us when they were only 4 miles out.  It seemed to take them forever to come into the marina because, they were told on the VHF in no uncertain terms:"Please exit the marina immediately! You are pumping oil out of the port side of the boat. DO NOT ENTER!"  This was not an easy task since an afternoon storm had increase the winds to 20 knots.  They shut down their bilge pumps and let the marina know they had secured the oil and were allowed to come in and take the slip beside "Betsy".
      Huen had checked the engine room two hours prior to arrival and everything was fine.  "Something let go!." he said.  Linda commented, " He came up out of the engine room with oil splattered on his face!"
       He was told not to wash the streaming oil off into the water, so he launched his dingy and wiped the oil off with rags.  His plan is to keep adding oil and reassess  when we get to Nassau where he may be able to effect repairs.
       The marina's attention to Lucky One was soon diverted to an even bigger problem.  One of the fishing boats was pumping out voluminous amounts of diesel fuel!
        Chub Cay is a resort fishing village.  The girls decided they wanted a fancy night out dining so we made reservations for 8:30. Evening wear was in order.  Linda appeared in a sexy little black evening dress and Beth in a coquettish  white open shouldered summer dress.  Dinner was superb with fresh Mahi and a bottle of red wine. The boats radiated blue, red, green,and purple lights that punctuated the darkness and infused a sultry end to our fine dining.

                                                                               
 
        Tomorrow we plan to head the 37 miles across the "Tongue of the Ocean" to Nassau.  The question in my mind is...."Will Lucky One make it?"