[Most recent entry is at end.] [Previous log file is http://www.geocities.com/bill_dietrich/Magnolia/MagnoliaLog2004.txt ] 1/29/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Belle Isle at South Beach, Miami. Partly cloudy and breezy. Weather forecast looks good for crossing the Gulf Stream on Sunday night (supposed to be SE 15-30 on Sat night, SW 5-10 on Sunday, W-NW 5 on Sunday night, NW-N 5-10 on Monday). So I'm going to raise anchor this morning, get fuel, and anchor off Key Biscayne for tonight and Sunday, then cross to the Bahamas starting just before sunset on Sunday. About an 85-mile crossing from south end of Key Biscayne to West End. Fuel level 1.2 inches at engine hour 3538. Didn't realize I'd let it get so low; that's about 10-15 gallons in a 230-gallon tank. Dumped 4-5 gallons from a jug into the tank so I don't run out of fuel on the way to the fuel dock. Dinghied ashore, did internet, back to boat, listened to Car Talk, had lunch. Saw John and said goodbye; no sign of Doug and Harold and the other John. Ashore again, bought some used books, put bike into dinghy, called Mom, did groceries. Back to boat, stowed groceries and dinghy and got ready to go. Later than I liked: anchor up at 3 PM. Motored west and then south through the harbor, against current. Listened to the 4 PM weather forecast, and my weather window has disappeared ! From the forecast 12 hours ago to this one, Sunday night's W-NW 5 has become W-NW 10-15, and Monday's NW-N 5-10 has become NW-N 10-15. I'll check again tomorrow, but it looks like I can't go. Four cruise-ships docked in Government Cut. Too late to go to the fuel dock today. Anchored south of Rickenbacker Causeway, lat 25.44.161 long 80.10.289 at about 4:30. Oh, well, the day wasn't a loss. Got a chance of atmosphere, engine ran fine and cooled off a tad when put back to idle (properly; I'd been worried that this was not happening), and I definitely needed fuel anyway. I'll get fuel and scrape the hull tomorrow, and then back to South Beach. Salad and fruit and eggsalad sandwiches for dinner. 1/30/2005 (Sunday) At anchor south of Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami. Started moving at 7:30. Started a bucket of laundry. Raised anchor and crept through shallow unmarked shortcut, and over to fuel dock in Crandon Park Marina, arriving at 8:05. Started pumping diesel, gas and water. Not as busy as I feared, on a weekend morning. Loaded 196 gallons of diesel ($433 with tax; $2.21/gallon) 7 gallons of gasoline ($19; $2.71/gallon), and lots of water. Thought it would take about 10 gallons more of diesel. Left fuel dock at 9:55; anchored back at Rickenbacker about 10:15. After an early lunch, snorkeled under the boat and scraped the prop and hull. Lots of goopy stuff, and some small barnacles, but not too bad. Water is cold and there are tons of wakes here. Listened to the weather forecast again after noon, and it hasn't changed. Tried to talk myself into doing the crossing tonight, but resisted the impulse. Supposed to be W-NW 10-15 with swells in the Gulf Stream building from 2-3 up to 3-5, and NW-N 10-15 with swells 5-7 tomorrow. I'm afraid I'd get halfway and see N 15 wind and 7-foot swells. Not worth it. Raised anchor about 12:30 and headed back for South Beach. As usual, it seems I'm the slowest boat in the harbor, traffic piling up behind me at times. Five cruise-ships docked in Government Cut. Anchored about 2:15 at lat 25.47.203 long 80.08.889 Dinghied ashore and did internet. Pumped water out of the dinghy keel. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. 1/31/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Belle Isle at South Beach, Miami. Loafed much of the day. Conditions mild; probably could have crossed to Bahamas comfortably last night. Dinghied ashore and did internet. Chatted with Harold and John and Doug briefly. John stopped by at the end of the day to chat briefly. Salad and fruit and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 2/1/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Belle Isle at South Beach, Miami. Weather forecast looks good for crossing the Gulf Stream tomorrow night: Wed E-SE 10-15 Wed night SE-S 5-10 Thurs SW 10-15 Was launching the dinghy early when John came motoring by in "Tyche"; he's finally decided to move over to this anchorage. The last straw was yet another boat anchoring way too close to him in the other anchorage. Dinghied ashore and did internet. Installed a section of rubrail on the dinghy, to cover a place the davits chafed through. After lunch, John and I dinghied ashore and walked across town and walked on the beach. A little too cool and breezy to be a nice beach day. John stopped for a quick bite to eat, and then we wandered back. I did internet again. To John's boat, for a nice dinner and conversation. 2/2/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Belle Isle at South Beach, Miami. Weather forecast has changed a bit, but still looks good for crossing the Gulf Stream tonight, although I'll probably have to motor most of the way: Blew mostly E last night Wed E 10-15 Wed night E 5-10 Thurs variable 5 going to SW 5-10 Thurs night W 15-20 Dinghied ashore and did internet, then supermarket. Supermarket full of old ladies who apparently have never shopped before and have never used a credit or debit card before: interminable. To boat for lunch, and weather forecast hasn't changed. Added water to the batteries. Dinghied ashore and did internet (a bunch of last-minute checking to see which Bahamas ports of entry might charge me an extra $50 to check in) and supermarket again. Back to boat by 2:35, and started getting ready to go. Some rain-sprinkles just as I started raising anchor. Raised anchor and moving at 3:05. Long loop through the harbor, since there's a bridge I can't get under between me and the inlet. Past the cruise-ship docks (none in port) and then down the containership channel (three at dock). Out into the inlet, which was fairly rough because tide was opposing incoming swells. Out of the inlet at 4:15. A containership coming in, but I'm well out of the main channel before he gets there. Lots of rain clouds, but they're all passing over me to rain on Miami behind me. Raised the mainsail about 4:45, but the wind is about 10 knots right on the nose; took the sail down. Swells are out of the east, about 25 degrees off the nose as I'm making a course of about 65 degrees. Ride is rougher than I hoped, but I've been in worse. Listened to new weather forecast at 5:15, and of course it's gotten worse. The forecast wind tonight has changed from E 5-10 to NE-E 10-15, and I'm heading ENE. Not a problem, but I wish it hadn't changed. Oh, well. Don't seem to be feeling the effects of the Gulf Stream yet: heading and course are same. Making about 4.5 knots; I was doing 5.1 inside the harbor. Okay, after reading the info I copied from the internet, I'm heading for West End. It seems it IS possible to do Customs there without having the marina charge you an extra $50. Put some more lashings on the dinghy, and wrapped a line around the furled mainsail; they were moving around as the boat rolled. Motion is making me queasy; stomach doesn't feel good. Seriously considered turning back. Motion is easier to take when I nap in my berth with my eyes closed. Up every 5 to 15 minutes to look for traffic, check the engine gauges and course instruments, fix anything that's sliding around or fallen on the floor. 7 PM: Track is 50 degrees, heading 65, speed 5.6 knots. Turned on RADAR and passed behind a freighter about a mile away; talked to them on the radio to make sure I was reading their lights correctly. 8 PM: Track 45 degrees, heading 70, speed 6.5 knots. Lots of lights ahead; seem to be small fishing boats. 9 PM: Track is 43 degrees, heading 70, speed 6.6 knots. Got past small fishing boats. 10 PM: Track is 50 degrees, heading 80, speed 6.3 knots. A couple of cruise ships to watch out for. Stomach feels a bit better. Lat 26.06 long 79.40 11:15 PM: Same angles as before, but speed dropped to 5.7 knots. Can't quite see how that happened; if Gulf Stream current decreased, that should change the track angle. Motion of boat is slightly better. Some rain. Glow of Miami on horizon is diminishing. No other traffic out here. 2/3/2005 (Thursday) In transit from Miami to West End, Grand Bahama Island. 12:25 AM: Just about halfway across. Starting across mouth of Northwest Providence Channel. Lat 26.15 long 79.30 Feeling okay. Still bad motion. Speed 4.9 knots. 1:30 AM: Made mistake of starting up the computer. After five minutes of typing, had to dash to the head and barf. 2 AM: About 60% done with the crossing. Lat 26.19 long 76.23 5:30 AM: Can see glow of lights at Freeport on the horizon. 12-15 miles to go. 6:30 AM: Dawn. 7 AM: Sunrise, and land ho ! Found a dead flying fish on the stern deck, just about the time I saw several schools of living flying fish around the boat. I always thought they "flew" by skipping off the surface of the water, but no, they have wing-fins and generate lift in the air. Put my yellow "quarantine" flag up on the starboard spreader: this tells officials you haven't checked-in to the country yet. 9:30 AM: Docked at government dock / fuel dock in West End. Two other boats here ("Escada" and "Papi"), but they cleared in at Bimini, and stopped here just to fix a broken jib halyard. Straightened up boat a little (several onions escaped in the V-berth, a pottery mug fell and broke, and lots of things slid around). Went to office and got forms to fill out. Interesting forms inherited from commercial shipping, including "did anyone die on the passage from last port to here ?". Well, I made it, but it wasn't fun or comfortable or elegant. Motored the whole way, on auto-pilot most of the way. Could have been worse. Nowhere decent to anchor here, and lots of strong north wind coming; probably will head further east as soon as I get done with clearing-in. 10:45 AM: Customs person showed up and opened the office, and I was the only business of the morning. Filled out lots of forms, and paid $300 entry fee (ouch!). I told her how much of the Bahamas I was going to see, and she said she was born in the Exumas and has only seen about 4 islands out of the whole country. Inter-island travel (ferry or plane) is fairly expensive. Took quarantine flag down and raised Bahamas courtesy flag, which is in sad shape because it flew for 3 months continuously last time I was here. Talked to the other cruisers, and they're all heading out to Mangrove Cay, so that's what I'll do. Not much shelter there, but another half-day gets you to Great Sale Cay, which does have shelter. It's going to blow north hard for several days, starting tomorrow. There's certainly no good shelter here at West End, and nothing to do ashore either. I guess you could go on beaches or bike down to Freeport. Got moving at 11:30, and motored out to start the tricky, mostly-unmarked passage north of West End. Surprised to see the other two boats come out right behind me; I thought they were going to fix their jib for another hour or two. We all sweated bullets, hoping we wouldn't go aground, and we all made it through. Then 20 miles to Mangrove Cay, through calm conditions. Motored, but the other two boats shamed me into putting up the mainsail too. It's contributing nothing; wind is almost on the nose. Water is calm, and thus clear; easy to see the bottom in most places. Refrigerator seemed to be running constantly; found that the thermostat got bumped up in all the rolling last night. Wonder if I'm hallucinating a little from lack of sleep: every now and then I hear some noise past all the engine racket. The noise varies, and sometimes it sounds like someone talking or something. Don't think it's the VHF radio; I think I'm having minor hallucinations. I seem to be functioning fine otherwise (at least, as well as usual). Showered my head (a little too cool to take a full shower). Then put out two fishing lines and started trolling for dinner. Not sure trolling works too well when you're motoring. Can't believe it's only 2 PM; feels later. At 2:30, a couple of dolphins (a big one and a half-grown one) swam right in front of the bow for a minute or two, while I stood 6 feet above them looking down at them. Very cool ! Brought the lines in at 3:10; approaching destination. Caught nothing but seaweed. Not much good to fish in the middle of the day anyway; fish at dawn and dusk. Wind dying completely. Water is scary-clear: so clear that you can see every detail on the bottom, and often you imagine it's only one foot deep. Stopped fishing prematurely; didn't get the anchor down until 4:45. Anchored on east side of Mangrove Cay, at lat 26.55.113 long 78.36.461 Calm, but it's supposed to blow W 15-20 tonight, and NW same tomorrow. Could see every detail of the bottom as I anchored, and saw anchor start out upside down, but then turn over and dig in. Absolutely shocking silence after I shut off the engine. Very little breeze, and it's so quiet that I think I could call over to the nearest boat, a hundred yards away. Only three of us are here. Lovely silence, crystal-clear water. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. Had a brandy-and-coke too (planned to buy rum in the Bahamas, but there was no store in West End). Starting to cloud over solidly. Beautiful solid sleep all night. 2/4/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Mangrove Cay, north of Grand Bahama Island. Some rain before dawn, and boy, is it dark here ! Stumbled around closing ports and stowing cockpit cushions in the dark. Cleaned a lot of seaweed out of engine intake strainer. As predicted, west wind is building and there's no shelter here. Sailed off the anchor at 7:15, raised all sail, and sailed east. Almost solid cloud, and got greyer and rainier as the morning went on. Wind about WNW 10, and swells from WNW, so I broad-reached for the first hour or so, making 3.5 to 4.5 knots. Then wind started picking up and shifting to NNW 10-20, and I made 4 to 5.5 knots. Occasional rain. Trolled two fishing lines for a couple of hours, but caught nothing but seaweed, and got tired of going out to tend them in the rain and wind, so brought them in. Wind increased to NNE 20-30, with rain squalls. Kept sailing with all sails up, the strongest conditions I've ever sailed in, and boomed along at 5.5 to 6.5 knots. Reached 6.7 knots in one squall; fastest I've ever sailed in this boat, maybe on any boat. Right on course. Beam swells rolled the boat a bit, but not too uncomfortable. Held my breath at times, expecting one of these old sails to blow out in one of the squalls. One very mysterious thing: I seem to have the rudder fully turned to starboard the whole time; every time I turn it back to left a little, the boat rounds up into the wind and starts luffing. So the rudder is forcing the nose away from the wind. This makes no sense; it's as if the mizzensail is overpowering the boat. Or I have ferocious weather-helm, which I've never noticed before. And on a ketch, with a large jib, and a relatively small mainsail (because it sits above the pilothouse) ? And how could I be sailing 6+ knots with the rudder full over ? Maybe the steering was sticking a bit, and the rudder really wasn't full over ? It's hydraulic steering, and the electric rudder-position-indicator hasn't worked for eons, so I'm not sure what's going on. Approached Great Sale Cay, and now it's time to pay the piper for all this great speed. Furling the sails in 20-30 knot winds is dicey. Sure enough, all three sails flogged so badly that they damaged themselves: along foot of jib and leeches of main and mizzen. Jib furled okay, but main and mizzen left pockets sticking out and threads hanging off the damaged areas. Ugly, but they'll have to stay there for a while; it's going to blow N 15-25 for several days. Wrapped their usual lashings around them to keep them from flogging around while I'm at anchor. Into the Northwest Harbour of Great Sale Cay, and got anchor down right at noon. Lat 26.59.274 long 78.12.971 One other boat, a catamaran, is here. Tons of space. Well, that was a LOVELY romp of a sail, fast and exciting. But some sail-damage to deal with. The first passage (but only 20 miles) I've made completely under sail (except for starting the engine at the end, to get in and anchor). Later, it occurred to me that my jib is a GENOA (oversized), so flying it in those conditions was a bit ambitious or foolhardy. But my masts are somewhat short, so the genoa area is not as huge as you might expect on a boat this size. Down below, found that my paint locker had come open and half a dozen paint cans came out. Fortunately, none of them popped open. Had a pleasant lunch, then at 1:10 saw the two other boats from Mangrove Cay approaching. They came in and anchored nearby. Sun coming out; nice day except for the excessive wind. Went out about 3:30 and took down the main and mizzen sails so they won't do any more damage to themselves in this wind; left them on deck. Nasty job getting the main down: the winch brake is sticking. Glad I found it this way instead of after the main had split or something while sailing. Guess I'll have to take the winch apart; I've never done a winch. Blowing like stink, at least 25 all the time. And the guy from "Escada" is out in his dinghy, visiting boats and checking out the shoreline ! Salad and fruit and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. Blew hard all night. 2/5/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Great Sale Cay, north of Grand Bahama Island. Very cloudy and blowing hard again today. Blowing a constant 25-30 when I went out on deck to check for chafe. Catamaran that was 1/4 mile upwind of us must have dragged anchor: it's even with the rest of us now. Saw them raise anchor and move about 1/8 mile upwind this morning. Cleaned the bilge a bit and tested the bilge pumps. No radio stations on AM and FM dials, and almost nothing on shortwave; listened to marginal reception of CBC for a little while. Still can get some VHF weather channels from the east coast, and every now and then hear Coast Guard Miami or towing companies on VHF 16. But they'd never be able to hear me. Catamaran "Sunspot Baby" that dragged anchor called me on the VHF at 10, to chide me for not running an anchor light last night. They had trouble seeing me when they were dragging. I promised to run a light tonight. Was sloppy of me. Chatted with them for a little while; they've been cruising about 6 months of each year for the last couple of years, and will be heading down to Georgetown this time. Spent much of the afternoon repairing the mizzensail. The damage looked ugly, but turned out that the sailcloth was undamaged. The stitches on about 8 feet of the protective UV-cover along the leech had shredded, and it looked bad because they were a couple of thin backing-strips under there too. Cut off all the dangling threads, pinned everything back into position, and spent a couple of hours hand-stitching through 5 layers of cloth (but only the sailcloth layer is tough). Broke two needles. Got it finished but too windy to put the sail back up yet. Salad and chili for dinner. Had a brandy-and-coke too. 2/6/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Great Sale Cay, north of Grand Bahama Island. After blowing N 20-35+ for a couple of days, it's shifted to NE 10-25. But still rains occasionally, and still plenty of clouds. Catamaran that was here a day before us left this morning at 8:30, heading straight into the weather. Yesterday on the radio, the guy sounded a little impatient to get out of here. Dragged half of the mainsail into the cockpit and spent the morning stitching it. Again, most of the damage is just sacrificial layers separated in the leech. But an actual sailcloth seam had some stitches chafed off, so I did some stitching there. Nice sunshine for an hour or two. Had a little amusement at 10:30: heard the other two boats yelling across to each other, so I got on their VHF buddy-boat channel and eavesdropped as they debated whether to "go". They're going roughly the same place I want to, which is dead upwind today. About 35 miles to Fox Town; not sure they're going exactly there. At first, the wind was in a bit of a lull, blowing 10, and one guy was eager to go and the other soon agreed. Then the wind piped up to 20+, and soon they were agreeing to stay. I was thinking: who leaves at 11 AM anyway (for a passage of any length) ? You leave at first light, so you have some extra hours of daylight as insurance if something goes wrong. More stitching. Saw the other guys later in a dinghy, drifting past with fishing poles out. Kind of cool and cloudy and grey and breezy, but they're in good spirits. They fished for a couple of hours, but I don't think they caught anything. My experience has been that the anchorages in the Bahamas are pretty barren: nothing but a sand bottom. You have to go to the inlets or ocean reefs to find much life. Except in the Exumas land-and-sea park. After lunch, more stitching on the mainsail. This time a section of leach-seam which may have been loose before this trip. Stitched until my back got tired. Took a shower of mostly-warm water on the stern deck, partly shielded from 20-knot wind. Builds character. Some more sail-stitching, and also did some repair to the dinghy-davit bumpers. Salad and eggsalad sandwiches for dinner. 2/7/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Great Sale Cay, north of Grand Bahama Island. Anchor up at 6:45, and motored a long way south to pass shoals south of the Cay. Hoisted mizzensail and unfurled and furled it; looks good. Put some more stitches in the mainsail. Turned the corner and started heading east, straight into E 15 wind and swells. Started trolling one fishing line and immediately attracted a couple of seagulls. Five minutes later, the lure was covered with seaweed. There's a lot of empty water out here ! Since West End, bits of land have been few and far between, with miles and miles of water 10-20 feet deep. It occurs to me that I'm using an Abacoes guidebook my sister Carol gave me about 5 years ago, when I first started getting serious about getting a boat. Thanks, Carol ! Motoring at about 4.5 knots; the wind and swells are knocking about a knot off my progress. About 11 AM, caught something on my fishing line ! About 8-10 inches long; I think it was a barracuda. Probably should have killed it and used it later as bait, but I threw it back. Saw the other two boats from Great Sale Cay coming up behind me; they're both faster than me. They finally caught up to me at Fox Town, but then hailed me on the radio and said they were going on to Powell Cay. At least one of them has been to the Abacoes before, so they're skipping several places I want to see. Into the anchorage inside the Hawksbill Cays, across from Fox Town on Little Abaco Island. Finished anchoring a little after 1 PM. Lat 26.55.912 long 77.47.844 Nice and quiet here; whole harbor to myself, and town is about a mile away on the other side of the harbor. Put some more stitches in the mainsail, then closed the boat up, launched the dinghy, and headed ashore. No clear channel, and lots of large rocks showing above water, but I made my way in to the Texaco dock. Very cloudy and occasionally sprinkling rain, but I'm wearing my foul-weather jacket and it's a pleasant afternoon. Chatted with Mr. Daniel Parker, who runs the Texaco (diesel $2.90/gallon, gasoline $3.73/gallon). Wandered through town and a little toward the next town, Crown Haven, getting some exercise and looking for internet access (mainly so I could reassure my Mom that I'm alive). No internet access anywhere, even at the Batelco office. A local character named something like Zack latched onto me, and led me from house to house looking for internet computers, until I wished he would go away, but everyone said their computers were down. Finally disengaged myself from Zack and went back to the dinghy. No fresh fruit available, until the ferry comes on Thursday; I finished my last fresh fruit on the boat this morning. Nice little town, but was hit hard by this year's hurricanes, with 2 feet of water over the main road, and lots of damage to houses. They're still repairing roofs now, some four months later (mainly because the government money took a while to come through, and the number of work-crews and amount of material is limited). Fair number of new-looking houses scattered throughout. Fragments of wrecked cars and boats along the shoreline. I'm the big excitement today: several kids amazed to see a stranger, and everyone notices me. But it's a typical little Bahamaian town: you wonder how anyone ever could survive and earn a living in such a place. No natural resources except the sea and coral and some scrub-trees, and not much fresh water. They're probably better off here than many others: Little Abaco is a pretty big island, and attached to Great Abaco, which is very big. I've heard they have large chicken-farms somewhere on Great Abaco, so that's one source of employment. And maybe the islands are big enough to develop and hold some farmable soil. In town, the houses look decent but the yards and vacant land are just hard-scrabble dirt and rock, junk is scattered around, and nobody seems to be doing much. The women are running the one-room grocery stores and hanging laundry out to dry. But of course they have modern infrastructure: electricity, running water, telephone, internet, sewer (I think). A rough and wet dinghy-ride back to the boat; the wind has picked up a bit. More stitches in the mainsail while cooking dinner: salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Heard a bit of FM radio from Florida; turns out the signals are so faint that the auto-tuner doesn't stop on them, but you can hear them a bit if you tune their frequency specifically. But lots of interference, especially when anything you might want to hear comes on. Traffic reports and commercials come through just fine. A bit unsettled all night: this anchorage is pretty open on both ends, so a bit of swell is curling in and rocking the boat. But I'm protected to the NE. Occasional rain all night. 2/8/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Fox Town, on west end of Little Abaco Island. Very cloudy and threatening rain. Thought I felt the wind clocking around to the E this morning, but it seems to be out of the NE again. Raised anchor at 7:45 and motored across to Allan's-Pensacola Cay. Lumpy passage, going ENE against NE 15-20 wind and swells, making only 4 to 4.5 knots. Worse, the auto-pilot failed; started a hard right turn every time I engaged it. I think that means a control cable has come loose; this has happened before. Should be easy to fix, except it's under an aft berth that has about 200 books piled in it. Heard a weather report from Green Turtle Bay on the VHF, so I'm starting to get near the more-populated east side of the Abacoes. Managed to stitch several feet of mainsail edge on the way over, while hand-steering. Into the anchorage and finished anchoring about 9:55. Lat 26.59.385 long 77.41.220 As far north as I'm going on this trip. Absolutely lovely spot, all to myself, still breezy but completely protected from the swells, and the sun has come out a bit ! Nice. Some more stitches into the mainsail, then declared it done, and hoisted it. Unfurled it, looked good, furled it and lashed it. Done ! Had lunch, then unfurled and lowered the jib, so I can start working on it. Cleared out the starboard after berth, dove down to investigate the auto-pilot, and it's exactly what I supposed: one end of a speedometer-type cable has come loose. I'm pretty sure I bought an extra crimp-on connector last time, but where would it be ? Looked in the parts under the main cabin settee; no luck. Went through my tools-and-misc-parts- and-navigation-table area, and had a very satisfying session of organize-and-clean-and-throw-out. Found the damaged handheld VHF I was looking for a month ago. But no auto-pilot cable crimp-connector. It's a tiny thing, in a plastic bag or something; this could take a while. After a rest, put the aft berth back together. Counted the bags of unread books: 37 bags, probably 250 books. That's my to-read pile; I have another 100 or so that I've read and want to keep indefinitely and re-read. Had a nice shave and shower. Afternoon is very nice, mostly bright sun, with an occasional dark cloud going over. Wind easing, and as the tide goes down, I'm sheltered a little more from the wind. Heard and briefly glimpsed a small motorboat going through a nearby inlet, but other than that, I have the whole world to myself. Replaced filter on galley cold-water faucet. Looked at the jib, and as I feared, the damage here is to actual sailcloth: a four-foot length of the 2-inch strip at the edge of the foot ripped away from the main cloth. Got out my sail-repair tape, and found I had only 6 feet of it ! Used it all to cover the ripped section, and now have to start stitching through it. Finished reading Schlesinger's biography of Robert Kennedy, all 983 pages of it. Never realized how much of a skunk Lyndon Johnson was: he stifled a lot of programs to help the poor because he thought Kennedy would get a political boost from them. And the book brought home what a tragedy the two Kennedy assassinations were; they were far nobler people than the typical politicians. The country would be different if they had survived. Most my reading isn't so serious: usually humor, science fiction, mysteries, thrillers, etc. Just about anything except horror or romance. (Hmmm ... the juxtaposition of those two probably says something important about my psyche ...) Salad and chili for dinner. 2/9/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Allan's-Pensacola Cay. Anchor up at 7:10, and started motor-sailing SE. Tried sailing with just the main up, but made only 1.6 knots. Then engine started surging a bit; maybe the fuel filters are clogged ? Speeding up a little made it run a bit smoother. Just what I need: an engine problem on top of sail problems and auto-pilot problem. Around the N corner of Great Abaco Island and started heading SE down it's coast. As I neared Cooper's Town, saw "Papi" and "Escada" anchored next to Powell Cay; called them on the VHF. They stayed two nights, and are leaving right now for Green Turtle Cay. I was intending to pull into Cooper's Town, and I took the mainsail down as I approached at 10 AM. But the wind and small swells make it a lee shore (dangerous), and then I saw that all of the docks have been destroyed: there's nowhere to land a dinghy. The main dock has a lot of jumbled planking on it; you might be able to get ashore there if you were very motivated. I'm not; I decided to pass on by. Raised the mainsail again and kept going. Wind right on the nose; soon took the mainsail down. Engine stuttering a bit; hope it keeps going. Saw about a dozen boats anchored off Manjack Cay; I'll have to go there when I'm done with Green Turtle Cay. Engine kept going all the way to Green Turtle Cay, and I sighed with relief and went right in. Through a very shallow entrance (4.5 feet at mid-tide) into Black Sound. Found a spot to anchor, and put down two anchors to hold my bow in place, since I'm between two moorings and near others. Done about 1:15, at lat 26.45.610 long 77.19.431 I'm glad I found space; it's supposed to start blowing pretty hard tomorrow night, and I'll bet a lot of those boats out there today come in tomorrow. Put some stitches in the jib. Randy from "Escada" came by in his dinghy, checking out water depths. As I entered, I'd called back to him on the VHF and told him how shallow the entrance was; his boat has a 5.5-foot draft. Dinghied ashore, through Roberts Marine. Up through his yard and driveway to the street, then took a stroll through town (New Plymouth). Several golf-carts whizzing around. A nice grocery store, with prices not too bad, actually (at least for canned goods; fresh goods are high). Several nice-looking little shops, some nice houses, great views of the sea in several directions. Looks like a nice place. Found Gary from "Escada" and Ev and Nancy from "Papi" landing by dinghy near the government dock, to give the dog a brief walk ashore; he didn't want to go back into the dinghy. They anchored temporarily right off town; now they're heading up into White Sound for the night, and may move down here to Black Sound at high tide tomorrow. Bought a nice bottle of Bahamian cocoanut rum, using some Bahamian currency I found aboard yesterday; I think the previous owner may have left it (only $15 or so). Found the library and chatted with the nice librarian, Joan, as I did internet. When I was done, she informed me it had been costing 50 cents/minute ! If I'd known that, I wouldn't have spent time clearing out spam and such. Fortunately, I had cut my session short and it cost me only $5. Strolled a little more and then back to the boat. Salad and eggsalad sandwiches for dinner. Surprisingly dark and quiet here. Can see lights of houses ashore, but still pretty dark. And a very still night; front is coming tomorrow evening. 2/10/2005 (Thursday) At anchor in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Did a bucket of laundry early and then regretted it, as clouds from approaching front started coming over. For a while it looked like it would pour rain all day, but by 10:30 the clouds were gone and it was a beautiful sunny day. "Escada" and "Papi" came in at high tide, about 8:30. Finished stitching the jib, hoisted it and furled and unfurled it a couple of times. Looks good. Felt tired, and loafed the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon. In the search for auto-pilot cable parts, decided to pick up and stow all the loose parts, bolts, nuts, screws etc in the "misc" box, and rolling around on the navigation table and the main table. Found the missing auto-pilot cable connectors rolling around on the main table ! Well, I was wise enough to buy two spares, but stupid enough not to put them somewhere sensible. Now I should take the auto-pilot mfr's suggestion and see if something inside the auto-pilot is sticking and making the cable break. Spent an hour or two sorting out all the little parts I'd gathered up and stowing them in the proper bins and bags. Very therapeutic. Found my favorite screwdriver, missing for a couple of months, hiding handle-downward in the box of pens and pencils. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. Also a lovely glass of cocoanut rum. Finished the last of the homemade cookies my sister sent to me. Started blowing about 9 PM, and blew N 20-35 all night. A restless night, worrying about the anchor, and a bit headachey from the rum. I'm in a nice, sheltered harbor, but of course the wind is blowing straight down the longest direction of the harbor, so we're getting a little chop. And I'm surrounded by expensive boats and docks and rocky shoreline. I hate strong weather in a tight harbor. 2/11/2005 (Friday) At anchor in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Cool and mostly-cloudy and blowing N 20-30. Feeling tired and headachey. Read through auto-pilot documents, and decided the binnacle gearing/differential probably needs lubrication. Moved all the linens and books out of the starboard aft berth to get to the binnacle. Sure enough, rotating the cable key by hand, it feels like it could be a little gummy. Not sure how much disassembly will be required. After lunch, unmounted the auto-pilot binnacle, turned it over, and took the bottom plate off. The gears might be a bit dry. Greased them. But can't get the grease up into a "rotating tube" area which probably is giving a lot of the friction. Ferry boat came by and dropped Eb's kids off at "Papi". Worked on the auto-pilot for a couple of hours. Whoever designed this part of it should be shot: you have to cut a speedometer cable to the right length, then "square off" the ends and insert them into sockets. Maybe there's a "squaing off" tool I don't have, but doing that part and getting a proper fit is a pain. Sweated and sweared and finally got it done, and the pilot STILL doesn't work. Cable is turning, and key it's slotted into is turning, so I don't know what the problem is. Cleaned up and stowed everything in the berth again and decided to give up for a day or two. Salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. As I lay me down to sleep, wondered if turning the auto-pilot binnacle sideways to grease it dislodged the compass inside, and that's why it didn't work after I fixed the cable. Will have to check that out tomorrow. 2/12/2005 (Saturday) At anchor in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Still cool and very cloudy. Wind down to N 10 or so, but every now and then we get a gust of 20. But turned sunny and gorgeous by 10 or so. A couple of white guys came SWIMMING past my boat at 9 or so. Dinghied ashore, stopping to chat with everyone on "Papi". When I told them about the swimmers, they all shivered, and one pointed out that we're all wearing long pants and sweatshirts today. Walked into town and got rid of my garbage, wandered a little, then went to a "festival" lunch at one of the churches. $10 for decent fried chicken, coleslaw, macaroni, soda, and disappointing conch-and-rice. Took a nice walk down to the south end of the island and around to the east side of Black Sound. Back into town, wandering around and seeing the same cruisers again and again as we went into out of several small shops and wandered the streets. Beautiful sunny afternoon. Nice little town, with one-way roads which are big enough for cars and pickup trucks to navigate, but at least half of the traffic is golf-carts. A few stop signs and one-way signs, but no traffic lights. On the FM radio, I heard a commercial advertising a store "by the traffic light in Marsh Harbour", which is the big town on this side of the Abacoes, so I guess they only have one stoplight over there. Bought a dowel to use as a fuel-tank dipstick; cheaper than in the States, I think. But milk is $5 for 1/2 gallon or $7-something for a gallon, bread is $3.65 a loaf, bananas $1.50/pound. No homemade bread at Curry's until Wednesday. Lynn from "Sunspot Baby" complained that they paid $34 for a plain lunch for two at McNichol's the other day. Read interesting plaque in "Landing" park, about how Loyalists fled to the Bahamas after the British lost the Revolutionary War. I never knew that mobs in the USA terrorized the Loyalists after the War; didn't learn that in high-school history class. Back to the boat, and I'm tired; did a lot of walking. Loafed for a little while, had a lovely shower, then tackled the auto-pilot again. Everything out of the berth, opened up the auto-pilot binnacle, and sure enough, the compass card is stuck at a tilt. Fixed that, fired it up, and it works ! Heard a great boat name on radio: "Unlimited Mileage". Salad and banana and peanut-butter crackers and rum-and-coke for dinner. 2/13/2005 (Sunday) At anchor in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Very still last night, and very still this morning. Wind W maybe 1-3 knots. Listened to the cruiser's net weather, and it's going to be gorgeous until Thursday. Up before 7 and investigating the engine fuel filters. Checked strainer on fuel lift pump, and replaced secondary (on-engine) fuel filter. Started hand-pumping the fuel lift pump to bleed air out of the new filter, and everything was fine. Fuel came out a loose gasket on the filter, so I stopped and adjusted it. Then the fuel lift pump didn't seem to pump correctly. Took it off the engine, and it looks okay from the outside, and pumps okay. Put it back on the engine, and now diesel is leaking from somewhere on the pump as I pump it. Thought it was the outlet pipe fitting, which was balky. Tried retightening it several times, then took the pipe completely off the engine and inspected it for cracks and obstructions; no problems. Put it back on, and diesel still leaks fast off the pump. Took a break about 9 AM. Guess I'm not going anywhere today. Did a bucket of laundry. About 10, got going again. Dug out spare fuel pump, and took old one off again. Looked at outlet socket more closely, and the washer in it is all torn up. So I'll have to get a new one and try that. Boat and I smell like diesel. Launched the dinghy and headed into town, going by water to the town dock; shorter than I expected. As I guessed, everything is closed except the churches. Got rid of some garbage, had a nice little stroll, then headed back to the boat. As I came back, "Escada" and "Papi" were heading out at high tide. They're going north a little bit to meet with someone before coming back south again; I'll probably see them in Marsh Harbour. Loafed the rest of the day. Finished reading an old book about coral reefs. It said global warming would raise the sea level not by melting the icecaps, but simply because water expands as it gets hotter. I guess if a mile-deep ocean expands by 1%, that's a 50-foot rise in sea level. [Later found that there still is a lot of debate about this; found a web site saying best guess is it's 50-50: some rise due to ice-cap melting, some due to warmer water expanding.] Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. 2/14/2005 (Monday) At anchor in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Dinghied in to town in the morning. The two hardware stores had no fuel-line-type washers, but I bought a package of likely-looking faucet washers ($3) as a last resort. Toured the historical museum and reef-relief museum; both were very nice. Bought a lovely loaf of bakery bread ($3). On the way back, stopped at Roberts Marine to see about fuel-line washers. First he said no, then he found what I needed hiding under some other washers ($2). After lunch, started working on engine again. New fuel-line washer proved to be too thick or something; couldn't start nut with washer in. After many tries, ended up using an O-ring and some teflon tape. A real pain to get secured: the nut has been cross-threaded into the fuel pump a couple of times, and keeps wanting to cross-thread in again. Finally get it right after an hour or more, and it doesn't seem to leak any more. Now time to bleed the fuel system and start the engine. But again the lift-pump hand-pumping doesn't seem to go; maybe it won't operate against back-pressure. Cranked the engine a bunch of times over the next hour or so, with various parts of the system open for bleeding, or all closed in hope it would magically start. Slow work, because I don't want to exhaust the batteries or overheat the starter motor, so I'm waiting 10-15 minutes between each attempt. Finally gave up at 3:30, so the solar would have a couple of hours to replenish the batteries before dark. Oh, well, this is a decent place to be stuck in, I guess. Reading a book of travel essays, and was delighted to find that the "Kickapoo" tribe of Indians is real. When I was a kid, I always liked the sound of "Kickapoo Joy Juice" in the "Lil' Abner" comic strip. Saw "Sunspot Baby" come by and then pull in to Roberts Marine dock about 4, to have their new anchor windlass installed. Later heard someone saying the blades or bits or something weren't long enough, as they were grinding or drilling or cutting fiberglass on the foredeck. They stayed overnight at the dock. Salad and cheese-sandwich for dinner. 2/15/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Opened a fuel-injector line and tried to bleed the fuel system some more, starting at 8:30. Then tried to bleed through bolts on side of injector pump. Finally focused on filter seating as source of problem, and after much tweaking, decided it needed a second O-ring in there. Several came with the filter, and only one came out with the old filter, but eventually I installed two; I think the key is the one that sits up on top of the metal rim of the filter. After some more bleeding and pleading, got the engine to start ! Dashed downstairs to check for fuel jetting out everywhere, and while I was examining the key points, the engine quit. Bled the injector pump again, waited a little while, and got the engine running a little after 10 ! No leaks, and I ran it for 20 minutes to exercise it. Yes ! Raised second anchor by 11, and it came up with about 50 pounds of bottom mud on it. Took a break for lunch, then raised primary anchor and got moving by 11:45. Crept out of Black Sound a little nervous that the engine might quit, and there's not much extra depth in the channel even though high tide is about an hour and a half away. But made it out, and motored NW toward Manjack Cay. Engine a little wobbly at middle RPMs, but fine at higher RPMs and lower RPMs; wonder if that means an injector pump problem ? Auto-pilot works fine. Very calm day; everyone's motoring. Into SW corner of Manjack Cay and anchor down by 12:50. Nice to have some space, and a different view, and on one anchor again, and nice to have everything (ha!) working again. Lat 26.49.129 long 77.22.017 About eight other boats here, but it's a big anchorage. Lovely sunny afternoon, calm clear water, gentle breeze. About 3 PM, stirred myself to launch the dinghy and explore a bit. Guidebook said there's an entrance to a nature trail nearby, but two sets of cruisers told me it's not here, it's two coves to the north. Tried to go "up the creek" between Manjack Cay and Crab Cay, but it's too shallow. So came back to the boat. Water is clear, but there's no interesting coral here, and I didn't see any fish. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. A bit of a heavy hand when pouring the rum ! 2/16/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor off south end of Manjack Cay. Very still, peaceful morning (completely quiet until a sailboat half a mile away started up a generator). Can see every blade of grass and shell on the bottom, 10 feet down. Only interesting thing to see is a fairly large starfish. Did a bucket of laundry. Cleaned diesel out of the engine compartment and bilge. Put away empty jugs, and boxes of filters. Added water to the batteries. Cleaned out the engine intake strainer. Raised anchor at 10:15. Raised mainsail, but there's almost zero wind. Started engine and ran it at fast-idle to motor north; engine ran fine. Anchor down at NW corner of the Cay about 10:50. Lat 26.50.031 long 77.23.231 One other sailboat up here; they've wormed their way far into the SE corner of the cove. Dinghied ashore to dock, and had a lovely stroll. Down a "nature trail" to the ocean side of the Cay, and a nice long walk on a mostly-deserted beach. Found a bucket and took it back with me; I've been meaning to buy another bucket, and this one is good and sturdy although a bit overgrown. Not much animal nature seen, but plenty of trees and bushes. After lunch, loafed for a while. Tried to talk myself into going snorkeling, but I'm not up for it, and I've seen that there's nothing here but grass and dead coral (even along the ocean beach). Maybe if I went a mile out to the ocean reef ... but I don't feel comfortable doing that, especially alone. Then I considered my anchorage here, with wind shifting to put some nasty rocky shoal right behind me. Decide I can't stay here tonight. Then realize it's too late (past high tide) to get into White Sound, so last night's anchorage is the best choice, although it'll be exposed to the W wind. Lots of room. All these factors running through my head: I'd like to check out White Sound, I'd like to anchor briefly in front of New Plymouth to get groceries, when can I get through Whale Cay Channel, when is the next front coming, tonight the best "anchorage" is the long barren shore of Great Abaco Island several miles to the W but do I feel like going there, how is the wind going to play in each of the different anchorages ? Almost paralyzing at times, but heck, it's all good ! So I raise anchor about 3:30, motor south, and anchor about 4 PM at south end of Manjack Cay again. Lat 26.49.152 long 77.22.034 Exposed to the current W wind, but lots of room, half a dozen other sailboats, close to Green Turtle Cay. I'll hop down to New Plymouth tomorrow morning, then decide whether to go into White Sound or through Whale Cay Channel. Salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. 2/17/2005 (Thursday) At anchor off south end of Manjack Cay. Tightened a bolt on the engine valve cover; it's been leaking a little oil. Anchor up at 8:10, motored down to Green Turtle Cay, and dropped anchor about 9:15 right off town. Lat 26.45.753 long 77.19.963 4 or 5 other boats here. Valve cover still leaking a little. Catamaran "Poseidon" went right into the town harbor about 9:25, just after low tide, showing off their shallow draft. That channel is so shallow that I'm careful taking my dinghy in. But halfway in, they turned around, came out, and went into Black Sound instead. Woo-hoo ! Got a free WiFi connection, right on the boat, although the signal was weak and I had to hold the laptop up in midair in the cockpit every time I clicked a button on a web page, and hold it there until I got the new page back. Uploaded my log file and did some email, until my hands got tired from holding up the laptop. Dinghied ashore, through surprisingly choppy conditions. Disposed of garbage, wasn't able to find water at the docks, did book-exchange, did groceries. $2.75 for a head of lettuce. No bananas, and I didn't think to try the other two grocery stores in town until I was halfway back to the boat. Did another internet session, then lunch. Whale Cay Channel can be bad, so I was delighted to get a condition report from "Sunspot Baby", and they said it was fine today. Raised anchor at 12:45 and motor-sailed down. Slightly rolly out there, but not bad at all; I took a shower while underway. Trolled a fishing line for the second half of the trip. Back inside and headed for Treasure Cay. Into the Treasure Cay channel at dead high tide, which I hate to do; if I run aground, there's no tidal rise to float me off. Got inside fine, but the anchorage is just about full, and trying to find a spot to accomodate the present W wind and the N and NE we're supposed to get tomorrow is a puzzle. Lots of people on anchored boats keeping an eye on me, hoping I won't anchor near them. Finally decided to leave the harbor and anchor outside, then suddenly found a spot and decided to stay. Finished anchoring about 3:55. Lat 26.40.196 long 77.17.073 But then another, slightly smaller sailboat came in and found a spot. And probably more will come in. Maybe I'm just a little too nervous; I don't like crowded harbors; no margin for error. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Very still night. Up several times to see if wind has shifted from W to N yet, to see how my anchor will shift and where I'll end up. Shift happened very gradually, near dawn. 2/18/2005 (Friday) At anchor in harbor at Treasure Cay. Cloudy and looked rainy early, but sunny later in the morning. Back and forth all day. Dinghied ashore and walked around. Pretty big place, lots of houses, mostly a resort-type place. Pretty boring, actually. Lots of post-hurricane construction/repairs going on. Found nice little shopping center with medium-sized supermarket. $4.60 for a six-pack of Coke (I didn't buy). Bought bananas. Found library (closed), got some magazines from a free box there. Back to boat. Thought of taking some books over to catamaran "Peace" to exchange; they were on the cruiser's net yesterday looking to exchange books. But as I was thinking of it, they started raising anchor and leaving. Dinghy went by with a couple of women in it who were wearing bikini tops; first bikinis I've seen in the Bahamas. I miss South Beach. Hmmm ... every boat in my end of the harbor has left. Maybe I need to take a shower or something ? Loafed much of the day, then dinghied in to the library when it opened at 3. But no book-exchange there or at the marina, no newspapers, and really nowhere to even sit in the library; it's only two rooms. And it was full of retirees in golf attire, I think. Picked up a few more free magazines. Salad and fruit and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 2/19/2005 (Saturday) At anchor in harbor at Treasure Cay. Anchor up and moving at 7:35. Piled the chain on deck; want to end-for-end it underway. But got out into the open, and conditions are rough. I need to head E, was hoping for wind NNE 10-15, got ENE 15-20 and big swells on the nose coming in from the ocean. Started motor-sailing with jib and main up, but had to take the jib down. [Later, I noticed that the brake on the jib halyard winch seems to have slipped a bit again; the jib luff is a little slack.] And it's too rough to work on the foredeck. Got into the lee of Great Guana Cay. Furled the main, and went onto the foredeck to deal with the anchor chain. Took out my nice rope-to-chain splice before I realized that last time I'd been smart enough to insert a shackle between; didn't have to take out the splice. Tried to get some of the twists out of the anchor chain; the boat really twirled around quite a bit in Miami, I think. Anchored at 9:45 in Baker Bay on Great Guana Cay. Lat 26.41.224 long 77.09.422 Still blowing pretty hard. In lulls, unfurled and refurled the main and jib, to get them furled tightly. Spliced the rope anchor rode onto the shackle. Didn't quite follow the diagrams faithfully, but it looks fine and feels solid, and the splice is long. Should be fine. Cleaned the bilge a bit, and tightened the propellor shaft stuffing nuts a little. Salad and chili for dinner. Blew NE 15-20 all night. 2/20/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Baker's Bay on Great Guana Cay. Blowing NE 20; weather doesn't agree with either yesterday's or today's forecast from the cruiser's net: they said E-SE 10-15 and S 10, respectively. Started blowing more E later in the morning. Cleaned a couple of battery terminals. Raised anchor and moving at 9:05. Motored out and along the Cay, straight into strong wind and small swells. Stuffing box not dripping as it should, and running slightly warm. Anchored W of Delia's Cay in Fisher's Bay at 10 AM. Lots of boats here; everyone hiding from the wind and swells. Probably should have anchored closer to shore; I'm the furthest boat out. But I didn't have the inclination to hunt around in these strong conditions, with lots of anchored and moored boats, and a few shallow rocky areas in this bay. Lat 26.39.951 long 77.07.228 Sitting and reading at 11, when suddenly the ranges I've been looking at have started shifting: my anchor is dragging ! Fortunately I've anchored with no one downwind of me. Start the engine and struggle to bring the chain in with the wind and swells blowing the bow side to side. Circle closer to shore, with one boat calling me to make sure I saw a shallow rocky area. Anchored at lat 26.40.137 long 77.07.329 just downwind of the rocks, so I'm safe from them if I drag again. Water still a bit deeper than I want, about 11 feet at low tide, but I don't want to get in closer and among other boats, especially if the wind does shift to S as the weather forecast implies. Still blowing E 20 most of the time. Woo-hoo ! Free internet connection; a bit intermittent, but works if I let the laptop antenna stick out the port side of the pilothouse. Loafed all afternoon, and did internet again. Saw smoke from a huge wildfire over on Great Abaco Island; burned all day, saw big orange glow over there all night, and still burning tomorrow. Someone said lots of wildfires burn in mangrove areas, sometimes burning underground and popping up elsewhere. Salad and cheese sandwich for dinner. Restless night; headachey. 2/21/2005 (Monday) At anchor in Fisher's Bay on Great Guana Cay. Tired and headachey this morning. Got going at 7:45. Tried to get twists out of anchor chain as I raised it, but got all confused about which way to twist it and how much. Raised anchor and motored far up into the bay, into a tight spot in fairly shallow water. But I think it'll be okay. Lat 26.40.028 long 77.07.034 Wanted to get closer to town, more sheltered, and into shallower water. Finished anchoring at 8:20, just long enough to miss the weather forecast on the cruiser's net (caught a repeat from someone a half hour later). Dinghied ashore, anchoring the dinghy and wading in through a defunct resort. Nice stroll through town; nice to get some exercise. But there's not much here. Lots of post-hurricane rebuilding still going on. Back to the boat. Less water under the boat than I expected: about 1 foot, and it's only halfway to low tide. Plus there are no good WiFi signals here. Decide to leave. Raised anchor at 11. Motor-sailed with the main up, but of course the wind is right on the nose ! How does it manage to do that all the time ? Tried bearing off a little to keep the main filled, but it was giving me only .2 knot extra and forcing me 40 degrees off my desired course, so after a while I furled it. Too bad: otherwise perfect conditions for sailing. A sailing joke: There are three kinds of wind: 1- too light 2- too strong 3- perfect but from the wrong direction Motored with the engine at a mid-throttle; not in any hurry. Spent some time finding where I hid the Mason jars the last time I reorganized. Into Marsh Harbour just after low tide, and had no problem finding a spot; I was afraid it would be jammed. Anchor down about 1:35 at lat 26.32.790 long 77.03.446 Some docks here demolished by the hurricanes. Too tired and headachey to go ashore here today. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. Lousy night: splitting headache. Popped pills all night. 2/22/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Very headachey this morning. Stayed in bed. Ended up staying in bed just about all day, coming out for quick meals and a little sitting in the cockpit when I felt up to it. Felt miserable all day. Got a little better in the evening; the "Vulcan sinus pinch" my sister Carol told me about seems to have helped quite a bit this time. Still popping pills. Salad and peanut-butter crackers and a hard-boiled egg for dinner. Very still night; no wind. Could smell the smoke from that big wildfire. Bright full moon prevented view of the orange glow of the fire. 2/23/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Much better today; head feels about 80% of normal. Mail/supply boat is here; should be fresh produce in the supermarket today. It's been almost a month since I read a newspaper or heard a decent news broadcast. The news on the only FM radio station here consists of local news plus NBA results; nothing else from the outside world. Did a small bucket of laundry. Dinghied ashore and walked around the W end of town. Got rid of my garbage, but had to look for a while to find a dumpster. Pretty big place, and it seems as though every other store is a hardware store; there are about five of them. Went into a big one, and couldn't stop buying things: bought a big can of spray WD-40 ($8), JB underwater weld ($10), and a speedometer cable ($12) to replace the one in the auto-pilot the next time it breaks. Into a bakery, and bought a nice loaf of wheat bread ($3). Since supermarket bread is no cheaper than bakery bread here, I've been buying bakery bread. Into a supermarket, and prices are double or more what they are in Florida, as I expected. Bought bananas and onions. Checked out the internet cafe, then back to the boat for lunch. Didn't see anywhere to get water. Gas stations had gasoline for $3.70/gallon and diesel for $2.85/gallon. Dinghied ashore again. Chatted with an older Bahamian guy on the dock for a while, but he had such a thick accent that it was tough going. Wandered off to explore the E end of town, and it seems to be mostly marinas and boutiques. Did find out where the library is, asked some cruisers where Buck-A-Book is, and did a little book-exchanging at the OII office. Back to boat, and felt a bit headachey the rest of the afternoon and evening. Salad and chili for dinner. 2/24/2005 (Thursday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Headache gone ! Heard the international news on the cruiser's net; sounds like the world hasn't changed much in the three weeks or so I've been out of touch. Started working on valve-clearance-and-valve-cover job. Loosened all the fuel injectors to release all the cylinder compression, and was able to rotate the crankshaft by hand a fair amount; I've never done that before. Dinghied ashore, as the day is getting greyer and rain clouds are starting to gather. Walked through town to the remaining big hardware store (this town is LOADED with hardware stores!), bought wire ($7) for the bilge-pump-LEDs project. Found the library, and it looks like part of a room on the end of an overgrown trailer; not open until 3:30. Went to the "supercenter" supermarket, and it's pretty amazing. Prices ranging from 100% (canned goods) to 200% (produce) of USA prices. Of course they had a special deal on spray WD-40 for half the price I paid in the hardware store yesterday. Found the ambulance service to make a donation, but no one was home. Went to OII and paid $20 for a two-hour internet timecard, and used about 15 minutes of it. Back to boat for lunch. Took the engine valve cover off. Gasket looks fine; I just flipped it over, in hopes that it will seal better in that position for a while. Tried to check and set the valve clearances, but couldn't get the valves into the right positions by turning the crankshaft. Finally decided I wasn't getting enough rotation by hand; I was only moving it 30 degrees or so. Need to buy a big socket and breaker-bar to put on the end of the crankshaft if I'm going to do this job. Was thinking of spray-painting the parts I took off, but it's too windy today. Put the engine back together and started it up. Some fuel leaks from a couple of injectors, so shut it down and tightened things. Ran okay next time; ran it for 10 minutes to check it. Later, it occurred to me that many of the fuel-injector return line nuts were loose, and I doubt my messing with them today loosened them that much. Maybe this was the source of the "surging" problem I had with the engine; maybe they were letting air into the fuel filter. Won't know for sure until my next passage. Dinghied ashore and chatted with that Bahamian guy again. He told me the wildfire started at the garbage dump; apparently they burn garbage, and the fire often escapes into the mangroves. Walked through town and checked out the library and Buck-A-Book. The library is tiny and turns out to be members-only: after I sat reading a book for an hour, they informed me that really only members are allowed to do even that ! Salad and eggsalad sandwiches for dinner. 2/25/2005 (Friday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Grey and damp and threatening rain. Going to have some thunderstorms and strong winds over the next several days. Loafed much of the morning, then started on the bilge-pump-LEDs project. Drilled a couple of holes in the instrument panel and mounted a couple of red LEDs there. Ran wires down inside the binnacle into the engine compartment. Pulled up the bilge pumps and added connectors to the wiring. Put everything together and put the pumps back in the bilge. Will test them tomorrow. Sounds easy, but it took just about all day, with plenty of breaks for eating and reading and letting "liquid electrical tape" dry. Now an LED will light on the instrument panel whenever a bilge pump runs. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. Just after dark, rained a little, then the wind suddenly switched from SW 10 to WNW 25, then had some steady rain for an hour or two. 2/26/2005 (Saturday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Tested the bilge pumps, and they and the new LEDs work fine. Dinghied ashore. Disposed of garbage. Donated $20 to ambulance service (nice guy, but he bent my ear for 15 minutes about how the government and locals don't support him, only cruisers do). Bought nice loaf of raisin bread at bakery. Back to boat, had a big snack, then went for a dinghy-tour of the harbor, since I haven't seen most of it. A couple of dismasted and damaged sailboats at one dock, sunken powerboat at another, two sailboats wrecked ashore at another. Lots of hurricane-damaged docks. Fun to look at all the boats in marinas; they're mostly cruising boats, plus a small Moorings fleet of charter boats. Loafed all afternoon. Started listening to the shortwave, and listened to Radio Havana for a while. In the evening, caught a rebroadcast of "War of the Worlds" of all things; they even mentioned my home town of Trenton NJ. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. Saw a cockroach in the galley. Sprayed bugspray down after it, but will have to buy some traps. Bit of a nervous night; much of the time, the wind had the boat "Princepessa" too close behind me, not more than a boat-length away. They anchored a little too close a day or two ago, but we were fine until the wind shifted. 2/27/2005 (Sunday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Totally grey and damp and lots of rain. Good day for staying on the boat and in bed reading. Weather is weird this week: several fronts and low-pressure areas near us, and the forecast is uncertain and changes daily. But it seems that the wind will be clocking completely around the compass a couple of times over the next two or three days. Listened to Radio Australia and then BBC on the shortwave, until they went away. Listening to the shortwave is quite unlike listening to commercial FM radio in the USA. Stations often broadcast only a few hours a day, mainly in the morning and the evening, and may use different frequencies at different times. Some are using a single sideband, others are providing a full-band signal, which is just another variable to hassle with while trying to tune them in. Often the volume level and clarity "pulsate". And there's always plenty of static and interference. I haven't been able to pick up Armed Forces Radio at all, despite having a whole list of frequencies for them; maybe my list is obsolete. Loafed all day, reading and listening to shortwave; got Radio Netherlands and VOA. Sun found gaps in the clouds from 4 to sunset, but generally grey and damp all day. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. 2/28/2005 (Monday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Still very cloudy and grey and damp, and breezy, but some moderate sunshine in the morning. Supposed to be like this most of the week, I think. I'm really happy with my solar panels: even in these totally-grey conditions, they supply all my power needs, keeping the batteries well-charged as long as I don't run the computer in the late afternoon. In fact, when the sun suddenly blazed out at noon today for about five minutes, they were putting 15+ amps into the batteries, more than the solar panel's rating ! Happened to look at the water at 11 or so, and there's fuel everywhere; there's been a fuel spill. Blowing hard from 11 to 12:30 or so; probably WNW 25-30. After lunch, dinghied ashore. Tried to follow the fuel spill to its source, but it's coming from ahead of the anchored cruising boats. Went ashore, and a local man said a freighter had spilled fuel. The wind is pinning it right in the harbor. Looks and smells like gasoline. The top of each wavelet is green with some reddish fringe. Did internet, went to hardware store, then got groceries. Good timing: while I was in Solomon's, it rained so hard that you could hear it drumming hard on the roof. Loafed the rest of the afternoon. Finally got Armed Forces Radio on the shortwave (found new frequencies on the internet), and they're carrying a lot of NPR content; it's nice to get NPR again. Salad and fruit and cheese-and-crackers and rum-and-coke for dinner. Very calm; boats swinging in various directions and some coming close to each other. Smell of fuel very strong. Surface of water is still greenish and ugly-looking. Spoke too soon about the solar panels: had to run the engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. Poured rain from 7 to 8 or so; caught a few gallons. Dead calm all evening. Hard to sleep, a little headachey, and another mosquito buzzing me every 10 minutes or so. Kept killing them whenever I could, but it took a while to get rid of them. 3/1/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Blowing hard; probably WNW 25; strong chop right into the harbor. But most of the clouds are gone; nice and sunny. A bit cooler. Fuel spill seems to have dissipated. FM/shortwave radio died; I've always had problems with the power cord/connector, and now it's stopped working entirely. Took radio and considered bypassing the power connector. Then wondered if the connector on the power cord was bad. Then looked at the cord end near the power converter, and found it was chafed through and shorting out. Pried the converter open, and salvaged about 1/2" of wire sticking out of the circuit board. Connected good wire onto them, added some knots for strain-relief, and spliced more wire outside the case. Put it all together, let the insulating goop dry, and it works ! But I need a backup. Wind eased a little after noon, down to 15-20 range. Launched the dinghy and pumped water out of the keel airspace; still can't prevent that from happening. Went ashore, chatted with Bahamian guy, did internet. To ATM, and got cash apparently with no fee, which amazed me. With money burning a hole in my pocket, went to hardware store and bought set of large sockets. I need a single socket for the engine crankshaft, and a single socket would have been $20. Got the whole set for $40; it was old stock that's been sitting on the shelves for years. But it's 1/2"-drive; now I have to buy a 1/2" ratchet or breaker-bar or a 3/8"-1/2" adapter. Oh, well, you can never have too many tools. Went to three or four electronics shops, and found a 12 VDC - to - 9 VDC converter ($9) to use as a spare for the radio power converter. Amazed that I found it, and for a reasonable price. Bought a couple of bottles of rum, then back to boat. Trap caught the cockroach in the galley. Salad and cornedbeef-onion-noodle for dinner. Moderate wind in the evening, until suddenly at midnight-30 it started blowing WNW 30-35. Eased a bit as the night went on. 3/2/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Blowing WNW 20 or so. Loafed all day, just reading and listening to the radio and eating. Felt quite disgusted with myself by the end of the day. Salad and fruit and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. 3/3/2005 (Thursday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Lovely morning, calm and sunny. Several boats left the harbor. Clouded over by noon. Repaired forward part of dinghy rubrail, bolting a section of dock rubrail over the chafed-away built-in rubrail. Re-inked the registration numbers. Large houseboat came into the harbor at noon; surprising to see one here. Looks like some kind of commercial operation. Dinghied ashore. Did internet, then went to several marine and hardware stores. Bought 1/2" socket ratchet ($9), 100 feet of 1/8" nylon line ($5) for flag halyards, and some 1/4-round molding ($3) to improve my rain-catcher on top of the pilothouse. Salad and cornedbeef-onion-noodle and rum-and-coke for dinner. Started raining at dinnertime, and rained all night. Caught 5 gallons of water, and could have caught a lot more. Headachey from the rum. 3/4/2005 (Friday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Totally grey and damp day. Tired and headachey. Dinghied ashore. Bought bread and a bread-pudding at the bakery, some O-rings at a hardware store, and got groceries. Looked in several other stores. Salad and eggsalad sandwiches for dinner. Dead calm at 4 AM; got up to find boat next to me swinging a little closely. Took in 20 feet of anchor rode to pull us further apart. 3/5/2005 (Saturday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Still a bit headachey today. Raised anchor at 7:45 and headed out. Motor-sailed with jib and mainsail up, but as usual I'm heading straight into the wind. Furled the jib and kept the main up. I've figured out why I'm always heading into the wind, at least in these enclosed waters. I plan my trips so my destination is a sheltered anchorage: the island is to windward of me. So of course to get there, I'm heading toward the wind. Through a very tight inlet and channel, into north harbour of Man-O-War Cay. Both harbors are small, full of moorings and boats. It's almost low tide, and I had no more than 2 feet of water under the keel the whole way, and 1 foot underneath where I anchored. Very tight; no way I'm staying here overnight. If the wind shifts to the S, I'll be banging right into a dock. Finished anchoring about 9:20, at lat 26.35.797 long 77.00.499 Dinghied ashore on the NE side, and had a nice stroll through town. Nice little place; wouldn't mind staying a few days if the anchorage wasn't so tight. A couple of primitive boat-haul-out places here, and a boat-building place where they make biggish skiff-type motorboats. Dinghied across the anchorage to the sailmaker's place, and he intercepted me before I could touch his dock. No sail-repair tape for sale, and then he gave me a free sermon about how I should get rid of my old-style roller-furlers (knew that already; need new sails too). Got a very shaky free internet connection from the boat, but enough to upload my log file. Raised anchor about 11:15 and headed out of the harbor. Saw a catamaran come in the inlet and do a circle and head toward me, but he didn't respond to radio calls. Just as I passed him, I saw the inlet and found a large cruising sailboat aground in it. I was mostly committed by then; trying to do a U-turn probably would have put me aground. So I edged past him, about 10 feet between us. I was fairly confident I could do it, since I could see how he'd gone wrong, and the tide was a little higher than it was when I came in. But it still was a nervous moment. Wish they'd announced the problem on the VHF. Raised jib and mainsail outside, but there's almost zero wind; furled the jib. Can see the bottom 13 feet down, and it's pretty barren, just sand and some grassy clumps. Beautiful sunny noon, and beautiful water. Well, time for another "repair adventure". Just outside the entrance to Marsh Harbour, I throttled down and into neutral to let a boat even with me go ahead, and when I put the engine back into gear, the gearbox went into gear but the engine didn't throttle up. Quickly stopped and dropped anchor and investigated, opening up the binnacle. The lever controls both the gearshift cable and the throttle cable. Gearshift part is working fine, and the binnacle end of the throttle cable moves when I move the lever, but the engine end of the throttle cable doesn't move when I do that. Nothing obvious loose or broken at either end of the cable. Throttle cable must be broken inside, probably near one end. So I raised anchor, put the engine in gear, and dashed down into the engine compartment to move the throttle lever on the injector pump. Motored in at 4+ knots, then ducked down and put the lever back to idle speed. Motored through the anchorage at 2+ knots, and a couple of people called out to me, probably thinking I was unsure where to go. Anchored near my old spot by 1:15, at lat 26.32.800 long 77.03.459 Oh, well, best possible place to have a (minor) breakdown. Ate some bread pudding to feel better; it worked. Had a nice hot shower too. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. 3/6/2005 (Sunday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Removed engine throttle cable. Had to cuss a bit to figure out how to get the top end out; it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Sure enough, the cable is broken off right where it mates into a metal sleeve at the top end. Probably too steep an angle from the throttle pivot to the body of the cable at that point; it was tie-wrapped to a hydraulic line, forcing it away from the pivot at an angle. Will have to take it into town tomorrow to look for a replacement or fix. The cable has what I assume is a Teleflex part number stamped on the sleeve; shouldn't be hard to get or at least order. After lunch, worked on the binnacle wiring a bit. I'm trying to get it to the point where I can pull the tach out of the instrument panel and get to the back of it while the engine is running, so I can try to recalibrate it. The tach has not registered properly since I changed to a new, "custom-built" alternator. But the wiring in the binnacle is a mess, all short runs across multiple instruments, no extra length left in the wires, in a tight space. Got a nice spark when I took off a ground wire and it nicked a positive terminal on another instrument. Salad and fruit and tuna-salad sandwich for dinner. 3/7/2005 (Monday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Boats pouring back into the harbor, from Guana Cay where there was a concert and barbecue at Nippers yesterday. Dinghied ashore. First marine store had plenty of throttle cables but all longer than I needed. Second store had exactly what I needed, although $10 more than the first store. Bought cable ($48) and acetone ($9). Back to boat, loafed a little, then installed the new throttle cable. Not too difficult, and worked fine when I ran the engine to test it. After lunch, dinghied ashore. Bought paint thinner ($4), a loaf of bread at the bakery, and groceries at Solomon's (said hi to the guys from "Papi" and "Escada" there). Back to the boat, and as I was putting away the groceries, found the loaf of bread was still warm from the oven. Had a slice with butter, and had to exercise willpower to keep from eating several more slices. Painted marks on new dipstick for fuel tank. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Got into bed and saw a cockroach on the wall next to me ! Ran for the bugspray and sprayed it down where he disappeared. 3/8/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Dead calm most of the night, then started blowing SW 20-25 at about 7:30. Gusts well over 30. Surprised to see half a dozen boats come into the harbor during the morning; they must have had a rough trip in this wind. Tried to start the genset to exercise it, but only succeeded in drawing down my batteries. Got a few pops out of one genset cylinder, but not enough for it to start up. Painted marks on fuel dipstick some more. Reading charts and guidebooks, trying to plan next stages of my trip. Totally clouded over after lunch, and still blowing hard. Rained a bit at 2:30, and off and on after that. Just to add some joy to the day, started doing my income taxes. Salad and fruit and a cheese sandwich for dinner. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. 3/9/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Very grey, but wind down to 10 knots or so. Not coming from the direction forecast yesterday or today. Fuel level 13.1 inches at engine hour 3601. I'm getting itchy to head south, but I'd like to mail off my income taxes first, stock up on some more food and such, and get some better weather. Dinghied ashore. Walked across to the east side of the town, to the boatyard, mostly for exercise, but also to see what was there. And to the wholesale grocery store, but their sizes were too big for me. Bought some groceries at the "supercenter" store, then did internet, trying to collect my tax data. As expected, I'm missing one number; sent email to my brother to see if he can glean it out of my mail that's piling up in his townhouse. If not, I'll skip it and see if the IRS picks it up later. Back to the boat, and my timing is perfect: starting to blow harder, and 15 minutes later it started raining a bit. Blowing from NNE, although W to NW was predicted. As the afternoon wore on, it blew harder and rained more often, got a little cooler, and the clouds came down lower and lower. Tried to listen to the shortwave, but I think the wind-generators on nearby boats are putting out interference. Worked on my income taxes a little more. Ah, the cruising life ! Salad and chili for dinner. Ran engine for an hour and 15 minutes to charge batteries. Valve cover is still leaking some oil. Watched a nearby powerboat that had been dragging a little re-anchor again and again. Poor guy was out on the bow for 45 minutes in rain and howling wind. Eventually they got it right, and the next morning I saw they had two anchors down. Wind howled all night, except for easing for a couple of hours after midnight. Lots of rain, and the mainmast is leaking water down the compression post again. 3/10/2005 (Thursday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Wind still howling NNE. Weather forecast is grim: wind up to 40 knots later today, and up to 45 on Saturday night ! When someone complained that today's forecast says SW wind but it's blowing N, guy who gives the weather says we're at the junction of a couple of fronts, so wind is somewhat unpredictable (as I thought; happens a lot here). Some actual sunshine in the morning ! But lots of big ugly clouds and strong wind too. Dinghied ashore through rough conditions. Did internet, bought small funnels ($3), and got groceries. Back out to boat. Surprised to find conditions improving after lunchtime. Wind easing to 15-20 range, and plenty of sunshine. Surprised to see several cruising boats leaving the harbor. But then I realized I'd misread the forecast: the possible 40-knot wind was this morning, and should be SW 15 tonight. But there's 30+ wind forecast for parts of the next two days. Loafed a bit, then finished my income taxes. Dinghied ashore to make copies (a rip-off: 40 cents per page; didn't have time to try to find a cheaper place). Then across the harbor to a marina where someone flying to the USA is going to take postal mail with them, thus avoiding the Bahamas postal system. Salad and fruit and eggsalad sandwich and rum-and-coke for dinner. 3/11/2005 (Friday) At anchor in Marsh Harbour. Gorgeous sunny calm morning, and forecast is murky but sounds very nice. Apparently lots of weird stuff is churning to the north and NW of us, but shouldn't reach us. Dinghied ashore early. Disposed of garbage and recyclable cans, bought bread at bakery, bought groceries at Solomon's. Back to boat. Raised anchor about 10 AM and headed over to the fuel dock. Had to circle for 5 minutes, then got in. Then the attendant told me I should have radioed ahead; someone else showed up 5 minutes later and had to wait, and they HAD called ahead. Sorry ! Didn't help that the marina had a catamaran docked on the fuel dock, taking up the other half of it. Loaded 45 gallons of diesel ($2.95/gallon, total $133) and 4.5 gallons of gasoline ($3.83/gallon, total $17). Plus an extra 5% for using a credit card; if I'd called ahead and thought ahead, I could have gotten cash at an ATM and avoided that. Water would have been 20 cents/gallon; didn't get any. Off the fuel dock at 10:35. Motored out of the harbor, put the mainsail up, and motor-sailed ENE. Wind about ESE 15. Breezy and cool, not too much chop. When I rounded Point Rock off Matt Lowes Cay, wind was right on the nose: furled the mainsail. Pretty shallow even in the middle of the sound here; saw less than 7 feet a few times. Then VERY shallow as I approached Hopetown, often 5.5 feet. Slowed down. Anchored just outside Hopetown harbor on Elbow Cay at 12:20, just NW of Eagle Rock, at lat 26.32.760 long 76.57.773 Considered entering the harbor, but the entrance is shallow, tide is nearly low, and I'm pretty sure the harbor is full of boats and moorings. Will find out when I dinghy in. One other boat anchored out here with me. About 1:30, dinghied into the harbor. Sure enough, it's completely full of anchored boats and moorings. Nice big dinghy-dock on the east side, and I docked there and strolled for a while. Cute little town, all the houses painted nice pastel colors, lots of white picket fences, some nice flowers and gardens. The houses are really close together and the streets are narrow, but it's really a cute place. Nice ocean-side beach, too. Checked out prices at a couple of real-estate agents, and cottage/house rental is $1000-$2000/week, purchase $1-$2 million. Saw a breadfruit tree brought from Tahiti to Jamaica by Capt Bligh on his second trip, after the "Mutiny on the Bounty" trip (which also was a breadfruit-tree-hauling trip; they wanted to establish breadfruit as a new food source in the Caribbean). Saw several pretty women, which was nice. Dinghied across to the west side, and climbed up the lighthouse. Wonderful view in all directions. As I was up there, saw the boat anchored near me leave, and just about then, the wind shifted from S to SW, and my boat lost what little shelter it was getting from land. Stayed up in the lighthouse for 15 or 20 minutes, enjoying the views. Back to the boat, and wind is up to SW 15-20 and there's a bit of chop coming in. Considered whether to raise anchor and leave, but alternatives are limited, and I'd like to stay here another day. Would be feasible to leave at night if conditions get really ugly. So I decided to stay. About 4:30, was amazed to see two Moorings charter boats aground just outside the harbor entrance channel. First was a catamaran, and they tried to go outside the first red marker, not seeing the green on the other side, I guess. It's a very clearly marked channel; they really screwed up. Right after I saw them, I saw a Moorings monohull coming in, and a minute later they too were aground, farther out and very close to a rocky shore. The second boat managed to use the dinghy to pull themselves free, and head into the harbor. About 15 minutes later, the catamaran floated free and motored free, and went into the harbor. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Listened to the 7:30 weather forecast, and I've lost my gamble. Instead of S or SW 15, I'm going to get SW to NW 25 tonight. Which will make this an uncomfortable anchorage: it's almost totally exposed in those directions. The only saving grace is that the water is so shallow around here that it seems to keep the swells from getting above a certain size. But the situation is not bad enough to warrant moving now, in the dark. Long, nervous night. Started out with a headache, which I got rid of with pills. Kept getting up to look at ranges, to make sure I wasn't dragging. Not too concerned, since the water is so shallow, and my anchor has had a while to dig in. But if something in the anchor rode goes PING!, I'll have about 60 seconds to get the engine started and motor away from a rocky beach. 3/12/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Elbow Cay off Hope Town. Blowing W 25+. Took 20+ minutes to get the anchor up; this is one of those times where it would be great to have a second person aboard. Had to keep motoring forward a bit, dash from helm to bow, pull in 5 to 10 feet of chain, trying to get it to run cleanly down into the chain locker, before the bow blew off to one side or the boat blew backwards and suddenly put thousands of pounds of force on the anchor rode. Back to the helm, try to slew the boat around to face the anchor again, motor forward a little, do it again. Moving by 7:10. Unfurled the mainsail and started motor-sailing south on a beam reach. Thought of unfurling the jib, but my route is too congested and the wind is too strong. Nice trip, twisting around cays and shallow banks, but stiff breeze and just cool enough to be a little chilly. Nice to be heading south towards warmer weather. I haven't done any swimming or snorkeling yet in the Bahamas: it's been too cool for my taste. Caught a foot-long barracuda north of Tilloo Bank; cut it up later just to get used to dealing with fish. I have a small degree of squeamishness to get over. Arrived at Little Harbour just after high tide; good thing, because the channel has on 3.5 feet at low tide. I didn't see less than 6 on my way in. Finished anchoring by 10:35. Tight harbor, filled with about two dozen boats, most on moorings and some anchored. I put down two anchors and still ended up a little close to one boat, because they're sailing around a bit at anchor (later, from the dinghy and from shore, I realized we really aren't too close to each other). Had to launch the dinghy and carry out my second anchor: not enough room to do my usual routine of letting out extra scope on the primary until the big boat slides back to where I want to drop the secondary. Lat 26.19.615 long 76.59.939 After lunch, as I was tidying up the boat a bit, Dave from catamaran "Miou" behind me came over to say hi. He was heading out of the harbor to look at the reef from his dinghy. He saw my boat in Marsh Harbour earlier. Dinghied ashore and walked around. Only a dirt road here, with a beach bar and a couple of dozen houses and cottages. Walked a couple of miles south on the road, getting some nice exercise. On top of first hill, nice view down onto the harbor, and it's always a little thrilling to look down and see your own boat among the picturesque scene. Passed by several cars and motorbikes; there's a big, expensive resort/development at the south end of the island, at Crossing Bay. Back to "town", and joked for a while with several guys who had upended a dinghy to scrape and paint it. Sat and chatted with Dave for a while, then we went into a sculpture gallery. Near it is the foundry where the sculptures are made. Originally by Randolph Johnson, now by Peter Johnson. Some very nice, and very pricey, bronze sculptures. Dave came over later and we had a nice chat, and I gave him a tour of the boat. We looked over charts of Miami and the Bahamas, talking about anchorages and heading south to Eleuthra. Salad and fruit and cheese sandwich and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. Just before dark, a powerboat came in and took the mooring I anchored next to; their stern is swinging about 20 feet from my bow. But it's so calm tonight and sheltered here that we shouldn't have a problem. I'm sure they're as irritated by my presence as I am by theirs. Another stupid headache this evening ! Pills cured it. 3/13/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Little Harbour. Dave on "Miou" left just after first light, heading south. Yesterday he wasn't sure he'd have time to go, since he has to be back in Marsh Harbour in 5 weeks to pick up his girlfriend. I guess my plans and our talk over charts gave him a little kick. He had another day or so left on his mooring here, but decided to head across today. Called Dave on the VHF to tell him I'd monitor 16 in case he had any problems. Five minutes later he called me to say he'd caught a 30-pound grouper before he even got out of the inlet. Several other boats leaving, probably most heading south. I've decided to do it overnight, so I arrive in morning, instead of racing to arrive before dark tonight. Just had a thought: maybe I should hop around to Cherokee Point today and leave from there tonight, just to see it. Will have to look at the chart again. Checked the engine heat-exchanger zinc and cleaned the engine intake strainer. Perfect: by 8 AM, everyone close to me had left, so raising anchor would be no problem. Listened to start of cruiser's net at 8:15, then started raising anchor. After I got the secondary up, guy on "Alexian" nearby called over to save Dave was coming back in, said it was too rough outside. But he has a smallish catamaran with an outboard motor. Finished raising anchor about 8:40, and Dave came in just as I left. He held up a gorgeous grouper to show me. A couple of boats behind me as I left the harbor; one headed north, one turned east behind me. Unfurled the mainsail. Put out a fishing line. Looked out the inlet, and it looked as calm as the open ocean is ever going to get (i.e. not very). Went out, turned and unfurled the jib. Sailboat behind me went close to shore; all of my guides say there are huge shoals, stay a mile offshore. But they made it okay. As usual, wind and swells right on the nose. Blowing SW 10-15, and I want to go SW (225 degrees). Best I can do with sail alone is 140 degrees 2 knots. At fast-idle, motor-sailing 160 degrees at 4.5 to 5 knots. When I went to the other tack, made 290 degrees. 130 degrees from tack-to-tack is pathetic; 100 is good. Soon gave up and furled sails, and motored in the right direction. Caught an 18-inch barracuda. Past Cherokee Point and anchored about 11:40 on east side of Duck Cay. Scary entrance, shoals on both sides but no clear demarcation of them, wind and swells behind me, only an hour past high tide, and on a falling tide. But I made it safely. Didn't go far in at all, because I will leave at midnight. Lat 26.16.471 long 77.04.119 Some small swells making their way in to me, and it would be fine except something is holding me sideways to the wind and swells. Tidal current ? Tide is going down, but I didn't expect any current. Can see a sailboat anchored far in, in the Riding Cay anchorage. By low tide, about 4:30, boat swung a little more into the swells, making the motion easier. And I could see some bare rock to avoid on the way out; planned my heading and GPS track to get out. Simple route, but I really don't know the depths. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. Tried to sleep a bit, but was too tense. Got up about 9:20. Raised anchor and moving at 9:40. Slowly motored out, watching the depth-sounder. One worrisome moment as depth went from 8 to 5 but it soon went back up to 8. Out into double-digit depths, with a sigh of relief. As usual, wind is nearly on the nose, from about 225 and I'm heading about 210, to get the shelter of Great Abaco Island, to avoid big swells. Blowing 10-12 knots, which isn't bad at all. Motored out, with some strong opposing current for the first mile or so, and some swells. But after a few miles, it smoothed out nicely and most or all of the current went away, and it's quite a nice night out here ! Stupid green navigation light on the starboard bow isn't working, again. I keep sanding corrosion off the contacts and bulb, and it works again for a while, but then quits working. Must keep getting water intrusion, and sometimes it gets bumped by the anchor chain, and the navigation lights are illegally small anyway (regulations probably changed since the boat was built). Motored on, looking at stars and listening to the radio, seeing phosphorescent bits in my wake. Tried to find a star-chart that's been underfoot for ages, but I must have finally stowed it somewhere unknown. At 11:40, turned slightly port to 195 and was able to raise the mainsail, although it's not doing much for me. Paralleling land about 3 miles to the west, and suddenly there's a huge smell of wildfire. About midnight, got concerned that I might be closing with land a bit. The only chart I have for this area shows a lot of area on one page (I think that means "small-scale"; I always have trouble remembering which is which). Changed course to separate from land more, and turned on the RADAR to see how things look. That's the only time I use my RADAR: to see land and ships at night. 3/14/2005 (Monday) In transit from Cherokee Point / Duck Cay / Abacoes to Royal Island / Eleuthra. 2 AM: Starting to lose the protection of Great Abaco Island and get to the edge of Northeast Providence Channel: current of more than a knot against me, and slightly lumpier seas. Saw a cruise ship about 10 miles ahead. Heard a VHF transmission from Coast Guard St Petersburg ! That has to be 300 miles away. VHF's range is usually 25 miles. Now that I'm on course 180, wind has started shifting more south too. Was hoping to unfurl the jib before turning to about 160, but now can't do it: it'll just flog. I do think the mainsail is contributing a bit, and it certainly is helping to steady the motion. At 2:20, lat 25.55.300 long 77.06.800 About 4:30, something big circled around behind me. I couldn't figure out it's lights: it seemed to have a green light at the stern instead of the bow. On the RADAR, could see that it was very big. It made a pronounced semi-circle, then disappeared off to the east. Strong current setting me to the east. For now, I'm not trying to fight it, but later I'll probably have to head a little more south to make up for the extra east. At 5 AM: just about halfway across the Northeast Providence Channel, at lat 25.43.700 long 77.00.600 According to the chart, water is about 2.5 miles deep here ! Strong smell of smoke from wildfires again. Must be coming from Nassau or Andros. Sky starting to get light about 5:45. Put out a fishing line at 6 AM. At 6:05, land ho ! Of course I still have 2-3 hours to go to get to anchor. And this is the worst part of an overnight passage: you feel that it's "done", but you have to plod on for another several hours. Saw a large tanker going east about 6-8 miles behind me. Make that "LARGE". And empty. Maybe heading for the Middle East to get oil ? Sunrise at 6:20. Can see Abaco lighthouse 10 or 15 miles behind me, and there are several weird tall rectangular structures coming out of the sea near it; have no idea what they are. Oil rigs ? Saw nine sailboars sailing north at 7:10; very pretty. Back onto soundings at 8 AM; depth-sounder had been going crazy all night in the deep water. Turned corner (chart had GPS coords of wreck and shoal wrong, I think) into the sound west of Eleuthra and south of Royal Island, and all of a sudden things are calmer: I'm going downwind and also there's some shelter from the swells. Took in my fishing line, and I'm amazed that I didn't catch anything. I really hoped I'd catch a nice deep-water fish such as a dolphin, especially fishing at sunrise. But nothing. Furled the mainsail, motored into Royal Island anchorage, and it's almost empty. No moorings, and only four other boats (one soon left) in a pretty spacious anchorage. Anchor down by 9:10, at lat 25.30.838 long 76.50.839 Well, I made it! Not elegant: motor-sailed the whole way. But the latest weather forecast doesn't give me any hope of sailing that passage any time this week. And it wasn't too rough; no damage to me or the boat. Tried to get some sleep, but can't really get any solid sleep. Some naps and reading and eating. Tidied up the sail sheets, and had a nice shave and shower. Salad and fruit and eggsalad sandwich and rum-and-coke for dinner. Refrigerator running too much, and dragging down the batteries. I've seen this before: something about a long passage, maybe all the motion or the high battery voltages, gets the refrig a little confused. About a dozen boats here for the night. Extremely calm and quiet and still here; people talking from boat to boat in tones just slightly louder than normal conversation, it seems. 3/15/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Royal Island. Very quiet and still here; lovely. I slept well last night, but still am a little tired. Scrubbed a bit of the foredeck and side deck, and washed and scrubbed the cockpit. Did a bucket of laundry and cleaned the head. Added water to the batteries and jumpered the genset battery to the house batteries. Went after rust spots on the cockpit and deck gelcoat with acid. After lunch, piled lots of snorkeling and fishing gear in the dinghy, added extra gasoline to the tank, and headed out to go spearfishing for the first time ever. Went two miles west to the end of the island, and out the cut between Royal Island and Egg Island. The chart makes it looks like a deathtrap, a minefield of coral-heads out there, but I didn't find any. Lots of sand and grass. Saw breakers way in the distance to the NE, another 2 miles or so away. Into the water, stretched the rubber tube on my pole-spear experimentally, and one end of it snapped ! Other end is about 2/3 gone. And this is the first time I've used it ! Lesson number one: check your equipment before you leave the boat. I have a spare tube back there. Found some little clusters of rocky coral on the bottom with some fish on them, but none big enough to take. The two I did see that were big enough looked at me and headed away faster than I could swim after them. But the water is gorgeous, very clear, nice temperature, and it's a beautiful day. Pretty strong current here, so I picked up and moved away from the cut and closer to shore, hoping to find underwater cliffs there. But the bottom slopes up gradually as it approachs land here; no cliffs. And lesson number two: anchor very close to what you want to investigate. Swimming 50-70 yards each way, with some current, was a little tiring. Would have been fine if there was anything to work on, but there wasn't. And if I had caught a fish, I would have had to swim all the way back to the dinghy to dump it in the bucket. Headed back to the anchorage, looking along the shoreline for anything interesting, but didn't see any heads or good coral. Ended up following two dinghies of other cruisers back; they went somewhere shorter on the sound side, near a picnic area. Got back to the boat, and another dinghy came by to ask what I'd caught. The guy said he got two small (8-10 inch) snappers, and he'd been spearfishing for about 3 years and this was the best day he'd had ! Not too encouraging. Snorkeled under the boat briefly; prop looks fine. Salad and chili for dinner. Water very still and clear; can see every blade of grass 10 feet down. Dave on "Miou" entered the harbor just after 5. He looked all sunburned. He headed straight for the opposite end of the anchorage, so I guess he didn't see me (or, maybe he did!). I thought of calling him on the radio later, after he finished anchoring, but I decided not to disturb him, probably all tired from the passage. Still fighting cockroaches in the galley. Saw one and spritzed him with bug-spray, and hope the traps will get him. 3/16/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Royal Island. Wind shifted and started blowing harder about 6 AM. Blowing S-SE 20 or so. Saw another boat re-anchoring. Just after listening to the weather forecast at 7:30, my anchor started dragging ! I'd been watching ranges since sunrise, because this place is known for poor holding. I'd wondered about some of the other boats, who are anchored much closer to the rocky lee shore than I am. Started the engine, raised the anchor, moved up much closer to the upwind (south) shore, and anchored again in slightly shallower water. Not too hard to do, despite strong wind, because there are almost no swells here. Will have to keep a close eye on the anchor, and it's supposed to blow SE 15-20 for the next three days. Talked to Dave on "Miou" on the VHF; he was surprised I was in the same anchorage. He had a smooth crossing, basically motoring with only the mainsail up most of the way, as I did. The sea was even flatter for his crossing than it was for mine. He had a big marlin, maybe 8 to 10 feet long, on the fishing line for 10 minutes or so, before it cut the line and got away; it did lots of amazing leaps out of the water. He saw a lot more commercial traffic than I did, and had to call one ship to get them to change course. Then, near the end of the crossing, he almost had a disaster. He was heading for some waypoint that he had from a past trip here, didn't double-check it, saw breakers ahead and didn't absorb the implications, and soon he was among big coral-heads and in very shallow water. His rudders bumped up (I think), he lost both fishing lures, and he was lucky to turn with the outboard and motor back out of there. He almost lost his boat on the reefs, in my opinion ! Although the weather was very settled; he might have been able to recover from a serious grounding. He's planning to snorkel under his boat to see if any damage was done. I wonder if his waypoint was for the entrance to the anchorage, on the S (back) side of the reefs and islands, instead of for the NW corner of them. And I told him about the east-setting current I experienced; he thinks that may have been what screwed him up. We agreed that your brain gets a little fuzzy toward the end of a passage, and you have to be extra careful then. He said when he got into the anchorage, he deliberately headed for the shallow end, but accidentally drove so far into the shallows that his rudders bumped up again. He's had rudder weakness and stopgap repairs before, some just before his Gulf Stream crossing, so it's a point of worry for him. Dave's put out a second anchor; maybe I should do that too. And I should have called him last night: he was out of ice, and had to eat three pounds of fish for dinner or else it would have spoiled, and I could have joined him. But I would have been finished with my dinner by that time anyway. Getting some swells inside the anchorage, and one boat in particular is pitching like crazy. Saw Dave re-anchor a couple of times, ending up in a shallow pool very close to the windward shore, facing the opposite direction from all the rest of us; very strange. He has his rudders up, so he only draws about 18 inches. Later, saw that Dave and someone else had gone ashore to look at the "ruins"; both of them hauled their dinghies completely out of the water and onto a dock ledge at the landing. His dinghy is aluminum, and he raves about how tough it is. About 2 PM, launched the dinghy and put out my secondary anchor, a bit to the east of the primary. Now I'll be able to sleep tonight, without worrying the whole time that my anchor will suddenly drag. Of course, if BOTH drag, it'll be a real pain to raise them both and re-anchor. The stupid outboard started fine, ran for 30 seconds or more until I cast off from the boat, then quit and wouldn't restart. Fortunately, I was fairly far forward along the boat, and the wind blew me to it, and I cleated the painter to it while messing with the outboard. It was really stubborn, taking 6 or 8 shots of starting fluid before it would stay running on gasoline. Ran each time on the starting fluid, but was refusing to pump gasoline for some reason. About 3:15, saw a nice demonstration of savoire-faire. A sail appeared outside the harbor entrance, and a small sailboat (maybe 26-28 feet long) sailed in under mainsail alone. The opening can't be more than 60 feet wide; no way I'd sail in. Youngish bearded guy on the stern steering with a tiller. Did a short loop and anchored somewhat behind me (he stalled the boat and took down the mainsail before dropping the anchor; I would have left the main up and luffing in case it was needed again in a hurry). The anchor came up out of the forward hatch; no chain locker or windlass, probably not even a bow roller. He probably bought the boat for $5000 and is cruising for $500/year. I feel like a rube by comparison. A little later, he put down an outboard and raised anchor and motored over to anchor further into the west end. So he burned 2 cents worth of gas. Soon he was out paddling around in his kayak. About 3:30, catamaran "Papi" came in and anchored in the east end near Dave. Saw them last in Marsh Harbour; they must have fought today's brisk wind to cross from the Abacoes to here today. Talked to them later, and it turns out they came from Nassau; they left the Abacoes over a week ago. And "Escada" is here too; must have come past me without me seeing him. Dave's back on his boat, and moving it around again; I guess he's still not anchored to his satisfaction. Dave came over about 5 PM for a drink and a chat. Turns out his boat pivoted around to face opposite everyone else's on it's own; he didn't do it deliberately. In fact, it almost ended up on rocks. He dove on his anchors, and found a huge mooring constructed of an engine block and some concrete connected by a chain, so now he's on two anchors plus a line to that. I told him that's probably the drain plug in the bottom of the anchorage: if his boat pulls that out, all the water will run out. He says the "ruins" ashore are beautiful and extensive; I'll have to go check them out when the wind eases. Salad and cheese+crackers and rum+coke for dinner. 3/17/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Royal Island. Very damp morning. Weather forecast a bit garbled, but it seems to have changed totally. Instead of two more days of wind from SE, it's going to clock around W then NW then N. So I'm going to have to re-anchor to avoid being put on a lee shore. Jumpered the genset battery to the house batteries. Wind easier a little in the morning, but picked up a bit around noon. Almost all of the boats from the east end of the anchorage left, and almost all in the west end are still here. Still blowing from SW, and I'm not leaving until after it turns N and I can go ashore to see the ruins, then anchor in the N-shelter of Spanish Wells. A couple of boats left around 1 PM, headed for moorings in Spanish Wells harbor. Another boat moved and took the spot one had been anchored in, near me. Got the genset started ! It's been so long since I ran it, and a diesel engine likes to be run often. Also, measured the output voltage, and it's 117.5, which is perfectly acceptable: the analog gauge on the electrical panel is lying. So I don't have to adjust the governor on it. Ran it for 30 minutes to exercise it. Dinghied ashore, tying up at a rough rocky landing only semi-protected from the SW swells. Walked through the "ruins", which are okay but nothing great. They are ruins of a nice resort that went bankrupt 10-15 years ago, I think. Lots of nice tile floors; Dave says they are Italian tile a half-inch thick. Walked paths through the jungle to the north/ocean side of the island, and found all the people from "Papi" and "Escada" there; we had a nice chat and a nice time looking at fish and the scenery. Back to the boat, and now a tricky decision. I've several differing weather reports. It's either going to: - shift SW - W - NW today/tonight - shift SW - W - NW tomorrow - flatten out and do nothing And later Dave hears there are thunderstorms tonight in Freeport, 140 miles away, probably heading for us. I'm anchored with 2 anchors and great protection from the SW, which is where it's blowing from now. But if it blows from NW, I'm set onto a rocky shore, and my anchors will let me swing very close to it. So, do I: - stay where I am and hope no NW until tomorrow - move to middle of anchorage to survive anything but not be protected from swells as much - move to Meeks Patch anchorage I decide to stay where I am, because the "shift SW - W - NW tomorrow" forecast is the one I personally heard on the radio, not secondhand, and because I hate to re-anchor just before dark. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. A nervous night, up frequently to see if it's still blowing from SW, and to make sure I'm not dragging. Guy behind me has no anchor light on. Blowing harder than expected, 20-25 with gusts to 30. 3/18/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Royal Island. Some lightning and rain starting at about 4 AM. Saw spotlight over on "Papi" about 4:15; they're pressed against a nasty lee shore. Saw their running lights come on for a minute at one point; thought they were going to motor off the shore and raise anchor and move, but they didn't. Wind shifted from SW to W about 5 AM, and I was on pins and needles for the next 45 minutes, hoping daylight would arrive before it started blowing NW and put me against the shore. Kept watching the depth sounder and the wind direction. If it blows NW and gets shallow, I'll have to hustle out and raise two anchors while motoring off the shore, in light rain. Got out my spotlight, and the dang thing didn't work ! Fortunately, it did keep blowing from the W, and even eased a little after a while. Got going at first hint of daylight. Anchors up by 6:10, and motored out of the anchorage. Motored downwind and down-swell to Meeks Patch. Rough when leaving the anchorage, and when making turn into new anchorage, but otherwise fine. Rained most of the way. Put out a fishing line, but caught nothing. Dave tried to talk me into picking up a mooring here, and he's snorkeled on it and checked the depths, and it's free. But I'm just not a mooring person; I'm more comfortable anchored. And my mooring line got pressed into service as a jibe-preventer; it would take a couple of minutes to reclaim it. He says weather report says it'll blow S-SW all day, which is not what I was seeing in the other anchorage. And it's blowing W 20+ here now. Anchored at 7:15, at lat 25.31.008 long 76.46.718 Raining gently. Cleaned up the cockpit cushions a bit, had some breakfast, and went back to bed. Blowing WNW 20-25 at 10 AM. Took apart the spotlight, bulb is okay, found the power connector is corroded and the binnacle outlet is intermittent. Sanded the connector, and I have a replacement outlet that I'll install soon. Just re-read some of the Fishing page of my web site, and someone says "Don't troll in less than 30 feet of water, or you'll catch nothing but barracuda". Yup, that's been my experience so far (although later Dave said that's not totally true). Really missed a bet by not trolling all the way through my overnight passage, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time out on a rolly deck in the middle of the night for fishing. Blowing NW after noon. After lunch, took a nap, then got ready to head over to Dav'e sboat and ashore. But he beat me to it, arriving by dinghy, and we went ashore. Nice little island, but the surf is pounding ferociously on the windward side of it, with a good 25 knots of wind coming in. The sound over there looks really nasty today; glad we're in the nice shelter of this island. Lots of little huts and shelters on the island; locals come over and camp here for a weekend or longer. We saw more and more boats coming out of the Royal Island anchorage and heading into Spanish Wells to pick up moorings; that anchorage must be almost empty now. We strolled on the leeward beach and chatted for a while, then had a bit of excitement. The small cruise ship "Grande Caribe" approached, and we watched as they anchored about half a mile from my boat, then launched a tender. They ferried about 15 people ashore, landing just past Dave's dinghy. The whole time, we were speculating about whether they were going to anchor, whether they'd come ashore, whether there were any pretty women, etc. Dave said this was the most exciting thing that had happened to him in the whole cruise. We had a nice chat with several of the people, and there were three youngish women, one of whom was quite pretty. They went off down the beach and the pretty one sunned herself in a bikini. The people told us the cruise ship had come from Harbour Island, and was going to Governor Harbour later today. (But it ended up staying anchored here all night; maybe we heard wrong.) Eventually, we went out to Dave's boat and he gave me a tour, then we sat and chatted some more. Surprising, but I don't think I've ever set foot on a catamaran before, except at boat shows. His is about 30 feet, built in 1976, twin tillers over twin rudders, a four-stroke outboard. He has a second set of rudders he can fit for very-shallow-water work. Lots of control lines for raising leeboards and raising and lowering rudders, as well as the usual sail-control lines. He showed me a lot of fishing lures and gave me a lot of fishing advice which I was hard-pressed to memorize. The woman in the bikini on the beach went swimming, and we watched with interest. Big catamaran "Celise D" came in and anchored near us. Some local kids in a skiff came by later and speared a stingray, whooping and chattering. Back to my boat, and salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. Tried to call the cruise ship for latest weather info, but no response on 16, 13, or 9. Saw a couple of the crew swimming alongside the ship, holding on with big circular suction cups, scrubbing the side of the hull at the waterline and just above ! Called Dave and we had a laugh about it; what a big job, and they're doing it just before sunset when the fish are hungry. 3/19/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Meeks Patch. Raised anchor at 6:30; tried to do it under sail, but wind piped up and boat was slewing back and forth too quickly. So started engine, got anchor up, then shut down engine and sailed with main and jib over to Spanish Wells. Wind died down again, so only made 2 to 3 knots. Saw Dave leaving behind me, heading for Nassau, and said goodbye to him on the radio. Anchored outside the harbor south entrance about 7:15, at lat 25.32.209 long 76.45.569 Sailboat "Borealis" and megayacht "Silver Shalis" anchored out here too. A little later, Dave called me to say he just realized someone stole the gaff off his boat when he was at the fuel dock in Spanish Wells the other day. He'd noticed a strange footprint in his cockpit when he got back to the boat, but hadn't noticed anything missing. Asked me to look for it and tell the fuel dock people. Cruise ship raised anchor and left about 8:30. Dinghied ashore, landed at an empty spot on the seawall and hoped it was okay; nobody squawked at me, so I guess it was. Strolled around town. Bought big fishhooks at marine store, and then told them Dave thinks someone stole his gaff while he was at their fuel dock. They weren't too happy to hear that. Checked out grocery store, waterfront, looked at the tiny mooring field, went to east end and looked out over reefs and Eleuthra Island. Very pretty, and a cute town: many houses painted very colorfully, and some gorgeous houses with wide porches and patios. One or two with nice flower gardens. But lots of vehicle traffic. Stopped in a few shops, back to the waterfront briefly to watch the passenger ferry unloading and reloading (the big event in town each day, I expect), and then did internet ($10 for an hour). To supermarket, and bought groceries, including two loafs of fresh bakery bread, one still warm from the oven. Hot walk back to the dinghy, then out to the boat and ate some of that wonderful bread for lunch. Loafed all afternoon. Beautiful day. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Watched about 10 sailboats head into the south entrance of the harbor in the hour before sunset; they must all be heading for marinas, because the moorings are full. Later saw several of them anchored SE of town; they must have gone back out the east entrance. Had been debating whether to stay here another day or two, or head for Current Cut tomorrow morning. Woke up in middle of night, did a little midnight charting, and decided to ride my bike on Eleuthra tomorrow. Went on deck at 3 AM in my undies to see if the bike tires were flat. 3/20/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Spanish Wells. Raised anchor at 7:40, managing to bash one of my little toes into a stanchion base. Hurts a lot ! Hope I didn't break it; just the thing to do before a bike-ride. Motored through the harbor and out the other end, and anchored between Spanish Wells and Eleuthra at 7:10. Lat 25.32.797 long 76.44.415 Pumped up bike tires and oiled the chain; the chain is incredibly stiff, even after oiling. Launched the dinghy, loaded bike into it, and went ashore to beach next to ferry dock at James Bay, on Eleuthra Island. Lovely bike ride down to "Bluff" community and back. More exercise than I've had in a long time. 12-14 miles roundtrip, took about 2 hours. My toe hurt a little for a minute after I put sneakers on, but not after that. But after I finished and took the sneakers off, I'm more sure it's broken: it hurts to move it at all. As a bonus, there was a public dumpster at the ferry dock, so I disposed of garbage (hard to do around here). Around lunchtime, pursued some very faint WiFi signals, but never got an internet connection. Saw a sea-turtle swimming near the boat; he was about 15 inches in diameter. He dove and stayed under so long that I gave up waiting for him to come up. Starting raising anchor at 1:40, and for a while thought I wasn't going to get my chain and anchor back. In 20 feet of water, and I thought it was scoured coral down there (I'm sort of in a pass), but the chain must have snagged on a shelf or outcropping of coral. Finally got it loose by letting out chain and motoring in a small arc, then pulling chain in. Into the harbor's east entrance, through the harbor, out the south entrance, and a mile or so west to anchor about 2:25 at lat 25.32.286 long 76.45.967 Met a speeding motoryacht about to come in the entrance as I was almost out, and he really didn't want to slow down and wait for me to get clear. But he had to. Saw the ferry to Nassau leaving, as it does every day at this time. 50-60 foot dark blue boat, and once it clears the harbor exit, they put the pedal to the metal, emit big clouds of black smoke, start planing, and rush off at 40+ knots. Since I'm planning to sail downwind tomorrow, decided to investigate the state of the twin downwind poles I have lashed to my mainmast. First time I've messed with them in almost four years of owning the boat ! They're in good shape, although the car that slides down the track on the mast took some coaxing and lubrication. The guy-lines that keep the far ends of the poles suspended in mid-air are ancient and it would be bad if one of them failed. It would be a chore to deploy the poles safely at sea; it's almost a two-person job. And when deployed, the ends are too high to use as jib whisker-poles, which is how I want to use them. The poles are designed to work with special downwind headsails I have on board, and apparently those sails have the tack higher than the jib's tack (probably shorter foot, too, since the jib actually is a genoa). I guess I could buy longer guy-lines so I can use them with the genoa. And attach both poles to the jib tack at the same time, so there isn't an extra pole to tie off to something. Maybe my toe isn't broken after all: I can manipulate it a bit without pain. But trying to flex it with it's own muscles causes pain; maybe I stretched some tendons or muscles in it. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. 3/21/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Spanish Wells. Now that I'm going to head S and SSE today, of course overnight wind has changed from NW to SE. Sailed off anchor at 7:10, raised all sail, and headed SSW in a stately close reach and later close-hauled. Making 2 knots when wind is 5-7, making 3 knots when it's 8-11. Put out a fishing line, and saw something about 2 feet long nosing at the lure once, but the boat was going too slow and the fish wasn't fooled by the lure. Wind diminished, and by 9:30, was making 0 knots in a 2-knot wind. A little after 10, furled all the sails and started the engine. Call me Ishmael ! I've just finished re-reading "Moby Dick" for about the 10th time (love that book). And how appropriate: just caught my first edible fish ! Looked back at the line, and there was a big fish flopping along at the surface of the water. Hauled him in, put a gaff in his gills and lifted him up and into a bucket. It's a big mutton-snapper, probably 2 feet long and maybe 15 pounds. Then started the Chinese fire-drill: dumped some cheap rum into an old squirt-bottle and tried to squirt it into his gills to kill him, and the squirt-bottle didn't work ! Dumped rum into his gills as best I could; probably gave him 25 cents worth (of a $7 bottle). Probably should have stopped the boat and drifted while I cleaned him, but it was only a mile or two to the anchorage. So I hustled in, and anchored about 11:40 on the NW side of The Current settlement, at lat 25.24.598 long 76.47.493 Then tried to get some meat off the fish; my first serious attempt ever. Doused the deck with seawater to make it easier to clean, put down a cutting board, put on gloves, used a pair of fishing pliers to get the hook out of him. Lifted him out of the bucket by the tail, and he's heavy ! Put him down on the cutting board and tried to cut his head off with a fileting knife, but couldn't get through the toughest parts of him. At least I was sure he was well dead now. (Occured to me later that a heavy knife would have worked better; guess a fileting knife is only for fileting.) A brief try at slicing near the tail and then ripping scales and skin off his side, which I've seen charter-boat guys do, but no luck for me. Started cutting at the tail, and cut a few big slabs of meat off his sides. Tough work, but I got a couple of pounds of meat, mostly with skin and scales still on. Finally got tired, and threw the carcass overboard with 3/4 of the meat still on it (meant to measure the length, but forgot to). Wrapped the meat in plastic wrap (an adventure in the breeze) and put it into the freezer. Then lots of washing down the deck, tools, and me. About 15 minutes all told. I have a lot to learn about doing this. A little after noon, big aqua-blue sailboat "Dream Catcher" came through the cut and anchored near me. If the two masts are the same height, is it a ketch or a schooner ? About 10 people on board; one nice-looking woman in a bikini. I think it's a charter operation. Soon another aqua sailboat came through and anchored 1/4 mile further up. Supposed to blow hard tonight from SE, and this place is sheltered from that direction. Later, saw the "Dream Catcher" crew dinghying ashore, 15 people in a long wooden double-ender dinghy. Went ashore myself about 20 minutes later, and had a nice stroll around town. Nice, but very quiet. Chatted with some fishermen at a dock, then met all of the "Dream Catcher" crew at the store in the middle of town, where they were waiting to send someone off in a taxi to the airstrip. One of them told me that cleaning a fish is simple: scale it, gut it, then either roast it whole or cut off filets. I'm resolved to do better next time. Walked down to the cut and looked over it; starting to get tidal current against wind, and it looks like it could be ugly in those conditions, as the charts and guides say. Long, hot walk back to the dinghy, and out to the boat. Salad and pan-fried fish and rum-and-coke for dinner; the fish was delicious. Had to scale the piece of fish, which wasn't easy. Still learning. Never did blow 20 at night as the weather forecast predicted. 3/22/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Current Cut. A bit headachey this morning. Well, that was a fiasco ! Anchor up at 7:55 and headed for Current Cut, to get through at slack tide (my tide program says high tide at 7:45). Started going through the cut, and found 4+ knots of current against me. Pushed throttle down more and more, and still only made 1.2 knots over ground and falling. Gave up about 1/3 of the way through, especially because there is some dicey water on the far end that I don't want to hit in a high-current state; turned around and came back and anchored again at 8:15. So is my tide program wrong, my reasoning wrong, or maybe the SE wind is trying to push the waters of the whole Bight of Eleuthra through the cut today ? Water level looks high to me, but it's hard to tell. Tried calling various people on the radio to ask for info, but no one responded. Looked for a fish-scaler; thought I had one on board. But couldn't find one. Cleaned up various things, and found the star-chart I was looking for a month ago. About 10:15, saw "Dream Catcher" raise anchor, and then to my surprise, they headed back through the cut. Looked like they had as tough a time as I did, but they just throttled way up and went through at about 1 knot over ground. I'd been checking the current in the binoculars every now and then, and it still was roaring through there. Heard their engine for a long time after they disappeared from sight. Found the fish-scaler in the last place I looked, the tub I keep all my fishing stuff in. Why do you always find what you're looking for in the LAST place you look ? Watched six powerboats in a string go through the cut at 11:40; current may have eased a bit since earlier. Talked to "Dream Catcher" on the radio. He's not sure exactly when high tide was, but thinks the SE wind may have started the current and tidal shift earlier than normally. He says they had to power up to 7 knots over water to get through the cut, and I don't think they made more than 2 knots over ground. Raised anchor about 1 PM; should be near low tide, and current doesn't look so vicious. But it turned into an ugly trip. Still 2.5 knots of current against me through the cut, so it took quite a while to get through. Then a jog sideways to the wind and swells close along a rocky lee shore; no fun at all. Got clear, turned into the wind and swells, unfurled main and jib. Furled them again almost as quickly; have to go way off course to keep them filled properly. As usual, the wind (and swells) are almost on the nose. Motored against short steep swells and 15 knots of wind, making only 4 knots. This is a wide, shallow sea, and the swell is coming a long way. Turned a little to take the swells a little off the nose: more rolling, but 10% more speed. Finally got across the sea, and anchored behind a small point within sight of the "Glass Window" about 4:30, at lat 25.25.700 long 76.36.004 Good protection from the wind direction, but a bit of swell is curling in to rock me, and sometimes the wind backs around enough to hold me abeam to the swell. Not the best place, but I can't reach Hatchet Bay before dark, and that's the only better alternative. There's a megayacht anchored about half a mile away. Glass Window is pretty. The island is 80 to 100 feet tall here, very thin, with cliffs and bluffs rising up from the water in many places. A road runs along the top of the spine of the island. At "Glass Window", the island is pierced through from ocean side to "bight" side, with the road running on a bridge across the top, and rocks just above sea level below. This leaves a 100 by 100 opening where you can see through to the ocean, and it's striking. I'd hoped to find a side-road up to the main road, so I could take my bike ashore and bike north over the bridge and up to look across at Harbour Island, but no such side-road, and not going ashore in these conditions. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Boy, did I make some bad decisions today ! This place is lousy: the swells are curving in and the wind keeps pushing me out abeam to them. Spent all night trying sleep while the boat would be still for 15 seconds and then roll noisily for 15 seconds, lots of cabinetry right near my head creaking and squeaking loudly. Definitely a mistake to come here. I should have headed straight for Hatchet Bay from Current Cut; would have made it with an hour or more to spare. I could have raised anchor here and gone there, and probably would have made it before dark; I had been thinking it would be dark at 6, but that's in winter; now it's dark after 6:45. Better yet, I probably should have stayed on the other side of Current Cut until the S wind stopped. But that could have taken a week. Or given up for today and seen what the current was like at first light the next morning, then headed straight for Hatchet Bay. 3/23/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor near Glass Window on Eleuthra. Anchor up at 6:15, and motored up right into the teeth of the swells. A damp, grey, windy day. Swells are a little bigger and nastier than yesterday. If I go straight into them, I make about 3.5 knots, and every minute or two I hit a big swell that drops me down below 2 knots and makes the prop cavitate for a while. So I "tack" back and forth, getting some rolling and occasionally a nasty corkscrew, in return for more speed. Really wishing I wasn't out here. I'm the ONLY fool out here today; have the place completely to myself. Must admit the scenery is impressive: Eleuthra Island has sheer cliffs rising 40 to 80 feet out of the water, with greenery and some pretty houses on top. Into Hatchet Bay about 8:55, through really nasty entrance. I'm glad I didn't raise anchor at Glass Window yesterday afternoon and get here just at dark. Guidebook says it's 90 feet wide, but I think they're measuring from cliff to cliff (the entrance is a notch right through 80-foot high sheer cliffs); the water part looks more like 60 feet wide to me, with lovely rocks to worry about. Strong following seas hitting the boat on the starboard stern quarter and slewing it around. Throttled up and made it through okay with some careful steering. Nice and calm inside, and about 10 boats here, including "Dream Catcher". Looped around a few times, looking for a good spot to anchor, but much of the harbor is either too deep, in the mail-boat channel, or taken up by mooring balls. But it's a big harbor, and had no real problem finding a spot. Anchored at 9:10 at lat 25.21.074 long 76.29.563 Napped off and on all day; guess I didn't get much sleep last night. A couple of boats left the harbor; maybe going north. Or maybe they moved to moorings where I can't see them ? Salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. Very damp evening; wind from S. 3/24/2005 (Thursday) At anchor in Hatchet Bay on Eleuthra. Very damp morning; wind from SSW. By 10, wind swinging around to NW ! Not predicted in weather forecast. Today would have been a better day for leaving Current Cut; waiting 2 days would have saved me some of the nastiness of that passage. The swells still are bad; watched "Dream Catcher" leave and they were rolling pretty badly out there. But getting the sails up would help a lot with that. Dinghied ashore. Long chat with Leroy on the 1981 Pearson 323 "Curmudgeon" at the seawall. He was here for hurricane Floyd in 1997 (I think) and lost his boat; it ended up on a hill crushed underneath a powerboat. This Pearson had hurricane damage to backstay and bow pulpit, so he bought it and fixed it up. He's from Toronto; arrived here from Nassau yesterday evening, having a rough passage. Thinks he may have seen "Miou" in Nassau. He knows people here, having spent a year or so here back in the 90's. I can't imagine spending so long in such a small place, although it isn't far by road from several other towns. I told him how I screwed up and had a nasty passage to get here, and he sympathized. Turns out the marina here is defunct and no one charges for the moorings any more. There's another sailboat "Peace and Plenty" at the seawall near Leroy's boat. As we chatted, all three boats on the moorings close in left and headed out of the harbor, leaving them all empty. One was a powerboat named "No Clew". Disposed of garbage and walked into Alice Town. Pretty enough, but it's a hot and humid morning, and walking is not much fun. Into both grocery stores and bought apples and a sponge. Somehow I left Florida without a supply of sponges. Back to the boat, hoisted the dinghy, raised anchor, and motored over near town to pick up a mooring. Only about the third time in my life I've picked up a mooring, and it took two tries. Overran it both times, although the second time it was mostly because I couldn't pick up the rope with the boat-hook. Finally got it when the mooring ball was halfway down the side of the boat, and managed to haul it back to the bow. I'm actually more nervous on a mooring than at anchor, because on a mooring I'm using rope (my own, plus that which comes with the mooring), which can chafe through. My anchor chains give me a great sense of security. Wind almost NE by 12:30. "Peace and Plenty" moved out to a mooring about 1:15. "Papi" and "Escada" came in about 2, and Gary from "Escada" dinghied over to say hi and get the lay of the land. They're probably going to head to Governor's Harbour tomorrow. He said Harbour Island was nice but full of very rich people. They fished on the way back and caught lots of barracuda, including some 6-footers, but just one edible fish. Ev and Jed from "Papi" came by, heading into town to look for hardware and ice. They sifted through my collection of bolts, but couldn't find a match to what they need. And they're not going to find it in town. Ferry/freight boat from Current Cut came in, delivering people and fresh produce. Probably the event of the week. Wind from NE. Had the rest of the mutton-snapper for dinner; quite a big piece of it, actually. Delicious. "Mutton-snapper yesterday, mutton-snapper today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton-snapper again tomorrer" (from "The Hobbit"). Watched a big motoryacht come in. Couldn't figure out where they were heading for; they're too big to pick up a mooring near me, and there's a ferry and "Curmudgeon" on the seawall. But they sidled in to the end of the seawall, sticking out a bit at both ends. Dinghied over to "Papi" after 6 for drinks and conversation. Pretty plush: a big, newish catamaran with tons of space. Quite a spread for happy hour: nuts and cheese and crackers and 3 or 4 kinds of liquor. I had some nice strawberry marguerita. They got a kick out of a picture I showed them in the 1995 guidebook I'm using; it shows this harbor with a bustling marina and boatyard operating on the seawall, which is all gone now, wiped out by a hurricane. (Later, some cruisers told me that thefts and a murder were the real cause of its demise.) Dinghied back to the boat in the dark, but there's a brilliant full moon, so no problem. Wind almost SE now. 3/25/2005 (Friday) On a mooring in Hatchet Bay on Eleuthra. Beautiful morning; wind from SE. Ashore with bike by 7:40, back out to boat to get sunglasses and grease, on the bike by 7:45. Biked up to Gregory Town, over 6 or 8 long hills. Pretty tired by the time I got there. Nice town, but too many hills in it to wander around too much. Church service going on the Good Friday morning. Headed back, now into a headwind. Not too proud to walk up a few of the steeper hills. Got a great workout; about 10 miles roundtrip. Looks like Leroy has been sleeping in a house ashore; he's not on his boat. Back to the boat at 9:30, had a nice cool shower, and hungry for lunch at 10. While I was showering, the big yacht moved around from the end of the seawall to the long side of it. Decided to wait for good wind before leaving; I'm heading SE from here, and the wind is from the SE today. Supposed to blow hardish from the S Saturday night, then NW on Monday. Nothing much to do here, but I'll try to develop some patience and wait for good wind. My patience almost collapsed about an hour later, as the wind seemed to be clocking around to the west, going at least SSW. "Papi" and "Escada" left the harbor about 11. I called them on the radio and Gary said conditions outside were very nice, and they might be able to raise some sail (but they sail a lot closer to the wind than I do). So I decided to leave, and started getting ready (hoist and lash the dinghy, check engine oil, close ports, stow loose stuff, put out cockpit cushions, get charts and binocs up, put flag up, set electrical switches). By the time I was ready to start the engine, the wind had veered back to dead S, so I stopped. Over the next 2.5 hours, watched it oscillate between S and SSW, and I'm not going to head SE in that wind; I'd have to motor the whole way. So I sat and read my book. Salad and cheese-sandwich for dinner. Still fighting cockroaches in the galley. Thought I'd got rid of most of them, by cleaning and spraying and putting out traps, but there's always one or two more to deal with. Heard a lot of music from an amateur band ashore around 8 PM. Maybe some kind of Good Friday festivities ? Blew E 20 or so just after midnight. 3/26/2005 (Saturday) On a mooring in Hatchet Bay on Eleuthra. Damp morning; wind from SE and then S. Able to hear "Car Talk" on an FM station from Miami, for the first time in two months. Tightened and seized the turnbuckles on the mainmast lower shrouds; they've worked loose. By noon, wind around to S and sometimes SSW. By 1:15, wind often from SW, but it's a bit too late in the day to head out. Definitely could make the 16 miles or so SE to Governor's Harbour before dark if I motored or motor-sailed, but I'd rather sail, and starting out late in the day is against my instincts. By 3, the wind is back to S. By 4, it's back to SE. After water tank is empty; switched to forward tank. That means I've used about 140 gallons in about 2 months, or more than 2 gallons per day, including showering and laundry. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Listened to Prairie Home Companion for the first time in two months; a repeat, but a good one. Very still evening, and the bugs are out in force, for the first time here. No-see-ums, and a swarm of flies coming in and out of the cockpit as I was cooking dinner. I killed a few more of them each time they came in, and eventually they were gone. Hot, still night in bed. All the screens up, and not much wind. Killed a couple of mosquitoes, and never did get the last one, I think. Killed a few more cockroaches. 3/27/2005 (Sunday) On a mooring in Hatchet Bay on Eleuthra. Wind from S. Listened to weather forecasts, and might get a little NW wind late Tuesday, with a little SW before it. Other than that, S and SE all week. The hell with it; life is too short to spend a week of it at Hatchet Bay waiting for wind. Off the mooring at 7:15 and motored out. Rougher than I hoped outside, but not quite as bad as the other day. Put mainsail up and motor-sailed. Swells too tough to head straight on the course I want, so "tacking". A sailboat came out right after me, but he's heading N. Guess I should have left late Friday morning when "Papi" and "Escada" left; still would have had to motor, but might have been a bit calmer. Put out two fishing lines. Motor-sailed south at about 4 knots with engine throttled up, until 9 AM, then unfurled the jib and turned east. Very nice; doing 5.5 to 6 knots with engine throttled down. Getting lots of power out of the sails, and a bit more abeam to the swells now. Still need the engine and auto-pilot to keep control in these rough swells, especially since helm doesn't balance itself under sail when close-hauled like this. Heard Dave on "Miou" talking to Warderick Wells at 9, so he's down there now. Bang ! Port jib sheet broke at 9:35, in a strange place, a foot or two from the tack. Doesn't seem like that spot would be specially stressed or chafed. Guess the sheets are just old. Furled the jib and kept motor-sailing with the mainsail up. Had to throttle up a bit and now doing 4.5 to 5 knots. Lost my nice flying-fish lure ! The wire leader broke, maybe snapped off by a fish, maybe just snapped at a bend. Into Governor's Harbour and anchored about noon, at lat 25.11.687 long 76.14.912 No other cruising boats here, which is a little disconcerting. See one small sailboat anchored next to Levi Cay, but it's rolling like crazy over there. A little swell curving into the harbor, but really not much at all. Engine shutoff switch didn't work, so had to go down and move the shutoff lever on the injector pump with a screwdriver; another thing to fix. Retied the broken jib sheet. Refurled the sails, since they didn't get furled cleanly during the passage. Blowing S 20. Dinghied ashore, anchoring off the beach and wading in. Nice stroll around town, although it's a bit hot, and everything is very quiet because it's Sunday. Nice view from the top of the hill, some nice houses with pretty bushes in the yards. Band playing and singing at the Buccaneer Club, and the bigger grocery store is open, and some people on the street in the west end, but dead otherwise. Salad and an eggsalad sandwich for dinner. Excitement after dark: lots of activity at the nearby ferry dock, as two big ferries and one medium-sized one are all docked at the same time, with lots of cars and people going on and off. Then two ferries left, and only the big one that's been there all day remained overnight. A bit rolly in the harbor, which is surprising because it's completely protected from every direction except NW, and wind's from the S, and there' no boat traffic. Maybe all the seawalls and rocky shores let swells bounce in and around. 3/28/2005 (Monday) At anchor in Governor's Harbor on Eleuthra. Another grey and damp morning. But wind is supposed to shift to W-NW tomorrow, and NE on Wednesday; good weather for going south. Got a free WiFi connection just long enough to upload my log file ! Getting rollier in the harbor; lots of swells coming in from the NW even though the wind has been from the S for a long time. A catamaran came in at noon. Couldn't see a name; like most catamarans, it will be some cutesy pun related to cats; they have a big graphic of a cat's pawprint on the side. In the engine compartment, put twelve volts from the battery onto the engine shutoff solenoid, and it seems to work okay. Hard to tell if it's traveling far enough. Would be nice to have a second person on board to push the switch up in the cockpit while I test down here. Maybe the switch is broken or there's loose wiring in the binnacle. Another catamaran "Morning Glory" came in during the afternoon. Big motoryacht came in at 5 or so and tried to contact someone to see if they could tie up at the seawall. They anchored for an hour or two, then did move to the seawall. Chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Wind started shifting to the SW in the late afternoon, and the swell coming in the harbor mouth from the NW is right on my beam, rolling me badly. Went to bed and laid there wondering if this was all worth it; probably another uncomfortable sleepless night ahead. About 9, went on deck and rigged a bridle from the anchor rode to a stern cleat, to pull the boat around to nose toward the harbor mouth. Not too happy about doing this, because now I'll be relying on my rope-to-chain splice to hold all night, and the rope rode is going off the bow roller at a sharp angle and could chafe. And putting the boat sideways to the (moderate) wind puts more load on the anchor. And a front is coming through tonight or early tomorrow; if it blows hard, I'll have to dash up and release the stern line, and with the extra line off the bow, I might swing into a permanently moored small catamaran behind me. I can see I won't be sleeping much tonight. But the motion is greatly reduced, mostly because the anchor rodes to the side kill the momentum of each roll. Still rolling and getting swells slamming into the transom: this harbor is like a washing machine, with swells coming from every direction. Bizarre. Out on deck every hour or so, checking for chafe and anchor drag. Rain at 12:45; front must be near. Had to close up the boat like a submarine, since it's being held sideways to the wind. Wind-shift to WSW and a little W about 2 AM, and wind speed increased a little. On deck at 2:15 and let out stern anchor line a bit, so boat is lying at 45 degrees to wind instead of 90 degrees. Bow still pointing at harbor mouth, mostly. Less pressure on the anchor, but still potential of chafe at the bow platform. Wind edging around to WNW. At 4 AM, started the engine. Tied a line to the stern anchor line and freed it from the cleat, then carried the line forward as the boat spun to face the wind. Then motored forward bit by bit, taking in 5 feet of the two anchor lines each time, keeping an eye on the small catamaran directly behind me. Got up to the bitter end of the anchor chain, and now I'm back on all-chain and a single anchor rode. Lots of big swells coming in the harbor mouth, but now they're mostly lined up with the wind, so I'm not rolling much. The engine shutoff switch worked ! Maybe my poking at the solenoid freed it up; maybe it's sticky and needs some lubrication. 3/29/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor in Governor's Harbor on Eleuthra. Anchor up at 6:45. Motored out of the harbor, raising jib and mainsail. Motor-sailed south on a broad reach in WNW 15-20 wind, with huge beam swells from the west rolling the boat. Making 5.5 to 6 knots with engine at moderately low RPMs. The catamarans seem to be staying put today; they must be heading north. One of them moved out of the harbor to the tiny anchorage south of the harbor. Big motoryacht came out 10 minutes after I did and passed me, heading south as I am. Put out a fishing line, and added another lashing to the dinghy. About 8:30, looked out and saw my lure darting side-to-side: fish on the line. Sat there for a minute or two thinking "I guess I'll let him tire himself out", when suddenly there was a clatter and lure, line, bungee cord and cheap plastic spool were gone ! Guess the bungee cord came loose, and the spool hadn't been tied to anything. Stupid. Put together another rig and started trolling again. At least now I know something will go for that kind of lure. Around 9:30 or so, wind eased slightly, swells came a little more from north, and I turned 10 degrees east. Now I'm on a run, wind and swells almost behind me, and the boat is stable and warm and a happy place again. Saw two trawlers heading north, into stiff swells and wind, saying they were hoping to get to Royal Island tonight. Why didn't they go sometime in the last three days, when it was blowing 15-20 from the south, instead of today when it's blowing 15 from the north ? Into Rock Sound and anchored by noon, at lat 24.51.893 long 76.09.757 Tired and hungry. Engine shutoff worked fine again. Looks like a nice place, and there are about two dozen cruising boats here, in several clusters in various parts of the sound. Napped, ate, loafed all afternoon. More and more boats coming in, probably from Hatchet Bay and other places north. Pea soup over noodles for dinner. Slept like a log most of the night. Really calm and nice here. 3/30/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Rock Sound on Eleuthra. Did a bucket of laundry, and aired out blanket and bedspread. Beautiful sunny day. Dinghied ashore, taking the bike. Met people from boats next to me, "Trumpeter" and "Sanderling". Got a splinter in my toe as soon as I stepped onto the dock, but got it out with no damage. Lovely couple of hours bike ride around town, up to the airport, and over to the ocean. Mostly flat here; just one hill to get over to the ocean side. Walked a little on the beach there. Went to the "Ocean Hole" park, which is practically right in town. About a 200 by 200 pond that SCUBA divers have been unable to find a bottom in, and is tidal. Kids and couples feeding bread to a school of about a thousand fish (snappers of some kind, a guide said). When the guide to one couple said it was bottomless, I tweaked him by pointing near the edge and saying "I can see the bottom ! It's only 5 feet deep !". He took me seriously. Browsed in the quite nice hardware store (but their prices for fishing lures were breathtaking), then got groceries. Nice medium-sized supermarket, prices not bad for the Bahamas, but no bread until this afternoon and no milk until tomorrow. Locked the bike ashore and back to the boat. Very calm and sunny day. Dinghied ashore in midafternoon and got 10 gallons of water from the tap near the dinghy dock. Unfortunately, it's too salty to drink; I'll use it for showering and laundry. Should have waited until tomorrow to start laundry, instead of using my drinkable water for laundry this morning. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. Finished the litre bottle of cocoanut rum I bought on Feb 9th. 3/31/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Rock Sound on Eleuthra. A bit cloudy this morning. Cleared up a bit later. Did a big bucket of laundry with shore water. Dinghied ashore and had a nice bike ride south out of town. Not much there except the town dump, and a trail to some interesting caves. Stopped to chat a little with the couple from "Sanderling", who have been here a while and were taking a long walk with their dog; they told me where the bakery is. Explored in that direction, then to the ocean hole park briefly. Biked northwards, bought fishing lures ($6), and got groceries. Still no milk available. Brought the bike back out to the boat. About 2/3 of the boats have left in the last day or two; about eight of us here now. Dinghied ashore in midafternoon. Loaded 10 gallons of water. Exchanged 8 books at the book-exchange in the gas station. Bought a loaf of bread at the bakery. Chatted with several cruisers waiting to get their laundry back from the laundress; one was a singlehander like me, and was paying $12 to have his laundry done. They're from North Carolina. We chatted about my Mississippi trip, and various other things; very pleasant. They said the boatyard at Hatchet Bay had gone out of business after a lot of theft and a murder, not because of hurricane. Fruit and a tuna-salad sandwich for dinner. 4/1/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Rock Sound on Eleuthra. Did another bucket of laundry. Lubricated the engine shutoff solenoid a little. Fuel level 13.0 inches at engine hour 3646. Dinghied ashore after lunch. Loaded another 10 gallons of salty water. Bought a loaf of bread at the bakery. Dinghied northwards a little later. Stopped by "Papi", and found Ev and Gary looking at fancy weather info that Ev was downloading through his satellite hookup. But it was a bit confusing; it seems to say that the coming N wind will just make the swells out in Exuma Sound bigger, instead of turning them around from their normal SE direction. So now I may have to wait until Tuesday or so to cross, when the wind will be almost E again. I'll be heading SW. While I was on "Papi", Gary mentioned that his laptop was dead; I think I'd heard of that in Marsh Harbour. He took it to a shop in Nassau, and they guessed he had a motherboard problem. Ev's son looked at it and couldn't figure anything out. Turns out I have an identical model, so I dinghied back to the boat (into stiff wind and swells; it's blowing S 20 this afternoon), and got my operating system CD-ROMs, and went back to "Escada". After a half-hour of trying various things, suddenly we got to the right place, it fixed a bunch of filesystem damage, and his laptop was fine ! Gary was delighted. 6 or 7 boats were coming in to the sound between about 2 and 4 PM, and one of the last was "Miou"; he sailed right behind "Escada" on his way to anchor. So I dinghied over and said hi to Dave. He was pretty beat after an 8-hour crossing from Warderick Wells, but needed to go ashore to get ice. So we went ashore in my dinghy and got groceries (they finally had milk, at $4.50 for a half-gallon) and ice. Back to Dave's boat, then I dinghied to mine (again into rough conditions) to put away groceries. I fetched a can of nuts and went back to "Miou", and we had a nice chat and happy hour. I gave him several magazines; he says he has books and magazines on board, and somehow never gets started on reading any of them. I'm ALWAYS reading something. Since I saw him last near Spanish Wells, Dave: - found the gaff he thought had been stolen; it had just been misplaced on his boat; he's going to apologize to the fuel dock people at Spanish Wells. - went to Nassau and bought rum and big fishing lures; he says prices were better in Marsh Harbour. - went to Warderick Wells and Staniel Cay; Staniel was a bit too crowded for his taste. Conditions starting to mellow a bit; wind S 10-15. On the way back to my boat, "Papi" called me over to meet someone and say that they were heading out tomorrow morning. Then "Moomba" called me over and we had a brief chat; Harold's an 80-year-old guy who's been cruising for 40 years; he's on a Nonsuch 35ish catboat with unstayed mast. He invited me aboard for drinks, but I was too talked-out and it's getting dark; I'll return tomorrow. He says Georgetown has changed a lot in the last couple of years: lots of condominiums, and the people aren't as friendly. He says Long Island is a great place to go. Salad and a hard-boiled egg for dinner. Killed a couple more cockroaches in the galley; had hoped I'd seen the last of them. 4/2/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Rock Sound on Eleuthra. "Papi" and "Escada" left at 7 AM. They're heading W to Highbourne Cay; wind is about S 15 now, but is supposed to go W later today. Dave came by and asked me to come over later so he could show me some fishing rigs and sell me a lure; later I decided it was too rough. Blowing S 20+ by 8:30. Tried to call Dave a couple of times on the radio to tell him I wasn't coming over. Then at 9, I looked out and didn't see his boat any more. He had been anchored about 1/2 mile north of me. I think he's 3/4 mile south of me now, to get some shelter from this S wind. A couple more boats left at 9:45. And Dave is WAY up against the south shore now, well more than a mile south of me. Shortwave radio is full of static today; nothing much to do but read and eat. Blowing S 25+ after noon; lots of big swells in the sound. A couple of boats came in from Little San Salvador about 1 PM. Rainclouds passing over. Added water to batteries. Added 1/2 quart of oil to the engine. Checked other fluids. After 2, wind starting to clock around to SW a bit. So raised anchor at 2:15 in rough conditions, and flocked over to the west side of the sound with almost all of the other boats. Anchored by 2:55 at lat 24.52.671 long 76.11.213 Engine shutoff worked fine again. For some reason, most of the other boats are in the middle of the west side; I chose the northwest corner, because the wind is supposed to go W then NW then N tonight, and N then NE tomorrow. They're going to have a long fetch from the N when it does. Nice radio chat with Dave on "Miou" and Harold on "Moomba". Harold's heading back to the Exumas soon; he just came over here from the Exumas to get groceries and use the telephone and such. Instead of coming up NW with the rest of the boats, Dave has gone S down Starve Creek, where he's protected from most directions, but not really from the north. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. Wham ! At 8:20, wind suddenly shifted from SW 5 to NW 25, and then N 30 a minute later. Lots of scrambling and spotlights among the boats anchored farther south; glad I'm off a good distance away from anyone else. Hope Dave is okay; he's not really protected from the N, I think. Killed some more cockroaches in the galley. Traps don't seem to work; I have to get up several times a night, turn on a light and quickly spray any I see. I'm winning the battle, but slowly. 4/3/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Rock Sound on Eleuthra. Wind very light in the early AM, then NNW 15-20 around sunrise. Everyone missed the weather forecasts because of the daylight-savings time change. Still can't get many shortwave stations, and the few I get still are full of Dead Pope news; I hate it when they get a "hot" story and just keep repeating the same few facts over and over, adding lots of chatter to fill the time and make it seem more substantial. About 10:15, "Miou" came past me and anchored far up at the N end of the sound. Caught the tail end of his radio transmission telling "Moomba" he needed to catch up on sleep. "Moomba" and another boat have moved back over to the east (town) side of the sound. Chatted a little later with "Miou" and "Moomba", and Dave didn't do too badly last night with the N wind. He said it was rough today coming several miles north up the sound against the swells from the N wind now. And yesterday he must have had the same kind of rough trip, heading down to the S end against S and SW swells and wind. Decided I'd rather try my hand at making some fishing lures myself, instead of paying big bucks for them in stores. So I ripped up an empty soda can and twisted it into a vaguely fishy shape, and attached a small lure that is just an "eye" and a big hook. I'm thinking of crossing to the Exumas tomorrow. I'd be heading SW (210T), and wind is supposed to be NNE then NE then E 10-15. The big question is the size and direction of the swells; could be rough. If I wait another day, the wind should be E 15-20, which still is not bad for going that direction. The wind info "Papi" gave me seems to have been pretty accurate; it came from windfinder.com The swell/waves info he showed me on the computer screen didn't make sense (showed huge swells from SE all week); I hope it was wrong. About 2 PM, dinghied up to "Miou" and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting. Showed my homemade fishing lure to Dave and he wasn't impressed, either by the lure or by my leader-rigging skills. He said to send him email if I ever catch anything on that lure, and showed me the proper way to twist the ends of the leader. He gave me several old fishing lures he doesn't use any more. Nice conversation about cruising and politics and stuff. I went back to my boat and fetched some distilled water for his batteries; they took well more than a quart. Got pretty cool as the sun got lower. Most of the other boats have flocked back to the east (town) side of the sound, but the wind has been pretty strong all afternoon and it must be putting some pretty good swells onto them. We're staying on this side tonight. Salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. 4/4/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Rock Sound on Eleuthra. Anchor up under sail at 6:45, a little before sunrise. All sails up and sailed out of the sound, making about 2.5 to 3 knots, broad-reaching in 5-10 knots of wind. Put out two fishing lines. Talked to Dave and Harold on the radio. Weather looks good; wind might be a little too light if anything. Supposed to be N to NE 10-15 today; I'll be heading SW once I get to the open ocean (Exuma Sound). On the BASRA weather net, heard that there are 140 cruising boats at Georgetown. When I was there three years ago, there were 400 boats in harbor for cruising regatta week; probably would have been 250 by this time. At 8:15, had to start engine to do a leg very close to the wind; motor-sailed with main and mizzen up. Three other boats came out of the sound after me and started passing me. Two of them went north. Engine off at 9:15; sailing again. Rounding Powell Point at 10:45; into deep water at 11:20. Now 30 miles to go across Exuma Sound; it's going to be a long day. Calm and beautiful out here; there's hardly any swell at all. Wind is fluky: shifting back and forth 30 degrees, and puffing and dying. Usually no more than 6-8 knots of wind. I'm lucky to be sailing at 3.5 knots; often it's less. By 1:15, couldn't tolerate going 1.9 to 2.4 knots and 30 degrees off course any more; at this rate, I'll arrive tomorrow morning. Started the engine and motored 5 knots on the right course. Even at this speed, I won't be anchoring until 6 PM. Almost immediately, nosed out past the lee of Eleuthra Island and started getting some beam swells, rolling the boat a bit. Not too bad. Catching nothing but seaweed on the fishing lines, and lots of that. Every 15 or 30 minutes I'm pulling them in, and always taking off seaweed. Tried a few different lures and various arrangements. Hooked a gorgeous dolphin a little before 5 PM. I happened to be looking at the lines when I saw him darting across the wake, and he hit the green lure Dave gave me. He zig-zagged around as I got my stuff together, and started hauling him in. Just as I got him near the boat, and was reaching for the gaff, he thrashed wildly one more time, and broke open the swivel and swam away with the lure. Bummer ! I could almost taste the fresh dolphin for dinner. He was about 2 feet long, and the most amazing bright colors. So, I guess I've learned one thing about fishing so far: all of my gear is crap. I need bigger swivels, stronger line, different and bigger lures. Getting large swells from the east by 5:30 or so, and they got larger and larger as the afternoon went on. Pretty uncomfortable. Had a salad, to get dinner started. Arrived at entrance to Warderick Wells at about 6:45; plenty of time before dark. NOT ! Met a 1.5- to 2-knot current coming out of the cut, so it took forever to get in, and was rough: big, sloppy, standing waves in the cut. Then I had to make a big loop around a shoal; tried to sneak across in a couple of spots, but I guess the tide is lower than I thought (my tide program kind of dances around this area) and the shoal is shallower than I hoped. Finally got across 2 minutes before the sun went down (but the sky is still light). Hustled up the channel of deeper water to the anchorage area. Anchored by 7:40 at lat 24.23.181 long 76.37.903 Stowed and lashed all the running gear, and started cooking some dinner. Completely dark about 8:10. Chili for dinner. Tired. Killed more cockroaches during the night. There's my wind: started blowing E 15 around midnight. 4/5/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Warderick Wells in the Exumas. Blowing SE 20 with gusts to 25 at 7:30. Had been thinking yesterday that I should have crossed today, to get better wind, but this would have been a bit too MUCH wind and the beam swells would have been huge. Guess I did well to cross yesterday, even though I had to motor so much. Backup VHF radio doesn't seem to be working very well; I've suspected that for a while. I think maybe the antenna got damaged in the hurricanes. Blowing E 20 with gusts to 25 at 10. Dinghied ashore through wet, rough conditions and sat on the porch at the Park Headquarters doing WiFi internet on my laptop (found out later, there's a $10/day charge). Place hasn't changed too much since I was here three years ago. Breezy but sunny and warm inside the protected crescent of the main mooring area. I was recognized by the volunteer couple who run the park center: Tom and Judy. They have a sistership of mine, a 1972 Gulfstar 44 named "Glory Be". It's up in Mississippi now. They cruised it down here, fell in love with the place, and decided to stay. They've been reading my web site and log file, and recognized my boat name when I called in to make a mooring reservation for "Moomba" this morning. Back to boat for lunch and to recharge the laptop. Back ashore, getting wet again. Paid $10 for internet, and did another long session. The crew from "Papi" came in. Gary on "Escada" has decided to head back to the States instead of going on to Georgetown; the news was mentioned as one would announce a death in the family. Chatted a bit on the beach with "Ev" from "Papi" and then a cruiser from Montreal. A couple of pretty women in bikinis on the beach. Back to the boat. Blowing E 20-30 all afternoon. Salad and fruit and a cheese sandwich for dinner. Blew E 25-35 all night. A little worrying but not uncomfortable. 4/6/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Warderick Wells in the Exumas. Starting about 5 AM, wind still blowing E 20-25 but some swells coming in from the SSE, rolling the boat. Pretty uncomfortable at times. Lots of boats leaving this morning, many in the direction of Nassau, I think. Rolling eased around 10 AM. Still blowing E 20-25. Heard from "Moomba"; Harold is making a very fast crossing from Rock Sound today, but it's rougher than he likes out there. He thinks maybe he should have waited until tomorrow. So my choice may have been to cross on Monday (which I did) and have to motor, or cross on Thursday (and face decent but S and SE wind, going SW). I guess I made a reasonable decision, and it just didn't work out (couldn't sail all the way). Still trying to figure out this passage-planning stuff. Pulled the refrigerator out and cleaned and sprayed behind it, killing a couple of cockroaches. May have to pull out the stove, something I've never done. At least the refrigerator fan I added is still working. Sprayed all around with goopy termite stuff that pools up and soaks in; seems to kill cockroaches just fine. Sprayed into gaps around the stove too. The place is a toxic waste dump right now. Gary on "Escada" called me at 1:30; he's up at Shroud Cay, and hasn't yet decided if he's going north or south. So I may see him again. "Papi" left this morning, heading south; their guests have to catch a plane out of Georgetown on Saturday, so they can't waste any time getting south. Unfortunate that they're getting almost no time at places such as Warderick Wells and Staniel Cay. Dinghied ashore about 2 PM. "Moomba" just came in and picked up a mooring. Got ashore, got a trail map, put on sneakers and socks, and saw a boat try to pick up the mooring next to "Moomba" and end up stuck sideways against "Moomba", reversed. I'd go out and try to help, but several dinghies are converging already. Took a long walk on the trails; it's a big island. The trails are very rough, mostly walking over coral that has big holes eaten in it. Nice views from the tops of the hills. 20 minutes later, "Moomba" and the other boat are still stuck together. Long hike and back to the headquarters about an hour later. Chatted with cruisers on the beach (one told me they'd come down from Highbourne on the INSIDE, and it was very rough even there), then sat up on the high porch of the park center and chatted for a couple of hours with various people; lots of fun. They said the two stuck boats resulted in some hot words between one of the park denizens and the newly arrived boat; I didn't get details. The mooring area here is very tight, there's a strong current, and today there's strong wind, so it's easy to go wrong. Got some advice about the Dominican Republic, and got a free pina colada. Spaghetti for dinner. Uncomfortable night. This place seems to have some swells at angles to the wind, so the boat is rolling a bit. Blew E 20-25. Might pull ahead closer to the island, but I can see that boats up there are rolling too; maybe not as much as I am. 4/7/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Warderick Wells in the Exumas. Blowing SE 20-25. Still getting rolled a bit. Most other boats fleeing the anchorage; it's just too rough and rolly. Many are motoring SE into the wind. About 10 AM, started the engine. Tachometer not working ! Alternator is fine; I can see amps going into the batteries. Raised the anchor in rough conditions, motored SE up into most protected nook of Emerald anchorage. Even there, swells are getting in from a direction you'd think was impossible, given the wind direction and shoals and island. But it's much calmer here. Tried twice before I got the anchor in a reasonable spot; finished at 10:40, at lat 24.22.899 long 76.37.362 One other boat "Vagabond" here. I stayed in the other, much more exposed spot, for so long because I wanted the short dinghy ride to the park HQ, and I wanted to get WiFi from the boat. But the WiFi never quite worked. If the swells had stayed aligned with the wind, all would have been fine. But the swells started rolling me. Stupid to stay so long; a good night's sleep is worth more than a short dinghy ride. Medium-sized cruise ship "Grande Caribe" came in and anchored about 11 AM, then ferried people ashore to the beach near me, going right past me. Heard later that my boat was part of the tour; the guide was explaining my rigging to the passengers as they went by. Same ship that Dave and I saw up at Meeks Patch near Spanish Wells. Only one young woman in the batch that came ashore. Nice shave and shower. That and calmer seas and lunch have me feeling pretty good. Blew ESE 20-30 all afternoon. Dinghied ashore after 2 PM. Took another hike on the trails, which are very rough, full of limestone that has big holes eaten in it. But nice views, and nice exercise. Chatted a bit with several passengers from the cruise ship; a flock of them came ashore to the park HQ and beach. Nice people. But few cruisers appeared this afternoon, even though I stayed quite late (too late). Harold from "Moomba" never came ashore; I wanted to chat with him. A few cruisers did appear, and told me that the boat that got caught on "Moomba" yesterday actually got the mooring line caught in their propellor and damaged their transmission. They can't motor any more ! They may be stuck here until they get it fixed somehow, and I can't think of where they'd get it repaired; probably Nassau. Maybe they can dinghy-tow the boat out of here and sail to Nassau. As we were chatting, a beautiful red sailboat came into the mooring area. They were going fairly fast down-current, right in front of the park HQ, when BAM! they slammed aground and stopped dead. Amazing that the woman on the bow in a skimpy bikini didn't fall off. Floored it in reverse, got free, banged into something else hard on the bottom; they must have been among several coral heads. Current started heeling them over sideways at one point. We all were groaning in sympathy, and willing them to wait for the park warden skiff to come help them; it was close by. But they powered off themselves, and followed the skiff around to the mooring ball. Dinghied back out to the boat about 7 PM; didn't mean to stay so late. Long, rough ride straight out into sharp chop and 25-knot wind. But my outboard ran like a champ. Salad and fruit and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. Too late, thought of putting a bridle on my anchor rode to pull the stern around so I face the swells. Went out to do it, and it's so rolly and windy and dark, and there's a boat not too far behind me, so I decided not to risk it. Put up with some rolling all night. 4/8/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Warderick Wells in the Exumas. Started raining about 5 AM. Totally grey and raining at 7:30. Wind SE 20-25. Powerboat behind me left about 8:30; cruise ship left at dawn. Just "Vagabond" anchored near me and a big powerboat anchored a mile away. Water leaking down the mainmast compression post again. It's been happening for years, and I've been putting off dealing with it, since I suspect I'll have start taking out panels of headliner. I'm pretty sure water is getting on top of the headliner and running down onto the insides of the teak cabin sideliners (is that a word ?). And the teak plate at the top of the compression post is one piece; they must have put it on top of the post before they put the deck onto the hull when they were building the boat; I don't see any way to get it off. Starting to get some radio reception; for the last few days, the shortwave has been useless. Went on deck and wiped dirt off the pilothouse with the free water I've caught. Much cleaner now. Rain eased quite a bit around 10; still very wet and grey and windy. Went out and put a bridle on the anchor rode to swing the boat around to face the swells more. Less motion, but still some. Sun trying to peek through about 11:30, but still very grey and windy. Finally took a deep breath (and a hammer and screwdriver) and chiseled apart the teak piece on top of the mainmast compression post. Split along the grain pretty neatly and came right out; no problem. Sure enough, the area up there is full of wet salt and decayed headliner board. Even the headliner is one piece above the compression post; I'm going to have to chop away some headliner to get the headliner panel out (not today). Can see the heads of the two big through-bolts that hold the mainmast base to the deck. Cleaned out lots of water and salt and wood. At least the compression post looks good; no corroded ends. I'd like to separate the mast and post to clean out the hole that the wires go through, but I think I'd have to loosen the rigging, unbolt the mast base, and lift the mast (with a crane ?) to do that. If I just loosen the rigging to the mainmast, would the deck flex upward enough to get access above the top of the compression post ? I doubt it. Catamaran "French Catnip" came in and anchored next to me. In fact, they ended up sort of on top of my anchor; hope the wind doesn't go W too soon, or we'll have a problem. Was surprised to see them all dinghy ashore about 1 PM and go for a hike. Poured rain at 2 PM, and again at 3; they came back soaked. And they and "Vagabond" both have towels and suits out on the lifelines as if they'll get dry on a day like this. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Some kind of dry squall or mini-front came past at 6:45; blew S 35 for five minutes, blasting through the cockpit and putting out my stove flame, heeling the boat over because the anchor bridle is holding it sideways to the wind. Getting ready to go below as it got dark around 7:45, when suddenly there's huge lightning to the north. Watched as a storm approached, and closed up the boat and got ready for the worst. Started the engine and ran it for 20 minutes, fearing a blast of NE wind that would put me aground near rocks, but the storm came over without much strong wind, maybe more S or SE 30. The nasty ground- strike lightning seemed to pass to the NE of us. But then the storm hovered overhead for a couple of hours, with heat-lightning up in the clouds flickering like crazy. Hurt the eyes just to look out of the cockpit for a while, there was so much flickering. Kept going until after 11. Then just about midnight, all hell broke loose. Woke to blasting rain, looked out for my usual ranges to check my position, and suddenly saw the catamaran 10 feet away from my stern ! Dashed up to the cockpit, struggled into foul-weather jacket, started engine. Out onto deck into 40+ knots of wind, around to the stern, and freed the stern line of my anchor bridle, carrying it forward and dumping it on deck. That let my stern swing away from theirs a bit, eased the strain on my rode, and simplified my situation so I had more options. Blasted my horn over at them a couple of times, to try to wake them up, but no lights appeared. Motored slightly to separate us, and we're parallel about 40 feet apart. Wind is from W, and neither of our anchors have dragged, they just anchored too close. Turn on all of my deck lights, lighting everything up. More horn blasts to the catamaran, and they wake "Vagabond" 1/8 mile away; I can see a spotlight from them. Soon I realize that my anchor bridle line has blown off deck; now I have to worry that it might get into the prop. Try fishing for it with a boat-hook from the bow, but no luck. Guess it sank, and there's no current to stretch it back into the prop. Motor forward gently a few times, hauling in some anchor line, until I get back onto all-chain. Then I can grab the chain-hook holding the stern line on, and pull the line in. Finally get it all on deck. I'm completely soaked. Back to the cockpit, and finally my yells to the catamaran get a response from the cockpit; people are up. I wait a little, and soon I'm glad to see them come on deck and start raising anchor. Then they have a problem: they spend 5 or 10 minutes taking turns hammering on some parts of their anchor rode; I think part of their bridle is stuck and preventing them from raising chain through the windlass or something. Then as they raise anchor, it draws us closer together. I motor a little to try to stay away from them, but I'm not sure I do much good. Finally they're free and they pass behind me and out into the open water. I adjust my anchor chain to fall back to use all 100 feet of it, shut down engine and lights, and start peeling off and drying myself. Wind is down to W 25 or so, and the rain is light. By 2 AM, wind is NW 25 or so, pressing me straight back into the little cove here, and I'm a little worried that low tide will put me aground. I never expected it to go N so soon; the weather forecast was for W wind today (between Florida and Bahamas; the Nassau forecast just said SE-S 15-20 yesterday; no further prediction, and certainly nothing about yesterday's all-day rain or that huge lightning storm last night). Depth sounder reading about 4 feet, and my draft is 3.5. Went out to the bow and pull in 15 feet or so of anchor chain, to pull myself into slightly deeper water. Probably gained only 3 to 6 inches of depth, but that's good enough. 4/9/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Warderick Wells in the Exumas. Up at 6:30, feeling like I didn't sleep a wink all night. Blowing NW 20-25; time to head south. But I have to gather my energy first. "Vagabond" is still nearby, and a little later I saw "French Catnip" way over towards the park HQ. Pretty grey and half-cloudy, but looks like it will clear up into a gorgeous day. Anchor up at 7:20, and had to throttle up quickly to motor away from a nasty rocky lee shore. Past "Vagabond" and raised mainsail and then jib. Shut off the engine at 7:40 as I cleared the shoals and small cays, and sailed on a beam reach and broad reach for an hour or so, making 4.5 to 5.5 knots in 20+ knots of wind, with swells on the beam or a little behind; pretty rolly. Lots of hand-steering, and the swells are knocking the boat around and keeping it from getting balanced and steering itself. One other sailboat came out of Warderick and passed me pretty handily. Wish I could have stayed at Warderick today: I'd like to talk to a couple of people in particular, show my boat to Tom, use the book exchange, and go to a cocktail hour gathering tonight. But I've had it with the anchorage; don't want to spend another sleepless night there, especially with W and NW swells coming right into it. Guess the mooring field might be worth it, although it's completely full today, as it is half the time during prime season. And I need to get south, because I want to be in Georgetown for Family Regatta week, which starts in 2 weeks. About an hour later, wind started easing, and my speed started dropping. Wind soon around 10 knots, and boat speed less than 3 knots. Talked on the radio with Judy at the park, then with the couple on "Mrs. G", a Gulfstar 44 trawler. First nmet them 3.5 years ago in Marathon; they've looked at my web site, but lost its address. Gave it to them, and they said they'd send me the email address for Doug and Nancy on "Presque Isle". Also saw them 3.5 years ago in Marathon; apparently they've just left Luperon for Puerto Rico. Would love to pick their brains about Luperon. "Mrs. G." made it down to Black Point this year, and is heading back now; an odd place to be the turnaround: it's pretty unremarkable. Guess they just set a time limit, and had to turn around when they hit that date. Heard people on the radio talking about how wonderful it is on all the Cays I'm passing. Recognized a few of the boat names from Marathon, although not anyone that I know perosnally. Could spend months and years here in the Exumas seeing every little nook and cranny, and I'm sure many people do. One young couple at Warderick said this was the 10th or 15th time they'd stopped in at Warderick THIS SEASON. I just have to enjoy where I am, and not worry that someone else is having more fun than I am, or that I'm missing something amazing somewhere else. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins, isn't it ? By 10 or so, wind picked up a bit to maybe 15 knots, and boat doing 3 to 3.3 knots on a run. Helm more balanced now, but still have to keep a pretty close eye on it. Rolling now and then. Sailed into Staniel Cay area as far as I could, then started engine at 1 PM. Threaded my way into an anchorage right at town, but it was tiny and shallow and had two moorings in it. Considered the anchorage closer to the cut, but it's fairly well populated and has a lot of tidal current. So went all the way back out and up more than a mile to Big Major's Spot, where I saw a whole bunch of boats anchored. Could have sailed directly into there if I hadn't headed for town. 4 or 6 trawlers, 8 or 10 sailboats, and three megayachts here. Anchored 2:05 PM at NE corner of Big Major's Spot at lat 24.11.398 long 76.27.537 Good place; I'm just barely nicked by the swell from the W-NW, and as soon as the wind goes a little more NW or N, which it's supposed to do today/tonight, I should be fine. But I'm VERY far from town; when wind shifts to E, I'll move over near town. Nice to be stationary; I'm still pretty wired from last night's commotion and today's sailing. Nice to open up the boat and start drying it out and airing it out after all of the rain over the last 24 hours. A bit of tidal current here; sometimes it holds me sideways to the breeze. But there's almost no swell, and conditions are light, so it's fine. Salad and cheese-and-crackers and cheese sandwich and rum-and-coke for dinner. Slept and slept and slept ... 4/10/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Big Major's Spot / Staniel Cay. Three sailboats left about 7:45, heading north. Nice day; would have been fine for me to head south from Warderick Wells to here, but getting last night's good sleep was worth heading south in yesterday's swells. A boat said they clocked 48 knots of wind at Warderick Wells during that lightning storm Friday night, the one where the catamaran and I were close to each other. Another boat clocked 50 knots 20 miles south of us. Such a nice, sunny day, that I just HAD to spend a couple of hours working on the mainmast deck leak; what else does one DO in the Bahamas on a sunny day ? Chopped moist, spongy wood out of the headliner at the top of the compression post, until I had cleared around the two bolt-heads and where the post went through the lowest fiberglass layer of the deck. The wood is much thicker than I expected, maybe a half-inch instead of a quarter-inch, and seems to be glued up to the underside of the deck. Or maybe it's two quarter-inch pieces glued to each other in just this one area, with the top one glued to the underside of the deck ? Hard to tell, and this is the first time I've messed with the headliner in the main cabin. A few pits in the metal of the compression post, one of them a bit deep, but it still looks pretty good. Lots of bits of wood to vacuum up off the cabin sole carpet. Then went on deck to test the leak with some water. I've been wondering whether the leak was coming down from: - where the mast base metal meets the deck, - a metal-metal joint 1/4" up from there, or - inside the mast. And whether the water was coming through: - the two bolts holding the mast base to the deck, - around the compression post, or - inside the compression post. The very first application of water to the deck showed it coming down from the base-to-deck joint, and coming through around the compression post and probably down the forward bolt too. I'll wait for it to dry and try more tests later; maybe it is leaking in multiple ways. Now, the right way to fix the base-to-deck joint is to raise the entire mainmast up six inches to slide it up off the mast base, remove the bolts holding the base onto the deck, put a bed of caulk under the base and into the bolt-holes, bolt the base back onto the deck, and slide the mast back down onto the base. Probably use a dozen 2x4's to make a layer on deck and then lever the mast up; I have almost enough wood on board to do it. Would take the opportunity to enlarge the compression post hole a bit, so caulk fits around the post, and to make sure the edges of all three deck holes are sealed. A ton of work, risk of damaging the deck if the mast slips, and the mast probably won't slide off the base easily. Would require help from several people, although I'm sure I could find lots of eager volunteers. The cheesey way to fix it is to try molding a line of caulk around the joint from the outside, working it in as much as possible with a putty knife. By 10 AM, most of the sailboats here had left, probably heading up to Warderick. Heard on the radio that all moorings are still full there. By noon, new sailboats starting to arrive here. After lunch, opened the access plate on the side of the mainmast at the bottom, pulled out all the bunches of wiring to get some room, and squirted in some water. Went below and looked for it to come through. None came through for quite a while, I think until some ran out onto deck and came in that way. So I think there's no leak from inside the mast base, at least to the outside of the compression post. Filed the edges of the access hole a little to make them easier on the hands; there's just enough space for me to wedge one hand inside to get to certain places, but it's a very tight fit. Would be very hard to remove the nuts on the bolts and lift the mast and base as one unit, and not so good for the wires either. Enough work ! Launched the dinghy and took a ride. Went up north through the cut, and very scenic up there, but no good coral or beaches. Back down through the anchorage, along the shoreline looking at caves and overhanging cliffs. To a beach, and it turned out to be "Pig Beach", which I was sort of looking for. Five wild pigs came trotting up, looking for handouts. After they lost interest, I wandered around a little and then sat and read my book for a while. Also saw the biggest domestic cat I've ever seen, and a huge sign saying "please feed cats". Would have been nice if someone else had come ashore, but no luck. As I left, a motorboat came by and whistled for the pigs, and they came trotting out into the water expecting to be fed. But they got photgraphed instead, and went away disappointed. Just after I got back to the boat and hoisted the dinghy, a guy came past in a dinghy, did a U-turn, and came over. I invited him aboard, and we had a nice drink and a chat. He's Tom from "Exit Strategy"; I saw their boat in Warderick, and they saw me in Rock Sound too. I remember Harold mangling their boat name as "Extra Therapy" on the radio, and them laughing about it. They cruised a lot in the early 80's, going over to the Mediterranean and other places, then came ashore for 23 years to raise kids. Now they're cruising again, in a big catamaran. This is the second year they've set off to go down to Venezuela, and each time family illnesses or other things have stopped them; they're about to turn around and head back, and will try again next year. Tom said the boat "Game Plan", that got stuck on Harold's boat in Warderick, damaged their transmission after they bumped Harold's boat, not before. They tried to snag their mooring on the run (probably in strong current through the mooring field), missed it and ended up on Harold, then tried to reverse and got his mooring line in their prop, and cracked the bell housing on their transmission. Just had a new housing flown in today, and will see if they can put it in. I'm impressed; thought they might be stuck there for a month for something like that. Tom said the mooring at Warderick cost him $20/night ! Three years ago I think it was $15 for 2 nights. Now they go by boat size, too. Not sure if he's a "park supporter", which reduces the price. Chili for dinner. Another nice, calm night. 4/11/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Big Major's Spot / Staniel Cay. Fixed a wire that came off the alternator; tachometer works now. Sailed off the anchor at 8:30, and sailed with main and jib up, downwind through the anchorage, trying not to hit any of the megayachts. Wind wasn't very cooperative: strong while I was trying to get the anchor up, then eased a bit and directly behind me as I sailed. Had trouble keeping the jib open, and made 2 to 2.5 knots. But I sailed all the way over to town. Realized it would be hard to sail onto anchor: I'd have to stall the boat into the wind, quickly furl the jib (sometimes a problem), run up to the bow and start lowering the anchor. There's a shoal here somewhere, and I'm near high tide; don't want to hit it. Tried to sail a little closer to the wind, speed dropped below 2 knots, started having lots of leeway and blowing downwind, and had to start the engine. Furled jib and main, put anchor down, picked it up and moved a little further forward, ran out of depth a lot sooner than I expected, backed off a little and put anchor down again. Finished around 9:30, at lat 24.10.306 long 76.27.150 Caulked between the mainmast base and the deck, to try to stop that leak. Woo-hoo ! Free WiFi internet access from the boat. Dinghied ashore. They want $2.50 per bag to dispose of garbage. Chatted with Sarah on the beach; she's from the 1971 Gulfstar 36 "Karma" anchored near me. Walked around the small town and went to a grocery store. Spent $11 of the $15 of cash I have left: bananas at $1.50/pound, onions, and $4.85 for a big loaf of fresh-baked homemade raisin bread. Didn't even ask what milk cost. Back out to the boat, noticing that the water is calm enough that I can see 25 feet down to the bottom of the channel in front of the yacht club; kind of an eerie feeling, as if you're suspended in mid-air. Stopped to chat with Sarah and Scott a little. They gave me a bag of grapefruit; they were in Andros when a freighter was loading up on them, and were given as much grapefruit as they liked. Later in the afternoon, looked up to see sailboat "Morning Watch" (I think) aground ahead of me; they tried to pass across the shoal, and there's less than 3 feet of water up there now. They're stuck for a couple of hours. Someone came by in a dinghy and talked to them, and wisely they decided to put out an anchor, get in the dinghy, and go off to have some fun. Near low tide, I dinghied over to "Thunderball Grotto" and went snorkeling. Finally, some colorful coral and tons of fish. I was here 3 years ago, and it's still very nice. Inside, near the floor, there were schools of fish hovering absolutely motionless a foot above the floor. Lots of colorful fish of all types; very nice. Half a dozen other dinghies of snorkelers, but no pretty women. A little before 6, Sarah and Scott from "Karma" came over for drinks and conversation. Actually, they brought their own drinks. Showed them the boat and we had a very nice time. My boat is sort of the big brother of their boat (1971 Gulfstar 36 versus 1973 Gulfstar 44), so they enjoyed the tour, and I'm eager to see their boat. They're on a fairly short cruise, about 6 months, and have had the boat only a year or so. I told them a little about my cruise up the Tenn-Tom and down the lower Mississippi, and it turns out Scott came down the Mississippi by kayak last summer, and then down the Florida coast to Sarasota before running out of time. He got delayed by hurricanes Jeanne and Ivan. Pretty amazing trip ! We enjoyed trading stories of our experiences, and little lessons we've learned. Then we watched the sunset, looking for a "green flash", which I've never seen and they've seen many times. This time it wasn't a "flash", according to them, but an amazing green haze around the sun for 10 seconds or longer. I saw what they were talking about, but it looked grey, not green, to me. Is that the big deal everyone keeps talking about ? Eggsalad sandwich for dinner. 4/12/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. "Karma" decided to leave this morning; I should catch up with them in Georgetown later. Loafed all day. Peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich and peanut-butter crackers for dinner. Mail-boat came in during the night, and ran aground short of the dock; had to wait until high tide the next morning to get off and get back into the channel. 4/13/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. Wind SSE 15-20. Dinghied ashore. Exchanged a few books at the library. Hung around the dock where the mail-boat has come in; that's the big event of the week here. Chatted with an old cruiser who gave me an earful about how the town was nicer before they had electricity. Saw one of the employees from Warderick at the dock, and asked him about the boat that damaged its transmission; he said they got the new bell housing, but something else needs repair, so they're not running yet. I have a slight problem: I have about $4 cash in my pocket. No big deal, I don't really need any groceries, although it would be nice to have lettuce/cabbage and fresh milk. But there's no bank of any kind in the Exumas until I get down to Georgetown. Warderick, Staniel, Black Point: no banks. Getting more and more humid all afternoon; really sticky. Most boats leaving this area; front is supposed to pass over tonight. I have to move too: although it's nicely shallow here (anchor will hold well), there's not much room to drag. There's shallow water just north of me, and a deep channel just south of me. And it's very exposed to the W and somewhat exposed to the S. I raised anchor at 4:35 and motored around the corner to anchor NW of Big Major's Spot by 5:05. Lots of boats here, but I'm staying NW of all of them. THis puts me on a lee shore until the front passes, but then I'll have better shelter than everyone else when it starts blowing NW after the front. Fruit and chili for dinner. Up at 11:30, thinking I was hearing first signs of the front coming, but it was a false alarm. Various clouds and some high-cloud lightning, and the wind picked up and blew SSW 20 or so the rest of the night. In fact, the front never DID come all night ! Blew SSW, sending swells into the anchorage (unprotected from S to W) and giving everyone a rough ride most of the night. 4/14/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Big Major's Spot / Staniel Cay. Wind SW 10-15. Now I'm confused: yesterday's weather forecast said front coming yesterday afternoon. But the weather person said front coming last night. But the winds I wrote down say front coming THIS afternoon. And this morning, the weather person said front coming this afternoon. Very confusing. Still very humid; lots of clouds. The weather forecasts here ARE very confusing. We get: - a Florida coastal forecast. Somewhat relevant, but for an area 150 miles away. - a Bahamas forecast. Often distinguishes between NW Bahamas and Central/SE Bahamas, but sometimes does not, and sometimes gives you just TODAY's weather. Sometimes they'll give winds ahead of and behind the front, and leave you to figure out where the front is. - an Atlantic offshore forecast. Gives logic puzzles such as "north of 24 north wind will be northwest 15-20 changing to northeast 10-15 except west of 78 west wind will be southwest 20 changing to west-northwest 15-20". Sometimes the order is different: "wind will be northwest 15-20 changing to northeast 10-15 north of 24 north except southwest 20 changing to west-northwest 15-20 west of 78 west". Lots of fun trying to sort that out ! Wind W 20+ at 11:20. WNW 20 at 11:55; swells from WSW rolling boats a bit. Woody and Missi from "Too Lazy To" came by to say hi about 12:45, but didn't stay long; they're going fishing. Saw them in the Exumas three years ago, and recently I'd been wondering where they might be, and asking a few people. They say they saw me in Marathon once, but I left before they could get over to say hi. Rolly all afternoon; the wind is clocking around VERY slowly, and the swells are coming from where the wind was an hour or two ago, so the swells are always coming from the beam or the forward quarter. Very uncomfortable at times. Added water to the batteries. Fruit and salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. After trying all day, I finally got "Too Lazy To" on the radio, and they immediately invited me over for a fresh fish dinner. Had to decline, since I'd eaten already, it was almost dark, and the dinghy was up. A shame; their dinner offer is much better than the crappy dinner I had. But we had a nice long chat, catching up on what we'd been doing for the last three years since we've seen each other. I know they've cruised a lot, but they seem to have very little info about places I ask about. Jamaica ? They stopped there for 2 nights once. Luperon ? They were there in 1994. They've just spent 2 years up the ICW to Maine, and in Marathon. I think in the past they spent a lot of time anchored in very remote parts of Honduras and the San Blas Islands. Turns out they've been receiving my occasional emails, but never responded. Started raining about 9 PM, and rained on and off all night. No leak down the mainmast compression post ! 4/15/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Big Major's Spot / Staniel Cay. Collected a gallon or two of rainwater; very glad to get it, because my water tanks are just about empty. There's free water about 10 miles south of here, at Black Point. I've been debating whether to go down there, get some, and come back here. Would be nice if my water lasted a few more days and I didn't have to backtrack like that. There will be free water in Georgetown, too. It's 40 cents/gallon here. Anchor up at 6:50. Motored through absolutely still conditions; could see every detail of the bottom just about the whole length of the trip. Went down and anchored over by town again, finishing about 7:25. Very grey and still morning, with occasional periods of steady rain. Collected some more rainwater. The weather person started this morning by saying "today's weather forecast is complicated". The NWS Atlantic forecast was incredible: each time period started with a different version of "north of a line running from lat X long Y to lat P long Q" and then south of the line; the next time period would have a different line. Huge winds to the north of us, lower wind near us (I hope). Confusing and unclear, but it's going to blow W, NW and N for the next three or four days. Wind gently clocking around this morning, from nothing to N to E to S to W. Some sun after noon. My free WiFi connection is gone; they must be blocking me out. That was about the only reason for staying here (the others are the grotto and chances to chat with "Too Lazy To"), so I may head south tomorrow. NW wind is good wind for going to Georgetown. Blowing W 15+ in the afternoon; moderate swells coming in, but they're hitting me right on the nose, which is no problem. And the only nearby places that are better are full or risky to get into; I don't feel like trying them. Very sunny in the late afternoon. Made a small start on a project I've been putting off for ages: trying to get access to the tops of the water tanks to inspect and clean them. The cabin sole is plain plywood, held down by a mixture of wood screws and 2-inch-long copper nails. Took out two screws, got a third out that was angled in and concealing a sheared-off screw, and struggled to get a copper nail out. Finally got it out, at the cost of some minor damage to the plywood. Put them back in; enough for today. Chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Wind clocked from NW 15-20 to N 25+ about 7:45. Swells from W rolling boat. Fairly uncomfortable night; the W swells never did stop completely. I'm tired of this. 4/16/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. One last try at the WiFi internet, and today it works ! So I decided to stay another day; can't resist. Loafed all day. Eggsalad sandwich and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. ABout 6:30, moved a little north. Figured this shoal I'm on is where all the swells are jumping up. New place is calmer, but closer to strong tidal current. 4/17/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. Blew N and NNE 15-25+ all day. Lots of fun watching the t raffic around the yacht club at lunchtime; megayachts circling around, anchoring in the channel, etc. Two at the easy side of the dock already, so the rest have tougher choices. Woody and Missi stopped by for a chat around 6, right in the middle of cooking my dinner. Not a problem, and we had a lovely chat. Chili for dinner. 4/18/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. Blowing N 15-25+. Lots of grey clouds. Polished and removed/replaced the throttle lever; just one of those little jobs that's been nagging me, it was so ugly with corrosion. Couple from "Sanctuary" dinghied over. They have a 7.5-foot draft (!) and are trying to figure out where they can anchor. They're anchored inside the cut, but the holding is not good. At high tide they could get through the main channel (a megayacht with a 9-foot draft made it at high tide the other day, with tenders in front scouting the route), but with a 20+ wind behind, it's not a safe thing to try. They're going to be in Luperon; I'll have to watch for them. Worked on cabin sole over the forward water tank some more. Even after damaging some plywood, still couldn't get first nail out. Decided to cut the nailheads off with the Dremel. Cut off 4 or 5 of them, and pried up most of the second edge of the plywood sheet. There's formica blocking a corner from coming up; not sure what to do about that. And soon I have to mess with the edge that goes under a wall to the forward head; that might be a showstopper. Decided to call it a day; no permanent damage done, so it's been a good day. "Sanctuary" came by and tried for two solid hours to find a spot where they could anchor. Nice-looking 55-foot ketch with pilothouse and lots of toys, but lots of wood to varnish too. Probably sails like a dream. They kept putting an anchor down and pulling it up and moving. I felt sorry for them. They came quite close to me at times, even though I told them I only had 4.5 feet at low tide here. About 5:30, I called them on the radio and offered to dinghy out an anchor for them if that would help. But they said they were having a problem getting one of their anchors to grip. Fruit and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. By 6 or so, I was looking at "Sanctuary" and thinking "tide is falling, you should be getting out of here". 15 minutes later, I was pretty sure they were aground, and sure enough, a nearby powercat called them on the radio and got confirmation of it. The powercat raised anchor and cleared out to give them room, and I launched my dinghy as the guy from "Serendipity" went by in his dinghy to help. Even with three dinghies (15, 20 and 25 HP), we couldn't even pivot the boat around its fin keel. They were stuck solid, and the owner said it's a 44K-lb boat and he thinks it is up 6 inches above normal waterline already. He suggested towing it with my boat, but I wasn't going to sign up for that. My stern cleats don't have backing plates, just washers, and anyway there isn't a fair lead from them to the direct stern for towing. And he was stuck solidly anyway; I doubt my 120 HP would have worked at that point. When he fetched a powerful skiff from the yacht club to tow him, I warned him that they might pull cleats from the deck, and then I left, not wanting to be near. From my boat, I watched, holding my breath, as the skiff with twin 250-HP outboard hooked lines to his bow and started pulling. At full throttle, he was able to pivot "Sanctuary", but not move it forward. I was cringing, expecting a line to snap or a cleat to pull out, but nothing bad happened. And I was watching "Sanctuary's" engine exhaust: a lot of sandy water was coming out, I guess because the skiff was chewing up the bottom and it's prop wash was getting into "Sanctuary's" engine intake. Five minutes later, the skiff was taking a halyard out sideways from them, and again I cringed as the skiff throttled up pretty strongly and started heeling them over, wondering if their rig would give way. But worked like a charm: when they were heeled about 30 degrees, sudden;y they were free, and "Sanctuary" motored forward to the channel with the skiff skillfully backing along with them and keeping them heeled. Then they got straightened up and passed the halyward back without getting it into the spinning wind-generator or anything. Watched the sunset, and then watched "Sanctuary" slowly stow everything and then head back out toward their original anchorage near the cut. They'd better hurry and get anchored; it's going to be dark in 30 minutes. 4/19/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. Wind NE 15-25. More work on cabin sole over the forward water tank. Had to use impact driver to get a couple of screws out. Got half of the sheet of plywood levered up a bit, but the edge under the wall of the forward head is stuck solid. Couple from "Sanctuary" dinghied by, and said they'd picked up a mooring somewhere, so they're in good shape. Chicken-onion-rice for dinner. 4/20/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. Wind E 15-25. Sinus headache. Millions/billions of "thimble jellyfish" in the water. They sting only if you squash them against you. After lunch, launched dinghy and went ashore. Exchanged a couple of books at the library and had a nice chat with the librarian; she's here on a trawler. Met another couple, and the guy said "I did refrigeration work on your boat 20 years ago". He remembers the boat and the first owner; says the owner took good care of the boat, probably spent more time maintaining it than cruising it. He's not a fan of the pilothouse. Met Missi on the beach and chatted a bit with her. Splitting headache in the late afternoon; went to bed at 6. Miserable until after midnight, then just feeling lousy after that. 4/21/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Staniel Cay. Rained steadily from 2 AM to 7 AM; caught another 5 gallons of water, so now I can skip stopping at Black Point for water. Totally grey; some rain filtering down. Still have sinus headache. Planning to head south later today. Saw a small ray swimming along the bottom, with a large fish (remora ? didn't look like that) attached to its back. Not a very large ray at all. Anchor up at 10:40, and motored west to get past Harvey Cay. Put all sails up as I went. Missi called and said goodbye. Don't think my alternator is working; I think the charging I'm seeing is coming from solar only. Turned the corner at Harvey Cay and shut the engine off at 11:20. Hoped for a beam reach, but instead I have a close-reach, making 3.5 to 4 knots with helm balanced in 10-15 knots of wind, on course of 160, when I want 140. No problem ! Except I still have this stupid headache. Around 1 PM, went into the engine compartment to try to fix the alternator. Expected a loose wire, but found that the tensioner arm/bracket has snapped near the alternator. Better than a burnt-out regulator or something. Can't think of a replacement on board. Could rely on solar, doing without the alternator for a while, but the loose fan belt also means the fresh water pump is not being driven. So the inside of the block could overheat without the temperature gauge showing it. After some thought, drove a big screwdriver down between the alternator and the block, to tension the belt properly. Didn't drive it in too hard, because it's putting pressure on the hinge bracket in a direction opposite to the usual pressure. Lashed the screwdriver in place; hope it doesn't work loose and fall into the fan belt or something. Probably should replace it with a wedge of wood tomorrow. Headache getting worse. Sailed as far as I could, then started the engine at 3:20. Alternator jury-rig seems to work okay. Turned upwind, furled mizzen and jib, and motor-sailed with main up. Almost straight upwind and against incoming tidal current, to Little Galliot Cay, where there were two boats anchored. Then down along the inside of the cays to Rudder Cut Cay. Put anchor down about 5:40 at lat 23.52.445 long 76.14.675 Three powerboats and a trimaran anchored here. Refurled main and mizzen, cleared cockpit a little, and straight to bed. Feel lousy. 4/22/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Rudder Cut Cay. Rained starting at 1:30 AM; caught a couple of gallons of water. Headache easing. Headache mostly gone by 8 AM or so. Feel tired and shaky; will take a while to recover and let the medicine get flushed out of my system. Wind E-ENE 10-15. One powerboat left, taking the inside route south, where I ran aground and "Too Lazy To" ran aground. And they're doing it at high tide; hope they're okay. I've been out of fresh food for several days now, since I ran out of cash since leaving Rock Sound, and Staniel is a cash-only type of place. No salad for more than a week, one last end of bread left, out of onions, no fresh milk, no fresh fruits or vegs, just some kielbasa in the freezer. But I should be in Georgetown in a couple of days, and back to normal. Trimaran left about 10 AM, also taking inside route south. He probably draws a foot of water, and will be at the tricky spots at mid-to-low tide. Loafed and napped all day. Put top of compression post back together; the leak is fixed. Had a lovely shave and shower and haircut. Chili for dinner. 4/23/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Rudder Cut Cay. Headache finally gone ! Wind E 5 knots or less. Missed this morning's weather forecast because I was listening to shortwave. Both powerboats ("Hemisphere Dancer" and "Altisa VII 1/2") left about 8:45. "Hemisphere Dancer" was going south in the Sound; called them on the radio and they said the swells were small and from E-SE. But not quite enough wind, and too much from E for me to go SE today. Have to wait until tomorrow, when it's supposed to blow from SW or W, maybe. Heard someone ("The Love Ketch", I think) coming north from Georgetown, and he complained that he's been waiting nine days for wind that would let him sail north. By 10:30, wind had strengthened a little, and went more NE a few times, making me wonder if I should have gone today. But then it would get E and fluky again. Added a little water to the batteries. Worked on alternator mounting. Tried wedging a block of wood between alternator and engine block. Then realized the broken-off stub of the tensioner arm was long enough to reach another mounting hole on the alternator; moved the bolt to that hole and was able to remove my jury-rigged screwdriver. Started engine about 11:15; alternator seems okay. Raised anchor and moved about 200 feet further from what will be the lee shore if it blows SW tomorrow. About 2 PM, went snorkeling under the boat to scrape the hull. Lots of varied life on the hull; some species I've never seen before on the hull. Jet-black nodules, sprawling white things, orange things, green things, some barnacles, some very strong mussel-shaped things. Prop and rudder and prop shaft zinc look good. Scraped for an hour and 15 minutes, until the tidal current got too strong. Tuna-mushroom-noodle "casserole" for dinner. 4/24/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Rudder Cut Cay. Finally heard "Car Talk" on the shortwave; it's on at 5 AM on one of the less-common frequencies of AFN. Wind has shifted to SW 15, as forecast. Was planning to wait until 9:30 or so to leave, so as to go through the cut at high/slack water. But I think the wind has pushed so much water up against this side of the island chain that it's high tide a bit early. Engine started about 8:20, anchor up at 8:30, and going through the cut about 8:45. Flat water and a following current; very nice. Outside in Exuma Sound, conditions are just about perfect: only a gentle swell mostly from behind, and I'm beam-reaching and broad-reaching, doing 3.5 to 4.5 knots right on desired course as wind varies from 12 to 20 knots. It's a beautiful sunny day, and I love my boat ! Saw a big fuel/utility boat come out Lignumvitae Cut a few miles ahead of me; didn't know they used that cut. Green-hulled cat-ketch with tan-bark sails sailed out Rudder Cut 10 or 15 minutes after I did. A couple of other sailboats out too; everyone's heading for Georgetown today. (Later saw one sailboat going north.) Overtaken by the cat-ketch, "Akimbo". Quiet enough that we could call across to each other to say hi. Put out a fishing line at 10, and a second one at 10:30. Avoided using the opening shackles like the one that lost a dolphin for me. As the day went on, saw plenty of boats heading north. At least as many going north as south, actually. One big powerboat making a huge expensive hole in the water as he went along, and a big wake. Lovely sail; wind shifted around a little and gusted up and then back down. Blew 25+ several times, driving boat speed up to 5.8 knots. Did 4.5 to 5 most of the early afternoon. A bunch of sailboats catching up to me, and none of them have been here before, so I gave them the benefit of my experience (from when I was here 3 years ago). They were very appreciative. Didn't catch a single stupid fish all day. To the harbor entrance about 3:30, and started the engine and furled jib and mizzen. Motor-sailed in, calling out depths for "Sanctuary" behind me; they have a 7.5-foot draft. They made it in okay. It was low tide as we came in, and pretty shallow in spots. A couple of times I started getting onto shoals, once after I stopped "leading" them. Would have been embarrassing if I'd run aground. Over near town and finished anchoring at 4:45. Lat 23.30.395 long 75.45.703 Plenty of boats in harbor for Family Island Regatta Week (this week; worked the timing pretty well, didn't I ?). Seems to be a few more houses on Stocking Island, and I saw new condo's north of the harbor on Great Exuma as I came in, but otherwise doesn't seem to have changed much since I was here three years ago. Cheese-and-crackers and rum-and-coke for dinner. Watched some small Bahamian cat-rigged dinghies going out for some practice sailing; three or four people in each, and one big main sail. Saw some fishing boats come in, towing skiffs and racing boats behind them. Apparently a lot of race boats were shipped in on ferries today, and more will come tomorrow. Heard lots of partying ashore; must be a concert going on in Regatta Park. Occasionally kids in skiffs flying through the anchorage at high throttle; dangerous. Rain-squall/front came through in the middle of the night; some rain and a little wind. Had to scramble to close ports and aft hatch. 4/25/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Grey and damp and a bit still early in the morning. Listened to the cruiser's network on the VHF, and Stuart of "Union Jack" is the net controller ! I've been trying to locate them; they're the boat whose transmission we pulled out and put back in at South Beach. Talked to Stuart after the net, and they had a great trip coming down here, with no problems. Found out a bit about the races. The first races start tomorrow, and go through Saturday, I think. Five classes of boats, from A (with a "multitude" of crew on board) to E (with usually two on board). Lots of events ashore; someone called this the local's Super Bowl. Cultural and art exhibits, kid's beauty pageant, concert, dance, etc. Wind forecast is 10-15 most of the week; they'd like to have 15+ to have some excitinng racing. Started blowing hard, 20-25. Dumped chlorinated rainwater from jugs into my water tanks, then went ashore. Met Stuart and Marilyn on the dinghy dock, and had a nice little chat. Got rid of nine bags of garbage. Someone mentioned that the ATM often ran out of cash during Regatta Week, but I was able to get US$300 out. I need to build up cash to enter the next couple of countries, plus I was down to $5 cash in my pocket. Went to library, paid $3 for a membership, exchanged some books, and got some nice free magazines. Town doesn't seem to have changed much in the three years since I've been here. One grocery store has moved, and there's a new internet cafe. And they have reverse-osmosis (RO) town water now. Other than that, not much different. Went to the laundromat and had a long chat with Stuart and Marilyn as they did laundry. They showed me that Wavey Line has some new charts of the SE Bahamas and DR; probably should buy copies. Turns out they were here when I was three years ago; we just didn't know each other then. Bought a lovely loaf of raisin-and-cinnamon bread and a cocoanut-and-fruit pastry ($5.50) from Mom at Mom's Bakery. Loaded 10 gallons of water, and back to the boat through rough conditions. But it's getting nice and sunny. Dinghied ashore in midafternoon. Hardware/marine store sign says "out for lunch" at 2:30. Asked around for a way to receive a package of mail from the USA. Took broken alternator bracket to auto shop, and after searching for a while and scratching their heads a bit, they said leave it with them and they'll figure out something: fix it or replace it. Hope they don't weld it; not sure that will be strong enough. Checked out internet cafe ($18 per hour! Not going to use THAT one) and then got groceries. Loaded another 10 gallons of water. Salad and chicken/beans/rice for dinner. Watched some racing dinghies sailing through the anchorage. One had 3 or 4 guys hiked out on a board to the side, even on a 15-foot-long dinghy. Another lost a couple of it's hikers into the water up ahead of me. I guess that's why skiffs are following them around. 4/26/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Plenty of wind today. First race, a "student" race of C-class dinghies, was supposed to start at 0830, but I don't think it will start until after the opening ceremony/mass ends at 0945 or so. Went ashore about 9:45. Checked out internet place, but it was crammed. Bought fishing gear ($17) at hardware store. Went to library and exchanged a couple more books, and got more good free magazines. To the dock area, to see if the race was starting yet, and saw only one boat out there at 10:55. Decided to head back to the boat. Got groceries and loaded 10 gallons of water, then dinghied out into very rough conditions. Got very wet on the way out. Hauled everything up onto deck, turned on the radio, separated the chicken and wrapped it and put it in the freezer, then heard the race boat say "okay, start moving those boats out of there". To my amazement, several skiffs and dinghied headed in my direction and started telling my neighbors that they had to move. One skiff seemed to indicate I was okay, but then a police boat said I had to move. Tried to contact them on the radio, but we never connected since various channels including 9, 16 and 68 are being used for hailing. I seem to be on the border, and I don't have to move. I just kept loading water into the tanks, and hoisted the dinghy (since the rough conditions were really battering it; not an easy job to hoist it). Kept hoping no one came my direction and told me to move. If they did, I'd tell them part of my engine is in Symonette's garage. I probably could run it long enough to re-anchor, without overheating, but I really don't want to do that. And re-anchoring would be a chore, in 25+ knot wind and strong swells, with a crowd of boats already in the anchorage and a bunch of them still unsettled from just moving. But things settled down, and the skiffs and dinghies went away. And I thought "great; they'll put down the windward buoy 100 feet from me, and I'll have a front-row seat". But no, they started the race about 12:25 way down at the far end of the harbor, without dropping any upwind buoys at all. A minute or two later, a skiff came up to windward and eventually dropped a buoy at least 1/4 mile from me; there had been no need to move any of the other cruising boats. Five minutes later they dropped another buoy 1/4 mile straight downwind of me, closer to town. The race was fun to watch, if a bit far away. They start from all being anchored at the start line; the only way I could tell that the race had started was that all the sails went up. One or two of the boats took spills, dumping people in the water and taking a while to get going again. After the race, one boat was towed off to town; they must have broken something. The race lasted only 10 minutes or so; they just did an upwind leg. Some of the cruisers are really ticked off about the last-minute clearing out of anchored boats. They say they got some bad attitude from the people running the race. Second race started about 1:15, and done by 1:30. Boats heading back to town. Cruisers all around me raising anchor and leaving or moving; all the boats that had to move for the race. Around 2, the race-boats were heading close to us, heading around the peninsula for town or out into the anchorage. Got a nice look at some of them. Dinghied ashore again. Went to one internet kiosk, then another, but both had minimum charges I didn't want; all I need is five minutes to send a message to my brother asking him to ship my paper mail to me. Was hailed by Ev and Gary from "Papi" and "Escada" in Two Turtles bar, and stopped for a chat. I've been trying to hail Ev for a couple of days; turns out his boat was here but he was in the States. And I thought Gary had gone north from the north Exumas, heading home to the States. He will be heading home at the end of regatta week. After a while, I left to see if my alternator bracket was ready. Patrick at Symonette's had welded it, and it looks good. Paid $20. He did a tracing of it onto thicker stock and will make a better one by middle of next week. Back to Two Turtles to show off the fixed bracket. Got a few groceries (they finally had milk!), loaded another 10 gallons of water. Another rough, wet dinghy ride out to the boat; still blowing 25+ with big swells. Salad and eggsalad sandwich and rum-and-coke for dinner. 4/27/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Up at 6:45 and right into the engine compartment. Installed the alternator bracket, adding a few washers; I think my previous installation of it left some side-loading on it, and that's what led it to snap (after three years). Cleaned the intake strainer, fired up the engine, and alternator is fine. Ran engine for 20 minutes to exercise it and charge batteries. Another damp, grey morning. But the wind has eased to the 15-20 range. Another scramble about 8:30, as cruisers raised anchor to get out of the "race area". At least on the cruiser's net they specified a line that people are supposed to stay south of. This time, right after some cruisers moved out, more moved IN to the are just vacated ! Dinghied ashore about 9:45 and took laptop to an internet place. $10 for a day of internet. Took a while to get the browser out of "offline" mode; I worked 21 years as a computer programmer and I still get baffled by this stuff sometimes ! I could cry: just read that Miami Beach council voted to limited anchoring to 72 hours. Seems like all the good harbors in Florida are getting shut down behind me: Ft Myers Beach, Marathon, now Miami. Really starting to look like parts of this lifestyle are being killed. Long-distance cruisers will do okay; they can leave the USA or use remote anchorages in the USA. But the guys who don't have money and are living cheaply in USA harbors will end up having to abandon their boats and become homeless or something. Maybe I should just never go back to Florida. Did about an hour of internet. Loaded water, then back to boat for lunch. Water very still and clear, and it's a warm, muggy afternoon. Two dolphins slowly working through the anchorage, swimming so close together that their bodies are touching. Little dog on nearby boat barked at them every time they surfaced for air. Ashore again in early afternoon, and did a couple more hours of internet. Loaded another 10 gallons of water. Fishing boat aground near Regatta Point as I went back out to the boat; another boat and a couple of skiffs were trying to pull him off. Salad and chili for dinner. Front came through at 4 AM. Blew 25 for a few minutes, and plenty of rain for 30 minutes. Then back to calm and humid. 4/28/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. A bit headachey. Still pretty humid, and not a lot of wind. Great view of the start of a race at 9; since the wind is NW today, the start is down near us at the SE corner of the main part of the harbor. The race boats all start anchored with sails down. At the starting gun, they pull forward against their anchors while raising sail, get their anchors up and they're off. I could see that after a few hundred yards, one of the boats this morning was quite a bit faster than some others; he passed them easily. The races are a bit informal, in that: - they'll delay the start if any boats are having trouble getting in position. - they'll change the start time to take advantage of the tide; they did that yesterday. - lots of skiffs and even a few cruising boats circle around behind the racing boats, staying out of their way but ready to help (the skiffs) and taking pictures (the cruisers). - this morning, a mail-boat came in right through the middle of the race. The racers timed their tacks to stay out of his way, I think. - they only have a couple of race-buoys, so after the start, skiffs pick up the buoys marking the start line and run ahead to put them down as windward marks or finish line. The races themselves aren't too interesting to watch: the action is far away and hard to interpret. But the individual boats are interesting to see, with unusual rigs and long hiking-boards that the crew sit out on, to balance the power of the sails. The boats don't seem to go very fast, since they're pretty short, but I suppose the big ones might be going 10 knots when there's 20 knots of wind ? Hard to tell. Looked out at about 10:45 to see a mast sticking up out of the water in the race course, about 100 yards upwind of the starting line. A boat must have sunk ! Not more than 6 or 8 feet of water there, but I'm surprised they haven't raised it; no one's even trying. Maybe they tried earlier. Watched a big-boat race at noon; the mast of the sunken boat was left as an obstacle on the course. Lots of fun to watch: they did two laps, so I got to see them round a windward mark not too far away. Pretty skillful crews; didn't see anyone miss a turn or put anyone in the water. It's blowing N-NE 20-25+. At 2:45, they're working to get that sunken race boat up. A couple of skiffs and a couple of guys in the water. I think those boats dissassemble (hiking boards and masts come off), so they may do that before floating the hull. But conditions are boisterous. About 3:15, saw that old sunken boat is gone, but there's another sunken boat in a completely different position, upwind of me. Maybe it's the same boat; they may have towed it over there. Yes, it's the same boat. With a skiff and swimmers, they slowly worked it over into the very shallow water near Moss Cays, and by 5 or so they had it afloat. Took off big piece of molding in galley, as part of project to get to water tank. Not looking good: looks like I'll have to go into the forward head and take up the shower-floor basin that fills the sole in there, and get at the port edge of the plywood that way. And the whole weight of the forward head walls may be resting on the plywood sheet I want to shift. I'd consider sawing it in half, but I don't know if there is a crossbeam that would support the two pieces that would result. Salad and cheese-and-crackers and rum-and-coke for dinner. Debated going ashore for a Bahamian concert tonight, from 8 to 11. But it's still blowing hard, and it'll be a rough and wet late-night dinghy ride back to the boat. And hoisting the dinghy in these conditions is a tricky operation even in daylight. A shame to miss it, but I decided to skip the concert. 4/29/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Blowing ENE 20-25+. On cruiser's net, someone gave a litany of mistakes people made, interfering with the races. Apparently, a dinghy got between a race boat and the windward mark, and the race boat hit it, but no one was hurt. A cruising boat anchored over the "layline", whatever that it. Other boats anchored at the last minute in ways that blocked the views from other boats. I asked for anyone who's done the trip south to answer some questions, and after the net had nice chats with "Exuma Grouper", "Unity", "Delirious" and "Sanctuary". Had many of my questions answered or guesses confirmed. Had a more general chat with "Sanctuary"; they're on the other side of the harbor, and yesterday coming back from town in the dinghy they ended up totally soaked. I'm glad I just stayed aboard yesterday. A-class race started at 9 AM; looks nice. Plenty of wind for it ! On the second upwind leg, about 9:30, one of the racing boats took the extreme south edge of the course, and sailed about 100 feet ahead of me (and inside plenty of other anchored boats, mostly Bahamian fishing boats). Just as they approached me, cruising boat "Flicka" passed behind me, and was in a little danger of hitting first the race boat and then me. But "Flicka" stopped long enough to let the race boat pass, and didn't really have a problem. Another race went at 1:30 or so. The race was less interesting than the nice-looking woman in a blue bikini on top of a nearby cruising boat. Best race yet went at 4 PM: smaller, 3-person boats. As they went past upwind, on a skiff following one of the race-committee skiffs, there was a guy standing on the back and peeing into the water, in broad daylight with everyone watching the race behind him. A four-boat collision at the windward mark. A minute later, two other boats drifting past the mark, with main booms tangled end-to-end and one with its mast broken in half. Five minutes later, down near the start line, a boat sunk with the three guys standing on it and the top of the mainsail still holding some wind. Up and back again with no further problems. Several of the boats took the extreme near edge of the course, weaving around anchored boats including mine. One went to my starboard, well outside the usual path. I can't imagine why they do that; there's plenty of wind everywhere, it must be very distracting to have to weave among the boats, and the big boats create wind-shadows. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Blew E 20-35 all night. Lots of wind. A lot more than the weather forecasts having been predicting; they keep saying 10-15 or at most 15-20. 4/30/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Blowing E 20-25+. Took another molding off the forward head, sanded it and put it back. Still trying to get the galley sole up, but I'm starting to think I'm trying to remove the only thing that's supporting the forward head walls. Small-boat race started at 9. Blowing hard. Another race at noon. Blowing harder. Dinghied ashore. Bought bread at the bakery, then wandered around. Streets blocked off for pedestrians, and lot of food booths and very loud music (but very good music, in general) and some pretty women, down in the dock area. Fun to walk around and see the people and the race-boats. I've been calling them dinghies, but they're keelboats, with a full keel and keel-hung rudder, and wood mast. Watched the final big-boat race at 4 PM, and wished I had my binoculars with me. Walked from one end of the area to the other each time the boats were heading upwind or downwind. Pretty exciting: the boat that was leading or second had their mainsail split in half right after rounding the upwind buoy on the first lap. Some grief among the Bahamians watching. Many people at the festivities paid little attention to the race, and there were no announcements or play-by-play on the PA system; that would have been nice. Watched the winners come in to dock, and then strolled out to the main street; there was supposed to be a parade after the race. Found the parade half-over already. It consisted of just the Bahamian national police marching band, but they were quite good. They marched about 1/4 mile down the street, did a U-turn and back, playing all the while. Maybe they'd done one or two circuits before I saw them. Nice but brief. Got groceries, loaded water, and headed out to the boat. Extremely rough conditions, pounding up and down over swells, sheets of spray hitting my foul-weather jacket. Then a real adventure hoisting everything up to deck: several times the dinghy was going up and down almost two feet in swells as I waited for a calmer patch to hoist water-jugs or fuel tank up into the boat. Stowed everything, including separating frozen chicken into pieces for the freezer, then immediately got ready to get underway at about 5. Raised anchor pretty cleanly in the strong conditions. Just as I got it loose, Ev and Gary came by to ask if I needed help, thinking I might have an emergency. I was dashing back to the helm to keep the bow into the wind; hope I didn't yell "No, thanks" too emphatically; I was busy. More muck on the chain than I expected; I thought the bottom here was clean sand. Motored over to the north side of the harbor, to Stocking Island, and quickly found a nice spot just off Volleyball Beach. A little deeper than I hoped, about 15 feet at high tide, and I probably could have gotten in closer, but I don't want to swing too close in when the wind goes south. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. 5/1/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Blowing ESE to SE 20-25. A few boats leaving this morning, heading north. Race week is ending; yesterday's races were the last. On the cruiser's net, someone reported getting ciguatera poisoning from eating fish at the beach restaurant at Volleyball Beach. A nasty toxin; symptoms can last for months or years. Dinghied ashore to Volleyball Beach at 9, and went to a beach church service at 9:30. Probably 50 cruisers there, and we sang some hymns with guitar accompaniment, and heard a nice sermon. That was followed by a wedding ! Quite a nice ceremony, lots of tears from the women, followed by an informal "reception" with a table of pastries and goodies, and lots of nice conversation. Met one guy who owns a 1981 Gulfstar 39 and has been reading my web site. Chatted with several other nice cruisers. Just a perfect morning, warm and sunny and with nice people and a nice beach. Wind has calmed a bit from yesterday, and this side is a little more sheltered, especially once you get ashore. At 2, dinghied ashore again. Stuart returned the pliers I accidentally left on his boat 4+ months ago in Miami Beach. Then 6 or 8 of us played a card game called "Oh, Hell"; it's a trump-trick game where everyone tries to make their own bid exactly. Lots of fun, and with beginner's luck I was the winner. Then I dinghied over to "Delirious" at 3, having some trouble finding them; had to stop by "Papi" and have them call on the radio. Bought a Turks and Caicos guidebook from them for $10, and bought some DR money from them. Another cruiser was there doing the same, and then the four of us sat down for an El Presidente beer from the DR and a nice chat. "Delirious" is heading north tomorrow, and although they had a nice time in the Caribbean, they're happy to be going home, and they're going to sell the boat. This year was a tough one for them: their house in Stuart FL was hit by two hurricanes, with moderate damage, and their boat was holed in Grenada by hurricane Ivan. They were stuck on Grenada for a couple of months afterward, and that was very hard: the country was a disaster area, their boat was on the hard being surveyed and eventually mostly repaired, and they were dealing with mud and rain and severe damage all around them. Back to the beach, and chatted while watching more card games and some good volleyball and nice-looking women on the beach. Back to the boat for a nice shower. Salad and chili for dinner. Have a headache from the one beer I drank. 5/2/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. More northbound boats leaving; "Escada" has left. About 120 boats in harbor this morning. I was curious to know if the increased Customs fee this year reduced the number of cruisers to the Bahamas. Stuart on "Union Jack" says he thinks the number here was about 3/4 of normal, but guesses that had more to do with the hurricanes than the fee increase. Tom and Judy in Warderick Wells thought there were just as many cruisers this year as last year. Did a bucket of laundry. Spent the morning reading my new "Turks and Caicos" guide and making notes into my web page. Dinghied ashore for cruiser's meeting on the beach at 2 PM. The meeting was a little out of control, with about 40 cruisers there and no real organization. People at one end couldn't hear those at the other, multiple conversations started up, and so on. One guy who'd been south several times somewhat pompously lectured people a bit, saying they'd better get going and no time for snorkeling to get to Venezuela before the hurricanes start. But I suspect most people are thinking of Luperon, not Venezuela. Luperon is only about 400 miles away, and it's about 3 months until the time the first hurricane usually appears. I'm going to Luperon. Only two people took advantage of my offer to give them a copy of my Caribbean web page; I had taken my laptop ashore to do that for them. But half a dozen others took down my web site address. I got the impression that some people are totally undecided about which way they're going from here, whether back to the USA or down to Luperon or beyond. Guy from "boat S" came to me, and said he was looking to crew down to Luperon (actually, to Sosua). Some kind of "partnership problem" with his boat; maybe he's not the owner. I really don't want any crew (unless maybe a pretty woman) on board, especially since I'm going to take a couple of months to get to Luperon. If I was going to do a one-week dash to there, I might consider it. But even then, I'm not eager for crew. I'm most comfortable living by myself. [Two days later, I met the woman from "boat S" ashore, and heard her side of the story. Turns out she's half-owner of the boat, with another woman; the guy is just crew. On the trip from Florida to here, they had a lot of conflicts about decisionmaking, with him tending to be pushy and showing bad judgement. She said they almost lost the boat a couple of times because of bad choices they made. And he managed to blow up the watermaker, by not doing the weekly backflush of the membrane. So when they arrived here, she decided to terminate the cruise. He's looking for another boat to crew on, and I'm not sure what she's going to do. Maybe leave the boat here, or stay on it here, for hurricane season. Or maybe she's going to look for crew to go back to Florida. She says she can almost singlehand it herself, but isn't sure she can do the mechanical repairs that might be needed along the way. It's a 50- to 55-foot ketch.] Still, I got some good tips from a couple of cruisers, mainly Scott, and Doug from "Exuma Grouper". And I got a free copy of Reed's Caribbean 2004 from someone ! Then we played cards. After winning big yesterday, I came in last today, then won big again. Looking around while sitting on the beach, I think a solid 1/3 of the cruising boats have left today. Yesterday's boat-count was somewhere around 120, and I think it's down to 80 or so now. Salad and tuna-salad sandwich for dinner. 5/3/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Several boats leaving this morning, some heading east to Long Island. Wind is SE 10. Did a bucket of laundry. Spent the morning reading my new "Reeds - Caribbean" guide and making notes into my web pages. More boats leaving, some leaving after 10. Yesterday we saw plenty of boats leaving after noon. Why in the world don't people leave early in the morning ? Seems like an elementary good practice. I think we're down to 50 boats or so in harbor. Dinghied ashore about 1:30 and read a book for a little while, and slowly people started coming ashore. Played a game of volleyball, and between the hot sun and being out of shape and old, I was really puffing by the time we finished. Wanted to take a break, but 5 minutes later they needed me for another game. By the end of that one, I was REALLY beat, and I went and watched the dominoes game. Then I played 5 or 6 games of dominoes with the group; lots of fun. Wind has moved around to NE 10 or so, but keeps shifting. Blew E quite often today; wonder how the boats going E did ? They probably pulled in at Calabash Bay, which is 20-25 miles from here, instead of making it to Conception. Salad and chicken-rice for dinner. 5/4/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Blowing ESE 15+ this morning. Added water to the batteries. Raised anchor a little after 7, and motored over to the town side of the harbor. Just as I wanted to turn upwind to anchor, here came catamaran "Serendipity" across my path; typical that the only two boats moving at that hour would get in each other's way. Finished anchoring about 7:30, close to Regatta Point; want to be as close in as possible, since I plan to haul a lot of water today. Today is the 4-year anniversary of my ownership of Magnolia; four years of living aboard ! I've covered a lot of miles and learned a lot in those four years, but I still feel like a novice. Shortly after 8, started making dinghy-trips to load water. Only have two jugs, totally ten gallons. Thought of borrowing another jug or two from someone, but I'd hate to break the spout on it; it's probably hard to get another jug down here. And I don't want to buy another jug myself; I have enough stuff on deck already. The trips in to town are easy, since it's downwind. Coming back out is rough and wet. Made 6 trips, loading 60 gallons and disposing of some garbage. Went ashore again, exchanged books at the library and chatted there with Stuart and Marilyn and the librarian, then loaded another 10 gallons. In mid-afternoon, took alternator bracket off engine and took it ashore. Got cash at the ATM, then off to the automotive place. The guy hasn't even STARTED working on making a spare bracket; last week was regatta, then he wasn't sure he had enough acetylene to cut metal. And he's misplaced the tracing he made. Now he has acetylene and another cutting job to do, so he took another tracing and I'll check back on Friday. Loaded another 20 gallons of water, and the tanks seem to be full (there's no gauge, the sight tubes are gunky and not tall enough, and there's lots of strange plumbing including a crossover with a vent-cap at the top). I'm surprised; I thought it would take 150 gallons or so to fill them, but it took only 90. Lots of air hissing out of the pipes for 10 minutes or so; not sure what that is. About 5 gallons of water ended up in the forward bilge, so I spent a while bailing most of it out. Let's see: started out of Miami beginning of Feb with full tanks and jugs: about 240 gallons. Caught maybe 15 gallons of rainwater, and got 20 gallons of salty town water from Rock Sound. When I first got to Georgetown around end of April, I loaded 60 gallons. Today I loaded 90 minus 5 for spillage. So in about 3 months, I used 15 + 20 + 60 + 90 - 5 = 180 gallons ? That includes laundry and showering. About 2 gallons per day. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. 5/5/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Blowing ESE 20, with lots of rainclouds blowing over. Boat-count is about 65 today. Higher than I thought; I estimated only about 40 boats. But I can't see into Red Shanks or the lagoons in Stocking Island, and I'm not counting the ones in the marina. Looks like there will be a "weather window" for going east on Saturday, but I doubt I'll be ready to leave; waiting for mail from the USA, and the alternator bracket. Emptied diesel jug from deck into fuel tank; the diesel looks clear instead of red. Wonder if that's from age, sun, or they just pump clear diesel at Marsh Harbour. I forget what color it was when I pumped it there. Dinghied ashore at about 11. Bought fishing sinkers ($2). Chatted with Stuart and Marilyn at the library and picked up a couple of bags of books to take south. Loaded 10 gallons of water. Over to other dock, and bought 4.5 gallons of diesel ($15; $3.40/gallon) and 7.5 gallons of gasoline ($32; $4.29/gallon). Bought a loaf of bread at the bakery. Back out to the boat through rough, wet conditions with a very full dinghy. Sailboat "Journey" has anchored too close; right between me and "Aeola" when I was wondering if I had anchored slightly close to "Aeola". With such a huge harbor, why did they have to anchor there ? Checked the propane tank; not empty enough to refill yet, I think. Cleaned the engine intake strainer. Checked the engine zinc; it's pretty thin, but okay for now. Reinstalled the screw that came loose off the exhaust riser hose. I'm trying to decide whether it's better for tax purposes to stay a FL resident or become a NJ resident. If I stay a FL resident, I have to file a tax return by June 30. Not sure I have the forms aboard. Actually, I'd like to become a resident of NO state. Some people manage to do it. Rigged a long hose to the oil-extraction pump and pumped water out of the forward bilge; more than I expected. Salad and hotdog-pork-and-beans for dinner. "Journey" raised anchor and left; they had just day-anchored to go into town. A relief. Lots of rain, and some wind, from 8 to 9. 5/6/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind SE to SSE 15. Might leave tomorrow, heading to Conception, if I can get all errands done today (not likely). Used the oil-extraction pump to pump out the aft bilge; should have done this years ago. I'd love to have a dry bilge. Dinghied ashore. Paid $10 for a day of internet access. For some reason, I've been getting 100 spams a day for the last week or so. I think it's due to a mailing list I just joined; spammers must be harvesting addresses from that list. After a couple of hours of internet, got some groceries and back out to the boat. Sailboat "Tamure" has anchored VERY close to me on port side, probably before the wind shifted slightly and moved us closer together. There's empty room everywhere; why did they have to anchor there ? Wind is S to SSE 15 around noon. After lunch, took alternator bracket off the engine, and went back ashore. Did more internet. Found out my mail from USA was sent last Saturday, so it probably will get here early next week; can't leave yet. Mailed a tax form to Florida. Found out this month's credit card bill is zero; can't remember last time I had a zero statement. Of course, that just means I've been living on accumulated stores, and cash from my debit card. Woman from "boat S" came in; they got her watermaker fixed. Went to auto service place, guy wasn't there, went back later and waited half an hour for him to show up, and found he STILL hasn't even started on my alternator bracket; he's just been too busy. Told him to forget it; I'll do without a spare. Back to the boat. Reinstalled the alternator bracket and immediately raised anchor. As I did so, guy from "Tamure" called over and offered to move if I thought they were too close. I DID think they were too close, but told him I was moving to other side of harbor, which I had been planning to do anyway. Can't believe he was going to stay that close all night. Motored over to the other side of the harbor and anchored off Volleyball Beach at about 5:30. See that "Papi" is gone; I think he left a couple of days ago. Salad and tuna-salad sandwich for dinner. Lovely shave and shower; it was hot today and I did a lot of walking around town lugging my laptop. 5/7/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind N 10-15; perfect for leaving to E, although the tide is backwards (high instead of low) for using the shallow harbor exits I would go out. But I'm not leaving; have to wait for my mail. Several boats leaving this morning. Actually, looking at the chart, I need to go ENE, not dead E as I've been assuming. So I might be able to leave in SE wind, and the NE we're going to have for the next several days is not as good for me as I thought. Loafed all morning, feeling a bit tired and headachey. Dinghied ashore in the afternoon, chatted with some people ashore. Various cruisers asked when I was going to leave (the number one topic for everyone these days), and when I said I was waiting for mail to come in, they told me stories of waiting MONTHS for mail to come in; not what I wanted to hear. Played 5 or 6 games of dominoes, actually winning one of them. Then lots of goodbyes, as some cruisers who have been here together for 4 or 5 months get ready to leave tomorrow. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Wind NNE 10-15. 5/8/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Didn't wake up at 5 AM to listen to Car Talk; bummer. Wind NE 10-15. Listened to weather at 7 AM on the shortwave. Around 7:15, smelled a funky smell, and then suddenly noticed people jumping into dinghies and running over to the boat ahead of me, "Exuma Grouper" with Doug and Paula and Amanda and two big dogs aboard. Apparently they had a fire in the engine compartment. I didn't have my VHF radio on yet, so I missed the call for help. Stuart from "Union Jack" and someone from another boat went over. Five minutes later, everyone was going back to their boats, so the crisis was over. "Exuma Grouper" had said they were going to move to Fowl Cay last night (which they didn't do), and go out this morning heading to Rum Cay. I guess they were trying to leave this morning when they had the problem. Saw a powerboat and a sailboat heading E down the harbor, probably leaving through the SE exit. Tugboat pulling a couple of barges full of gravel or sand came in through the east entrance, went near the government dock, then anchored out in the middle of the harbor; unusual to see large commercial traffic like that here. Dinghied ashore to Beach Church at 9:30. Only about 20 people, but pleasant. Since it's Mother's Day, sermon included a top-ten list of things you never heard your mother say, including: - oh, you don't need a jacket today, the wind-chill should get better. - [sniffs a shirt and says] oh, this shirt is good enough to wear for another week or so. - how can you see the TV, sitting so far away ? - if Tommy's mother says it's okay, that's good enough for me ! - it's okay if you want to skip school today, sweetie; I skipped school a LOT when I was your age. And later I told a religious joke: The crowd is getting ready to stone an adultress, but Jesus comes up and says "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Then a little old lady totters up and casts the first stone, and the crowd stones the adultress to death. Jesus turns to the little old lady and says "Mother, sometimes you make me SO mad !". Lovely sticky-buns and chocolate-chip brownies during the "fellowship hour" after the service. Found out "Exuma Grouper" had a short-circuit in the wiring of the electrical fuel pump on their diesel engine, melting some plastic on the wires and the pump and starting a small fire. Maybe Doug wasn't aboard at the time; Paula put out the small fire with a fire extinguisher. They have another fuel pump, but fixing the wiring and fuel hose and mounting the pump and cleaning up will take some work. They were planning to leave this morning, buddy-boating with "Unity", but things are uncertain now. Back to the boat. After lunch, snorkeled under the boat and scraped the hull. The water is lovely. "Exuma Grouper" left when I wasn't looking; don't know if they headed out of the harbor or over to town. I think they left the harbor. Dinghied ashore about 2:30 and played a couple of long card games with Pam and John and Stuart and Marilyn. Lots of people on the beach today, mostly Bahamaians and non-cruisers. Salad and cheese-sandwich for dinner. Stuart came over; "Marauder" caught such a big dolphin that they gave some to "Union Jack", and it was too much for them too, so Stuart gave me a couple of pounds of the fish. Lovely. In the middle of the night, saw and killed a cockroach in my berth; not a happy thing. 5/9/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind ENE 10-15. Took up my bedding and sprayed bug-spray in the storage compartment underneath, to kill any other cockroaches. Haven't seen any in the galley for quite a while; hope I got rid of that problem. Cleaned the outboard motor spark plugs; they were very oily and dirty. Ashore to the beach around 2, and read my book and chatted. Stuart and Marilyn came ashor elate, so we only had one big card game before it was dinnertime. Pan-fried dolphin (delicious) and rice-and-corn for dinner. 5/10/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind E 15, increasing to 20 around noon. Dinghied across the harbor to town about 10:30; outboard ran a bit rough even at mid-speed. No sign of mail arriving yet; have to be patient. Chatted with Stuart and Marilyn in the library for a while, and exchanged some books. Both bakeries closed today, and no bananas in the supermarket. Bought milk ($5 for half-gallon), loaded 5 gallons of water, and had a somewhat rough and wet ride back across the harbor to the boat. More work on the outboard motor: fixed a gas-recirculation hose that got chafed open by the gearshift cam. Spliced in a length of older, thinner hose; maybe it won't get chafed open. Dinghied ashore about 2:30, and played a couple of games of cards. Pam brought a freshly-baked cake, and we celebrated Susan's birthday. Arya has an injured foot: she dropped a big bag of ice on it, and is afraid the open cuts may be infected now. Scott and Minh are back from Conception, and told us about "Exuma Grouper" and their buddy-boat: they left the harbor by the west entrance mid-day Sunday, after fixing "Exuma Grouper's" fuel pump and fire damage. They were trying to sail ENE, but the wind backed more E than they wanted, and by mid-afternoon they were still only 2 miles off Stocking Island (other side of where we're anchored). So they gave up and came back in the Fowl Cay entrance, and didn't tell any of us they were back in the harbor, even using a different radio channel so we didn't hear them ! I think they stayed there just overnight, and left again yesterday. At 6, dinghied around into a lagoon and to "Daisy Bell", John and Pam's boat, with Stuart and Marilyn, for dinner of salad and homemade pizza and chocolate-pudding-pie, and some nice conversation. Just a lovely evening, and everyone raved about how good the food was, especially the pizza. John and Pam and Stuart and Marilyn have spent a lot of time together here and in Vero Beach, so there was a lot of talk about people I didn't know, but a few I did know, and some local politics. And of course we talked about many other things. Very nice. 5/11/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind E 15-20. Pumped out forward bilge a bit more, and cleaned out main bilge a bit. While working on the forward bilge, realized I have a serious problem: I've suspected for a while that the forward bilge doesn't seem to connect to the main bilge. Now I realize a serious leak into the forward bilge would be a big problem: water wouldn't reach the pumps in the main bilge until the water got up to the cabin sole and ran through the whole boat. There is a dual-duty shower/bilge pump in the forward bilge, but it isn't working, and it's not automatic. Also, the hose from pump to through-hull has a loop above the waterline, but no siphon-break at the top of the loop. Cut wires to the pump, and installed spade-lugs. Good voltage (once I found electrical panel switch that needs to be on). Pump motor draws lots of amps and doesn't spin; probably stuck impeller. Tried to disassemble Y-valve, and screws on it are stuck. After lunch, took the pump and Y-valve out completely, because I couldn't disassemble them in place. As I hoped, once I got the pump open and the impeller out, the motor spun properly; nothing wrong with the motor. Dinghied ashore for the usual afternoon socializing, but only Stuart came ashore. Several boats left this morning, and a few other regulars are busy with other things. So we had a nice chat for a while. At my dinghy, also chatted with the guy from "Encore". Salad and hard-boiled eggs for dinner. Wind ENE. 5/12/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind E 15. Cleaned up forward bilge pump some more, put everything back together, dumped 3 or 4 gallons of fresh water into the forward bilge, and turned on the pump. Worked, but it got pretty hot after a couple of minutes, and it kept slowing down. It's a 300 GPH pump, so at 5 GPM it should have pumped that water out pretty quickly. Probably being hindered by collapsing hoses or a clogged strainer, or both. Needs a new impeller, too. Dinghied ashore in the afternoon and had several nice hands of cards with 6 to 8 people playing; lots of fun. Pam brought in a big pan of fresh chocolate brownies; scrumptious ! Watched a Bahamian lady clean a dolphin over next to the beach restaurant. Spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 5/13/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Wind E 20. I got the weather forecasts on shortwave and repeated them on the cruiser's net. Then diagnosed someone's engine-starting problems for them; sounds like they have a loose or corroded engine ground wire, or some other major wire loose or corroded. [But a half-hour later, heard them say they had a burnt-out bushing on their starter, so I guess I was wrong.] And talked to "Catch You Later" about his problem with a Marine SSB radio; I don't know much about that, but someone else with the same radio joined in, and the two radios behave differently. So the software/programming must be different; one is locked-down or not ham-opened or something. [But a half-hour later, they found the magic sequence that fixed the problem.] Took intake hose off forward bilge pump and pulled the hose up out of the bilge. No strainer on the end, and the hose is not collapsed or constricted. Dinghied ashore, across the harbor in boisterous conditions. Loaded 5 gallons of water. Disposed of garbage. My mail hasn't arrived, and the mailing-store people are quite unhelpful. To hardware store, and no impeller or anti-siphon parts, but bought a hose-repair fitting because I might have a hose fail someday. Went to library and chatted with Stuart and Marilyn and read a book for more than an hour. Got some more free magazines, and another bag of books to take south. Bought some small bottles of rum to use as favors to officials in the DR. Bought a loaf of bread at the bakery. Bought groceries. Marilyn gave me a tip, and I knocked on the door of a closed restaurant and was able to buy some small grapefruit from a pile they had. Wind E 20-25 after 1 PM. Long, wet, rough dinghy-ride back to the boat. Lovely sandwich with still-warm bakery bread. So, I'm STILL waiting for mail to arrive and weather to change. Guess I'll have to have my immigration permit extended; it runs out about June 3, and now I'm not sure I'll make it down to Mayaguana and check out of the Bahamas by then. But this is a good place to be stuck waiting: nice harbor, town nearby, lots of friendly company, and a decent beach. Dinghied ashore about 3. Read my book for a while, then people arrived and we had several big games of dominoes and some nice conversation. Wind strong enough to knock the dominoes over. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. 5/14/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Lots of rain at 4 AM. Damp and cloudy and rough; wind E 20. Sun trying to come out by 9:30 or so. Heard from "boat S"; they've hired a captain (Dewey from "Kabbalah", I think), are keeping their crew aboard, and will head out Monday. They're going east a couple of hundred miles, then turning south and going straight to Luperon; no island-hopping. Should work okay, except they'll have some good swells on the beam when they turn south, since it's been blowing E for a couple of weeks. This is the boat that had decisionmaking problems on the way down, almost lost the boat a couple of times, and had decided to terminate the trip when they got here. Took apart moldings and piece of headliner in the aft cabin, looking to trace a deck leak that shows up under certain rain conditions. The wood backing in there looks like it was put in before the bulkheads were installed: a couple of pieces go past the bulkheads, making them hard to get out. Cleaned out a bunch of dirt and removed some nails, but otherwise didn't accomplish much. Looking from the outside, I suspect the shore-power connectors need to be rebedded; they might be the source of the leak. Dinghied ashore in the afternoon and played a couple of huge card-games, with 9 people dealt into each one. I won the second game. Salad and pan-fried dolphin for dinner. About 6:30, dinghied around to Honeymoon Beach, and a dozen of us had a beach bonfire to mark the end of the cruising season here. Toasted marshmallows and made S'Mores, and lots of nice conversation. Marilyn sang a few funny nursery-rhyme songs that amused everyone. Got back with my clothes smelling like smoke. 5/15/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Headachey. Heard "Too Lazy II" on the radio; didn't think they were coming down here [maybe they were on high power from Black Point or somewhere; couldn't contact them]. Did a bucket of laundry. Several boats leaving to the N today. A mail-boat out in the W end of the harbor in an unusual spot; wonder if they're aground. Talked to Joy and Ernie on "Illusion", the ones with the starter problem; they have no idea where things are in the harbor or in town, have a tiny dinghy so they can't cross the harbor, she has a bad knee so they can't walk much. Morning was getting sunny when I started doing laundry, but grey and rainy by time I was ready to put it out to dry. Lots of rain at 1:30. Wind ESE 10. By 3, rain was holding off, so I dinghied ashore and we had several nice games of cards and some nice conversation. Laundry got mostly dry. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Some rain during the night. Very humid but not hot. 5/16/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. A bit headachey again this morning. Wind E 15+; lots of clouds and still damp, but more sun than yesterday. Weather forecast a little better; I might leave Wednesday. Wind still won't be favorable direction, but is supposed to ease to E 10-15, and swells should lessen. Probably will have to motor-sail ENE for two or three short days (to Cape Santa Maria, Conception, Rum), then sail south for a long overnight passage from Rum to Mayaguana. On the radio, sounds like "boat S" is planning to leave tomorrow. More boats leaving this morning, heading north. Grey and threatening rain again by 11:30. Rained several times. Cleared a bit by 2:30, so I dinghied ashore and we had a nice social afternoon, playing several card games with lots of players. Several more people are leaving tomorrow, so it's going to be sparse from now on. Back to the boat. Added water to batteries. Started engine, raised anchor at 5:15, motored over to the town side, and anchored there about 5:45. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. Big powerboat in the marina serenaded us at sunset with a whole series of songs, played on their horns. Really awful, especially because the horns were missing a few notes to play some of the songs, so they substituted others to jarring effect. Probably the tackiest boating thing I've ever seen. 5/17/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Georgetown Exumas. Awakened by many loud horn-blasts at 7 AM. A fuel-ship wants to get past the anchored boats to the marina. I'm just barely out of their way, although I'm sure they wanted me to move too. They passed about 100 feet behind me. But "Kabbalah" and two other boats are right in their way. The ship sat there blasting the horn again and again, nosing up to "Kabbalah", and generally being as obnoxious as possible. One of the other boats moved, but there's no one aboard "Kabbalah"; he's on board "boat S" and they're leaving this morning for Luperon. Finally the ship passed very close behind "Kabbalah" and the remaining anchored boat, and went into the marina. Just about then, I raised anchor and moved forward 100 feet or so, so they or the police don't tell me to move later. Tried calling "boat S" for a couple of hours, to tell them that "Kabbalah" has a problem, but got no response. At 9, a couple of dinghies gathered to figure out what to do about "Kabbalah". Found out the fuel ship will be leaving at 11. "Too Lazy To" anchored nearby as we were conferring; turns out they've been here for a day or two and didn't contact me; they're here mainly to do laundry and extend visas. After much discussion, decided to put out a stern anchor to pull "Kabbalah" out of the channel a bit. So I got a spare anchor from my boat, pulled my primary rode (line) up from the chain locker, and we got "Kabbalah" moved a bit. Dinghied ashore. Loaded 10 gallons of water, did internet ($10). No sign of my mail; I'm going to abandon it. Said goodbye to Stuart and Marilyn. They told me that "Exuma Grouper" had a serious leak around a daggerboard, and was towed into the marina/boatyard on Rum Cay. "Unity", their buddy-boat, may have gone on without them. Bought gasoline ($4.50). No bread at the bakery. Back out to boat. Stowed my stuff, then went over to "Kabbalah" and retrieved my anchor and rode; the fuel ship has left. Stowing the line into the chain locker was a hot, sweaty job; it's a very muggy day, threatening rain all the time. Lunch, then dinghied ashore again. Mailed form to renew my boat's federal documentation for another year. Got propane tank filled ($18). Did more internet. Got groceries. Double-checked: no mail. Back to boat, stowed everything, and raised anchor at 4:55. Motored E and SE down the harbor, to Fowl Cay, and anchored by 5:55, at lat 23.29.698 long 75.42.407 Wind E 10-15. Some swells curving in from SE, but putting a bridle from the anchor chain to the stern pulled the boat around to face into the swells. Small catamaran anchored half a mile away. Listened to the offshore forecast, and it's not encouraging. NE-E 15-20 with 5-8 foot swells, and I'll be heading ENE. Guess I'll start out tomorrow, and if it's ugly, I'll turn around and come right back in. Salad and cheese sandwich for dinner. Muggy; huge rainclouds everywhere but never really any rain. 5/18/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Fowl Cay near Georgetown Exumas. Wind eased and started clocking around in the early AM; was very light from N for a while, then went to zero. Doesn't match any of the forecasts. Got boat ready, copied weather forecasts from BASRA at 7, and raised anchor at 7:15. Went out Fowl Cay entrance cautiously, but didn't see less than 6 feet of water. Into the Exuma Sound, and it's oily calm, maybe 1-foot swells with no wind. Put up mainsail and motor-sailed; soon had maybe 5 knots of wind from NE. I'm heading ENE. As I've done for the last week or so, I gave the weather forecast (which I get from BASRA on shortwave) on the VHF cruiser's net here. Today it was ugly, full of words about an "inverted trough" and a "high-level jet interacting with a surface trough to create increased pressure gradients". Another boat went out the SE harbor entrance a little before me, and after the cruiser's net, I contacted them. It's Bruce on "Karma Cat", heading to St. Joe's on Long Island to do some exploring. He spent last hurricane season in Georgetown, and it worked out well; he thinks it's a good place to spend hurricane season. But he's going back to FL this year; his home port is Ft Laud. By 9 AM, sunshine is burning off the clouds and I'm able to hang things out to dry on the lifelines for the first time in days. Decided to head for Conception, bypassing Calabash Bay. Should arrive about 3-4 PM. Talked to Woodie on "Too Lazy To" at 10:30, and he advises keeping on going E and right down to the Turks and Caicos if it stays calm like this ! He says this is really unusual and the tradewinds are going to come back and blow from SE for weeks, and I'll wish I'd gone SE now. As I sort of suspected, he says I don't have to stop at Mayaguana and check out of the Bahamas before going to the Turks and Caicos. It would be a shame to miss Conception and Rum, but Woodie says it's better to do them when coming back up (although I won't be doing that; I'm going to stay south). So, I'm thinking seriously of doing what he suggests. Once I've motored ENE dead into the wind past Long Island (by 12:30 or so), I'll turn E and motor-sail 25 miles to NE corner of Rum. Then turn ESE and sail or motor-sail either 150 miles to Mayaguana or 200 miles to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos. If I can sail at 4 knots, arrive Mayaguana 2 days from now or Provo 2.5 days from now. Okay, decided to go to Rum today. Will get there by 6 PM or so, and can decide to stop or keep going. Around 11, some rainclouds passing over, and a few very light drops. Had to take in clothing and close all the ports. Listened to the Atlantic offshore weather forecasts at 11:30, and they're a bit dicey. No change for the general area, still NE-E 15-20. But it looks like I'll have to cross the "trough" somewhere around Mayaguana, and it will be E 20 south of the trough. Worse, a "tropical depression" is forming over Cuba and sounds like it will hit Provo early Monday. I should arrive in Provo late Friday if all goes well, and could divert to Mayaguana early Friday if needed, but that's another complicating factor. At noon, starting to pass Cape Santa Maria on north end of Long Island. Lat 23.41.650 long 75.22.800 Must be some current against me: speed has dropped from about 5 knots to 4.3 Wind from NE, may have picked up slightly to 5-10 knots. Speed picked up slightly after Long Island. Out in the open ocean now, with only a few islands between me and the whole Atlantic. Swells bigger, 4-5 feet with occasional 6, but they're spaced far enough apart that the boat glides up and down them. Nice, but still a fair amount of motion, since I'm heading straight into them. Alternating periods of sunlight and raincloudiness; the rainclouds are coming in clumps. At 5, starting passing north of Rum Cay. Decided to go north of it because the more east I make, the better sailing angle I'll have when I turn ESE toward Samana / Mayaguana / Provo. Then comes a sorry tale: Another big line of rainclouds approached, and I looked at them and said "that's a front; the clouds are darker and there's hard rain under them down to sea level, and no sunlight beyond them". But I sat there like an idiot, wondering if it would be okay to keep the mainsail up. Took in the clothing that was drying, closed all the ports and hatches, and kept motor-sailing with the mainsail up. About 5:15, the clouds started passing overheard, and wind increased to 20+. I said to myself "worse wind will be following the initial clouds", and STILL kept thinking about the mainsail and doing nothing about it. Clouds kept passing, some rain, and then the wind started building and building. Soon up to 30-35, but it's on the nose, the mainsail was sheeted in tightly, and I figured there wasn't even as much pressure on it as when I beam-reached in 30 knots of wind up in the Abacoes. Sat there wondering if the aged mainsheet would part, as the aged jibsheet did a while ago. Around 5:30, there was a BANG and the mainsail started flogging wildly. Said to myself "well, just what I feared", but then I saw that the whole tack-corner had been torn out of the mainsail; the sheet was still attached to the tack-ring. Ran onto deck and fought to furl the mainsail, then wrap a spare halyard around it to lash it to the mast. Took a lot of effort to furl it in 30-35 wind. Back to cockpit to recover. But now the seas are getting really nasty: the nice widely-spaced ocean swells have been replaced by steep closely-spaced whitecaps, and boat-speed is hovering around 2 knots. Lots of violent motion, pitching up and down, rolling. Considering how this is going to work now: once I get past Rum Cay (I'm about halfway past it now; it's south of me), turn ESE and put jib and mizzen up ? I need to sail, to save fuel and get the engine off. I'm concerned that the alternator is still putting almost 10 amps into the batteries; I'd like to shut off the engine for 12 hours, let it cool down, and go in and check battery water. But if I turn ESE in this sea, motion is going to be very bad. Five minutes later, noises from the mainmast, and the sail is working loose. Have to bring it down, and now I'm bitten by the sticky winch-brake that I found a month or two ago and never did anything about; stupid ! Standing on the wildly rocking deck, pulling down the sail with one hand while tapping on the winch-brake with a winch-handle in the other hand, getting 1/2 inch to 1 inch each time. Took more than half an hour to get it down and lashed up. Back to the cockpit wet and tired; not exhausted, but tired. Trying to decide what to do, and suddenly a new factor arises: I'm getting seasick ! The motion is so violent that I'm feeling terrible, and looking at a chart or guidebook for 10 seconds or more is difficult. That makes up my mind for me: have to turn back, go around the W end of Rum Cay, and into the harbor on the S side. Of course, my half-hour on deck wasted some precious daylight, and during that time I was going 2 knots in the wrong direction. And it might be slightly shorter to go up around the E end of Rum Cay. But I can't take this motion much longer; I'll get sicker. So I turn the boat, getting rocked strongly when I'm beam to the seas, and start doing 5.3 knots downwind (W). Motion is better but still not great, and I have to be careful not to look away from the horizon too much or I start feeling queasy. Ate some crackers to get some food into me and maybe settle my stomach a little. Have to do some calculations. It's 6:30ish; will be 7:15 by the time I can turn the NW corner of Rum Cay, around a large "dangerous reef" area. Will be dark well before I reach the harbor. I know you're never supposed to enter a strange harbor in the dark, but I have good charts and guides for this one, and the entrance is wide with almost no hazards (a shoal on one side, and a coral-head somewhere inside). I have to concentrate extra-hard to make sure I'm reading the coordinates of the NW corner of the reef area correctly, and keeping my course and monitoring the GPS properly, while not making myself so queasy that I get sicker. If I run onto a reef in these conditions with this wind and sea behind me, I'll lose the boat and maybe my life. The reef isn't visible; I see no breakers or any other indicators. Turn the corner successfully around 7:15, and start heading S past the W end of Rum Cay. Motion starts to ease as I get shelter from the reef and the island. Sun sets about 7:45, and it's dark as I turn the SW corner of the island at 8:15 or so. Speed slows to 4.3 knots as I'm heading E into the wind and chop again, but the wind has eased to 20+, and the island is giving some shelter from the NE wind and seas, so it's not nearly as bad as it was on the N side just after the front. I'm keeping a close eye on GPS and depth- sounder, which is tiring because I'm still on the edge of seasickness. Up to the harbor entrance, and I can't see the Cotton Field Point Light that's an aid to navigation; too many other lights ashore. I navigate in by GPS and depth-sounder, and have no problem at all. Look carefully for any anchored boats, but I don't see any. Never have less than 25 feet of water, and finally finish anchoring at 10 PM in about 20 feet of water, at lat 23.38.461 long 74.50.952. Not entirely calm here, but quite tolerable. I'm still wired and tired as I shut everything down and stow everything for the night. So, some lessons learned: - take down sail when a front is coming. - don't sail with known bad equipment. - don't count on unforecasted good weather to last. - get seasickness medicine, and anticipate seasickness. - this boat is too high and rolly for nasty ocean conditions. (And these weren't REALLY nasty conditions; what if it had blown 50 ?) I got off cheaply this time. My sails are old and need replacing, so I don't feel TOO badly that the main may be ruined. I didn't hit the big reef or even damage any other part of the boat, and I didn't injure myself. This could have been a real disaster if it had happened 10 or 20 hours later, while I was 40 or 60 miles away from any shelter of any kind. Saw a cockroach in the galley but missed killing it. 5/19/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Rum Cay. Totally grey morning; rainclouds everywhere. Wind varying from NE 20 to N 15. Four other cruising sailboats anchored here, far up against the N shore, quite a bit west of town. Couldn't hear the 0635 offshore weather forecast. So that kills any slight chance that I might have gone right back out today. Would have been stupid to do that anyway: - last forecast had ugly weather south of me, and losing a night means no chance of outrunning it to Mayaguana or Provo. - conditions don't look any better than they were yesterday evening; I'd probably go out to find nasty seas once I got out of the shelter of this island. - still a bit tired (mentally and physically). Didn't have any dinner last night, and slept a bit uneasily. - need to check batteries and fuel level. - would be nice to get a little extra fuel here. - want to see if there's any chance of getting the mainsail repaired. - want to see if "Exuma Grouper" is here. - this is an interesting cruising destination; want to look around here. So I'll sit here for at least several days, recovering, exploring, seeing about repairs and maintenance, and waiting for the weather (trough, depression, etc) to change. Even if I'm "stuck" here for a couple of weeks, that's not a disaster. Managed to miss the BASRA weather broadcast at 0700; too busy typing this log file. Saw a small chunk of rainbow under low rainclouds off to the WNW. Checked engine compartment, and it looks good. Bilge clear, engine oil and coolant and fan belt okay, batteries slightly low but okay, added some water. One sailboat left about 8:30, heading W. Looked out later and two more were gone. Fuel level 11.0 inches at engine hour 3683.7 Enough for at least 450 miles of normal cruising. Raised anchor about 11:30 and slowly went east toward the marina. Over patches of grass and coral, about 6 feet deep. Finally into a nice clear area, about 5.5 feet deep at low tide (now), which is great; holding should be fine with 100 feet of chain out. Finished at noon, at lat 23.38.288 long 74.50.237 As I ate lunch, watched the remaining anchored sailboat start coming my way. Tried to call them on the radio to offer the data from my move, but no answer. They headed right for the marina, but with an anchor dangling off the bow. Small sloop with big mermaid painted on the sides of the bow. I was watching them, trying to decipher what the channel and reef markers meant by where they went. But then suddenly they stopped and dropped anchor, fairly close off the entrance to the marina ! Almost got a free WiFi connection; will have to try again later. After lunch, dinghied ashore. First into the marina, which doesn't have much except a fuel dock and a lot of powerboats (one with a nice-looking woman in a bikini, another with a guy practicing fly-casting off the bow). Not a chance of getting sail-repairs done here. No sign of "Exuma Grouper"; found out later that they left a day or two ago. Saw print-outs of the weather forecast (same I heard on the shortwave) and a track prediction for Tropical Storm Adriane, which is headed right for us, with 60 MPH winds ! This must be the "tropical depression" the radio mentioned. I think I'm going to stay right where I am (nice shallow water, protected from most directions except W), and put out a couple more anchors. The only better harbor is all the way back in Georgetown. Out of the marina and down to the government dock, and walked around town. Checked out the main (small) grocery store, then spent an hour or so chatting with a couple of Bahamians near the beach, then another half-hour or so chatting with a guy from a Shearwater sailboat, the only sailboat in the marina. He came down from Ft Laud, and has worked a lot as a delivery crew or captain, but now is sailing his own boat for 6 months or so just for fun. Watched three more sailboats come into the harbor, two sailing up from the SE. The "Mermaid" boat turns out to be someone has a house here and lives here much of the time, I think. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Mail-boat came in at 8 PM, eagerly awaited by residents. 5/20/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Rum Cay. A bit rolly in the early morning, as high tide lets some swells in over the reef. Totally grey morning; rainclouds everywhere. Wind E 10-15. Sailboat anchored half a mile behind me left sometime during the night. The two who sailed up from the SE left, one at 7 and the other at 8:30, probably heading for Georgetown. Tropical Storm Adriane is now a hurricane, with winds of 75 MPH, but supposedly is weakening as it dumps lots of rain on Honduras. Removed mainsail from deck and stowed it in main cabin. The clew was torn out very close to the corner of the sail; a new reinforced corner could be attached to the sail to repair it. May not be worth doing; these are old sails, and a new/used main should be fairly cheap since it's not a complicated sail (loose-footed, no reef points, wire-in-luff furling). Several meathooks on the wire halyard, up where it goes over the sheaves in the masthead. That's been a continuing problem. At 11:30, raised anchor and moved a little further NE, to get a little more shelter from the reef to the S. Water got a little too shallow, to 4.5 feet at low tide, but I think I'll stay here. Hope the hurricane doesn't bring huge swells that slam me into the bottom. But such big swells couldn't stay huge across all the very shallow water near me, I think. Started making a Turks & Caicos courtesy flag. I bought blank flags and paint and a grommet kit a while ago, because pre-made courtesy flags cost about $20 each. Not sure how well this is going to work; reading the side of the paint bottle, it sounds like the paint is only "water resistant". Applied the grommets and the first layer of paint. Salad and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich for dinner. Three other sailboats in the harbor. Killed two cockroaches in the galley. Finally realized why the water here is shallower than I expected, and shallower than the charts and guides say. One of the Bahamians I was talking to yesterday said the storms last year brought back their nice sandy beach; the waterfront was just rocks the year before. So I'll bet the storms drove a whole load of sand into the E end of the harbor, filling in the deep holes shown in the guide, and making everything shallower. 5/21/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Rum Cay. Totally grey and occasional light rain AGAIN. But the wind is much lighter, probably ESE 10. Saw "Shearwater" leaving the harbor at 9:15, and called him on the radio; I had chatted with him two days ago ashore. He says the hurricane has stalled or circled and may dissipate; not a threat any more. Good news. If I'd heard that yesterday, I might have left today. But it's too late to leave now, and I want to do a big book-exchange ashore today anyway. Wish the weather was nicer. Loafed all morning. Sprayed another cockroach. Noon weather forecast sounds good, except for numerous thunderstorms all over the place. But should be good weather for going ESE tomorrow. After lunch, dinghied ashore. Exchanged about 18 books at the book-exchange in the grocery store. Sat with some Bahamians for a while near the "commissary" and chatted. Saw Jimmy Buffet's big yacht come out of the marina and go off to the SE (he's not aboard). Watched the wind clock around, as nasty-looking clouds swirled around us, then got rained on a bit as I went back out to the boat. After I got aboard, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Spent a while wiping cobwebs off the books I got, and making sure I wasn't bringing any insects aboard. Salad and chicken-onion-saffronrice for dinner. 5/22/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Rum Cay. Calm conditions, wind W 5. Raised anchor at 6:10. Unfurled jib as I moved through the harbor, but furled it again almost immediately; not enough wind. Out of the harbor and started motoring ESE. Unfurled and furled the jib again and again through the morning, as the wind picked up a little and then died again. Generally making about 5.7 knots at 140 degrees true. Gorgeous, clear day. Clouds on the horizon in most directions, but they're puffy white cumulus clouds, not threatening. No sign of the "numerous thunderstorms" possible. Around 9 AM, crossed N23.30, the Tropic of Cancer, and I'm in the Tropics ! About the same time, the GPS's "total trip length" counter, which I've never reset, crossed the 10,000 NM mark. I forget what it read when I bought the boat four years ago, maybe 2,000 ? My trip from Keys to Chesapeake might have been 3,000 miles roundtrip; my Mississippi trip maybe 3,500 roundtrip, first Bahamas trip maybe 400, this one maybe 400 so far. At 9:40, suddenly saw a containership pass a few miles behind me; I didn't even notice him until he was off my stern quarter, because he came from a non-threatening direction. Still, I'm keeping a poor watch. He had containers stacked 5-high on deck. Did some more painting on the Turks and Caicos courtesy flag I'm making. Saw a sloop heading NW. At 10:30, saw two ships 10 miles north of me, heading SW. At 11:30, containership passed 2 to 3 miles ahead of me, heading NE. At noon, lat 23.17.700 long 74.26.700 One pain about these motoring trips is that I can't listen to the shortwave. The alternator and auto-pilot put out so much electrical noise that they overwhelm the radio. The refrigerator also wipes out the shortwave sometimes, but I can turn that off for periods of time. At 1:50, saw ship 6-8 miles to the SW, heading NW. Lots of diesel exhaust fumes at times, as the wind is directly behind and matching my speed. In the later afternoon, started seeing two sailboats; one far behind me to the NW, another crossing 15 miles ahead of me, from the W tip of Crooked Island and heading toward Samana. Around 4 PM, wind had clocked around to NNW, and I put up the jib, poled it out (something I've never done before), and kept it up the rest of the day and night. Didn't get much from it at first, except for steadying the motion a bit, but after dark it started driving well. Heading a little more E now. Hot in the late afternoon; the sun is coming right in the open back of the pilothouse. Sat reading on the foredeck a little, and ate some of my dinner up there. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. The hard-boiled egg is a bit old; hope it doesn't make me sick. Sunset at 7:30. Started to get dark at 8, but there's a bright full moon tonight. Rounding a nasty unmarked and not-well-charted rocky point: northeast corner of Acklin Island. Gave it a wide berth and seemd to take forever to get around it. Down SE between Acklin Island and Plana Cays. Uncertain which direction the swells are coming from, which will determine the best place to anchor (if I can anchor; might be too dangerous to get in at night). Went around the south end of W Plana Cay, nosed in until water was shallow enough to anchor, but without going too far and hitting the reefs. Can see and hear at least part of the reef breaking, and can see the beach, but distance perception is very tough at night, even with a bright moon. Finished anchoring in 15-20 feet of water at 11:50 at last 22.34.136 long 73.37.178 Hard to sleep well after a long, anxious passage. Lots of strange dreams. But it's nicely calm here; only an occasional gentle rolling. 5/23/2005 (Monday) At anchor at West Plana Cay. Wind E 5-10. A few clouds slightly darker than yesterday's, but I think it's going to be mostly-clear and gorgeous again today. Reef is about 200 feet away, slightly closer than I expected, but generally I ended up right where I wanted to be. The island looks pretty desolate. I'm in the middle of nowhere. Added a little water to the batteries: the alternator has been driving them pretty hard. Raised anchor at 7:30; chain grabbed at coral several times. Started motoring ESE again, 4.7 knots at 120 degrees. Apparent wind is dead on the nose. By 9 AM, almost zero true wind; water almost oily smooth. 10 AM: Lots of flat water out here. No land, just water and sky and sun and a few clouds. Still. Painted flag some more. Put out two fishing lines at noon. Had a nice shower. Around 1:30, passed south of Devil's Point on Mayaguana, and things started to get more interesting. Could almost see the bottom at 50 feet depth; saw patches of sand and grass, a bit obscured. A sail 10 miles or so ahead, heading toward me. Then a huge powerboat about 5 miles to the south, with many satellite globes on top, making a huge breaking wake that extended for at least several hundred yards behind it, heading NW. Finally figured out how to reset the "trip meter" on the GPS; starting another 10,000 miles of travel ! Engine surging fairly badly; must need to replace a fuel filter or two. Into Abraham's Bay on Mayaguana, and anchored by 3:55, inside the reef at lat 22.19.707 long 73.01.555 This is a huge, wide-open bay, about 5 miles long, with a shallow reef protecting it from open water to the south. Town is at the E end; I'm about a mile from the W end. Plenty of shallow coral-heads in the middle, so I'll have to be careful when heading to town. Can see a couple of sailboats over near town, one definitely a cruising boat, other may be. Saw another powerboat heading NW out in the ocean. "Exuma Grouper" came in and anchored about 5:30, fairly far away from me. Called them on the radio and chatted briefly. Reports that they had been towed in to Rum Cay were wrong; they did have a very rough trip from Calabash to Rum, and took on some water, but otherwise were fine. Then they went down to Clarence Town, then last night in Attwood Harbor. Are thinking of leaving for Provo tomorrow, so they've anchored with a clear shot back out to the entrance. As I have, they've ended up motoring most of the time, since winds have been so light. Hot afternoon/evening, with zero wind at times, but would be hotter except for a big dark cloud over the island blocking off the sun much of the time. Boat rolling gently a bit; wish I could stop it, but putting a stern line to the anchor rode did nothing, because there's no wind. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 5/24/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Abraham's Bay at Mayaguana. Wind S 10-15. Painted the T+C courtesy flag some more. About 10:15, launched the dinghy and went snorkeling. Under the boat for 15 minutes to scrape the hull a bit, then up to the reef. Anchored in what looked like 4 feet of water, and jumped in to find it at least 12 feet deep ! Barely made it down to the bottom to push the anchor in further. Had a lovely long snorkel near the reef. Lots of coral, although none of it was colorful; all greens and browns. A few colorful fan-corals, green or purple. Plenty of nice fish, of all different colors. A 3-foot barracuda circled around me, checking me out. Only a half-dozen or so fish of edible size, although I wasn't looking to ed any of them. Spent a lot of time just drifting over coral, looking at all the fish. Saw a pipefish, long and thin and hovering head-down in the water. Saw a couple of schools of 6-8 inch fish of various types, slowly swimming around. One coral head had lovely deep purple 8-inch fish, and brilliant blue 2-inch fish, probably of the same species. Didn't see any conch or lobster/crabs. Saw most of the boom of a sailboat lying on the bottom, at least 12 feet long with the fittings on the forward end still visible. "Exuma Grouper" went E up the harbor to town about 1:30. I raised anchor at 2 PM and followed (I'd been planning to do this anyway; low tide at 2:45). The only worrisome factor is that the wind is behind me; if I run aground, it will tend to keep me aground. The chart for this harbor is not encouraging: the harbor is wide and featureless and coral-heads (some less than a foot or two under the surface) are sprinkled throughout it. Glad I have a shallow draft and a solid, full keel. Went slowly and steadily, weaved around shallow coral areas and anything that looked iffy, and didn't get into seriously shallow water until I neared town. Got down to 4.5 feet before I decided enough was enough and anchored in about 5 feet of water at 3 PM, at lat 22.21.561 long 72.58.684 One of the sailboats I saw over here is anchored a mile or so from town, and is flying a quarantine flag. No sign of the second boat I saw, unless I was seeing a beached boat sort of behind the town pier. Hard to see it even from here. "Exuma Grouper" is anchored a couple of hundred yards E of me, closer to shore (they're a catamaran, so have even a shallower draft than my 3.5 feet). Leaving via the E entrance is going to be an adventure: it's narrow and coral-lined, and now that I'm here, I can confirm it's unmarked. And the two small islets that the chart shows flanking it are either not there any more, or never were very visible. This place is dead. No air traffic, although there's an airstrip. And only one skiff came in to the pier this afternoon. Chatted with Doug on "Exuma Grouper"; they went ashore this afternoon, and also met the people from the other sailboat here. The guy on that boat bought it in the USVI's, had friends fly in here to meet him, and is heading up to Florida. Doug says there isn't much ashore here, and supplies are low, since no mail-boat has come in a while. The boat ashore is a Wharram catamaran that was holed on the reef; someone bought it and is fixing it. Doug's going to look for work in Provo; if he finds some, they might stay through hurricane season. If not, they'll go on to Luperon. Salad and hardboiled egg and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. 5/25/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Abraham's Bay at Mayaguana. Hard rain at 4 AM or so. Wind S-SSW 10-15. A little rolly. Did a small bucket of laundry. Changed the engine primary fuel filters. Both filters and the fuel in the housings were black; definitely have fuel problem. Added some BioBor to the tank. Ran engine for 10 minutes to test it. Hot, sweaty day. Dinghied ashore after lunch. Very shallow; bumped several times going in. Disposed of garbage, donated several books away, chatted with a couple of people at a gazebo. Sleepiest place I've been yet, although there was a little construction going on in a few places. Lots of abandoned shacks. Back out, and tide had fallen a little so I had to wade and pull the dinghy behind me for 50 yards or more. Made it back out to the boat. Three more cruising sailboats have come in. After they finished anchoring, I called on the radio, and "Barbara M" answered. They just sailed up overnight from Luperon. They had a nice time in the DR, but got robbed in the middle of the night in Samana: someone snuck aboard and stole a laptop and wallet without even waking them up. "Exuma Grouper" raised anchor about 3:15, and I followed at about 3:25 (low tide). We both made it out the tricky exit okay; I dodged dark areas (coral heads) as much as possible, but once or twice just had to hold my breath and ease over dark patches slowly. Never got into seriously shallow water. Out by 3:40, raised the jib (and got nothing from it) and motor-sailed to Southeast Point. Found 20 feet of water on the point and anchored about 6:05 at lat 22.17.186 long 72.47.440 Intended to wait until 11 to leave, but as usual couldn't sleep in such an exposed position and nervous about starting a passage. Got up at 10, saw a nice near-full moon rising, and started getting ready to go. Eaten alive by swarms of mosquitoes in the cockpit and on deck as I raised anchor. Anchor up by 10:25, and started motoring across. Wind 5-10 dead on the nose. Told "Exuma Grouper" I'd started across, and they said they'd probably leave at midnight; they're faster than me. 5/26/2005 (Thursday) In transit from Mayaguana in the Bahamas to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos. Eventually contacted "Exuma Grouper" at 12:30, and the mystery of why I was still seeing their light so far away was solved: they didn't wait until midnight, they raised anchor 1/2 hour after I did and followed me. Uneventful crossing; pretty gentle swells on the nose, and a nice bright moon. Chatted with Doug every now and then, about various things. Eventually realized that Doug and Paula were hand-steering; their auto-pilot is on the blink. Engine ran fine until I slowed down a little to avoid arriving at the Sandbore Channel before daylight; then it surged a bit. Our timing was pretty good: it rained on us a couple of times 10 or 15 miles out, then was nice and clear and dry when we were approaching the anchorage and anchoring. But a nasty beam swell the last 6 or 8 miles. Led "Exuma Grouper" in through the channel across the Caicos Banks; turns out they don't have any guide or good charts for here. And they're pretty exhausted from hand-steering all night. Getting in was easy; the "channel" is wide. But rolly. Into Sapodilla Bay and finished anchoring at 8:25, at lat 21.44.542 long 72.17.155 Surprised to see how small this bay is, and how few boats are here. Only two other cruising boats, "Banjo" and someone else. "Banjo" called us and told us how to get ashore and where Customs is, and some other good info. Straightened up the boat, showered my head and tried to look presentable. Dinghied ashore, and Doug and I walked around to the commerical port, to Customs and Immigration. Hot and humid at 9:30 in the morning. Filled out forms, and paid $5. That lets me stay for 7 days; if I want an additional 30, have to come back at the end of the 7, fill out more paperwork, then go into town to Immigration and pay $50. Doug needed to get exact change for his $5, so we walked out to a 7-11. Prices pretty outrageous, but that's what you get for a convenience store. Then we walked away from the port for a minute, down a long, hot road. Suddenly, an SUV stopped and a couple said "want a ride ?". Doug and I piled in, and they started driving, and it took a while to figure out where they were going and what we wanted. They would have dropped us off in "downtown", but then we wouldn't have been able to get back (easily). They were taking a couple of little puppies to the vet, so we decided to tag along, and they'd take us back to the boats afterward. Well, at the vet, it turned out their puppies were part of a whole crew of SPCA puppies, and there was much yapping as they all waited for their dipping or worming or whatever. More people arrived with more pets, and Doug and I and one of our hosts went out into the parking lot, and enjoyed a nice view down onto Turtle Cove marina and the whole north-side bay. Then it turned out the SPCA people wanted to take the puppies to a resort where a film crew would film a couple of them being adopted by some tourists. So we piled into cars and went there. I got tired of waiting in the sun at the beach, and went to relax in the shade on some comfy chairs near the office. Snoozed and waited and felt all the energy leaving my body. Eventually went back to the beach, and gently hinted that it might be time to go. Lots of driving around more of the island, a quick stop at a store for the other guys to get a couple of cold beers, then back to the anchorage. I dinghied out and told Paula that Doug would be another 10 minutes, as he went to pay Customs, and I summarized our adventures to her. Lent my Turks and Caicos guide to them, since they don't have any guide or good charts for here. Then I went to my boat and practically collapsed from heat and tiredness and sweat and lack of food and water. Hoisted the dinghy, hoisted my crappy homemad courtesy flag, ate some lunch, and napped in front of a fan to try to stop sweating and sleep. Headachey. "Banjo" has left, moving around the corner to get into calm water as he had said he would. Really felt headachey after the nap; really overdid it this morning. And it's so hot today. Took some pills and laid down again, using a fan when I got sweaty. I hate it when I get sweaty and just can not cool off and stop sweating. Felt a little better by dinnertime, but still hot and exhausted. Catamaran "Icaros" has anchored next to me. Small touring boat is taking a group of partiers around the anchorage, playing some old rock music. Peanut-butter crackers for dinner. Catamaran "Txai" anchored near me; saw them in Georgetown. Bugs drove me inside after sunset; put up all the screens. Lots of rain just after midnight. Wonder if my painted courtesy flag is going to run all over my decks. 5/27/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Looks like my painted courtesy flag smeared a bit in the hard rain last night, but didn't drop paint onto my decks. Heard "Icaros" and "Happy Hours" heading out to Mayaguana. Trying to figure out how to get a mini-bus to pick us up for a trip to the supermarket. According to the guide, it should be possible to call one on the VHF radio, but it's not clear how to contact them for the return trip. Well, it pays to talk to the neighbors ! Launched the dinghy and went over to where the guy from Island Packet "Reality" was swimming, and said hello. They have a rental car for the rest of the day, and offered to take us to the supermarket with them. Great ! They're Alan and Charley. And it turns out Alan worked at Gulfstar long ago; he probably helped build my boat ! Also talked to the guys on catamaran "Txai", and they know people here and will have a pickup truck later today; they also offered to give us a lift to the supermarket. Thought I remembered their boat from Georgetown, but they say it's been a while since they've been to Georgetown. "Banjo" came back and put down an anchor VERY close behind me; hope they're going to put down a second one to keep from swinging too closely. But they picked it up right away and eventually settled further away. "Reality" called at 10, and I picked up Paula at 10:30 and met them ashore. Turns out Paula knew Charley from Georgetown. They drove us to the supermarket, but on the way said they weren't going to drive us back, they were going on to the beaches. Bummer. So they dropped us off at the big IGA supermarket. But 5 minutes later, there they were shopping inside the supermarket too, and they told us they'd changed their minds and would drive us back. Bought $30 worth of groceries, just fresh stuff: bread, milk, fruit, vegs, meat. Stopped at a liquor store on the way back. Back to the boat a little after noon. While putting my stuff away, saw that Charley and Alan were paddling through the anchorage; their motor wouldn't start. So I dashed out and towed them to their boat; I was happy to be able to repay (a little) the favor they'd done for us. Two more catamarans in the anchorage: "Timentide of Whitby", and "Maker's Match". Another came in later. Loafed all afternoon. Started making a Dominican Republic courtesy flag. Put on mask and fins and took a little swim around the boat to cool off. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Doug called and pointed out a waterspout about 10 miles south of us, fortunately moving west so it didn't come near us. Half an hour later, dark clouds came over us and sprinkled a little, with some strong wind. Another hot, humid, rainy, buggy night. It's amazing how dramatically the weather changed from Rum Cay to Mayaguana. I guess this is tropical summer weather now; I'd better get used to it. I'm starting to dread what Luperon will be like; it's a harbor surrounded by hills and mangroves, so it might be sweltering and extremely buggy. 5/28/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Rolly in the early morning; strong SE wind, but swells coming from S. "Reality" left at first light, as they had said they would. They want to be in Venezuela for hurricane season, so they have to hurry. They're going overnight to Luperon tonight. The weather is not good for them today, but they went anyway. Added 1/2 quart of oil to the engine; valve cover gasket is leaking again. About 7:45, raised anchor and moved 100 yards or so W down the anchorage, mainly to see if I can get a WiFi signal down here. But I still can't get a lock on the very faint signal I see appearing and disappearing. Woo-hoo ! Finally got an internet connection, so I don't have to slog ashore through today's rough conditions and either sit on the beach with my laptop, or go pay for minimal service at 7-11. Sat right in the cockpit and did my email and made plane reservations for flying from the DR to NJ. Great ! Stayed aboard all day, mostly doing internet. Wind blew harder and harder; it's pretty rough today. More painting on DR flag. Salad and PB-banana sandwich and yogurt for dinner. Rolly night. 5/29/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Wind stronger than forecast, probably ESE 20+. A bit rolly, but not too bad. Doug came by around lunchtime, returned my guidebook that I lent to him, and said they were going to check out a marina and probably stay overnight. They need to see about fuel and water and internet and so on. He says things are looking up for them staying here through the summer: he has a promising job lined up, interview on Tuesday, and has found that marina rates are reasonable if you commit to 3 months (and it's off-season). "Exuma Grouper" left half an hour later, but was BACK a half-hour after that ! (Turns out it was just rougher out there than they liked.) Loafed all afternoon. Added water to the batteries; they took quite a lot. Raised anchor and moved further ENE to try to get out of the worst of the rolling. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Warm and humid and almost-rainy all night, as usual, but not quite as hot as a day or two ago. 5/30/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Leaving for South Caicos this morning. Wind SE 15, and I'll be going ESE, but there's no help for it; wind is going to be like this indefinitely. Did a little last-minute internet, then raised anchor by 6:30. Started motoring out, straight into wind and chop, and quickly realized this was no fun. Was making less than 4 knots over ground. Decided to make a U-turn and go back to the anchorage. Anchor back down by 6:55. So, I'm here for another day at least. Not bad here, except there's really nothing to do except internet. It's so inconvenient to get to anything ashore. And the anchorage is a bit rolly. Other than that, I'm perfectly happy staying here for a while longer. Repaired connector on laptop's charger: it started melting a bit again. Those cigarette-lighter connectors just aren't very good. Chatted with Doug about various things. I've been hibernating on the boat too much; need to get out more. As I chatted with him, I saw a coral head or wreck near me, a little too close for comfort. Never saw it when I was anchoring, but the tide is 6 or 12 inches lower now. Very strange looking; I think it's a wreck. Catamaran "Maker's Match" left, heading NW. By 10:45, blowing 20-25+; glad I turned around this morning. But a catamaran has just raised anchor and is trying to motor up around the corner, past the port, into the teeth of the wind and swells. They're not making much progress. This wasn't in the forecast I got last night ! Although this area is tricky: we're at a "joint" among three or four forecast areas from the NWS, so you have to listen to them all and kind of average them. Some boats here are slewing around wildly in the wind, especially a smallish trimaran. "Banjo" keeps saiing forward against it's anchor somehow. "Maker's Match" came back in at 5:30; apparently they'd gone around to the north side to do some diving, and had a great time. They were pitching and rolling strongly as they motored back in. Salad and fruit and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. Killed another cockroach in the galley. Don't know why I bother any more; should just wait until bigger ones come aboard in the Dominican Republic and kill all the smaller ones, then kill the big ones. Blew SE 20-30 all night. No rolling; finally got the stern line to the anchor rode set correctly. 5/31/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Still blowing SE 20-25+. Loafed all day. Guy from "Timentide" came over to ask about weather forecasts, and later I got them from the internet and read them to him over the radio, but we're at the boundary of several forecast areas, so it's unclear. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. 6/1/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Still blowing SE 20-25+. Loafed all day, doing some internet, some reading, repainting T+C courtesy flag, etc. Salad and fruit and cheese sandwich for dinner. Chatted with Doug on the radio a bit. He said he was returning a rental car tomorrow, and offered to drive me to Immigration; we both need to get 30-day visas. Wonderful ! I was a bit anxious about trying to get a bus or hitchhike to do it. As we chatted, wind died a bit to the 15 range, and I started to hope I might get a weather window soon. But half an hour later it was back to 20-25. In bed, turned on the light to read a bit at one point, and saw a nasty big flying bug on the wall a foot from my head ! Tried to mash him with my book, but he got away. Searched the boat a bit, but couldn't find him. Guess I'll have to start keeping the screens up 24 hours per day, even when not particularly close to land, even when it's not noticeably buggy out. 6/2/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Still blowing SE 20-25+. Up to 30 a few times this morning, I think. Found the big nasty flying bug dead on the V-berth cabin sole; I think the screens trapped him in the boat and he starved. Today's my birthday ! 47 years old and still ticking. Dinghied ashore at 8:15, stopping to drop a load of magazines at "Exuma Grouper". Met Doug ashore at 8:30, and he has a little two-seater jeep rental; no roof or windows, but the interior is water-tolerant. He drove us over to South Dock, where we had to wait 20 minutes or so for the Customs/Immigration office to open. Got my cruising permit very easily. Then off to the rental car place to turn in the Jeep. The guy there, Amos, gave us a lift to the main Immigration offices in "downtown". There, things went pretty smoothly for me, helped greatly by Doug showing me the first office to go to, which was not at all obvious. Had to go to four stops in three offices, go through an "interview", and pay $50 for a 30-day visa. Took about 90 minutes, I'd say, which I didn't think was bad at all. Got some groceries in the supermarket next door, then started walking back to the anchorage. We had no intention of walking all the way; it's 5 or 6 miles and a warm muggy day. Stuck our thumbs out to hitchhike, and got a ride after 5 minutes or so, maybe 15 or 20 cars or so. Nice guy who had seen us at the Immigration office; he'd waited all morning to get his thing done. He's a T+C native who's married to a woman from the DR, and works importing stuff from DR, Cuba and Venezuela. Back to the boat by 11:20; not bad at all. Well, the free internet connection seems to be gone; stopped working yesterday, I think. Still get WiFi signal, but never can get to any internet site. Bummer. Windy and rough all afternoon; it's just not letting up. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. 6/3/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Still blowing SE 20-25+. Occasionally it will mellow to 15 for a little while, getting my hopes up, but then it starts blowing again. At least it's been cooler, not rainy, and not buggy during this wind. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. Sailboat "Spirit" came in; didn't see which direction they came from. 6/4/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Rain in the early AM, and then wind much calmer for an hour or so afterward. But back up to SE 20 later. And blowing 20-25+ again in the afternoon. Cleaned the bilge a bit. This is getting pretty boring; I'm just reading and eating and listening to the radio all day. There's nothing much ashore nearby, and the rough weather discourages me from launching the dinghy at all. Catamaran "Lady Anne" and two monohulls came in; didn't see where they came from. Doug and Paula from "Exuma Grouper" dinghied over to see if I'm still alive. Someone ashore showed them a weather page from the internet, and they say there are large storm systems rotating around us in all directions, dumping lots of rain on everywhere but here. They say that explains the strong winds. Listened to the NMN weather forecasts, and again none of the forecasts match what we're seeing here; lots of "10-15 with gusts", and I think we're seeing generally 15-25. Salad and cornedbeef-onion-potatoes for dinner. 6/5/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Woke at 5 AM to listen to "Car Talk". After a little while, realized that the wind had died down; maybe I can leave today. A little later, realized I wasn't hearing interference from refrigerator in the shortwave, checked the electrical panel, and found I'd forgotten to turn the refrigerator switch back on after turning it off yesterday evening to listen to the weather report. Lots of water in the refrigerator and underneath it. By 6 AM, wind was blowing again, off and on. Could see several boats preparing to leave. I looked at the whitecaps out there and substantial clouds in every direction and decided not to go. But I checked all the engine fluids and topped off the batteries, and got out spare fuel filters, in case I changed my mind. Soon my resolve was tested as three boats headed out SE; "Banjo" surprised me by heading around the point instead. And I see a sail to the SE, heading NW I think. All the boats to the SE are rocking and rolling; decided to stay put today. By 7 AM, we had a good 20+ blowing again. Raised anchor and moved down to the east end of the anchorage, to get a little more shelter. No point in staying out in the middle, since my internet signal stopped working. Took a nice swim around the boat in the midafternoon. Salad and cheese-and-crackers and rum-and-coke for dinner. Wind getting a hint of N in it by dark; that's encouraging. But mostly E; my directional sense is off a bit here. 6/6/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Sapodilla Bay at Providenciales. Hoped for wind a little more N, but it's pretty much E. Doesn't look too bad out there. Engine started at 5:35, anchor up by 5:50. Motored out into slightly rougher conditions than I hoped for. Wind 15+ knots, wind and swells right on the nose. Making 3 to 4 knots. My course is closer to E than I thought it would be; thought it would be closer to SE. Rough for the first couple of hours, then eased a bit as I got into the lee of Caicos Bank a bit. Started making a pretty consistent 4 knots by 8 AM. By 10:30, through the narrow "choke point" area. Never did see very shallow water or serious coral heads; slowed down a few times before going over dark areas, but they must have been sea-grass. Making 4.3 knots now. At 11:20, saw a pod of five dolphins. They didn't seem at all interested in my boat. One of them took a quick glance at the fishing lure I'm trolling, but immediately saw that it was just a lure. At 2:45, caught a 2.5-foot barracuda and threw him back. Out through Long Cay Cut about 5 PM, and into the ocean. Miserably rough; swells from two directions, and neither is good for me. One set of swells is slowing me down and the other is rolling me. Hoped my green lure would catch a dolphin, but no luck. Finally make enough north so that I could turn and get a decent angle into the harbor without being rolled horribly. In and finished anchoring by 6:10, at lat 21.29.645 long 71.32.405 One cruising sailboat, "Asolare", is here. Salad and chili for dinner. 6/7/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor in Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos. Ketch "Asolare" was gone by the time I got up. Mail/freight-boat is here this morning. Cleaned off the solar panels. Squeegeed the pilothouse windows. Scrubbed the foredeck a bit. Added water to the batteries. Pumped and cleaned bilge a bit. Fuel level 4.0 inches at engine hour 3740; enough for another 160 miles or so of motoring. The last 55 hours of motoring used 7 inches of fuel, or about 80 gallons, and took me from Rum Cay to here, about 230 miles. Getting less than 3 MPG ? Used to get more like 4 MPG, I thought. If I'm getting 3 MPG, my fuel will take me only 120 miles or so, not quite enough to get to Grand Turk and then Luperon, so I should buy some fuel here or at Grand Turk. Tried filtering some of the bad diesel through coffemaker filters to purify it, but it didn't seem to help much. The only thing wrong with the diesel is that it's black; they're aren't any chunks in it. After filtering, it's still black. Dumped a pint of the filtered fuel back into the tank anyway. Weather forecast is for E 15-20 for 3 days, then NE-E 20 for 2 days. Getting SE 15+ at noon. Dinghied ashore about 2 PM, and walked around a bit of town. Not a bad place. Had to land at a concrete seawall just swarming with cockroaches, but a stern anchor kept the dinghy pulled away from them. Asked a couple of guys working at the fish-dock there if it was okay to leave the dinghy there, and soon found they spoke French or creole; I think they were Haitian. Eventually got a "no problem" from the guy in charge. Wandered through town. The "marina" store with fuel pumps out front was closed. Found a grocery store open, and selection is decent but prices are hideous, as I expected. Good thing I don't need anything, although I might get some fruit tomorrow. Spent an hour or so chatting with Tony at a gazebo overlooking the government dock, and another seawall with small fishing boats coming in. The locals here seem to be active fisherman, unlike most places I saw in the Bahamas, which I guess have gone over to tourism more. Tony told me more than I wanted to know about how his good-for-nothing brother was always screwing up, taking his stuff, letting Tony's boat sink during the hurricane, etc. But it was entertaining. Back to the dinghy, and disposed of six bags of garbage; they have small dumpster-like garbage enclosures here on the street, and signs warning that littering leads to rats. Back out to the boat by 4 PM. Salad and cheese-and-crackers for dinner. 6/8/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor in Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos. Rain at 5 AM, and again at 8 AM. Another mail/ferry-boat arrived this morning; must be a frequent service. Dinghied ashore through rough conditions and bought 5 gallons of diesel ($20.70; $3.95/gallon plus a 4% surcharge for using a credit card). Dinghied ashore again after lunch. Trundled a my little grocery cart to the library with 10 or 12 books and donated them, then read magazines for a while. The nice librarian gave me a bottle of cold water, since I was sweating like crazy. Then bought a few groceries and another 5 gallons of diesel. Started raising anchor about 3:45, in rough conditions. Got it up, and motored over to try to find the anchorage along Long Cay. Got confused, couldn't see the tongue of deep water there was supposed to be between the fields of coral-heads. Got a bit dangerous, going downwind and down-swells toward waters of unknown depth (but at least I'd had the sense to do it at low tide). Finally gave up, motored back across the harbor to town, and anchored at 4:30 about 200 feet from where I started; probably burned $2 worth of fuel for that. Got more out of the swells and strong tidal current from the harbor mouth, and into slightly shallower water, and better protection when then wind goes E and NE as it's supposed to starting Friday. But probably will have more bugs, and nothing interesting to snorkel on over here. Oh, well. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Started blowing hard in the middle of the night, and I think my anchor is dragging a bit. But if it is, I'm moving in a harmless direction. Guess it wasn't such a good idea to anchor on top of sea-grass. Getting rolly. 6/9/2005 (Thursday) At anchor in Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos. Wind E-ESE 25+. Found I'd dragged pretty far, about 100 feet or so back towards where I was yesterday. Pretty rolly with swells coming in the harbor mouth. Tired and headachey; lounged in bed and took pills. Wind may be easing slightly after noon. Forecast is encouraging; 10-15 range for next several days, instead of the 20 that was forecast a couple of days ago. But there's a named storm about to hit the west end of Cuba; don't have any more details on its strength or predicted path. I'm pretty exposed here, but could dash to Luperon or Grand Turk if I had to. Salad and cheese-and-crackers and a hard-boiled egg for dinner. Turns out tropical storm Arlene is heading north to hit LA or FL panhandle with winds of 45+, so it's no threat to me. If it arose in the Caribbean, that's a little disconcerting; I've been assuming that the first Atlantic hurricane wouldn't appear until end of July / beginning of August. And it's a little unnerving that no other cruising boat is here; has everyone scooted into Luperon for hurricane season already ? 6/10/2005 (Friday) At anchor in Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos. Wind E-ESE 15 with occasional 20. Did a bucket of laundry. Blowing more around 20 in the afternoon, and blowing a little more E. Dinghied ashore, walked to the library (which was closed) and walked the perimeter of town. Pretty interesting: more of an inland view than I expected, and quite a variety of houses. Some nice, some abandoned, some on top of hills, etc. By asking around, eventually found the bakery (in a house) and bought a loaf of fresh bread. Back to the boat. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. 6/11/2005 (Saturday) At anchor in Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos. Wind E 10 or so. Still looks lumpy in the ocean. Saw a sailboat off the harbor mouth about 7:45; came in and anchored next to me by 8:30 or so. It's a sloop named "Advent II", with a single- hander on board, I think. Must have come up overnight from Luperon. By 9 AM, I'm trying to decided whether to leave today for Grand Turk. Still looks rough out in the ocean, so maybe I'll wait until tomorrow. A day of 10-15 wind should let it settle down a little after the 20-25 we've been having. But who knows, maybe it will blow 20 again this afternoon. Around 9:30, the guy on "Advent II" launched his dinghy and went ashore. Not sure he'll be able to do Customs on a Saturday. When he came back out, he left his quarantine flag up. About 10:30, it was time to go or stay. Changed my mind back and forth several times, then decided to stay. At 12:45, a 40-foot motorcruiser came in and docked at the fuel dock, asking for fuel. Occasional strong wind in the early afternoon. Maybe I made the right decision to stay today, but who knows if tomorrow will be any better ? About 3:30, the guy on "Advent II" was stirring; I assume he'd been sleeping all day after his trip. I was getting ready to chat with him on the radio, when he started raising anchor ! After he was underway toward the harbor mouth, I called him and chatted. His name is Bill also, and he's sailed around the world. As I guessed, he came overnight from Luperon. Now he's moving over to Six Hills Cays to get a jump on crossing the banks to Provo tomorrow. He loved Luperon; says it's a great place, beautiful and with a fine climate (at least in the last month or so; we'll see about the heart of summer). His wife has commanded him to come home to NC to be there with her through hurricane season this year; she went through a hurricane by herself last year and didn't like it. So he's heading north as quickly as possible. He says hurricane Arlene just formed out of thick air SW of Cuba; I didn't know that could happen, really. Around 4 PM, getting some ENE wind, not too strong. Salad and cheese sandwich for dinner. The bakery bread is fantastic. 6/12/2005 (Sunday) At anchor in Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos. Was fairly calm all night, and now wind E 10 or so, so it's time to leave. Anchor up by 6:15. Powerboat left the harbor about 15 minutes after I did, heading SE. Rougher than I hoped out in the ocean, but that's par for the course. Very uncomfortable, with large swells from NE and smaller ones from E and SE, as I'm heading E into the wind. And my boat just is not comfortable in the ocean; it's a coastal boat. Put out a fishing line in reasonably deep water and immediately caught a barracuda; I thought they were shallow-water fish. Just motored across the Columbus Passage all morning, getting pitched and rolled and doing only 3.5 to 4 knots. At least the weather is nice; wind maybe 15 knots, and large rainclouds passed to the north of me without getting me. Within 5 miles or so of Grand Turk, started getting some shelter from the island, and the swells gradually diminished. Tried to call several places to see if my anchorage info still is correct, but got no responses. Into the Front Street anchorage and finished anchoring about 12:35, at lat 21.28.140 long 71.08.945 Nicely sheltered here from the E wind, much better than in South Caicos. But I suspect the holding here is not the best. Nice to have that ugly passage finished. Will be straight south from here to Luperon. No other boats here. Pretty tired in the afternoon. But it's nice here. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. A bit too heavy on the rum ! 6/13/2005 (Monday) At anchor on the west side of Grand Turk. Did a bucket of laundry. Oiled up various padlocks. Pumped up the bike tires. Finally stowed the broken mainsail out of the way. Did various chores. Put the laundry out to dry, and almost immediately a huge black storm came over; caught a gallon or so of water from it. After lunch, loaded the bike into the dinghy and went ashore. Had a nice ride on the island, finding it to be a LARGE island ! [Looking at the chart later, decided the stiff wind made it seem bigger than it actually is.] Many small stores seemed to be closed permanently, and some bigger ones inexplicably closed on a Monday afternoon. Found a library right on the waterfront, but it looks closed permanently. But it had a horse tethered in the yard next to it. A couple of kids swimming from the dock were in my dinghy when I came back; I told them to stay out of it. Locked the bike on the dock and went back to the boat. Beautiful afternoon: lots of interesting clouds going over, with plenty of blue inbetween. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. 6/14/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor on the west side of Grand Turk. Very grey this morning, and I was going to loaf, but then I saw the door of the library is open. So I launched the dinghy and went ashore. Turns out yesterday was a holiday (the Queen's birthday), so just about everything was closed. Quite a nice little library. I donated half a dozen books. They had a newspaper, the Washington Post ! Okay, it was from April 22, but it's the first newspaper I've read since Feb 1, and it was very nice to read it. Spent a couple of hours. Biked over to the east side of the island, finding a bakery and a warehouse-type food store on the way. So this island is quite a bit more convenient than I thought yesterday. Nice view in all directions from the hilltop on the east side. Passed several donkeys wandering loose at the side of the road; I've read that there was/is a large population of donkeys here. Boat rolling a bit; breeze from S and swells from SW. Back to the library in the afternoon. Nice couple of hours reading magazines. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. Totally grey and humid, threatening rain. About 11 PM, wind suddenly went from 5 knots to 25-30 knots with strong rain. Had to hustle to close aft hatch and a few ports, then look out to see if my anchor was holding. No problems. Sprinkled rain on and off the rest of the night, forcing me to keep most ports closed, and boat still rolling a fair amount. Uncomfortable. 6/15/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor on the west side of Grand Turk. Totally grey and occasionally sprinkling, and boat still rolling a fair amount. Added water to batteries, added about 1/2 pint of oil to the engine. Starting to get worried that it's losing oil a bit. Fuel level about 4.0 inches at engine hour 3747; should have enough fuel to get to Luperon. Batteries getting low in all this total cloud. Started raining harder when I was about ready to start doing stuff on deck and then go to the library. Got ashore by 9:30, and spent the morning in the library. Sun starting to peek out by noon. Back to the boat, and it's still rolly out here. Back ashore in the afternoon for more library. Then went snorkeling out on the reef, which turned out to be interesting. The mooring buoy is in deeper water than I expected, about 15 feet deep, and the bottom is pretty uninteresting, but there were lots of fish. Lots of barracuda in a school, which surprises me because I thought they were solitary. Drifted a little further out, to where the bottom drops off from 15 feet to 50-plus feet, and saw many more interesting fish. But I couldn't stay long, because it's a dangerous area (lots of skiffs go through at high speed), so I really needed to stay closer to the dinghy. And the E wind and chop were trying to push me out to deeper water. Getting cloudier again in the later afternoon, but most of the rolly SW swell is gone. Heard a donkey hee-hawing ashore. Salad and cheese sandwich and hardboiled egg for dinner. 6/16/2005 (Thursday) At anchor on the west side of Grand Turk. Totally cloudy again, and a huge dark storm-system just to the north. But it slowly spun around me, never giving me any rain or strong wind, and then went away to the SW, I think. But the boat rolled violently in swells from W and then NW for quite a while. By 10, the sun was out and gentle breeze from E. Dinghied ashore and spent the morning in the library. Then biked to the bakery and bought a nice loaf of bread. Put the bike into the dinghy and went back to the boat. After lunch, dinghied ashore again and spent the afternoon in the library. Came out at 5 PM to find another cruising boat in the anchorage, catamaran "Maker's Match", which I saw in Provo. Walked down to the beach, where they'd landed their dinghy to wlak their dog. They were surrounded by boys swimming and swarming on the beach. I chatted with them briefly, telling them what I knew about town. It soon became clear the boys were rowdy, and the couple was having trouble keeping them out of their dinghy, which was full of SCUBA gear. Soon I left to go to my dinghy, and they left to go back to their boat. On the big dock, there were many more boys than usual, about 12-15 instead of the usual 5-6, and they were more aggressive than usual. A couple of them started demanding a ride in the dinghy, which had happened before, and I said no and started casting off. Then I saw a lot of water in the dinghy, which means they'd been using it as a swim platform again, and someone had taken my SOS light out of its bag, although nothing seemed to be missing. As I drifted back to pick my stern anchor, more of them started yelling at me about giving them rides, and then as I started powering away, the oldest boy, probably 16-18 years old, threw a full can of soda at me and it hit the dinghy, bouncing off harmlessly. I'm sure he wasn't aiming at me; he was only 30 feet away. I did a U-turn and went back in to threaten him, and he and half the boys dashed away down the dock. I shoved off again and headed out, yelling at the boys as they all came back and yelled and cursed at me. But nothing else was thrown. Got out to my boat, and 5 minutes later saw half a dozen boys swimming over to "Maker's Match"; they were anchored a lot closer to shore and the dock than I was. One or two of the boys got up into their dinghy, and the cruisers used their big dog to chase them out. A boy got up onto their port swim platform, and they chased him off. A boy got into the dinghy again, and again they used the dog to chase him out. Then the boys swam away. I tried to call the police on the VHF, with no luck. Then I chatted with "Maker's Match" to tell them about the can of soda that had been thrown at me. Glad I'm leaving tomorrow; I wouldn't want to leave my dinghy on that dock again. Salad and peanut-butter crackers for dinner. Warm, humid, still evening. Very sweaty trying to get to sleep. 6/17/2005 (Friday) At anchor on the west side of Grand Turk. Calm but humid, partly cloudy, wind maybe SE 5. Did a bucket of laundry. Raised anchor by 8:40 and motored down to the "south dock" area, anchoring there about 9:20 at lat 21.26.359 long 71.09.208 Couldn't raise the harbormaster on the radio. Dinghied in to the port about 9:45. Wasn't sure where to go. Hoped to land dinghy on the beach, but realized that would leave me on the wrong side of lots of tall chain-link fences. Landed on high concrete freight dock, using a rusty iron ladder to climb up on top. Walked out into the yard, and found someone to ask directions of. Went to guard booth, who directed me to Customs, and the usual person wasn't in yet. Eventually someone else took care of me. Walked half a mile up the road to Immigration, where everything was easy until the guy asked some strange question about the longest segment I'd traveled on my current trip. Maybe that's one of those big-ship questions designed to see if the incubation period for Black Plague has been passed, or something like that. Then he was going to send me off without the form saying that I'd cleared out of the country, which the DR will want to see. I pointed that out, so he had someone make a copy for their files. All done, back through the guardhouse and climbed down to the dinghy. Back to the boat by 10:40. Raised anchor and motor-sailed SW, then motored S, to Salt Cay. Anchored off the north side, screwing up the anchoring the first time, and having to pick it up and move. Done 1:45 at lat 21.20.510 long 71.12.020 Launched the dinghy and went snorkeling. Checked out 8 or 10 huge coral-heads. As usual, the coral itself was very dull, just drab shades of green and white. But the fish were spectacular ! All different types and colors, and some fairly big groupers and such. And I saw something I've never seen before: a couple of small schools of squid. Each squid was small, only 4 to 6 inches long. They were swimming along in open water. Remarkable. People from the resort-houses on shore were snorkeling too, closer to shore. And they had a completely transparent canoe or kayak that they were using to cruise over top of the coral-heads. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. Around 3 AM, huge rainclouds with lightning started slowly passing over. I sat up in the cockpit for an hour, fearing strong wind that might make the anchor drag. I'm in a bad position if that happens, surrounded by coral-heads. But nothing bad happened. The wind was from the ESE, with just enough S that the island protected me from most of the swells. Plenty of lightning, including ground-strikes, but none came close to me. Started raining fairly hard about 5 AM, and kept going off and on until 9 AM or so. 6/18/2005 (Saturday) At anchor on the north side of Salt Cay. Totally cloudy and grey, wind about ESE 15. Anchor up at 10:10. Out of the coral area, around the point, raised jib and mizzen, and started sailing south. Doing 3 to 3.5 knots. Around noon, turned more south and did 2 to 3 knots. Swells rolling the boat a lot. But I'm delighted to be sailing; saves fuel for the big hop to Luperon. About 1:40, started engine and took down sails, and started heading for the anchorage. Surprised to see a sailboat coming down from the north. Called them on the radio, and it's "Maker's Match"; they checked out of T+C and are heading straight for Luperon. Doesn't make sense to me: if they're here at 2 PM, say they do 8 knots over the 80 miles to Luperon, they arrive there at midnight, into an unfamiliar (to me) and largely unmarked and definitely unlit harbor. Engine running a bit roughly; I'm thinking I should change a fuel filter or two before leaving tomorrow morning. Into the anchorage at Great Sand Cay and finished anchoring at 2:25, at lat 21.11.588 long 71.15.034 Launched the dinghy, did a little scraping underneath the boat, then snorkeled over the coral. No big coral-heads here (right in the anchorage), but instead several large fields of coral a foot or two high. Some nice fish, and another school of squid, each about 6 inches long. A little too windy and rough for comfortable snorkeling. It's blowing 15-20, stronger than I expected. Mushroom soup and noodles for dinner. Lousy night: rolly and sleepless. 6/19/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Great Sand Cay. Changed primary fuel filters at engine hour 3751; took a while to get the engine running again; had to pour some fuel into the fuel lift pump. Got it running at 8 AM. Anchor up at 8:20, and headed out. Immediately found large swells from the S, and wind from the SE (forgot to check the wind direction before I left). Lousy for going SSE. About the time I was deciding to turn around, saw a sailboat arriving from the south. It's "Uncle Willie" arriving from Puerto Rico, and they say the swells are large all the way. So I turned around and headed back in, and they anchored nearby. Done anchoring at 8:45. So I'm STUCK here ! A rolly anchorage with little protection from the S swells. Weather forecast doesn't give much hope for the next few days; I guess I'll see if the wind is more E and the swells a little smaller tomorrow. I'd really like to sail about half of the distance to Luperon; probably could motor all the way, but I'd be running on fumes when I arrived. Napped for an hour or two, and was able to get some sleep, so I felt a bit better. And the extra line I put on the anchor rode has damped the motion slightly, although the boat still rocks strongly quite often. And in the last month or so the boat has developed loud creaking noises in the woodwork in a few places when it rolls strongly, which is very annoying, especially when I'm trying to sleep. I can't see anywhere that a bulkhead has come loose or anything. In the midafternoon, saw someone stirring on "Uncle Willie", so I called them on the radio and we had a nice long chat. They're a 1970's-vintage Tartan, heading for Charleston, where they'll start trying to sell the boat and do some land-travel in the USA. The boat got its name because there are several uncles named William in their family, and I told them my family is similar: I'm William, so was my father, a nephew, and an uncle. They've been many places: 4 to 6 years in the Mediterranean, 6 months leaving the boat in Venezuela to travel all over South America by land, Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, up and down the Windward and Leeward islands, etc. They had a great time in Puerto Rico just now; like everyone else I've asked, they recommend it strongly. They took 63 hours to get here from the SW corner of Puerto Rico, which seems long to me. I'm not sure what the distance is, maybe 200 miles ? And they had wind and strong swells behind them, and even a little bit of prevailing current, I think, so they should have made good time. They said the weather hasn't matched the forecasts, and I agree. They say the swells were much bigger than they expected, and I think it's been blowing 20 since yesterday afternoon, when all the forecasts say 10-15. They had a forecast of 5-10 winds from somewhere; I haven't heard that. Spent most of the day reading, listening to shortwave, playing card-games on the computer, and wishing the swells would go away. Salad and eggsalad sandwich for dinner. Got some E wind during the night, but still mostly SE and strong. Lots of rolling at times, but I'm starting to tolerate it a little better. 6/20/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Great Sand Cay. Wind SE 20 or so, and still big swells from the S. Catamaran "Breathe" came in from the SE around 7 AM, and I chatted with him at 8. He came from the NE corner of the DR, covering about 155 miles in about 24 hours. Says the swells were huge, about 5-7 from the south with another 1-2 from the east on top of that. Wind around 22 knots. He asked for a weather forecast; turns out his shortwave receiver has no SSB capability, so he can't get NMN himself. He's heading to Provo and then Marsh Harbour. He said fuel in the DR is very expensive, which surprises me. He paid $6-$8 per gallon for diesel, and his friend in Luperon paid similarly. The problem is lots of middlemen adding markups; maybe I can avoid some of that since I won't be in a hurry to get in and out, and I could jug fuel to the dinghy dock myself instead of having it delivered. [Later, I found the price of diesel in Luperon to be around $4/gallon.] He also got hit for various money by officials when he checked in and out, although that wasn't in Luperon. He came from Puerto Rico; he says San Juan is wonderful. As others have said, he said skip the DR and go straight to PR. "Uncle Willie" called about 10:30, to ask for info on the routes across the Caicos Bank. So at 11, I launched the dinghy and took my guidebook over to them. We chatted and looked at the book and charts for about 3 hours, having a very nice time. Their boat seemed to roll only a little less than mine (although it doesn't creak), so I'm reassured that my boat isn't quite as crappy as I'd started to think it was. They're Jimmy and Peggy plus cat. Their Tartan is both a walk-over and walk-through configuration (two stairs plus a hallway), which I've never seen before. Whole aft half is one open space, combination galley and nav station and berths. They have a propane refrigerator. We looked at some weatherfax charts too. For long-time cruisers, they certainly argued with each other quite a bit and with some heat about which route to take across the Caicos Bank. They were boarded by the USCG on their way up from PR, and the USCG just wipes a couple of swabs over the cockpit and takes them back to the ship to test for drug traces; they don't even have to search all the compartments of your boat. Back to the boat for some late lunch, and 10 minutes later I looked over to find "Uncle Willie" gone. They had mentioned they might go to South Caicos this afternoon, but that was quick, and now they're even out of sight ! Don't see how they could have gotten out of sight so quickly. A minute later I see them further down in the anchorage; they just moved to get near some snorkeling territory. Gave the noon weather forecast to "Breathe". Then "Uncle Willie" called to say that the swells were less down where they are, so I moved. They're right; it's better here for some unknown reason. "Uncle Willie" keeps moving around, because Jimmy is snorkeling on various spots, and it's too much trouble to launch the dinghy (they have two, actually) and lower the motor down onto it and put everything together. Easier to move the big boat and go down the ladder on the side. Spaghetti for dinner. Gave the evening weather forecast to "Breathe", and chatted with him a bit. Turns out they got married two weeks ago, and this is her first time cruising, and they started with a long trip from USVI's (I think) to PR and then here and more big jumps coming to get up north. And she's a bit uncomfortable with all the big swells they been having. He's been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so he decided to take one day at a time and have fun. He's done a lot of sailing, and bought a catamaran this time because he wanted speed. 6/21/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Great Sand Cay. Wind was ESE most of the night, and the swells seem a little less, so I'm going to try going south. The weather forecast has been saying E to SE 10-15 for a week, and says it for the coming 3 days, but I think we've been seeing SE 15-20+. Anchor up at 6:30, just in time to come close to colliding with "Breathe", who has just raised anchor to head for Provo. "Uncle Willie" left a half-hour later, also for Provo. Ran the engine just long enough to raise anchor and then raise jib and mizzen sails, then shut it off. Sailed out of the anchorage, and it looks like this trip is do-able today. Big swells from SE, and wind from ESE, so I'm able to sail about 2.5 to 2.8 knots on course 195, when I'd like to head 165 or so. All morning, it seemed the weather forecast got it right; in fact, the wind seems lighter out here than it did in the anchorage. Sailing around 3 knots, course varying from 180 to 200 as wind shifts. At 12:40, container-ship "CMA CGM" passed close astern. I think they saw me first through the haze and altered course to go behind me, because they kind of curved around as they passed. At 1:30, wind picking up a bit, sailing 3.5 to 4 knots on course 195. Wind slowly increased all afternoon, and so did the swells. Really getting rolled a lot, and it's incessant: the boat is never still for more than a few seconds, and the squeaking from the woodwork is really irritating. Hard to sit in the cockpit for long, so I go down to my berth, which is right next to the worst of the squeaking. During the afternoon, I was generally delighted to be able to keep sailing and sailing, more or less on course. I had been worried that my fuel supply was a bit marginal, but all this sailing means I shouldn't have a problem. Salad and peanut-butter crackers for dinner. Bit of a headache; I'm taking pills. Starting around 7 PM, everything starts going to hell. At 7, I was thinking "gee, the weather's been good, no squalls or anything". Just then, I realize that the jib (genoa) is really being pushed too hard; the wind has been increasing gradually all afternoon, and now is probably SE 20-25. I don't want to blow out the sail, and I'd like to see if I can motor to east a bit; my course is carrying me SSW when I need to go SSE. So I start the engine and furl the jib (not easy in the stiff wind). Immediately, the rolling motion is far worse; the jib was damping much of the rolling. And things are even worse when I turn and try to go more east; the swells are huge and the motion is so violent that air starts getting into the fuel and making the engine run unevenly. Soon, I decide to unfurl the jib. When I do, something is wrong, and I stick my head out of the pilothouse and see that the jib has a huge horizontal split in it, along a seam in the middle. Parts of it are flogging madly. I manage to get it mostly furled again, with some pieces sticking out. So now both my jib and my mainsail are gone (lost clew of the mainsail at Rum Cay). So now I'm stuck motoring, with increased rolling. And not quite on the course I need to get to Luperon. About 9 PM, I happen to look in the engine compartment, and am horrified to find a disaster ! Three of the golf-cart batteries have fallen over against the engine, and one of them is being ground open by the "viscous damper" rotating at the front of the engine. Battery acid has sprayed around, and the air of the whole compartment is full of it. It's a disaster, but it could have been much worse. One or more batteries could have shorted and exploded or caught fire. And the electrical system is still working fine; I don't see any arcing, the alternator is charging them normally so they must not have internal shorts, etc. The disaster is all due to my stupidity, of course. When I converted to golf-cart batteries several years ago, I put each in a plastic box with a top, but didn't strap down each battery. I have the straps; I was just too lazy to pull the wiring off and lift all the batteries out and cut slots in the fiberglass shelf under them. It was a big awkward job that I kept putting off. And I'd been through lots of rough trips, with the batteries never budging an inch. So I let a dangerous situation linger. Now it's bitten me. Since the engine has been running for two hours, it's PLENTY hot. The coolant system nearest the batteries is 180+ degrees, and the exhaust riser on the far side of the engine probably is 350 or more. With the boat rolling violently quite often, I'm hard-pressed to figure out how I can lift the batteries away from the engine. Since the engine is keeping the boat on course, I leave it running through my first couple of attempts, but soon I realize I have to shut it off. Fortunately, unfurling some of the jib (letting it destroy itself) and with the mizzen still up, I'm able to get the boat into a balanced helm setting where it sails itself (as it had been doing all day). Now it's doing less than 2 knots, but that's okay. Back into the engine compartment several times, where the acid fumes make me cough, and the heat makes me sweat furiously. I'm able to use a throwable PFD (seat-cushion type) as an insulator between me and the coolant system, so I can lean on it as I lift or shove batteries. The wiring still running between batteries makes the job more complicated, and several times the motion of the boat makes a battery fall right back to where I just lifted it from. How to keep the batteries in position ? I decided to use several lengths of 2x8 wood I have in the main cabin, and they work perfectly. I wedge them between engine and batteries, and one across the front of the engine to the forwardmost battery, to keep the batteries in place. Add water to the front two batteries, mostly to the one that has a hole ground through one corner of its case. Lots of paper towels with sweat and battery acid on them, I've probably tracked battery acid on the carpeting, boat smells terrible, I can see acid spray all over parts of the engine compartment. Ugly. Finally the engine looks usable again. Now, do I want to use it ? Maybe the acid fumes are not good for it, maybe the fan belt is about to let go, maybe something else I didn't notice was damaged. Back into the cockpit, and soon I find it intolerable to be sailing at 1.8 knots under mizzen and shreds of jib, getting rolled heavily. At this rate of speed, it'll take another 24 hours or more to get there. So I start the engine, and everything seems fine. Start motoring at 4 to 4.5 knots. But still can't get any E direction with getting hideous plunging and rolling; have to keep going S to SSW. Batteries seem okay, charging is normal, etc. Engine compartment air is still full of acid fumes. 6/22/2005 (Wednesday) In transit from Turks and Caicos to Dominican Republic. Motor on through the night, with wind around SE 20-25 and huge swells. Every now and then the motion makes the engine surge or hiccup, and I'm reviewing my options in case it quits. I have a couple of hanked-on headsails I've never used; I could put one of them on and sail at a decent speed again. Working on the foredeck will be a nightmare in these conditions. I've left the mizzen sail up, although I'm worried it too might be overstressed, partly because it steadies the boat, partly because I'll need it right away if the engine quits, and partly because I don't want to go out on the aft deck to furl it in these conditions. I'm still heading for landfall 20 miles or so W of Luperon, and if I sail it will probably push me even further west. Don't want to end up in Haiti. In fact, I'm not supposed to land anywhere in the DR except either Luperon (20+ miles out of reach to the east) or Manzanillo (30 miles more to the west than I'm heading). Visions of unhappy DR Navy people asking me in Spanish for paperwork I don't have. I'm already anxious; officials in the DR have a larcenous reputation. A couple of fast ships pass me, one crossing my bow only a mile ahead, catching me napping below. Sloppy. Finally start getting close to land, and the swells are easing slightly. Now there are periods of up to 15 seconds with little rolling motion. But the lower fuel level is making the engine surge more if the rolling goes on for too long. Not a comfortable situation. Decide my jug of 5 gallons of extra diesel is better off in the tank than in reserve, so I pour it in while underway; never done that before. Finally get into a huge bay on the north side of the DR, but it's very deep, and there's no protection from the swells coming in. I start heading east, trying one shallow area, but it's flat rocky coral on the bottom, and close to unknown coral-heads. It's dark, and the only chart doesn't show a lot of detail. One more crisis: shortly after refurling the flogging jib and furling the mizzen, I look back to see something wrong with the dinghy on its davits. It's sagging somehow. I dash back there, and find the starboard davit is collapsing. Run a line from it to the mizzenmast, but that's not fixing the problem. Quickly put the drain plug in the dinghy, cast off the half-dozen lashings I had on it, and manage to launch it before it can tear off the davits completely. Not an easy job, with the boat rolling and plunging a bit, and the heavy dinghy swinging wildly as I lowered it down near the water. Then I look at the davit, and find that the whole lower end of an upright has sheared off; the forces from the rolling must have been too much for it, and the davits really don't have any side-to-side support. I run spring lines from the dinghy, but those go to the davits; only one line went from dinghy bow to boat stern. So, another big piece of damage to deal with. Down into the dinghy as it and the boat leap and plunge in separate directions, and rig two tow-lines. Take more headache pills. At this point, I wish I carried some cyanide in my medical cabinet. Dawn starts coming, and it's very hazey here, although the green hills are pretty. After a couple of hours of moving further and further east, I anchor in a very unsatisfactory position near breakers over a shoal. But it's the only area of reasonable shallow water (20 feet) within miles. Rocky bottom and exposed to the swells; it's a bad place. But I need to stop. Anchor down at 7:15, at lat 19.51.681 long 71.14.942 So this trip has been a disaster: ruined jib (although it was old and ready to go), damaged batteries and engine compartment (totally my stupidity), broken davits. But look on the bright side: the boat didn't sink, and I didn't die or even hurt myself (except for breathing some acid fumes), and I arrived in more or less the right place (didn't get blown to Haiti or Cuba, or stuck out there for days). I lock the dinghy to the boat and gather loose jugs off the deck into the pilouthouse, and stash GPS and other valuables below. I've been told story after story of guys in the DR hopping onto boats and grabbing stuff, even in the middle of the day. But I'm out in the middle of nowhere here; doubt I need to worry. Try to nap, but the motion here is just as bad as it was at Great Sand Cay, and the woodwork is squealing loudly. Still a bit headachey. Wind and swells picking up around 10 AM, and anchor chain making noises on the coral-rock bottom. Want to measure fuel level, but engine is hot and 2x8's are blocking access. Raised anchor about 10:15; not easy in strong chop, relatively deep water, and briefly hooked onto some piece of coral rock down there. Motored east up the bay, and slowly realized that I'd totally misjudged the scale of the place. Got to the spot I'd been looking for when I anchored earlier, and anchored about 11:15 at lat 19.51.632 long 71.12.784 A couple of charter/party swim boats here. Lunch, then finally got an hour or so of sleep. Still a bit headachey. Started tidying up the boat and investigating damage. Nice caribbean music from a beach bar on the nearby beach. Took down the jib and lashed it on the foredeck. Wonder if I use the clew-corner from it to fix the mainsail ? Stowed jugs on the side deck and locked them with a cable-lock; I'm told anything loose on deck may get stolen. Put padlocks on the dock boxes and the cockpit lockers. Need another cable to lock the propane tank and dinghy gas tank; used to use same cable to lock them and the dinghy, but now the dinghy is further away. Lashed the mizzensail to the mast. Took some valuables out of the dinghy, and stowed pieces of its hoisting mechanism in a dock box. Found the SOS light had water inside it; drained and dried it and replaced two batteries, and it works again. Towing the dinghy for the first time, I've managed to damage it already: I used the "cosmetic" towing ring attached to the fabric, not the one attached to the fiberglass hull, and it pulled right off the fabric. Didn't lose the dinghy because I had two lines to it. And it's not as if I towed the dinghy at high speed, although I did leave the motor down. [Later, I happened to try the line while towing the dinghy with the motor up, and there's quite a bit of load on the towing painter, so I guess the failure is explicable.] Found a strange "pin" on the port side deck; must have come from the rigging, but I can't figure out what it is. Lashed lines to the broken davit to hold it in place better. Other davit has a nut missing from one of the four bolts in the same area where the other davit broke. Will have to figure a way to add more braces to the davits. And should look into getting a lighter dinghy. Salad and chili over noodles for dinner. 6/23/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Punta Rocia in the Dominican Republic. Fuel level 2.0 inches, or about 20 gallons. Should be enough for 60 miles, and it's only 16 miles to Luperon. Cleaned up the battery acid on the engine a bit with water and baking soda; lots more cleaning to come. Anchor up at 5:40, motor out into calm conditions; terrific for going to Luperon. Wind E 5 or so. Thinking ahead to what happens if I run out of fuel, I get out the storm jib and hank it onto the forestay. I've never done this before, and it takes quite a while to sort out the various halyards and get everything set. And I found where the "mystery pin" I found yesterday came from: the pelican-hook connector on the spare halyard has come apart. Lucky that the connector was wedged into the rope, or the halyard would have been stuck at the top of the mast, and I'd have to climb for it eventually. I also think of sailing with the mizzen, and as I look at it, I realize the davit might have broken because the mizzen sheet is connected to them. I also connected the mizzen backstay to them, but that shouldn't put any load on the davits; actually it supports them against the weight of the dinghy. I've used the mizzen plenty of times. But on this trip I used the mizzen in very strong conditions, up in the Abacoes and then again from T+C to DR. And that probably put too much stress on the davits, with the mizzen sheet pulling upward and sideways on them. Wonder how to fix that in the future, or maybe I should just stop sailing in strong conditions. Motor up near El Castillo; hope the Navy guys there don't pull me over and board me, looking for "gifts". As I get past El Castillo and almost to the start of Cabo Isabella, the engine starts surging any time I hit a moderately big swell. Oh, no, it's not going to run on the last 20 gallons of fuel ? My heart sinks. Now, I should have turned around and started sailing for El Castillo at that point. But no, I kept motoring, hoping somehow I could make it the remaining 8 miles or so to Luperon. Suddenly realized I needed to put sheets on the jib, and one of the old jib sheets was used to lash the old jib to the foredeck. Start replacing that with another line. Well, at about 71.02.500 west, the engine surged badly for a while and then quit. 6 lousy miles short of Luperon, but it's upwind and up-swells, and I don't have a prayer of sailing to it. And I should have saved some fuel for the last jog into harbor; now I'll have to sail all the way in. Stupid ! Quickly finish tying sheets to the storm jib, raise it, and it's tiny. I unfurl a patch of the mizzen, and make all of 1 to 1.5 knots. At least I thought ahead to this point. The harbor I'm heading for is almost directly downwind, and the wind is pushing me along the rocky shore of Cabo Isabella instead of onto it. But there is a reef north of El Castillo that I'll have to sail around, and then it probably will be impossible to sail more upwind into the good part of the harbor. And I don't have a good chart of the reef (I don't think good charts for the DR exist; I have what I could get), so it may be dangerous. A long, slow sail downwind all morning. Sometimes the wind stalls completely, and I drift down-swell at just above 0 knots. Usually I do right about 1.0 knots. As I near the reef, a skiff with two fishermen comes alongside, and I get to try my minimal Spanish skill for the first time. I manage to say hello and explain that my machina is not working because I'm out of diesel, I'm going to El Castillo, and some hand-signals to show how I'm going to curve around the reef. They shake their heads and go on. Parts of the reef near shore are easy to see: nasty rocky bits with breakers over them. Out from the end of those, there seems to be a line of glassy water extending out; maybe that's underwater reef. How far to stay clear of the visible bits, to avoid the underwater bits ? If I swing too far, I don't have a chance of getting to water shallow enough to anchor, and E far enough toward land to get shelter behind the reef from the prevailing swells. I takes my chances and never see less than 40 feet of water as I curve around the reef; guess I was a little too conservative. But the last thing I wanted to do was hit the reef; I'm going to have enough trouble with officials and getting fuel. Sailing on, close-hauled heading SSE, making 0.9 to 1.1 knots, trying to edge as far E as I can toward town. Get into water 30 feet deep; could anchor here, although it's too deep for comfort, and I'd be quite exposed to some of the swells. Finally have sailed about as far as I can; any more and I'll start carrying past the inhabited area, and who knows if the water will suddenly get deeper ? One last thing to try: start the engine. Crank it, and it catches but then surges and dies as I scramble to slam it into gear and make some progress. Crank it again for 15 seconds or so, and miraculously it starts and runs ! Quickly into gear, head straight up toward town, and the engine keeps going ! A good 200 or 300 yards up close to shore, next to a couple of big charter-type boats anchored there. Get into 12 feet of water, put the anchor down, and shut off the engine. Hooray ! Furl the mizzen, pull down the storm jib, lash and stow things. Finished by about 12:20. Wow, I made it, and I'm anchored in great shelter, at lat 19.53.548 long 71.04.959 So, here I am. Safe, but officially I'm not supposed to be here; I haven't cleared-in to the country yet. I wasn't supposed to be at Punta Rocia last night either. Heard bilge pump running; and I heard it this morning, too, as I was checking engine oil and fuel. Not good. Had some lunch, and cleaned up the boat a bit. Heard bilge pump again. Prop shaft stuffing not leaking. Happened to notice a valve not quite fully closed; it leads from engine intake to bilge. Closed it, and hoped that fixes it. Must have kicked it up while dealing with the battery problem. Shaved, and drain in aft head sink clogged. 15 minutes work with plunger and buckets of seawater to clear it. Surprised to see some coral heads close to the S of me; now that it's getting closer to low tide, they're visible. Will have to use second anchor or something to move me further away. Don't have the energy to deal with it today. Got ready to go ashore, and then a massive storm, with wind and rain and strong lightning, came over and dumped rain for 30 minutes or so. Dinghied ashore to the beach area, finding it very shallow; ran aground once. Talked to guy on motorcycle there, gradually able to tell him I'm from that boat, where is Navy, I need diesel. No Navy, apparently, and no diesel either. Other boats are associated with a hotel, which sounds encouraging. Maybe they speak English there. More things I don't understand; later I realize he's asking if I want a ride to the hotel on the motorcycle. I walk into "town", which is only a couple of streets that I can see, saying hello to a few people and asking about diesel. More people say have to go to Luperon. Find the "hotel", which is just a couple of rooms over a restaurant, and mostly deserted. Woman there says they have only empty diesel jugs for the two charter boats in the bay, and they also have haul diesel by motorcycle from Luperon. Back into "town", where a nasty-looking motorcycle guy keeps pressing me to let him take me to Luperon. He pursues me down the road a bit. Finally I say tomorrow, I don't know what hour, and he gives up. Back to the dinghy, and back to the boat. Bean/olive "salad" and peanut-butter crackers and rum-and-coke for dinner. I'm feeling weak, anxious, tired, scared. Maybe this is culture-shock, loneliness, fear of what else might go wrong, delayed reaction to all the boat-problems I've just gone through ? Very jumpy sleeping; keep hearing sounds as if someone is creeping aboard to steal things. Keep the engine compartment door open all night so I can hear if bilge pump runs. I keep thinking I hear a pump running, but it's just my imagination. Bilge pump seems fine now; the valve must have been the problem. 6/24/2005 (Friday) At anchor at El Castillo in the Dominican Republic. Still feeling tired and anxious. Wrote down some sentences to say I want a motorcycle guy to take the jugs off to get diesel for me. I don't like riding on motorcycles, and he can get more diesel faster if he takes a second jug instead of me. Looked out about 8:30 to see a powerboat coming in; it's the "Paradise" excursion boat; I saw them at Punta Rocia. They don't answer the radio. Quickly get my stuff together, lock up the boat, get the dinghy going, and head over to talk to them. One guy speaks a little English, and tells me they know someone ashore with a car to go to Luperon, which sounds better to me than a motorcycle. I go back to the boat to empty out a gas jug, and come back with one diesel jug and one gas jug. They're loading tourists from shore into skiffs; as soon as they leave, I go ashore. But then no one comes ashore from the powerboat. I wander around; it's a national park with a museum and cottages, but no one except some ancient groundskeepers in sight. Then a big tour-bus full of English-speaking tourists arrives, and I grab the guide for a quick consultation. He says the bus could take me to Luperon, but then I'd have to get a taxi or something to get back here. Then the somewhat-English-speaking guy from the powerboat comes ashore, and I chat with him about the alternatives. I finally say it sounds like the motorcycle is the best way, and I should stop bothering him, and he grins and we say goodbye. Back into the dinghy, and over to the place I went ashore yesterday. Start walking into town carrying the two jugs, and start chatting in Spanish with a guy walking down the road just ahead of me. After a minute or so, he says "hey, speak English !". So we start speaking a mixture of English and Spanish, and he takes me to his house. His name is Amably Winslow. He gets a motorcycle guy he knows, we explain what I want, I give the guy $60 and the jugs, and he takes off for Luperon. I sit in Amably's house for an hour or more, chatting with him as he shows me his carvings. Then his young daughter and two other girls come over, and we start chatting about English words, where I've been, etc. I show them pictures in the two guidebooks I've brought along, and try to entertain the girls. They really like a Walmart gift card from my wallet, because it's a hologram of a dog dressed up like a reindeer for Christmas, and his nose blinks red when you tilt the card. The motorcycle guy (Tony) gets back around 10:45, and we send him down to the beach and walk there after him. Some confusion about the money, but it works out fine: the 10 gallons of diesel cost 1100 pesos (at 27 pesos/dollar, about $4/gallon). I give the motorcycle guy 200 pesos for himself (overpaid; almost $8), and 100 pesos to Amably (he tries to refuse it). I'm quite happy to get the diesel for a total of about $5/gallon. I'm delighted to get it at all, and in the T+C someone had told me about paying $8/gallon in the DR. Into the dinghy and out to the boat, and load the fuel into the tank. Wind is light but coming from W and NW now; where was this in the forecast when I was waiting to come down here from the T+C ? Quick lunch, looked around for some gift to take to Amably's girls but could find only a colorful Florida Keys brochure. Then the keel started bumping coral, and I started the engine, raised anchor, and moved NW 100 yards or so, and anchored again. Then ashore to give the empty jugs to Tony on the motorcycle. Gave him 1040 pesos and $7 or $8, and off he went to get more diesel (gasoil). I started walking to Amably's house again, and Tony's buddy gave me a ride in on his motorcycle. Chat with Amably for a while, and then he brings out a chicken-and-rice lunch he's cooked and we eat lunch ! Very nice. Tony gets back as Amably and I are running out of things to talk about, and I say goodbye and hustle after Tony down to the dinghy area. Out to the boat, and load the diesel, then stow everything and get dinghy ready to go. Planning to go to Luperon early tomorrow morning. "Salad" and egg sandwich and pudding for dinner. 6/25/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at El Castillo in the Dominican Republic. Cleaned up more battery acid in engine compartment with baking soda solution, then went in and got the box of spare filters. But I seem to be all out of spares of the first primary fuel filter. Added water to the batteries. Think I hear water dripping, but can't localize it. Started engine, and it surged a little as the boat rolled; the last thing I wanted to see happening. Anchor up at 6:25 and motor out. Calm morning. Smelled a funky smell in the engine compartment; hope I don't have an electrical short. Looked at batteries and wiring around engine, but didn't see anything glowing or shorting or smoking. Got out a couple of fire extinguishers and checked them, and kept sticking my nose into the engine compartment. Smell diminished after several minutes. 7 AM, about 2 miles down the road, and the engine started surging badly again. Decided to turn around and go back; must have a fuel-filters problem instead of a low-fuel problem. I have spares for 2 filters, and will try cleaning the first primary filter with gasoline or paint thinner. Raised the storm jib and shut off the engine, but there is zero wind out here. Started the engine again and motored at low RPMs back to the anchorage; the engine surged slightly but ran pretty well. Finished anchoring about 7:55. Tried calling boats in Luperon on VHF 68 at high power, and I can't get them, but a former cruiser living up on a farm on a hill responded. I asked about stores for buying fuel filters, and she says there is a small auto-parts store and a new NAPA-type store in Luperon; great ! She called back a minute later to say there are several good stores in Imbert. And she gave me names of mechanics on boats in Luperon: Mike on "Seacomber", and my friend Doug on "Presque Isle" (I knew Doug and Nancy in Marathon). It's nice to hear a voice speaking in English, and to know that I have another avenue of help if I need it. Got a radio call from the beach; some cruisers (from "Helenback" ?) said "Pennywhistle" told them I was over here, and they stopped by to check on me. They'll be back at lunchtime. Should have asked them to buy a fuel filter for me. I was kind of startled by their call, and didn't think clearly. Looked in a second box of filters, and found one more spare for the first primary filter, so now I have all the spares I could need. Of course, I have about 8 spare OIL filters, but not enough spare FUEL filters. More cleaning of the engine and engine compartment with baking soda solution. Lots of things sizzle when I wipe it onto them: acid in many places. Probably worst effect is that acid probably got into the alternator. It is working so far. Went ashore at 12:45 to see what was happening and see if cruisers had come back; no one there. Back to boat, and changed the secondary fuel filter on the engine. It's a pain to change. Sure enough, it was all black with gunk. So definitely it was A problem; hope it was THE problem. Ran engine for 5 minutes to test it. No sign of the cruisers; finally had lunch on the boat. "Salad" and spaghetti for dinner. 6/26/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at El Castillo in the Dominican Republic. Listened to Car Talk on shortwave at 5 AM. Started engine at 6:05, and it's STILL not running well. Decide to go anyway. Anchor up at 6:15, and motored out. Engine running rough, but I think it's a different kind of rough: a constant rhythm instead of periodic surges. I guess a clogged injector, now. listened to cruiser's net, heard some boats I recognized. To harbor entrance, and there's "Mayor Mike" from "Seacombner" coming out and offering to guide me in. I asked how he knew I was coming in, and he says he comes out every morning at this time to look for cruisers coming in. He gave me various tips over the radio as I followed him in. Waved to "Sanctuary" as I went past them; saw them in Staniel and Georgetown. Various spots open for anchoring, but the harbor is a bit deeper than I like. Had to anchor in 16-foot water, instead of finding some nice 6-foot water. Everyone on one anchor; I'm going to put down at least two before I fly out for the USA. Finished anchoring about 9:20, at lat 19.53.869 long 70.57.203 Plenty of boats here, probably 120-150 or so ? Later, people estimate about 1/3 of the boats are unoccupied, owned by cruisers who have moved ashore, or those who got here, flew home, and just left the boat here. Odd to be anchored so close to others again; I haven't been in a space-tight harbor in a couple of months, I guess since Marsh Harbour. Chatted with "Maker's Match"; I'm anchored right next to them. Saw them in Grand Turk, and it turns out they were with "Hellenback" yesterday at El Castillo. Turns out they came back for lunch, but didn't call me on the radio, so we missed each other; how was I supposed to know when they were back again ? Turns out "Maker's Match" had just as nasty weather as I did for their crossing, and they think everyone gets hit by strong weather as they come across. When they crossed, the forecast said 10 knots of wind, and they got 25-28 before it was over, and made landfall about where I did. But they didn't have any damage, and were able to motor up to Luperon in the morning calm. And since they had two people on board, I'm sure they weren't as tired as I was. Straightened up the boat, getting ready for officials to appear. About 10:30, dinghied ashore and found my way to the Navy / commandancia office. It's a small barracks on top of a hill, with an "office" in front: a table, phone, VHF radiuo, and TV set. Nice young guys there. Soon I was walking back to the dinghy with two of them, and took them out to the boat. By then, the wind was starting to blow through the harbor as it apparently does every afternoon, and my dinghy labored to get out with myself and two Navy guys on board; I guess I need to work on the outboard. On board, they looked through the boat for a minute or two, only questioning the big stack of boxes of facial tissue and toilet paper and paper towels, wondering if I was oging to sell them in the DR. No, I just over-provisioned for my trip to the Bahamas and T+C, where everything is expensive. We sat in the cockpit, and one of them did the paperwork. They refused offers of beer or soda, and then when the papers were done, the one said "you'll have to pay X at port authority, X to agriculture, and anything to Navy is optional". So I gave each of them $3, which they appreciated. They were very nice, especially since I came in on a Sunday. Took them back ashore, and had to wait 20 minutes or so for Immigration to show up. He spoke almost no English, but we got through the paperwork, and I paid $25. Agriculture asked if I had a good dinghy to take him out to the boat, and I said no; we agreed to do that tomorrow morning. Probably will cost $20, I think. Chatted with a cruiser just outside Immigration, pumping him for info. Then wandered down the main street, to see what was here. Immediately passed an open-air welding shop, which later I was told is the best welding shop. Found internet access at the Verizon store; not sure of prices. Bakery is closed for some reason. ATM wouldn't take my card; will have to try again later, maybe with a different card. Lots of activity in town; I thought it would be dead on a Sunday. But a cruiser told me no, it's always busy. Another old-time cruiser had the opposite opinion: he said it's dead now; this used to be a non-stop party town, and now it's dead. I think he's really into the women here; he pointed out one to avoid (she steals your money), and was meeting another one for lunch or something. Back to the boat about 1:45, hot and tired and hungry; didn't realize it was so late. Wind blowing hard all afternoon; apparently it does that every afternoon here: the E / SE tradewind hits the harbor entrance and funnels right in. Dinghied ashore again around 3:30, and did internet. About $1.50/hour at the Verizon store, but the link was very slow at times. But I was able to push the button that pays my credit card from my checking account, just a day before it was due, so that was a relief. "Salad" and yogurt for dinner. Wind started easing about 6 PM. 6/27/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon (Puerto Blanco harbor) in the Dominican Republic. Up early and into the dinghy at 6:30 to work on the outboard. Spark plugs totally gunked up as usual, and recirculation hose from bottom cylinder is broken off again. Cleaned and gapped the plugs. Seem to have lost a flip-flop overboard; guess the high winds yesterday afternoon took it. About 7:30, started removing the broken section of the davits. Hot sun and sweaty work by 8 AM. Got it out. Started the outboard, and it's running better but still not right. Just before 9, headed ashore to fetch the Agriculture guy. But met him coming out in a dinghy with three other officials; not a good sign to see such a crowd. They were from Agriculture, Veterinarian, more Immigration (thought I did that yesterday), and one more guy. They clipped me for $30, and the Agriculture guy inspected the meat in my refrigerator. They asked, but I had no milk, fruit or vegetables. He wanted to inspect my garbage, I told him it was in the dinghy, but then he never looked at it. Started to follow them ashore to get my tourist card stamped, but then they made a U-turn back out into the harbor and told me to keep going ashore. Got there, and found I'd left passport and tourist card on my boat. Took broken davit section to the welder, and he said $40 and it will be done this afternoon. Went to ATM, and still neither of my ATM cards worked. Went to Verizon and got a 3000-peso ($100) advance from my credit card, for a 10% fee. Back to Immigration, where I realized I didn't have the papers, and a Port Authority guy snagged me and did MORE paperwork, and clipped another $11. Have to go back this afternoon to have tourist card stamped. I think/hope that's the end of the fees and tips: total of $72. Back to boat. After lunch, dinghied ashore. Went to Immigration and had my tourist card stamped. Then saw Derek and Ester from "Unity" in Steve's restaurant, so sat and chatted with them and drank a huge El Presidente beer for $2. A former cruiser who lives ashore was there too, and they gave me lots of local gossip. To Verizon store to exchange a ripped 100-peso bill they gave me that morning; no one here will accept a bill if it has even a small rip in it; some kind of national quirk. Went to bakery and bought some rolls. Back to the dinghy, and the motor quit and I almost got blown down into the mangroves. Many struggles with starting fluid before it would run again. Back to boat to drop off the rolls, then dinghied over to Marina Luperon Yacht Club. Walked in and immediately found Doug and Nancy from "Presque Isle". They've been here 18 months or so, and plan to leave at the end of this hurricane season. Nice location up here in the YC, a bit tiki hut high above the harbor with a great view. But the wind does whip through sometimes. Free internet at Marina Luperon Yacht Club ! They have three PC's, and while they're not fast, they're free. Exchanged some paperback books too. Back to boat just before sunset. Chicken-and-rice for dinner. 6/28/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Up at 6:30, checked the plugs in the outboard, and took off the storm jib so I can get at the anchors. A pin fell out of a shackle on the halyard and went "plop" overboard. That's just about the first thing I've lost overboard in four years of cruising ! Found a replacement pin that fit in my rigging drawer. Catamaran "Leadership" arrived. Decided to raise anchor and move over to be up against the mangroves, in case a hurricane comes while I'm in the USA. Got Chuck from "Maker's Match" to help me a bit, carrying lines into the mangroves. Then I spent another 2.5 hours of totally sweaty work adjusting the anchors, out in the dinghy lifting them up about 4 times and repositioning them. Mud and sweat everywhere. Ended up invading the swinging space of "Neshuma", but I hope they'll move a little. They can't expect to "reserve" this whole area of the mangroves and keep everyone else out. So now I'm backed up to the mangroves, stern-to about 30 feet away, with my primary and secondary anchors off the bow with 100 feet of chain on each into 11 feet or so of water. About 6 feet of water under me at low tide. Have three lines from the stern to the mangroves, and will add a couple more later. The boat is pointing NW, I'm shielded from the afternoon wind that funnels through the harbor, and I have nice hills to the E and SE and S to protect me from hurricane winds. A pretty good situation, I think, and I'm glad to get here before anyone/everyone else starts moving over. Took a shower to get back to some cleanliness. Did a bucket of laundry. Dinghied ashore. Got water from the gunboat at the govt dock. Picked up my davit from the welding shop, paid 1140 pesos ($40). Got it back to the boat, and noticed that a corner of the davit is cracked (not their fault). Will have to take it back and get them to fix that. After lunch, took the davit ashore and showed them the crack to be fixed. Brief chat with guy from "Aeolus"; they arrived about 10 days ago, and had a nasty crossing too, in a different way. They just couldn't make any east at all in the Bahamas, I guess, left from Great Inagua, skipped the Turks and Caicos, and ended up somewhere west of Haiti. Then the weather went dead calm, and they motored a day and a night straight east to here. The guy says he doesn't even want to think about sailing or going anywhere for months; most people who've just arrived here feel the same. Finally contacted the guy on "Neshuma", after going over twice by dinghy and calling twice on radio. After I apologized for anchoring within his space, he was quite nice, and said he'd move soon. That's a relief. Loafed in the afternoon, feeling tired and a bit sun-stressed. "Salad" and peanut-butter sandwich and Nutella and rum-and-coke for dinner. No-see-ums came out at sunset, biting me a bit while I was in the cockpit. But they didn't seem to get inside the boat. 6/29/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to the cruiser's net at 8. Dinghied ashore at 9:30. Rolled the jib out on the govt dock and measured it. Then went to a small meeting of cruisers about hurricane preparedness at Steve's restaurant. Got change at Verizon and bought some baking soda (expensive) at the supermercado. Welder hasn't done davit yet. Outboard quit again while leaving the dinghy dock. After lunch, put out more lines into the mangroves. Dinghied over to Yacht Club, said hi to Doug and Nancy, did internet. Spaghetti and beer for dinner. Very still, warm evening. No breeze. 6/30/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Worked on the batteries a bit. Looks a little better than I thought. When the forwardmost battery fell over almost upside-down against the "viscous damper" spinning at the front of the engine, I thought the battery case had been chafed-through and the corner of it was open. But it appears the battery cable took the brunt of the chafing, and the case is still intact. I cleaned up a lot of acid and took the cable out and neutralized the acid on it. The cable is still functional, at least for routine use, but needs replacement. Dinghied ashore after lunch, and walked to the far end of town, looking for auto-parts stores. Most places are closed for siesta. Ran into a cruiser I've met before, and he said "let's get a beer", so I went with him. Well, he started ordering up a storm of grande beers, and it turns out he knows every "party girl" in town, and he started calling them in to join us. Soon we had two very pretty women, two not-so-pretty, and another cruiser with us. It was fun, but a bit over-the-top for me. He kept pressing more beer on me, but I managed to tear myself away at about 3:15 and head for the stores again. No luck finding the right battery cable stuff. Bought some rolls at the bakery. Then to the welding shop, where I picked up my davit and left 100 pesos; hope that's enough for the bill. Met a couple of newly-arrived cruisers on the dock; they came on a trawler, and had a very rough passage to get here. Started the outboard, ran for 30 seconds, then dead. Tried and tried again and again to start it with starting fluid, and it just would not pump gas and run by itself. Was about to give up after 15 minutes or so, when suddenly it ran. Out to the boat by about 4:30, and around 5 some very dark clouds came over and it poured rain for a while. After it stopped, I cleaned and sanded and painted the davit. "Salad" and peanut-butter sandwich and yogurt for dinner. 7/1/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Very grey day, and not much breeze. Put another coat of paint on the welded davit. Took the carburetor off the outboard and took it apart completely. A couple of medium-sized chunks of debris in the fuel-pump area, but otherwise it seemed fine. Put it all back together and the outboard started and ran fine. Will see how it goes over the next few days. In the afternoon, dinghied over to Puerto Blanco marina. Nothing happening over there; plenty of dinghies at the dock, but all the cruisers must be out in cars or on motorbikes. Exchanged a few books. Went over to the Yacht Club, and kibitzed on a little bridge game, did a lot of internet, and chatted with a few cruisers. Heard that three boats left this morning, and three other came into harbor. Back to boat, and put davits back together, replacing several broken washers and a sheared-off bolt. Chicken-and-rice for dinner. 7/2/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Ashore around 9 AM, and chatted with Chuck from "Maker's Match" as we walked into town. He said "Exuma Grouper" left Provo (they had found a job and were going to stay through hurricane season, last I heard), and had been in South Caicos, but no one knows where they are now. Took a "guagua" to Imbert, after a bunch of confusion about seats and fares and such; that's why I wanted to try this today, to sort out all the logistics of getting around in this country and finding out what facilities are available in other towns. Just a little old Toyota Camry sedan, for 30 pesos, and I got stuck sitting in the middle of the front, with about 1/3 of the bucket seat and the rest of me on the center console, trying not to hit the gear-shift. A longer ride than I expected, even though the driver drove like a bat out of hell, passing everyone, tires screeching around curves. As I'd been told, Imbert wasn't much, probably smaller than Luperon. My card worked in the ATM, which is a relief, apparently with no fee. Asked in the auto-parts store for battery cable and parts, but no luck. Nice hardware store. Lots of vans and taxis and motorcycles hanging around looking for fares; this place seems to be mostly a transportation hub/crossroads. Took another guagua, this time a nice bus/van with cushioned seats, to Puerto Plata. Again I had only the edge of a seat, next to a pretty girl, but it wasn't bad. And the ride was shorter (10 miles), cheaper (20 pesos) and gentler. Puerto Plata is a city. Big and noisy and lots of people and traffic. Walked down the main drag (I think). Found a nice electrical/cable store and bought 10 feet of 1/0 cable ($20) and four connectors ($4). Walked down to a center-city park and sat reading and eating a power-bar for a while. Walked back up the street and went into a supermarket. Checked my bag at the reception counter, and then immediately worried that I'd left my passport in the bag. Didn't know what to buy, since I can't carry a lot of heavy stuff back, and I'll be leaving in four days anyway. Bought bug-spray, toothpaste, and several bottles of salad olives. Walked back up to the bus depot area, and just managed to snag the bus to Imbert with no waiting. Had a whole seat this time. In Imbert, got a van back to Luperon, with plenty of seating space, although again the guy drove like a maniac. Got back to the boat around 2 PM. Loafed the rest of the day, except for doing some more work to put the davits back together. Peanut-butter sandwich for dinner. 7/3/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to the cruiser's net at 8. Did a bucket of laundry. Big catamarans "Purrfection" and "Serendipity" arrived in the harbor. Dinghied to PB marina at 10 for the flea market. A chance to chat with several cruisers, and then had a long talk with Amanda and Carolyn from boat "S". I first met them in Staniel, when they got stuck aground next to me. The guy aboard was a disaster. Amanda was a half-owner of the boat, and they'd had a couple of nearly-lose-the-boat experiences getting from Florida to Staniel when he badgered her into going out into bad weather, or going into questionable anchorages. Saw them later in Georgetown, where first she was going to kick him off the boat, then she hired a captain and the other half-owner, Carolyn, joined them, and the four of them set off for Luperon in their 60-foot ketch. Now I heard the story of that passage. It was a near-disaster again. The problem guy again badgered them into doing stupid things, mainly in trying to get into the "anchorage" at Samana Bahamas. No way I'd go in there with my boat, and they tried to get in with a 7.5-foot draft. They slammed down hard on top of rock or coral three times before turning around and getting out; could have lost the boat. A diver later told them there's extensive fiberglass damage on the bottom of the keel. They had decided on an east-then-south route to Luperon, so they could sail the south leg, but during his watch the problem guy took them onto the southeast course he had wanted, and screwed up their route. The problem guy became wilder and wilder; they're half-convinced that if there hadn't been a total of four of them aboard, he might have pushed Amanda overboard (murder) and taken the boat. Apparently he'd been verbally and somewhat physically abusive to her before. It was so bad that the hired captain wanted to leave when they got to Mayaguana. But he stayed. They made an abortive attempt to leave Mayaguana, then waited there a couple of days until weather cleared, and then made it to Luperon, getting stuck aground for 8 hours inside the harbor (not the problem guys fault, for once). Then they couldn't get the problem guy off the boat. He had no money and refused to leave, and they had to go to court in the DR and get a restraining order against him, and get police guards to come out to the boat and wait until he showed up, to get rid of him. Then he disappeared into the DR, apparently without a passport. The DR police think he has a warrant outstanding in his native Canada. He may be heading for Sosua to try to sponge off some woman he knows. Wouldn't be surprising if the police catch up with him and deport him. While he was in Luperon, he tried his best to ruin the reputations of Amanda and Carolyn with other cruisers, and tried to ruin the reputation of some tourist office lady here too. Turns out they're religious, and met him through their church. They supported him for a year in the USA while he worked on their boat, but now they're realizing how many things he screwed up. Bought an expensive off-brand inverter that may be bad. Built an expensive enclosure for their cockpit that interferes with the boom and mainsail. And apparently they sunk most/all of their money into the boat, and now have little reserve to work with. Plus they spent money on legal proceedings here, and more money trying to order boat-parts. So they're frantically selling expensive tools and toys (table saw, mitre saw, bicycles, etc) and trying to learn and repair the boat; he was supposed to be the expert that knew everything, so they don't. And Amanda is looking for work, and they're looking to sell the boat, which is too big for them anyway (and has some unfortunate features, in my opinion, such as engine-driven refrigeration, and no solar panels). But, on the other hand, they're planning a $5k religious trip to Israel next year that they're unwilling to forgoe. All I could do was commiserate, and offer a few suggestions about the battery problems and such that they're having, and offer to help them if they want to move the boat to the mangroves in the next couple of days. Loafed most of the afternoon, but finally pumped water out of the dinghy keel and then hoisted it onto the davits. Forward water tank empty; switched to aft tank. Chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. 7/4/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Lots of rain in the early AM. Caught 4 or 5 gallons and added it to the forward water tank. Rolled and stowed storm jib. Cleaned up engine compartment a bit. Tried to get organized for trip to USA. Added water to batteries and jumpered the genset battery to the house batteries. Pumped out the bilge a bit. Spaghetti and a beer for dinner. 7/5/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Rain off an on all night, and then some heavy rain in the morning. Added another 4 gallons or so of water to the tanks. Heard there's a tropical depression to the east or SE of us, heading W. Doesn't sound too dangerous. Took down the mizzen. Lashed pieces of carpeting as anti-chafe gear onto the lines to the mangroves. Rain mostly stopped around 2 PM. Amanda came over with some mail for me to take to the USA. Launched the dinghy, and went to do some errands. To the govt dock, and disposed of 3 bags of garbage. On the way out, saw "Exuma Grouper" at anchor ! I'd been asking if anybody knew where they were; they were last seen in South Caicos. Talked to Amanda briefly (Doug and Paula were ashore), and she said they had a horrible crossing, the engine is "dead", and the Navy had to tow them in to Luperon. The first Navy boat had trouble and the big gunboat "Sirius" had to come out and get them. They came in Sunday afternoon, I think. Headed over to Puerto Blanco marina, and got some maps from Sue (I think) on "Seacomber". It's odd: "Seacomber" is docked at a small, remote pier at the marina, but is hard aground at low tide, heeling over about 20 degrees. Apparently they've been living there at least 5 years. To the Yacht Club, only to find that the computers are shut down because rain leaks into that area. Saw Nancy from "Presque Isle", and gave her a key to my boat to use in case of emergency. Saw several new boats in the harbor, new since Sunday morning. So people are still moving in and out. Heard someone on the radio saying they just came back from Samana, where thieves boarded their boat in the middle of the night three times, stealing a wallet and then their entire dinghy and outboard. Grey and humid and still afternoon. Started raining again around 4:15. Shut off refrigerator and cleaned it out. Chatted with Doug on "Exuma Grouper". They had a hideous crossing from South Caicos to here. They took on water into the bilges, Doug had run out of medication (maybe for diabetes) and wasn't thinking well, and then the ultimate disaster: the engine made a metallic sound for half an hour and then seized ! They radioed to authorities in four countries, and eventually got a tow from the USCG to Luperon, and then from the DR Navy into the harbor. The Navy screwed up the anchoring, so "Exuma Grouper" slid through the harbor, bumping into several boats, before getting settled at their current place. Doug is still too stressed-out to think about what they'll do now. He said they decided to leave Provo partly because the job he had lined up wasn't as good as he hoped, Provo started to wear on them a bit, and the boatyard where they thought of hauling out and living on the hard turned out to be infested with mosquitoes. So they're here for the hurricane season. Chicken-and-rice for dinner. Lots of rain during the night. 7/6/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Finished closing up the boat, then got a ride ashore from Doug on "Exuma Grouper". Very nice of him. Caught bus to Santo Domingo at 1:30. 150 pesoes ($5), which is dirt cheap. Big shiny air-conditioned bus. They played a video, one of Hollywood's schlock horror-movies, "Amazon", I think. Lots of stops to pick up anyone who raises a hand to flag the bus down, and more stops to drop off sacks of potatoes and such at various places. Stop at terminal in Santiago. By then, people are sitting on additional seats put out in the aisle. Into Santo Domingo later than I expected, and just before getting to the terminal, we did a couple of extra loops to swing by an auto-store and buy a quart of oil for the bus. The extra loops totally disoriented me, and I came out of the terminal not knowing which way to walk to the hotel area. All I have is a very vague city map in a sailing guidebook. First couple of guys I tried to ask directions from just wanted to bundle me into taxis instead of answering me. By luck, and then asking a couple different guards and policement, found Duarte street (not nearly as big as it looked on the sketch map I had). Started getting dark and sprinkling rain as I got to the first hotel. So instead of negotiating hard or looking elsewhere, I took the room for $35. A decent room, except no hot water (I guess they don't believe in hot showers). After a shower, went out to take a stroll and look for dinner, and it started raining harder and harder. Gave up and went back to the room and ate some food I brought with me. Didn't sleep well, a bit headachey. 7/7/2005 Boat at anchor at Luperon. I'm in Santo Domingo. Woke up with a splitting sinus headache. Eventually checked out, left my suitcase at the hotel, and made it to a pharmacy. Managed to communicate that I needed sinus headache medicine, and they brought out a bubble-wrap sheet of pills and offered to cut off as many as I needed. Bought 6 for $2; I think the pills were made in Nicaragua. Got a piece of fried chicken and a Pepsi for breakfast; feeling weak and sick and hot and needed to sit down somewhere. Started to feel better after the food. Strolled down to the pedestrian mall in the colonial section, and snoozed for a little while near the cathedral, until I felt quite a bit better. Went in the cathedral, which is fairly nice. Then walked down the pedestrian mall. Did internet at an internet cafe: 20 pesoes (75 cents) for 30 minutes. Looks like the hurricane hasn't affected the airport. To the founding-fathers memorial and tombs at the other end of the mall, and found an incredibly nice art exhibition: a couple hundred huge photographs encircling the memorial. Photos of natural scenes (a lake full of pink flamingoes, glaciers coming down to hit a green mountain, etc) and human scenes (NYC, huge shanty-town in Haiti, markets, etc). Wonderful high-quality photos, 8 feet by 10 feet or so. Spent 20 minutes wandering through them and admiring them; spectacular ! Back to the hotel, and found that the only way to the airport is via taxi. First guy wanted 800 pesoes ($27), but second guy took 600 pesoes ($20). Turned out to be a very long ride, 15+ miles. Surf from hurricane was pounding the coast, sending up huge bursts of spray 100 feet from the highway. Airport is very modern. Plane left on time, but clouds obscured the view most of the way. Made it to Ft Lauderdale okay, but then flight from Ft Laud to Philly was delayed several times. Finally got to my mom's house just before midnight. The remnants of tropical storm Cindy are starting to hit here ! 7/7/2005 to 7/25/2005 Boat at anchor at Luperon. I'm in New Jersey. Did chores for my mom, repairing things on her townhouse: cut down some tree-limbs, replaced her microwave oven, lubricated the garage-door opener, sealed cracks in the driveway, insulated along places where drafts/cold come in during the winter, replaced a circuit-breaker (and then found out that had been unnecessary), some updates on her computer. Bought parts for the boat: sail-repair tape, RFI chokes, washers and bolts to make an emergency cringle for a sail clew, fuel filters, spark plugs. Also bought granola to take to the DR; don't think I can get it there very well. Got some used books and learn-Spanish CD's from my brother, and a suitcase and shirt from my mom. Bought some more clothes. Went to the dentist. Saw family except for the contingent in Indianapolis. Helped one brother bring back a motorcycle he bought from Massachusetts. My mom kept remarking about how hot it was here in NJ, but it didn't feel too hot to me. We had a couple of day up to 94, but mostly in the upper 80's. Guess Florida and south have gotten me used to hotter weather. TV seems to have gone downhill in the last couple of years; as Springsteen said, "57 channels and nothing on". Watched a lot of "Law and Order" and "West Wing" and some "Simpsons" and "Monk". At the end, found myself kind of dreading going back to the DR. Partly because the trip mechanics are awkward: plane to taxi to hotel to bus to dinghy. And partly because of some nasty boat-work awaiting me: outboard and engine and sails. 7/25/2005 (Monday) Boat at anchor at Luperon. I'm in New Jersey. Up at 4:30 and off to the airport. Uneventful flights, but the airports were chilly. Got to Santo Domingo about 2 PM; took an extra 10 minutes to deplane because they overshot the gate by a few feet and had to push the plane back. Had to buy a tourist card ($10). No problem with Immigration, and Customs didn't ask if I had anything to declare (suitcase has about $100 of boat-parts and food in it). Out the exit, and there's a feeding frenzy of taxi drivers and hotel drivers trying to pick up the gringoes. Out to the curb before I could turn and go back in. After asking, found an ATM and got 4000 pesoes ($130). Upstairs, and found a mini-bus to Santo Domingo for 300 pesoes ($10); paid double that for the taxi out to here 2.5 weeks ago. Got dropped off at Parque de Independencia (the nice display of huge photographs is gone!), and took 45 minutes or so of sweating while trundling my suitcase around before I found the cheap-hotel area. Got a great rate (400 pesoes, about $14 dollars), but the room is VERY minimal and overlooks a very busy road. Should have asked for a quieter room, but by the time I thought of that I'd already taken a shower (had to screw shower-pipe on; previous tenant must have loosened it). No TV, a fan instead of AC, and cold water only, but seems fairly clean. Relaxed for a while, then went out to wander the nearby streets and the big pedestrian-mall street, El Conde. Saw some pretty women and some nice old architecture, read a book for a while, then looked for a restaurant. Very frustrating; the only choices are a couple of very pricey places, a couple of fried-chicken places, and a couple of pizza places. After a false start, ended up in Pizza Hut of all things. Still haven't had Dominican food in a Dominican restaurant. Back to the hotel after dark, and soon after I got back, the power went out, but only for 5 minutes or so. Read and snoozed, and then a crazy person took up residence on the curb across the busy street from the hotel, and spent most of the night doing bizarre things out there. There were sizable quiet periods, but plenty of ranting in Spanish, beating on the curb with something that made a bell-like sound, and a fair amount of breaking beer-bottles in the street for cars to run over. Between that and the loud traffic, I didn't sleep too well. 7/26/2005 (Tuesday) Boat at anchor at Luperon. I'm in Santo Domingo. In the morning, there was a brief time with no running water in the hotel, but then it came back on in time for morning ablutions. At 7:30, tried to catch a taxi to the bus terminal, and it was harder than I expected. The first two guys had no idea where it was, even after I gave them a map I printed and told them the cross-streets. And the minimum price for even a short ride seems to be 50 pesoes ($1.70). Finally had to pay 60 pesoes to the third guy, who knew where the terminal was. Got to the terminal early, just in case I had the schedule wrong, and had to waste 40 minutes or so hanging around. I'm the only gringo here, as expected. 150 pesoes ($5) for the bus, and it left right on time at 8:30. Uneventful ride, stopping once, at the terminal in Santiago. Arrived in Luperon about 1 PM. Stopped at Steve's restaurant on the way to the dock, to say hello to Ester and Derek from "Unity" and Dave from "Eileen". Ester and Derek were just leaving, and offered me a dinghy-ride to my boat, so I didn't have to wait at all at the dinghy-dock; had feared I might have to wait an hour in the hot sun. Saw the crew from "Exuma Grouper" going in as we went out, and Ester said they think their engine isn't seized after all; great news. Out into the harbor, and it's rough and wet in the afternoon as usual. Out to "Magnolia", and she looks fine. Opened her up and explored, and everything is good. Killed a couple of small cockroaches in the cockpit, but the major infestation I feared didn't happen. We'll see again at dusk tonight. Talked to Amanda on "Sanctuary"; she hasn't cleaned her fuel tank yet. Talked to Nancy on "Presque Isle", just to say hello. So tired I'm falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon. Added water to the batteries; they needed a lot. Will run out of distilled water in a month or so, and not sure it can be obtained here. "Presque Isle" uses RO water in their batteries; I've always wondered if that's okay. Peanut-butter crackers for late lunch, and beans-and-olives salad for dinner. Slept like a log for 12 hours. 7/27/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Slept past the time for the cruiser's net, then missed the weather broadcast. Turned on the refrigerator. Replaced spark plugs on outboard; the old ones are completely fouled again. Will have to take the cap off the cylinders and clean carbon/oil out of them. Local guy swimming around in the mangroves behind my boat, doing some kind of fishing/crabbing, I think. Almost out of gasoline. Made it over to the marina, and found out getting gasoline takes all day: you have to leave your jug, and it will be filled by the evening. That shoots a hole in my day; I don't think I have enough gas to go in to town and buy food. Nice cruiser lady (Sue from "Seacomber", I think) told me the scoop and lent me a marker to write my boat-name on the jug. Back to the boat. Out of crackers, and no bread. Had some dry cereal and peanut butter from the jar for lunch. Tried an RFI choke on the power line to the shortwave receiver, but it made no difference at all. Took the cylinder block cover off the outboard, expecting to see open cylinders and be able to clean gunk out of them, but to my surprise the spark plugs stayed put and all I did was open up the cooling system. Of course I destroyed a couple of gaskets doing that, so had to make new ones out of gasket material. Put it back together and water leaks from the thermostat gasket. Will see if the gasket swells and the leak stops over the next day or so. Two steps forward and one step back. At least I didn't shear off any bolts. Pumped the fuel bulb with the cowling off the outboard, and found a break in the fuel line, just above the carburetor ! Cut the end off the line to fix it. Refrigerator has been running all day, trying to get down to temperature in this heat. I've loaded it up with stuff so it doesn't cycle wildly once it's cool, but getting there is taking a while. About 5 PM, I was down below, and I heard some strange noises. Thought it was something bumping into the boat, or maybe a wake. Then suddenly I saw a local kid coming into the cockpit ! Yelled at him and waved him to leave, and he got scared and jumped back into the water, then climbed up into the mangroves. He was only about 10 years old. Fifteen minutes later, heard noises again, and saw the same kid trying to steal a hard dinghy from "Bijou". Couldn't raise anyone on the radio, but when I blew a horn, a couple on the boat next to "Bijou" came out and the kid jumped out of the dinghy. I pointed him out to the couple, and they started calling out to him in Spanish, threatening to call the commandancia about him, I think. Got on the radio and warned everyone about what had happened. Mike from "Seacomber" came over to check on a couple of nearby boats he was keeping an eye on. He said he thinks the kid had permission to play with the dinghy on "Bijou", but of course he had no right to go on other boats. Chili over noodles for dinner. Dinghied over to Puerto Blanco marina and got my jug of gasoline; 540 pesoes ($19) for 5 gallons. That's the price I've been seeing at the gas stations for premium, so either they fetch it for free, or it's not premium. I think it's an honest 5 gallons. Went to Luperon Yacht Club to use the internet for a minute, but a group of Dominican Boy Scouts was three-deep around the computers. Very still and warm night. Turned the refrigerator on and off periodically; it still wants to run constantly. 7/28/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Still, hot morning. Started the outboard, and no more water leaking from the gaskets I put on yesterday; they sealed themselves. Dinghied ashore, stopping at the end of the govt dock to chat with the couple from the boat nearby, the ones who saw the boy in the dinghy yesterday. They're Roberto and Yolanda from "???"; he's been coming here for about 3 years. They were getting water from the hose; he says there's pressure if there's been electricity in town and the city water station ran their pump for a while. I asked him some other things about buying fruit and so on. He bought an outboard from a guy in Puerto Plata for a great price: $1300 for a Yamaha 15 two-stroke, and some people have gotten them for $1100 (must pay in US dollars). He's going to leave his boat here for several months; I agreed to keep half an eye on it. We talked about theft here, and he said the only thing that's happened to him was that someone siphoned a couple of gallons of gasoline out of his tank at the govt dinghy dock. He's left his dinghy overnight there many times. Into town. Bought D-batteries ($1.70 for two) at the hardware store, rolls (pan de agua) at the bakery. Into Anna Lopez's market for rum ($5 for a liter), cheese (quesa, $1.20/pound), hotdogs (chorizo, $2.50/pound), mayonnaise ($3 for a medium-sized jar). All of the cold stuff is in one chest, and they cut off the desired amount of cheese and meat for you. Apparently you can't get fresh milk here, only evaporated, which is strange because they produce milk in this country. Fortunately I have a large store of evaporated milk aboard. Stopped in a fruit shop for a huge head of cabbage (80 cents), and two onions (also 80 cents; seemed high, but it's hard to bargain when you can't understand most of the numbers). Back to the dinghy, and it started and ran acceptably; a relief. Back to the boat. Feels good to have some food in the fridge. Took spark plugs out of outboard, and they're oily already. Probed inside the cylinders to see if I could pull masses of goop out, but seems to be just a coating of oily goop on the faces of the pistons, no masses in the lower sides of the cylinders. Filled the cylinders with decarbonizer, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then ran the outboard and throttled up to high RPMs. Didn't see a lot of black particles in the exhaust; don't know if it helped. Replaced water filter under galley faucet; was full of goop. Cheese sandwiches and salad and brandy-and-gingerale for dinner. Still and warm night. 7/29/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Still, hot morning. Dinghied over to Puerto Blanco marina and loaded 10 gallons of water. To the Yacht Club and did internet. Into town, to Steve's cafe, did book-exchange and bought 2 pounds of chicken (80 pesoes, $2.70). To bakery and bought some rolls. Back to boat. Outboard seems to be running pretty well. Lots of threatening clouds and some rain in the evening. Chicken-onion-rice and brandy-and-gingerale for dinner. 7/30/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Totally grey and often raining, all day. Did nothing all day, except removing food stockpile under main table to start getting to the top of the fuel tank. Solar panels making barely enough power to keep even with the refrigerator. A little sun in the early evening. Caught 10-12 gallons of rainwater into the water tanks. Around 4 PM, four boys appeared on shore about 100 feet from my boat. Soon one of them was yelling curses at me in English, showing off for his friends, I guess. A few minutes later, one of them, maybe the same one, threw a couple of rocks at my boat. The rocks fell well short, but I got on the radio to the Commandancia (Navy, which controls the harbor), and told them what was happening, and gave them a description of the boys. By the time a couple of Navy guys came out in a skiff 10 minutes later, the boys has disappeared towards town. I don't know if the Navy ever found them; I gave a pretty good description. Guess I'm tied off too close to shore, in a too-visible place. Salad and cheese sandwiches for dinner. 7/31/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to Car Talk at 5 AM. Listened to cruiser's net at 8, and told them about the incidents with local boys. Still and grey, but not quite as solidly grey as yesterday. Sun out by 9 AM. More excavating to get to fuel tank. Removed stockpile of paper goods around main table, then started on mound of papers and computer stuff on top of table, cleaning and filing and throwing into garbage as I went along. Plugged the ends of the broken fuel recirculation hose in the outboard; maybe that'll make it run better and keep it from consuming so much gas. The hose plugs into the block in a really congested area right behind the gear-shift cam, and keeps getting chafed off and vibrated apart. Dinghied ashore in the early afternoon and treated myself to a nice lunch/dinner at Steve's restaurant. Had a nice conversation with couple from "Serendipity" and their kids. Had a terrific plate of quesadillas (160 pesoes, $5.50), a Pepsi (40 pesoes, $1.30), and bought a couple of passionfruit (10 pesoes, 30 cents). Exchanged some books, too. Chatting with the couple from "Serendipity", I said that although the locals drove like maniacs, I hadn't seen any accidents. They said, no, they've seen the aftermaths of a couple of serious accidents. They saw a truck and car off in a ditch after some kind of head-on accident, and also a girl on a motorcycle who'd hit a tree. Not pretty in either case. "Serendipity" came across from the T+C with "Purrfection" and at the same time as "Exuma Grouper". They had rough weather, but made great time, until "Serendipity" had to do circles to avoid arriving at night, and to go back in case "Exuma Grouper" needed help. Then it was uncomfortable. And the DR Navy, coming out to tow "Exuma Grouper", mistook "Serendipity" for "Exuma Grouper" and tried to help them, and there was lots of confusion for a while. Oddly, "Serendipity" didn't really plan to come here. They were sitting in Georgetown near the start of hurricane season, thought of going to the Chesapeake but it seemed too long a trip, so they came south. Chatted with Steve briefly, mainly about the trouble I'd had with local kids. He says he's always getting hassled by drunks and officials, even though he's been here for a while, opened a business, and speaks Spanish. He says most of the locals here really don't like gringo's much, they just tolerate them because of the money they supply. Wandered over to the main park/square and read a book for a while, enjoying a relaxing and reasonably cool afternoon. Would have been nicer without a nearby bar blasting out music as loud as possible. Then some politician's truck pulled up and started blasting out more music too ! So I left and went to a smaller park, which was okay but had a lot of noisy taxi guys, and a lot of noisy motorcycles going by. Still, it was fun to hang around town for a while instead of just dashing in and out as I usually do. Cloudy and threatening rain again by 3:30 or so. Pumped up the dinghy tubes. 8/1/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Can't receive any weather forecasts on shortwave here; I've been trying for a few days. Not that it's really necessary; I'd hear about any hurricanes through the local VHF traffic, I'm sure. Nice, sunny morning. Would be nice to get the batteries really solidly charged today; they've been limping along through all the clouds for the last several days. Loafed all morning, then tackled the fuel tank after lunch. Removed the main table (really would have been nice to have a second person for that). 12 screws to get the table mounts up, 4 screws to get the cabin sole panel up, then I could see the top of the fuel tank. The access plate on top of the tank was about 1/4 the size I remembered: it's only 6" by 12" ! 36 screws out to get the access plate up, then carefully pried up the cork gasket. To my surprise, the actual holes in the top of the tank are tiny: one is 2" by 2", the other is 2" by 4". Can barely see into the tank; I'd been hoping to be able to stick my whole arm down into it. Looking down into the tank, I don't see what I expected. I see a curved piece of metal, but it's curve is the reverse of the curve of the hull. Reached a metal probe down to the bottom of the tank, it comes up wet, but doesn't smell much like diesel. For a while I wonder if I'm seeing the outside of the tank, but then I realize the access port wouldn't have a cork gasket if that was the case. The small hole is just forward of a metal baffle, and the bigger hole is just aft of it. Stuck a pump hose way down to the bottom, and pumped out some fluid. Doesn't look much like diesel; more like cloudy black-brown tea. Only smells a little like diesel. And feels a little oily, but also watery. Let a few drops overboard, and it makes a sheen on the water. Must be my fuel. Tried running it through a Baja-filter-type filter, and got some globs of fatty water out of it, and some dead-growth scum appeared on the bottom of a plastic jar I was using. But the fuel remained cloudy and dark and ugly. Poured it back into the tank and put everything back together. Will try the aft end of the tank tomorrow. Salad and cheese-sandwich for dinner. Made a brandy-passionfruit-gingerale drink, and it was awful ! 8/2/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Loafed all morning. Then went into engine compartment, removed jumper cables to genset battery, and added water to main batteries. Opened dipstick hole on top of fuel tank, next to fuel pickup, and pumped out some fuel from the very bottom of the tank. Poured it into a clear jar, and saw no big chunks or tons of water. A few little particles and a couple of globs of water, but nothing big, and what I saw might have come out of my pump. Filtered the fuel a couple of times, getting few particles, then poured it back into the tank. Pumped some more out, and same story. So. Maybe old fuel with BioBor in it looks and feels like mine does ? Maybe the bad stuff has settled down to the bottom, and there's not much of it ? Maybe my engine problems are due to air leak or injector problems ? After I closed the tank up, noticed that the fan belt is loose. So I adjusted the alternator, cranked down on the bolt that holds it in place, and the bolt sheared off. Took the wires off the alternator, took it off the engine, cleaned it up. Some penetrating oil and a big pair of pliers got the remainder of the bolt out of the alternator; that's a relief. Will have to shop for a new bolt tomorrow; I don't seem to have an exact match on board. Loaded 8 gallons of water into the forward tank. Launched the dinghy and went over to Puerto Blanco marina to get water. Amanda from "Sanctuary" was there, and we had a nice chat, mostly her venting about all the hard work she was doing on her boat. The water pressure was low, so we had plenty of time to talk while she filled her jugs and then I filled mine. She told me the internet at the Yacht Club had been down for two days; that was going to be my next stop. Went back to the boat. Salad and chili and a beer for dinner. Started pouring rain, with plenty of thunder and lightning, around midnight. Kept going for a couple of hours. Caught about 10 gallons of water. 8/3/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Finally heard Chris Parker's weather forecast on the shortwave; it was more than 5 minutes later than the scheduled time, which explains why I've been missing it. Loafed all morning, when I should have been going into town. After lunch, heard on the radio that a vegetable truck was at the marina. Launched the dinghy and went there; finally caught the truck at the Yacht Club, and bought four small tomatoes for 20 pesoes (65 cents). Chatted with Doug about my fuel problems. He said rigging a pump to polish the fuel through the primary filters is the best way to do it. Dinghied into town, chatting with Judy from "Quest" as we walked in. Electricity was off in town; loud generators running in several places. Bought two bolts (10 pesoes, 30 cents) for alternator at a hardware store. Went to supermercado and stumbled through buying lunchmeat and cheese. About 2 pounds of lunchmeat at 57 pesoes ($2) per pound and 1.25 pounds of cheddar which must have been 80 pesoes ($2.70) per pound. Rained fairly hard while I was in the store, and sprinkled after that. Bought rolls at the bakery, then back out to the boat. Salad and tuna-fish sandwiches for dinner. 8/4/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Cleaned up the engine a little, re-installed the alternator, and tried to start the engine. Cranked it 4 or 5 times over the course of half an hour, but no go. Will try again tomorrow morning; need to let the batteries charge today. Re-inked the registration numbers on the dinghy. Straightened up the boat a bit. Late in the afternoon, dinghied over to the marina and got 10 gallons of water, then to the Yacht Club. Did internet and chatted with Doug and Paula from "Exuma Grouper" and Amanda from "Sanctuary". A very pleasant time. Lots of cruisers there, because they had a seminar on taking care of pets in the tropics; I think a major topic was what to do if your dog gets sick from messing with a toad ! Chicken and rice for dinner. 8/5/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Still and grey morning. Became clear and sunny by 9. Bled injector pump and tried to start engine a couple of times; no firing on any cylinder. Dinghied in to town after lunch. Sat in main square and read a book for a couple of hours. Bought a large avocado (15 pesoes; 50 cents) from Steve's, a pound of onions (25 pesoes; 95 cents), and rolls from the bakery. Salad and salami-and-cheese sandwiches and rum-and- coke for dinner. 8/6/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Hot, sunny, still morning. Did a bucket of laundry. Made a new battery cable and installed it. Dinghied to marina and got 10 gallons of water, then to Yacht Club to do internet. While I was there, a charter trimaran came in and a whole gaggle of passengers came up to the bar for a drink. There seem to be several charter sailboat running out of this harbor. Salad and chili for dinner. 8/7/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Hot, sunny, still morning. Tried to start engine a couple of times, and got a couple of cylinders to fire a couple of times, but still no joy. Loafed all day; really have to get on the stick and do more boat work. Salad for dinner. 8/8/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Cranked the engine, and no firing at all. Will have to get serious about it tomorrow. Dinghied ashore and went to La Yola restaurant for lunch. For 80 pesoes ($2.80), had a buffet lunch that was decent: some fried chicken (although the good pieces went quickly), rice, fried eggplant that was quite good, a tomato-onion-chicken stew that was good, etc. Had a coupon for a free drink. Restaurant has a great location, a big tiki building on top of a small hill at the edge of town, with nice views and a terrific cool breeze. Wasn't able to get much good conversation going with some fellow cruisers, which was disappointing. To the central park to read a book for an hour or two during the siesta time. Then bought bread at the bakery, and to Steve's to ask about getting some spicy sausage. I thought I'd put in an order and he'd get it in a week or so when he made a shopping run to Puerto Plata or something, but it turned out my timing was perfect: the meat truck was there as we spoke, and Steve split a big package of sausage with me. Paid 210 pesoes ($7.50) for about 3 pounds of meat, I think. Back to boat for a while, then dinghied over to the Yacht Club and did internet. The Club was mostly empty all afternoon, until the big charter catamaran came in. 50 or 60 passengers descended on the bar for 15 minutes or so, then left. PBJ sandwich for dinner. 8/9/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Tried several times to bleed the engine fuel lines and start the engine. Found a loose clamp on the return line. But still no go. Maybe the fuel in the filters and lines is just too far gone; will have to get fresh fuel. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and brandy-and-coke for dinner. Killed a small cockroach in the galley. 8/10/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Did a bucket of laundry. Dinghied to marina, got 5 gallons of water and dropped off diesel jug to be filled. Into town, bought bread and tomatoes (25 pesoes for a pound), bananas (10 pesoes for a bunch). Fixed 12-volt power connector in cockpit. After lunch, to Yacht Club for internet. Surprised to learn that all of my engine fuel filters are 10-micron or greater mesh; lots of people use 5-micron or even 2-micron filters. Will have to look into getting some better filters. Wind really howling this afternoon. The weather pattern here is strange. Every day is identical: blows E 20+ from 11 AM to 7 PM, and totally still o utside those hours. The only variation is if there are rainclouds. To the marina, got another 10 gallons of water, and picked up full diesel jug (5 gallons at 88 pesoes / $3 per gallon, total of 440 pesoes). Salad and spaghetti and a beer for dinner. 8/11/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Worked on the engine, taking off the final fuel filter. Intended to fill it with good fuel and put it back on, but soon found that it wasn't seating properly. Tried various combinations of O-rings for a long time, spilling a fair amount of diesel into the bilge, before finally getting it sealed properly. Engine still wouldn't start. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Took some ancient microwave popcorn and fried it up on the propane stove, and it worked fine ! 8/12/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied in to town. Read a book in the park for a little while. Chatted with Amanda and Carolyn. They just met a couple who might be interested in buying their sailboat (I was astonished to hear they're asking $200K for it; don't know what year or model it is). A month ago, they would have sold instantly; now they're getting to like living on a boat. Bought rolls at the bakery. Shopped for fruit but didn't find any I liked. Adjusted fuel lines, bled fuel system a couple of different ways, and still couldn't get the engine to fire. Dinghied over to Yacht Club to do internet. Chili for dinner. 8/13/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Replaced first two fuel filters on engine, filling the new filters with new diesel. The first filter probably was dirty enough to need changing; the second was mostly okay but I changed it anyway. A fair amount of crud at the bottom of the first filter's housing. Bled through the injector pump, tried to start the engine a couple of times, no go. Could hear some small air-leaks hissing from time to time; tried to track them down and tighten things up to eliminate them. Took vent hose off tank, to eliminate a clogged vent as a possible problem. So, everything seems mostly okay through the injection pump; I can pump the lift pump and get clear fuel out of the bleed bolts on the injection pump. And I get fuel when I loosen the fuel lines at the injectors and crank the engine; not sure how much fuel, since I can't watch it while I'm in the cockpit turning the ignition key. I have a remote-start switch, but it doesn't fit onto the starter solenoid lugs; will have to try to MAKE it fit tomorrow. And I think something is loose in my battery cables: cranking seems to draw much more juice from one battery bank than from the other. Salad and salami-and-cheese sandwiches and a brandy-and-coke for dinner. 8/14/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Found a loose connection on one of the batteries and fixed it; checked them all. Moved the batteries apart a little so the monitor-shunt is more accessible. Added water to the batteries, and touched up some liquid insulation on the new cable. Attached the remote-starter switch to the starter solenoid. Hope it stays on when the vibrations start; don't want it to get loose in a way that shorts the solenoid terminals and makes the starter run constantly. Dinghied into town, getting stuck in the middle for a while when the stupid outboard quit and just wouldn't restart. Pumped the bulb so much that it developed a pinhole leak. Guy from "Windwalker" came over to offer me a tow, but I my anchor down and was determined to get the outboard started, so I declined. Got it going eventually. Into town and bought bread at the bakery, then sat and read a book in the park for 10 minutes. Back to the boat, had lunch. Loosened fuel lines to injectors and cranked the engine and watched the fuel spit out. Let the starter cool off and the batteries recover for a while, and went out to put a new squeeze-bulb on the outboard fuel line. Cut off a weak end of the line too. New bulb is very stiff. Back inside, cranked the engine again while watching for fuel leaks, and it started ! Yee-haw ! Ran a little roughly at first, mostly because throttle was set pretty high. Ran it for 5 minutes, then shut it off so I could remove the remote starter switch. Started up again no problem using the ignition key, and ran it for 15 minutes to exercise it. Ran fine. What a relief ! Took a long, rough, wet ride to the Yacht Club; the wind is really howling this afternoon. Got there to find the heart of the internet setup has been removed; they must be trying to fix it (the WiFi didn't work). So it was a wasted trip. Chatted with Doug on "Exuma Grouper" on the radio, telling him I got my engine running. As we chatted, a new boat came in; later turned out to be Richard on "Mandala", which we've seen before. He did a 36-hour crossing from Provo to here, losing his dinghy somewhere just outside this harbor, but otherwise doing okay. Doug says his whole family has been sick repeatedly over the last couple of weeks. They've been trying all the restaurants in town, eating out just about every night, and he suspects that some of the restaurants have bad sanitary practices. Into town about 4 PM, and read a book in the park for a while. Place is really hopping, since this is a 3-day weekend holiday for independence-from-Spain day. Went to Steve's Place for Happy Hour and dinner, but it was disappointing. Plenty of cruisers there, but the conversation was mostly loud, crude, beer-fueled and uninteresting. The meal wasn't too impressive either: only one piece of mediocre barbecued chicken, limp French Fries, but nice broccoli and nice fried bananas. And everything was on special, so the meal was only 90 pesoes ($3) and the big beer was 40 pesoes ($1.30). Back to the park for a little while, then back out to the boat. 8/15/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Went to put the fuel tank vent line back on (removing it was one of many desperate things I did while trying to get the engine started), blew through it, and found it's clogged. That could have been a big factor preventing the engine from running. Launched dinghy about 6:45 and started removing lines from boat to mangroves. A nasty, icky job: all kinds of nasty slime and pods were growing on the lines. One in particular had these tough pods, up to the size of a lemon, that would have been right at home in any alien-horror movie. Had to tear them off with pliers, and they squirted nastily. Found it easiest to clean each line by circling it with the jaws of the pliers and then sliding them down the line. Got all the lines free by 8:30 or so, and the boat is swinging to the (minimal) wind again, on two anchors off the bow. Nice to have a little more normality again. Hope the extra distance from the mangroves will cut down on the bugs a bit; some evenings, around 7 PM, the no-see-ums would get into the cockpit and drive me inside. And pointing into the wind will improve ventilation and make the rain come from a tolerable direction. Took off the far end of the fuel tank vent line, then realized the line I'd taken off the tank wasn't the vent line, it was the genset return line. Vent through hull seems clear. Put everything back together again. So I guess that wasn't a problem. Spent a bit of time dumping soapy water over the lines I used to tie to the mangroves, and hanging them up to dry and to kill the slime on them. They're really in nasty shape; will take a while to clean them up somewhat. Most of the big growth was on one particular line; wonder why the beasties liked that one more than the others ? Cleaned and hoisted the dinghy; it was a mess. Took chain-tray out of anchor chain locker and hacked at it with saw and file for a while. Want it to slope forward more, so muddy water from chain drains into bilge instead of into V-berth. Put it back in, and it looks a little better. But one of the mountings to hold it up has come off again; they're just 2x4 blocks epoxied to the inside of the hull, and the glue can't stand up to the shearing stress. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Ran the engine for 20 minutes, and it ran pretty well, but then I saw fuel leaking from the high-pressure line to injector number 1; don't think I have the coupling on straight. 8/16/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Hauled the jib up onto deck and looked at it a bit. Trying to figure out my options: have someone put new cloth on top of the wire and fittings and outline of the old jib, or cut the clew corner off it and use that to fix the corner of the mainsail ? Sail-repair person will be coming to harbor on Saturday, so I want to be ready for that. Took most of the main halyard winch off the mast, to fix the sticking brake. I've been putting off this job for months, expecting each winch to be full of dozens of springs and pawls falling out and being a total pain to get back together. To my surprise, the winch was simple and easy to handle; only 4 pawls and they stayed firmly in place. Cleaned a lot of gunk out of the brake, cleaned around the pawls until they moved freely, and put it back together. Easy ! Dinghied in to town. Bought a couple of grapefruit from Steve's for 10 pesoes each, but heard later that they're sour, not sweet. Read in the park for a little while, then bought bread. Read in the park some more, and then Doug and Paula appeared and we chatted for a while. Nice to talk to them, but Doug is a bit obsessed with the cliques among the cruisers, something I really don't know or care about. After lunch, did the other two halyard winches. The spare winch on the mainmast was pretty clogged, and both needed their bearings cleaned and regreased. I was surprised to see that they're designed so only one of the two pawls grabs at a time; I thought they'd have both grabbing to spread the load. But I guess "staggering" them this way means the travel between stopping points is smaller; the ratchet has a finer grain to it. Messed with the leaky coupling to injector number 1. Cleaned up the dock lines a bit, using my fingers to peel and scrub the dead growth and dirt off them. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Ran engine for 20 minutes. It raced a little about a minute after I started it, but otherwise was fine. No more leak from injector number 1. Tested deck lights, and found starboard navigation light is out, and starboard spreader light is out. 8/17/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Some rain just after dawn. On the cruiser's net, asked if anyone has a jib to sell, and if anyone wants to trade some bottom paint. "Unity" called back about the paint, but they have an opened 3/4 can; I want an unopened full can. Oops: forgot to do the jib halyard winch yesterday; overlooked it because it's on the opposite side of the mast from all the other winches. Did it this morning. The bananas I bought a solid week ago still haven't ripened. Guess they were picked way too early ? Got ripped off a bit: dinghied ashore to Cinema Cafe to buy some fresh-baked bread, and it turned out to be a much smaller loaf than I'd hoped. Over $4 for about a pound, but I'd called ahead and reserved it, so I didn't feel I could say no. Nice bread, but not worth that price. Heard that internet should be up again at the Yacht Club, and thought of going there, but then big rain clouds started coming over, so I stayed on the boat. Rained fairly hard from 5 to 6. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. 8/18/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Ran engine for 10 minutes to test it; still a bit of surging. Some diesel on the bottom of the secondary fuel filter housing; I think I still have a fuel/air leak in the seating of that filter. Well, I didn't quite believe Doug when he said a lot of cruisers here are sick, but then this morning I heard someone on the radio saying her husband's had a high fever and been unable to get out of bed for a couple of days, even with medicine from a doctor. Did some research about the next leg of the trip, from here to Puerto Rico. One 120-mile jump across the Mona Passage is the key part. Borrowed a guidebook from Doug and started reading it; starting to gather more info about going to Puerto Rico, among other things. Bummer: went to the Yacht Club to do internet, and they're charging more for it now ! Used to be free, but you had to buy a drink, so a 35-peso soda would be good for an hour or two of internet. Now it's 30 pesoes for a half-hour and 50 for an hour. And I couldn't get my log file to upload anyway. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Lots of dark clouds and lightning, and some rain. 8/19/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Loafed most of the day, but did some more research about going to Puerto Rico. Fixed 12-volt power outlet in cockpit (again). Cleaned dock lines a bit. Salad and spaghetti and brandy-and-coke for dinner. 8/20/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Tried to go to town in the morning, but the outboard quit and would not restart. So I cleaned the spark plugs (filthy) and it still didn't start. So I took the carburetor off and disassmbled it. Some grit in the fuel-pump area, and the primer gasket looked a bit cracked so I replaced it. Don't have a new fuel-pump membrane on board. Got the outboard started. In to town in the afternoon. Bought onions. Chatted with David, who is a real wheeler-dealer, buying amber, trying to start up a small tour business, etc. He told me the locals are fairly upset that the gringos come in and eat at the restaurants run by other gringos. And the restaurants pay their local workers very little, often 100 pesoes ($3.50) per day. Did internet at Verizon (40 pesoes). Bought rolls at bakery. Fruit place closed by the time I got there. Outboard started and then quit at the dinghy dock. Worked and worked on it, and finally discovered that the squeeze-bulb doesn't pump (in fact, it blocks the line) unless it's held vertically with the upstream end downward. This is the new squeeze-bulb, installed after the old one sprang a leak. What a pain ! No problems after I figured that one out. Chili and a beer for dinner. 8/21/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to Car Talk at 5 AM. Cruiser's net featured a long story from a cruiser about how he got mistreated and banned from the Yacht Club the other day; I think lots of people are going to stop going there now. I probably won't go there much now that they're charging for internet. After the net, talked on the radio to Bruce Van Sant, who wrote a famous guidebook. I had asked about boat-registration in Puerto Rico as mentioned in his book, and he clarified it a bit. A nasty surprise: if you stay more than 60 days, you're supposed to register your boats and pay a huge import tax. The good news is that enforcement is minimal. But it's still not encouraging. The bananas are still green but now ripe; now it's a race to eat them before they all go bad. In the afternoon, around 2 PM, some really nasty-looking low black clouds started coming over. At 2:30, it started raining hard, and kept going for an hour or more. Some really big lightning and loud thunder. Caught about 10 gallons of water and put it in the tanks. Rained off and on the rest of the day. Still and rainy. Later, heard someone on the radio saying they'd gone on a trip ashore and left their boat open; it must have gotten soaked. Grapefruit and ham-and-cheese sandwich for dinner. 8/22/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Totally grey morning. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. Still surges a little; I haven't tried to re-seat the secondary filter yet. A little sunlight around noon. About 1 PM, launched the dinghy. Again, the outboard ran for 30 seconds and then quit, and nothing I did could get it started again. Cleaned the plugs a couple of times, and seem to have good spark on them. Motor runs fine for 5 seconds if I squirt starting fluid into the air intake, so I think I have spark and timing and compression. Loosened fuel-pump-gasket cover and confirmed that plenty of gas gets into the carb when I squeeze the fuel bulb. Tried and tried and tried, and finally gave up when dark clouds and lightning approached. About 2:45, started raining fairly hard, and kept raining off and on for the rest of the day. Put another 4 gallons of water into the tanks. Cornedbeef-onion-noodle for dinner. 8/23/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Partly grey morning. Tightened fan belt and then ran the engine for 45 minutes to charge batteries. Surged badly at the 20-minute mark. Checked plugs on outboard, then took carburetor off and apart. Needle was a bit sticky, and I bent the spring below it a little to hold it a little farther open. Put it back together and the motor primed just fine and started after 6 or 7 pulls. Dinghied into town. Bought rolls at the bakery, lunchmeat at the supermercado, and cabbage, tomatoes and bananas at the fruit place. Chatted briefly with Doug and Paula at the dinghy dock. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 8/24/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Woke up headachey again; had a bit of a headache yesterday, too. Sunny and clear this morning. Asked again on the cruiser's net if anyone had a jib to sell, but looks like no luck. Did miscellaneous chores: got ready for oil change; cleaned and stowed dock lines. Fuel level 4.0 inches at engine hour 3776.7 Stupid outboard wouldn't start again. Messed with it, then finally took carb off again. Needle is still stuck up even after I remove the float, so I installed a new needle. Started up fine. In to town, but it's very hot this afternoon, and I'm feeling headachey and weak. Went to hardware store, but couldn't communicate "starting fluid" to them, even though I had the old can to show to them. Did internet at new place in town I just found out about: 30 pesoes for an hour. Outboard started fine; back out to boat. Salad and chili for dinner. Tons of rain and lightning from 7 to 8, then rain tapered off. Sinus headache all night; felt lousy and slept little. 8/25/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Very headachey this morning; stayed in bed most of the morning. In and out of bed all day. Cleaned up and stowed the primary anchor rode a bit, but I need to splice a chafed-up section of it. Salad and ham-and-cheese sandwich for dinner. 8/26/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Headache mostly gone, but still feel a bit weak. Totally grey morning; rained a bit. Did engine oil change. About 6.5 quarts out, 7.5 quarts in, and got filter housing sealed properly on second try. Still a nasty, messy operation. Warm, still, muggy, totally grey day. Got sweaty doing the oil change, and can't cool off. Cut out the bad section and did a "short splice" to fix the primary anchor rode; made one small mistake, but it came out well. Usual afternoon rain and lightning started about 4:30, but at 5 it suddenly started blowing hard, harder than I've seen it here. Probably had 50 knots or so, and some sudden shifts and gusts. Half a dozen boats dragged, several into marinas. Blew hard for a half hour or so, then rained off and on the for the rest of the evening. Salad and cornedbeef-onion-noodle and rum-and-coke for dinner. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. Engine still surging a bit. 8/27/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Headache all gone. Nice clear morning; did a bucket of laundry. Put mainsail and jib in dinghy and went over to marina at 10:30, to meet sail-repair lady. Took almost 3 hours, since there was a line of people picking up work she'd done and another line of people submitting new work. A little embarassing: everyone else has VERY nice sails, and is having fairly minor repairs done to them, and I have ancient sails that really should be thrown away. Finally got my sails looked at. 2700 pesoes ($95) to repair clew of mainsail, so I said okay to that. Jib would cost $3000 for a new sail, or $1100 to repair (with lots of nice additions such as lots of UV protection); said no to that one. The lady does nice work, and other people there said her prices were quite reasonable, but they seemed no particular bargain to me. I guess the clew-repair price is pretty good; she's going to fix a big triangle of cloth at that corner. She's making a complete new mainsail (although a simple one) for someone for $1200; I guess that's a reasonably cheap price, but not incredibly cheap. Dropped off my gasoline jug to be filled, and got 10 gallons of water. Back to boat. Into town, to get rid of used engine oil, do some shopping, do some internet, and treat myself to a nice lunch/dinner at Gina's. Forgot to take the oil. Had a decent pizza ($3) and drinks at Gina's, chatted with a couple of cruisers, exchanged some books. A nice place, but as usual there's lots of pressure to keep buying drink after drink. Did 30 minutes of internet, bought some rolls at the bakery, and back to the boat. 8/28/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to Car Talk at 5 AM. Did a bucket of laundry. Dinghied in to town and caught a guagua to Imbert. Got cash at the ATM there, asked unsuccessfully for starting fluid at the auto parts store, and couldn't find any fruit/vegetable places. Caught a guagua back to Luperon. Bought cheese and butter (I think), then dinghied over to the PB marina. Place was jammed with people eating and drinking after the Sunday flea market. Picked up gasoline jug (5 gallons, 585 pesoes or $20, $4/gallon). Got a little water, but the pressure was low and my cheese and butter were melting. Tried to sign up for trip to swim in the waterfalls, but I thought Rosa had said $10 on the radio, and she said it was $30. That seemed a bit much to me, so I didn't go for it. Back to the boat. Hot and tired; loafed the rest of the afternoon. Tightened the board on the davits a bit; I need to figure out a way to stiffen and support the davits better. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 8/29/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to radio bulletins about hurricane Katrina approaching New Orleans and Gulfport, and thought about my trip through that area, and my friend Cappy's boat in a marina on Lake Pontchartrain, and how the pretty town of Biloxi probably will get smacked. Unbolted the refrigerator, hauled it out, and applied RF chokes to various parts of the wiring, in an attempt to suppress RFI it emits that I can hear in the shortwave radio. Tried putting aluminum foil around controller too, but there was no good way to ground it. Didn't seem to help, but I left chokes and foil in place anyway. At least I confirmed that the fan is still working. [Reading in my web site, I see that Gordon West says that there's a known RFI problem with the controller and compressor I have; I should wrap controller and compressor in copper foil that is grounded. Guess I'll have to start looking for some of that foil.] I'm reading a wilderness-medicine book, to learn and to add info to my web site and to see if I should stock up on antibiotics and such here; I think the DR sells them over-the-counter where the USA requires prescriptions. But I can't read too much of the book in one shot: I start feeling woozy and symptomatic if I do. I find I can't read too much of boat-books and boating magazines either: I start worrying about all the things I'm not doing to my boat that I should be, or all the equipment I don't have, and it makes me anxious. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 8/30/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied ashore after lunch. Did a long internet session, read book in the square, bought rolls at the bakery, bought grapefruit at Steve's Place. Asked for copper tube at the hardware store, with the usual result: they never have any of the oddball things I'm looking for. Cleaned outboard spark plugs; I've been running the outboard with no oil added to the gasoline for a couple of days, to clean it out a bit. Plugs aren't as oily as usual, but still some oil. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 8/31/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Cleaned the bilge. Bummer: the floppy disk full of data I copied from the internet yesterday is unreadable; their machine must have a bad floppy drive. Loafed the rest of the day, reading a couple of good crime/mystery books. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/1/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Cleaned the bilge a little more. Dinghied ashore. Read book in the park, did internet. Can't read floppy disk on any of their machines, so I've lost the data. Bought a pair of flip-flops, and a couple of pounds of chicken. Had email from a friend of mine in the USA, and he says one of my friends lost his boat in Miami, when hurricane Katrina came through. His Gulfstar 50 dragged into a concrete seawall and sank; a few weeks ago, I heard he had decided to sell it. Another big boat took out 60 feet of dock, Harold's boat has some damage but he hasn't seen it yet, another 25 or more boats were lost in the harbor or marinas. 9/2/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Woke up tired and headachey, maybe because I didn't eat dinner yesterday. Listening to the horrible problems in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, I guess Florida was lucky last year during it's four hurricanes: we never had that kind of widespread flooding preventing transportation and communication. We just had a lot of housing destruction. And I guess our category 4 hurricane (Charley) was much narrower than theirs (Katrina), so damaged areas were surrounded by undamaged areas. Ran engine for 30 minutes to test it and charge batteries; engine still surges. Back to bed and slept much of the morning away. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and a beer for dinner. 9/3/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Took two batteries out and investigated. As I suspected, the shelf the batteries sit on is crumbling because of acid and age. Will have to bolt another sheet of wood or something on top of it, then cut holes for battery tie-downs. That shelf has always been a bit saggy, being a sheet of about a 3/8" plywood, but I think the big acid spill really did it in. Would be nice to get something acid-proof instead of wood, to put on top of it, but that would be a good trick here. Dinghied in to town, walking in with Doug and Paula and Amanda and their dog. Sat in the park and chatted with Amanda and petted the dog for a while. Did internet, then went to Gina's for Derek's birthday party. A bit too loud and drunken for me, but had a nice conversation with Paula. Grapefruit and salad and rum-and-gingerale for dinner. 9/4/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to Car Talk at 5 AM. Heard something on the cruiser's net about "Odyssey" having his boat stripped (everything stolen) while he was gone ? It was a small sailboat anchored near the government dock. So I guess there IS some theft here. Someone else said the hardware store usually applies a 5.5% surcharge when he uses his credit card there, but yesterday they tried to sneak a 23% surcharge past him ! Launched the dinghy and used it to spin the boat around four times, to untwist the anchor rodes a bit. Dinghied ashore in the afternoon, read book in the square, did internet. Went to watch a little of the women's softball game, cruisers versus a local team. Fun but very hot. And I missed most of it; apparently ballgames are the only things in this country that actually start EARLY; I was told that the men's games always start before the scheduled time too. Spaghetti and rum-and-gingerale for dinner. Killed a roach in the aft head. 9/5/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Put down the swim platform, wormed my way underneath the hanging dinghy, and changed the lower unit gear oil. I had wondered if it was gone, thus putting a big load on the motor. But there was plenty of oil in there, although very dirty and overdue for a change. Dinghied to town after lunch. Chatted briefly with Doug, read book. Went to pharmacy to see about stocking up on some medicines, but didn't communicate well and they didn't seem to have what I was looking for. To hardware stores looking for wood for battery shelf. First store had a lumberyard and guys pulled tarps off several piles of wood for me, but nothing wider than 10 inches. Walked to far end of town to "contruction" hardware store. They have some 11 1/4" wide, although it's fourteen feet long. They won't sell a 4-foot length, only a 7-foot length. After much confusion, and the guy starting to cut a length in half and then finding another one already cut, I get my wood. 315 pesoes ($11) for 7' x 11-1/4" x 1", probably pine. Seems expensive to me; maybe I got the gringo price, probably should have bargained, maybe could have gotten something cheaper somewhere else, but the heck with it: I have what I need to start repairing the battery shelf. Nice little 10-year-old girl running the register tried to cheat me out of my change (or maybe she just confused 315 and 350). Shortchanging, and different prices for locals and gringoes, is very common here. Bought rolls at the bakery, and back out to the boat. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and rum-and-gingerale for dinner. Hmmm; I'm starting to look forward to my drink. 9/6/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Launched the dinghy early and used it to spin the boat three times to untwist the anchor rodes. Raised the primary anchor, cleaning off a huge mass of barnacles and gunk growing on the first 20 feet or so below the surface of the water. Found someone else's anchor line across mine, as I suspected: a buoy appeared just off the stern of my boat while I was off in the USA. Unhooked it and swung on the secondary alone; I want to get a little further from the mangroves, and onto one anchor to avoid the rode-twisting and reduce the amount of growth to clean off. 30 minutes later, a little breeze came up and swung me away from the mangroves. Let out some rope on the secondary anchor. A bit later, put the primary down, hauled in on the secondary and cleaned and raised it. So now I'm on one anchor and farther from the bugs. The outboard has been starting reliably the last several days. I think squeezing the bulb hard to prime it before starting was a mistake: that drove the needle in the carb up into it's seat and made it get stuck. Now I don't squeeze the bulb, start the motor, then squeeze the bulb gently a few times to make sure some gas gets in. The outboard still runs like crap: if I throttle up much, it rattles and clanks and sounds like it's choking a bit, and won't go faster. It's smoking more than usual, too. I'm starting to look into buying a new Yamaha here, but prices don't sound any better than typical USA or internet prices. But I really haven't gotten a firm price quote here. I'm thinking a Yamaha 2-stroke 8 HP, mainly because it weighs only 60 pounds. Being able to take the outboard off the dinghy and onto deck for rough passages would be a great thing. My current Mercury 2-stroke 20 HP weighs 112 pounds ! It's 9 or 10 years old; maybe it's at the end of its useful life. Probably no way to sell or trade it in here; could donate it to the Navy or something. Dinghied in to town. Did a little internet, and had a nice chat with Don, a cruiser who's been here a couple of years and bought some land outside town. Bought some cheese. Bananas I got a week ago still haven't ripened; they've turned a little yellow, but are still tough and fibrous inside. I think they may be plantains; how can I tell the difference ? Fried them up on oil as an appetizer for dinner, and they were fairly edible. Salad and chicken-and-rice for dinner. Killed a roach in the aft head. Saw a roach in the galley but I think I missed him with the bug-spray. 9/7/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Cleaned and stowed anchor rodes, and used about 40 buckets of seawater to wash down the deck, to get rid of most of the barnacles and gunk from the rodes. Cut and painted wood for battery shelf. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/8/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Did a bucket of laundry. In to town early: today is the start of the Founder's Day celebrations, related to General Luperon. 108th anniversary of the founding of the town ? Bought tomatoes, onions, rolls. Had some trouble finding the parade, but eventually found it forming up at the far end of town. Two small but nice bands, a zillion kids in school uniform, and a few dignitaries. I left before the speeches started. More painting on the battery shelf wood. Changed spark plugs on outboard. The old ones had screw-on terminals designed to fit many motors, and I suspect the terminals were loose and rusty. Blowing too hard to go anywhere else today, so I'll test the results tomorrow. Nasty low black clouds around 4:30, then probably 30 knots of wind and horizontal rain for 5 minutes or so. From the S, so I was pointed straight at my closest neighbor, about a boat-length away. But the anchor held fine. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/9/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied over to PB marina, to load 10 gallons of water and exchange some books. Spark plugs don't seem to have made the outboard run any better. More painting on the battery shelf wood. Dinghied in to town. Read a book, did some internet, read some more, chatted with a couple of cruisers on motorcycles, bought some ripe bananas. Salad and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches and a rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/10/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Boat "Rhubarb" entered the harbor this morning. They're heading for the Virgin Islands to get another boat out of dry-storage. More painting on the battery shelf wood. Added water to the batteries. Dinghied in to town. Chatted with Doug and Paula and had a pineapple-and-mango juice drink (15 pesoes; 50 cents) with them; delicious. Read a book in the park, did some internet, read some more, back to the boat. Supposed to be a baseball tournament going on, but no sign of it. Salad and chicken-onion-rice for dinner. Killed a roach in the aft head. 9/11/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Asked on the cruiser's net for a compression-tester for my outboard, but got no response. Was shocked to hear that the dog I was petting a week ago, from Exuma Grouper, suddenly died Friday morning ! They're not sure what the cause was; probably dehydration and heat were factors. Someone announced on the radio that two anchors have been stolen in the last couple of days. Someone cuts the rope rodes and takes the anchors. Happens to boats that have two or more anchors down. At noon, dinghied to PB marina and joined a vanload of cruisers hosted by the couple from "Adios". They drove us 20 minutes or so to the hotel "Miamar" near El Castillo. A lovely location a couple hundred feet above sea level, looking down on the bay I made landfall in. Total of about a dozen of us cruisers, and a nice restaurant and pool. Noel from "Cassandra" and the couple from "Wandering Albatross" were there. Two of the women (Pauli and Sam) were good-looking and wearing very nice bikinis. Had a nice swim in the pool, some nice conversation, and read the international version of today's Miami Herald: what a treat ! First current newspaper I've read since coming back from the USA. Had a very nice chicken meal, with lovely mushroom sauce and vegetables and french fries ($6). On the way back home, several of the women in our van sang songs; very pretty. 9/12/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Ran engine for 30 minutes to exercise it. A little surge at the 10-minute mark. Worked on outboard motor, taking off the exhaust cover box, to see if it was clogged. The bolts were very stiff, and one simply refused to budge. Used lots of penetrating oil and patience, but eventually it just sheared off, leaving a stub in the side of the engine block. And of course the big gasket tore in two. Lots of oily carbon buildup inside the box, but I wouldn't say it was clogged enough to affect performance. But there's a hole going down to the exhaust ports in the lower unit, and who knows what's down in that hole ? Looks like this box serves as a bit of an exhaust manifold, with cooling water running alongside the exhaust. Or maybe this is where the water and exhaust mix ? Could see the sides of the pistons exposed in the side of the engine block. Didn't have time to work on the bolt and gasket today, so I cleaned everything and put it back together. Motor ran okay, with some water and exhaust leaking out through the broken gasket. I stuck a plastic bag up there to keep water from squirting into the flywheel, and ran the motor without the cowling to let the water drain out. Dinghied in to town, read my book a bit, did internet, bought rum and rolls. Hot afternoon; we've had several hot days recently. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and brandy-and-coke for dinner. Bug-sprayed a cockroach in the galley, but he scooted away. 9/13/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Took the exhaust box off the side of the outboard motor again; much easier now that all the bolts have been anti-seized, and now that I've found my misplaced 10 mm socket. Still a messy job, with lots of oily carbon all over the place. Started scraping gasket pieces off and soaking the sheared bolt-stub in penetrating oil. Spent all day working on the outboard, sweating in the hot sun. Worked for 5 minutes at a time, then took a 10 or 15-minute break. Ran an extension cord out into the dinghy. Used the Dremel to cut a screwdriver-slot into the top of the sheared-off bolt stub, put a screwdriver on it, but couldn't get it to budge. Added a wrench to get more leverage on the screwdriver, and the top of the stub came apart. Drilled a nice hole into the stub, doing a pretty good job but breaking a couple of drill-bits. Tried a couple of screw-extractors in the hole, but couldn't get the remnants of the stub to budge. Gave up. Carved a new gasket out of a sheet of gasket-material. Put everything back together. Tried to get a wood-screw to grip in the drilled-out hole, but no luck. Ran the motor for a couple of minutes. A little water leaking from the hole over the sheared-off bolt stub, but not bad at all. As I chatted with Doug on the VHF, watched a sportfisher come into the harbor, almost running aground as it headed for the government dock. Shoals here just have a stick or two on them as markers, and in the afternoon with the wind howling, they're very hard to see. Salad and spaghetti and brandy-rum-gingerale for dinner. 9/14/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Another boat reported an anchor stolen. Launched the dinghy, and the third sheet-metal screw I tried fit the drilled hole perfectly. Started the motor, and no leak from the exhaust box. Looks good. Loaded some water into the tanks. Dinghied over to PB marina and got 10 gallons of water. Outboard still chokes and rumbles when I try to throttle it up (under load; throttles up fine in neutral). In to town. Chatted with a cruiser in the square, and he showed me a list of Immigration fees that didn't make sense to either of us. I think the Immigration guy is misinterpreting the fees, but proving it will be tough. Wanted to do internet, but one place was rewiring and the other was full. Bought rolls and bananas and tomatoes. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 9/15/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Carved an empty peanut-can to make a waveguide for my WiFi antenna, but then couldn't find a signal to test it on. Took all the batteries out, and cleaned the existing battery shelf. Had to peel the lowest rubber sheets up; they'd become painted onto the shelf. The shelf seemed level and fairly solid except near a few edges and in places where acid has eaten into the plywood. The supports are solid. Test-fit the new board in place, and made various measurements. Took the board out and put the batteries back in. A hot, sweaty, messy, strenuous job. Drilled slots in the new board and painted again. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/16/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Woke up tired and a little headachey. More painting on the battery shelf wood. Dinghied in to town after lunch. Read my book in the square, did lots of people-watching, had a nice conversation with Don, a former cruiser. He's in his late 60's, and since his wife died 10 years ago, he's been looking for another. So he knows most of the available women in town, and every time one walks by he tells me whether she's a whore, or nice, or too much into money, or on drugs, or whatever. According to him, the women here are looking for money, not for a marriage as a ticket into the USA. Bought some paper towels, and some rolls at the bakery. Went to the cheap internet place, but the internet is unusably slow: 5 minutes to display one page. They say it's been like that all week. Went to Verizon, and only 2 of their 8 machines were up, and they were full. So no internet today. Stopped in several places looking for fruit, but didn't find any I liked. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 9/17/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Decided not to bother taking the "reed box" out of the outboard; I have felt the reeds with my fingers, and they feel okay. And I don't think the outboard would throttle up well in neutral if a reed was broken. Must be a compression problem. I've thought about taking the powerhead apart to replace the rings, but it's a big job, especially when done with the dinghy and motor in the water. And new rings might not fix it anyway. And the service manual says you can't overbore the cylinders, not that I would put that kind of money into a 10-year-old motor anyway. Wish I hadn't had to spend $330 on lower-unit work last summer. So, do I buy a new Yamaha outboard here, or in Puerto Rico ? How do I get rid of the old Mercury, which is too heavy to even lift off the dinghy easily ? And I have a new spare prop for it, and lots of rebuild parts, and a service manual; all that investment will be lost. Could I donate it to some organization ? Will the Mercury last another year or so, slowing getting weaker ? About 9:30, someone on the radio announced that there won't be any gasoline in town for the next few days. A couple of days ago, I heard they've banned the sale of gasoline on weekends to ration it. At 9:45, there was a mayday on the radio, saying they had a medical emergency at the Yacht Club: Jim from "Hellenback" was choking on pills. A couple of dinghies roared across the harbor, some people drove out from in town. I guess there are a couple of retired doctors among the cruisers here, but none of them were on their boats at the time. But someone drove a doctor out there within 10 minutes or so. 20 minutes later, heard someone saying Jim died; there were three doctors working on him, but they couldn't resuscitate him. I met Jim several times; he was always partying hard, ordering beers and laughing loudly and flirting with lots of women, and often I'd see him in one bar/restaurant after another as I walked around town. Probably 60ish. I especially remember him saying he built his own boat, and he enjoyed the building process so much that when he finished, he wanted to start building another. But his wife Norma wanted to go cruising instead. Started raining about 10:45. Rained for 30 minutes or so. Headache got worse in the afternoon; ended up loafing all day. Heard someone on the radio saying more about how Jim died. Apparently he was joking as he got ready to take his pills, saying he'd gotten really good at taking lots of them without water. Then he popped 4 pills at once into his mouth and tried to swallow them, and choked. They guess he might have had a heart attack, too, after losing consciousness, since he had lots of heart problems. Cornedbeef-onion-noodle for dinner. 9/18/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Still tired and headachey. Cruiser's net was full of people mourning Jim's death. Got a response to my search for a compression tester ! Dinghied over to PB marina, and picked it up from Doug of Casa La Roca. Chatted with Noel and Carolyn and Amanda. Exchanged some books. Got 10 gallons of water. After lunch, still headachey and tired. Out into the dinghy, and found my can of carb-cleaner had rusted through and spilled its contents. Took spark plugs out of outboard and cleaned them, then tried compression tester. Hard to use it; have to press it into spark plug socket at aft end of motor while pulling starter cord at forward end. Probably should get someone to help me do it again tomorrow. Got readings in the 30-40 PSI range for each cylinder. At first, thought the top cylinder was 10 PSI or so higher than the bottom cylinder, but later I wasn't so sure. The service manual doesn't quite say what the compression should be (it only says the cylinders should vary by less than 15 PSI). But the 2.5 to 15 HP models have specs in the 90-100 PSI range (minimum). So I assume my 20 HP should be similar. Dinghied ashore, but one internet place was closed and the other was still being rewired, so no internet. Couldn't find any good fruit to buy, either. Chatted with a local guy who speaks good English. Read my book a bit. Bought rolls at the bakery. Watched a little of a Dominican baseball game. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Sinus headache getting worse. Miserable sleepless night, taking lots of pills. 9/19/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Very headachey and sweaty this morning; feel lousy. Amanda on "Sanctuary" called to say that she'd just found a brand-new compression-tester on her boat; she didn't know she had it. I may go see if it's easier to use than the one I borrowed. Felt lousy all day; spent a lot of the day in bed. Salad and ham-and-cheese sandwich for dinner. 9/20/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Headache a bit better this morning. Dinghied over to "Exuma Grouper", took the spark plugs out of my outboard, and had Doug hold the compression tester in place while I pulled the starter cord. Didn't work too well, so we moved to the government dock and did it again. Got readings a little under 50 PSI for each cylinder; still lower than it should be. So I think the cylinders are worn out. Went into town. Did internet at the cheaper place, but it wasn't working right. At least the nice senora didn't charge me anything when I told her it hadn't worked. Went to Verizon, had to wait 20 minutes, but got on and everything worked fine. Lots of email and stuff to catch up on. By the time I finished, it was the middle of siesta, and most stores were closed. Bought a big cabbage (35 pesoes; $1.20). Adjusted secondary fuel filter on engine to see if I can get rid of air leak. Salad and cornedbeef-onion-potatoes and a rum-and-coke for dinner. Lots of rain in the evening. 9/21/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Ran engine for 30 minutes to test it. Still surges every now and then, at fast-idle and no load. Did a small bucket of laundry. Lots of rainclouds, but I think it'll clear later. Added BioBor to the fuel tank. Washed out the cockpit a bit. Dinghied over to PB marina. Dropped off gasoline jug, disposed of garbage, loaded 10 gallons of water. In to town, and did internet. Tried to read in the square, but felt a bit tired and didn't feel like talking to some Haitians who wanted to chat with me. Bought rolls, lunchmeat, onions, chicken. Couldn't find any decent fruit. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Feeling headachey again. 9/22/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Headachey all night and this morning. Heard on the radio that there's no gas at the station in town, so I guess my jug at PB marina probably hasn't been filled. They've been having problems with gasoline supply here since hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I think a black market has sprung up, and the government is trying to deal with it. Did a bucket of laundry. Started to feel better in the later morning, after taking more pills and staying in bed for a while. Brief rainshower at noon. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Sprayed a cockroach in the galley. 9/23/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Feel good this morning. Navy towed sportfisher "Hot Pursuit" into harbor this morning. I saw the Navy leave yesterday afternoon; if they were all this time on that mission, they must have towed them quite a distance. [Heard later that they left Sand Key heading for PR, and engine died with fuel problems about 20 miles from Sand Key. USCG towed them to DR waters, then DR Navy towed them here. Same thing that happened to several other boats here; seems to be a common story.] Had been planning to go ashore today, but I started in on the battery shelf project at 10 and didn't finish until 2. Took out the batteries, and ran jumper cables to one set of them so I still had electricity. Used the inverter and drill to cut slots in the old slot, aligned with the slots in the new wood. Put the new shelf down and threaded the straps through the holes in old and new shelves; not easy in a few cases. For some reason, I have 5 straps instead of 4, and two of them are longer than the other three. So I may have to splice pieces of the 5th strap onto the other two shorter ones. Put the rubber mats and batteries back in and wired everything up again. Will mess with the straps tomorrow. Hot and sweaty and messy work. Salad and vegs-noodle-mushroomsoup for dinner. 9/24/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied over to PB marina. Returned compression tester to "Casa La Roca". Got gasoline (625 pesoes / $21 for 5 gallons). Loaded 10 gallons of water. Chatted with guy from "Eileen" about my outboard; he's looking to buy a new outboard too. He said a 10-year lifespan for a Mercury is about typical; other people have said it should have lasted a lot longer. He said you can get really good prices on Yamaha's here if you bargain hard; the price I heard from someone else wasn't all that good, so I guess they didn't bargain hard. Maybe I should give him a cut to bargain for me. Back to the boat, and as I was lugging all the jugs aboard, one of the charter catamarans went past with a couple of nice-looking women in bikinis on board. Dinghied in to town. Chatted with the crew from "Exuma Grouper" on the way in. Heard Doug on the radio yesterday evening saying he was having repeated chest pains, talking to a cruiser who's a cardiologist. Today he said he made an appointment for Monday with a cardiologist in Puerto Plata. I've been thinking of having a heart checkup too; I had an episode of weakness and arm pain about 3 months ago. Frustrating in town: all the internet computers are busy. I don't feel like waiting around, since I forgot to bring a book, and it's a breezeless and an incredibly humid morning; I'm soaked with sweat. Bought rolls, bananas, tomatoes. Someone brought in a pickup truck full of clothing and spread it out on the sidewalk, creating an instant store, and people are crowding around to look through it. Back to boat. In midafternoon, dinghied in to town again. Chatted for an hour or so on the government dock with Doug from "Exuma Grouper" and Bonnie from "Hot Pursuit", the small sportfisher that was towed in yesterday. She's a fascinating woman: she's a fairly famous journalist, hosted or co-hosted about 400 episodes of the "Today" show, turned down a $7-million salary offer to host it, won 7 Emmy awards and a Pulitzer prize. Has traveled to 157 countries. Speaks English, Spanish, much Hebrew, much Arabic, some of 10 other languages. Spent a couple of years in Lebanon during civil war, was the girlfriend of the hostage Terry Anderson, spent her life savings and a couple of years trying to get him freed. Has stories about being shot at by Israeli soldiers, and other war-stories. She owns "Hot Pursuit" and runs it in charter out of Culebra. She's a licensed captain, and hired another captain to help her take it from Bimini to Culebra. Was supposed to take about a week, but various problems stretched that out and got them stuck here. So she's desperately trying to get repaired and fueled up and out of here so she can stop paying for the other captain and start making money again in Culebra. Fascinating lady, but she and Doug are both so hyper that it was hard to get anywhere in a conversation; they were always dashing off on tangents. Doug said to me "here's someone who can talk world affairs with you", since I've bemoaned the fact that cruisers seem to stop listening to the news and don't want to talk about politics or current affairs. So I asked her: what's going to happen in Lebanon now that the former premier (I think) was assassinated and the Syrians forced to leave (mostly). She got about one sentence out about that, and diverted off into what a good guy the assassinated guy was, then off to something else. I asked again later, and we got no farther before going off on another tangent. But it was an entertaining conversation. Then a bunch of local kids started crowding around as she spoke Spanish to them. Into town, and finally got on the internet for an hour, although the floppy drive didn't work, making it tough to get my tasks done. I'm falling behind on getting quotes for a new jib from sailmakers, for example. Found that the small Yamaha 2-stroke outboards aren't available with the long shaft I need. Said hi to "S" as I went by; his restaurant is closed today; someone said he got drunk and tore it all up last night, and almost ended up in jail. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/25/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Added water to the batteries. Cut and spliced the 5th battery-tie-down strap to make the two short straps long enough, then strapped down all four batteries. Was thinking of going to town this afternoon, but then it clouded up and sprinkled rain on and off all afternoon. Salad and spaghetti and a beer for dinner. 9/26/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied ashore in the afternoon. Chatted briefly with Bonnie on "Hot Pursuit". I didn't realize they had both engine AND steering problems. She says most of their fuel system (both fuel pumps, and all injectors) and much of their hydraulic steering system have been removed and taken somewhere to be worked on. Read my book in the square, did internet, bought some bananas, bought peanut butter, read some more. Chatted briefly with Doug from "Presque Isle" about my outboard; he's in the "10 years is about the expected lifespan" camp. Salad and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches for dinner. Squashed a cockroach in the aft head. 9/27/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Removed secondary fuel filter from engine and made a new washer for the bolt that holds it on. I'm getting a drip of diesel at the bottom of the filter after the engine sits for a while, so there must be an air/fuel leak somewhere on that filter mounting. It's always a pain to get those big O-rings and small washers to mate in properly after I change a filter. Took the spark plugs out of the outboard and cleaned them, then took the exhaust box off the side of the motor. Looked at the pistons and rings, but the view is pretty limited. They didn't look dry or scarred or burnt, and the rings didn't seem loose or broken. But it's very hard to tell. Dinghied over to "Sanctuary" and picked up an opening port that Amanda grabbbed from a dumpster a while ago. It's exactly the type I have on my boat, so now I have another spare ! In to town, did some loafing and some internet, then went to Gina's restaurant. Had some nice conversation, a big beer and a chicken-salad dinner for 145 pesoes ($5) total. The dinner was tasty but, as with most of the specials the restaurants here advertise, the portions were a bit small and there was not much chicken in it. Heard surf noise all evening and night; never heard that before. The oceanfront is a mile away, over some hills, so I wonder if I'm really hearing surf. Had a headache most of the night from that beer I drank. 9/28/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Dissassembled and cleaned the port I got from "Sanctuary". Other than a missing hinge-pin, it's in great shape. These Fuller plastic ports keep breaking, so I need all the spares I can get. Engine fuel filter seems to be leaking still, so will have to mess with it some more. Asked about the surf noises on the cruiser's net, and someone confirmed that there are huge waves crashing in from the ocean. They say it's an amazing sight. Also asked if anyone wants to buy a 20 HP outboard with problems, and lots of spares. Someone on the net said their dog got SHOT in the middle of the night but survived; no details, so I don't know if the dog was on a boat at the time. Loafed all day, when I should have been doing something about getting a new outboard or something. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and rum-and-gingerale for dinner. Still lots of loud surf noises; must be quite nasty out on the shore. 9/29/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied in to town. Tried to call outboard dealer in Puerto Plata, and neither phone number I had for them worked, and I couldn't find them in the phone book. Asked about connecting my laptop to internet via Ethernet in the cheapest internet place, but it sounds like not much of a chance it might work, and I don't have an Ethernet cable anyway. Asked about nitroglycerin tablets (to carry on board in case of angina), and they cost over $1 per pill and come in a pack of 20. Bought grapefruit. Read my book a bit in the square. Still surf noises in the afternoon, but I think they died down by evening. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. 9/30/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Ran engine for 30 minutes to exercise it and charge batteries a bit. Dinghied to PB marina and loaded water, and exchanged a couple of books. Talked to Dave from "Ilean". I was hoping to go in on a deal for Yamaha outboards with him, but he had his old outboard repaired and is going to cancel his Yamaha order (which is supposed to arrive today). I didn't know he had already ordered. He gave me contact info for the Yamaha guy, and whoever gave it to me before switched a couple of digits in one of the phone numbers. To the Yacht Club, and their internet was down and the book exchange was worthless. Back to boat, and measured dinghy again to see if I really need a long-shaft; Dave thinks I don't. Measured 17 inches from top of transom to bottom of keel. Short shaft is 15 inches, long is 20 inches. So I probably could get away with a short, but long would be better. In to town. Called the Yamaha numbers a couple of times, and then the phone system went down for a while. Bought rolls, then back to the phone place. Got through to the guy's cell-phone. He doesn't sell 4-strokes at all, and wouldn't quote a price on an 8 HP 2-stroke, just 9.9 HP ($1500) and 15 HP long-shaft ($1850). I think he has a 6 HP also; didn't get the price. Maybe he's only quoting on what he has in stock, not what he could order (which would take a month). Cash only. His prices seem about $200 less than USA internet prices, but he is selling Yamaha international (Enduro) motors, not Yamaha USA motors. Bought bananas. Chatted briefly with Bonnie on "Hot Pursuit"; she had some locals there with fuel drums. Doesn't sound good; they need to buy an electric pump to pump out all of her bad fuel, since a manual one didn't work, and they need to get more drums. Not sure if her engine fuel pumps and injectors are done yet. And she said she's getting "premium" diesel from Puerto Plata; not sure why, and that must cost extra. A hydraulic pump for her steering is being flown in from the USA, but I've heard horror-stories about stuff being stuck in Dominican customs for ages (I didn't say that to her). She's told me before that the boat has been driving her bankrupt this year; she's had to put $40K into it, and had to take out a loan to do that. This misadventure probably is costing another $5K or more. She needs to get back to Culebra and into charter and earning money. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and grapefruit for dinner. Smooshed a cockroach in the aft head. Tons of rain in the early evening, but it all hit town and missed the harbor ! Really striking: heard a sound like a waterfall approaching, closed up the boat, then saw town disappear under a sheet of grey. But never a drop on the boat. 10/1/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. A totally grey, still humid morning. Dinghied to PB marina and got my repaired mainsail back (2720 pesoes; $91). Looks good, although they could have stitched up the edges farther to attach the new corner to the old material. Got 10 gallons of water. Back to boat and put up the mainsail. Looks okay. But I probably need a new sail. Dinghied over to the Yacht Club and did an hour of internet (50 pesoes), but uploading log file and web site updates failed repeatedly. Chatted with Doug from "Presque Isle", but the wind was howling through and he talks so softly that I missed half of what he said. Looked on the internet, and new rings for my outboard would cost either $88 or $113 (not sure which), for either one piston or two (not sure which). Chicken-onion-mushroom-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. 10/2/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. A bunch of pissed-off people on the cruiser's net this morning; apparently there was some kind of argument on channel 68 before the net, but I missed it; I was waiting on 72 for the net to start. Talked to Doug from "Exuma Grouper". He's feeling okay; his heart problem turned out to be extremely high blood pressure caused by his diabetes medication. He says the argument this morning on the radio was caused when one of the leaders of the net decided to switch it from channel 72 to 68, and someone objected by keying over the net on 68 (which everyone uses for hailing here). Childish. Dinghied in to town after lunch. "Hot Pursuit" is getting some life out of their engine. Read a book in the square. Bakery was closed, and couldn't find the second bakery (I keep forgetting which road it's down). Drunk guy tried to bum some pesoes off me; a 25ish guy who was staggering drunk at 4 in the afternoon. Very rare here, at least during the day; I never see any drinking on the streets. I don't stay ashore at night, so who knows what it's like then ? And the cruisers and locals patronize separate bars, so I guess I wouldn't know if there are a lot of local drunks. Bought rum and powdered milk and a loaf of sliced bread. Back to dock around 4:30, and "Hot Pursuit" is gone ! They must be out testing their engine. Saw them back at the dock an hour or two later. Salad and ham sandwich and rum-and-coke for dinner. 10/3/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied to town around 9 AM. To guagua park to catch a guagua to Imbert. Lots of idle cars, and had to wait 15-20 minutes for them to mostly fill one. Because of the fuel price increases, they've raised rates slightly, and maybe ridership is down a bit. And once we got going, I found that they're also stuffing more people into each car. I used to think it was crowded with 6 people in one of these little Toyota's, but on this trip we had 8 people aboard most of the time. For a mile or two, we even had someone sitting outside on the back trunk. Even the driver's seat had two people in it when we had 8 aboard. We passed a motorcycle with two guys aboard carrying three medium-sized goats; I've never seen that before. Two of the goats were slung from the sides like saddlebags, tied upside down by their feet. The third was upside down across the second guy's lap. The goats looked unhappy. Got to Imbert, and neither of the ATM's would give me (or some other people there) cash. Went to catch the bus to Puerto Plata, and there was Don waiting for it too, and planning to go to the same supermarket I was heading for. So we traveled together. Some confusion when we got to Puerto Plata; weren't sure how close the bus went to where we wanted to go, but they dropped us off within 2 blocks of it. We got cash at the nearby Scotiabank ATM, then walked down to the waterfront and around to find a restaurant. Made the mistake of trying a couple of tourist-type places, and had a very mediocre lunch for $7; guess we should have tried some tiny local dive. But had some nice conversation; Don was in the 101st Airborne, taught Materials Science in an engineering school, has owned his boat for just over 30 years. He rents a small house outside town and is looking for a local girl to marry. More walking as Don went into a bunch of farmacia's to try to buy earplugs: his neighbor has opened a bar/disco in her front yard, so he has trouble sleeping at night. I sat reading my book in a park for an hour while he went to more stores; he wasn't supposed to be gone nearly that long, and I was starting to give up on him when he reappeared. To the supermarket, which was better than anything in Luperon, but selection and prices still were not impressive. For example, only two kinds of peanut butter: Skippy for $8/pound, and local stuff, which I can get in Luperon, for $4/pound. And the local stuff has almost no oil in it. Did manage to get some boric-acid powder for cockroaches. Bought about $30 of groceries. Hauled the groceries along as Don tried one more farmacia, then to bus station. Turned out to be the wrong bus station, and I think the bus we came in on went far off it's normal route to deliver us. So we had to take a taxi ($2 each) to the main circle where the bus to Luperon was leaving from. More confusion there: Don and I paid two different fares on the bus coming in, and were charged yet a different amount for the bus going out. Par for the course. Lots of slow trucks on the road, and lots of dangerous passing. Several times we or other cars came close to hitting oncoming traffic, which slowed down or pulled over a bit to make a third lane. Got a guagua van from Imbert to Luperon, so there was enough seating space to be comfortable, although the floor under my feet got very hot from an exhaust pipe, I think. Back to the boat after 3, feeling tired. Figure it cost me $6 of fares and $7 of lunch to get $30 of groceries and use the ATM, but it was a mostly-fun experience. Certainly nice to get out of Luperon a bit. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. 10/4/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Did a bucket of laundry. Had been planning to go to the Yacht Club after lunch to do some internet, but about 12:30 some black clouds and thunder started coming over. But we never did get more than a sprinkle of rain, and one extremely loud lightning strike about 1/4 mile away; had to change my undies after that one ! Around 2, called the Yacht Club before launching the dinghy, and found out their internet is down. So I just loafed on the boat all afternoon. Totally grey and clouded over, fairly still and humid, and a bit buggy. Salad and spaghetti for dinner. Smoke from burning sugar-cane fields filling up the town and the harbor, since we have about S 1 wind instead of the usual E 20. Ran engine for 30 minutes to test it and charge batteries. 10/5/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. No longer any fuel drip at bottom of filter housing, so maybe I've fixed most of my engine surging problem. Internet still not working at Yacht Club. After lunch, dinghied in to town. Walked in and chatted with Doug from "Exuma Grouper"; he's still feeling very weak from his medication problems. Says drugs are very expensive here. He says Bonnie and Scott on "Hot Pursuit" and their mechanics have one engine running fine, but the other still has problems. Scott is flying back to the USA tomorrow; he signed up for what was supposed to be a one-week transit from Bimini to Culebra, and has turned into a month or more. And I'm sure Bonnie can't afford to keep paying him, too. Doug was heading to Imbert; we started talking about the guaguas, and he said he saw an accident where a truck or van ran over a couple of people on a motorcycle and probably killed at least one of them. I haven't seen any accidents myself yet, which is amazing considering how crazy some of the driving is. Went to cheap internet place, but their connection was in the "two minutes to display one page" state. So I did internet at the other place. Read my book a bit, bought bananas. Salad and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. 10/6/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Loafed all day. Dark clouds and thunder in the afternoon, but it missed us. Salad and chicken-onion-mushroom-rice and rum-and-gingerale for dinner. Saw a cockroach walking across the boric acid powder I sprinkled in the aft head, but he got away before I could nail him. 10/7/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. To Yacht Club for a long internet session, then to PB marina for water. Dark clouds and thunder around noon, but no rain. Dinghied ashore and went to town. Loafed in the square, but it was a bit noisy. Bought grapefruit and chicken. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches and a beer for dinner. Saw "Hot Pursuit" heading out in the evening; Bonnie must be heading for Puerto Rico. 10/8/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Totally grey and threatening rain. Some lightning before dawn. Added water to the batteries, then ran engine for 45 minutes to test it and charge batteries. "Hot Pursuit" is not at the govt dock, so Bonnie must be on her way to Puerto Rico ! Or maybe she moved to Puerto Plata to be closer to her mechanics. Started raining about 7:30. Heard on the radio that someone stole the outboard off Papo's boat, left overnight at the government dock. Interesting, since he uses that boat to run a fuel and water-delivery service to the cruisers, and he's a well-connected local guy. [Heard later, he got the motor back the next day. The culprit was a guy who worked for him or used to work for him.] Dinghied over to the Yacht Club for a Spanish lesson. A bit slow getting organized. Chatted with one guy, who said he'd just had a huge ordeal getting a used dinghy and outboard and lots of other parts from a used boat shipped in to the country. Had to spend two days in Santo Domingo wrestling with Customs, and he had to pay bribes and full duty and some of his stuff was stolen. He was furious about it. The lesson got started, and it was interesting to see that two of the students who knew the least were those whose husbands or wives were fluent. They hadn't had to learn, since their spouses always handled it. The lesson went slowly, and covered a lot of pronouns and verb-endings that none of us cared about: we all just want enough pidgin-Spanish to make ourselves understood. But the pronunciation section was very important; I've been saying some simple words completely wrong. At the end of the 90 minutes or so, the instructor announced the charge was 250 pesoes ($8) for each of the five of us. That was another lesson: always ask in advance in this country. A couple of people tried to bargain with him, but I just paid and left. I think I got my money's worth, but I don't think I'll go back for more lessons. So, now I can proudly stride into a store and confidently proclaim something which probably translates to "I wish to purchase the weasel of my grandfather!". [Before the lesson, I would have done the same, but mispronounced the word for "I".] Ah, it's good to be such a good-will ambassador, spreading laughter wherever I go. Stopped raining about 12:30, and sun came out a bit. Dinghied in to town. A very loud political rally going on near the central square, with a sound truck blasting out music. Since the nearby bar was also blasting out music as usual, the clash of the two was jarring. Bought bananas, rolls, and powdered milk. Salad and chicken-onion-rice-beans and rum-and-coke for dinner. Started raining about 10 PM, and rained off and on until midnight. Then it started raining hard and almost constantly. Had a couple of big lightning strikes on a hilltop about 1/4 mile away; I hate lightning. Rained hard all the rest of the night and past dawn. Didn't get much sleep, mainly because closing up everything killed any air circulation. Two deck leaks: one from the cockpit locker into the aft head (knew about that one), another into the foot of my berth (a new one). Caught 10 gallons of water; could have caught 100 if I had more buckets. 10/9/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to Car Talk on shortwave at 5 AM. Feeling tired and a bit headachey. Totally grey, very low dark clouds, and tons of rain. Wind shifted to W 25-30, a direction it rarely comes from, and boats started dragging. Watched "Windwalker"s stern anchor drag, but couldn't raise him on the radio. He swung around almost to the mangroves, just missing "Lady Margaret Rose", and maybe ending up against a mastless sailboat; couldn't see. Heard another boat trying to raise anchor, and there was so much gunk and growth on the rodes and snubbers that they needed extra help. [Two hours later they were still messing with it, and Doug said they even had a diver involved.] I think I slid about 20 feet or so myself. Some kind of weird dead bugs in cockpit; maybe they had some kind of mating frenzy here last night. Several dozen of them, dead or dying. Ran engine for an hour to charge batteries. Still pouring rain at 9. Chatted with Amanda on "Sanctuary", and she confirmed what I suspected: the SSB weather net changed their broadcast time, which is why I haven't been able to hear them for the last week or so. Chatted with Doug on "Exuma Grouper" about his cardiologist and various other things. Washed the aft part of the cockpit and pilothouse, inside and out. Rain mostly stopped around noon, but totally grey and humid and still. Washed most of the rest of the cockpit and pilothouse, to get all this nasty mildew off. Emptied the diesel jug into the tank; time to start fueling up to get ready to get out of here after the end of hurricane season. At 5 gallons a day, it will take a while to load enough fuel. Salad and peanutbutter-and-banana sandwiches for dinner. Bugs are out tonight, and I'm closer to the mangroves than usual, since (slight) wind is still out of the west. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. 10/10/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Rained hard from 4:30 to 5:45. Straight down; not a hint of wind. Listened to Chris Parker's weather at 7, and it sounds like it will be grey and wind from SSW for the rest of the week. Very unusual. Seems to be a huge low-pressure area over the entire eastern Caribbean, and the center or bulk of the trough is just east of us. Found a cockroach dead in the galley; I guess that boric acid stuff really works. Started the engine, raised anchor, and moved about 100 feet to get more space, and farther from the mangroves. Had to go to half-throttle to get any motion at all: the propeller must be covered with barnacles and gunk. Let engine run for 30 minutes to charge batteries. A bit of sunshine around 8 AM ! Can't last. [But it did; was partly-sunny most of the morning. Nice to get some solar power and let the boat air out a bit.] Was announced on the radio that they will have armed guards at night on the government dock; I guess partly because Papo's outboard was stolen, and partly because theft was making cruisers reluctant to party ashore in the restaurants at night. Dinghied over to PB marina and dropped off diesel jug to be filled. Over to Yacht Club, and did a long session of internet, and exchanged a couple of paperback books. Happened to see Terry from "Second Wind", and found out the sail-repair lady never made a new mainsail for them ! She strung them along for 3 months, and then just gave back their old main (which she had taken to use as a pattern), and said sorry, no new sail ! Came out of Yacht Club and saw that a small powerboat had sunk at PB marina. It had been listing when I went there this morning, and I guess nobody did anything about it, even though it was happening in full sight of the armed guards that always sit at that marina. [The next day, it had been refloated, which probably just required pumping out; I think it sank in about 1 foot of water. Two days later, it had been hauled out and put on blocks next to the ramp.] Clouding over and trying to rain again around noon. Salad and spaghetti and mango-mix-and-rum for dinner. 10/11/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Mostly cloudy, but gambled that sun would come out, and did a bucket of laundry. Sun came out. Took down the mainsail; no point in leaving it up in the sun and wind for the next month with no intention of using it. Dinghied to PB marina. Got 10 gallons of water, and paid for diesel (520 pesoes / $17 for 5 gallons; 104 pesoes / $3.40 per gallon). Went to Yacht Club and did some internet, but it was slow. Dinghied to town. On the govt dock, had a nice chat with Hoyt about books. Lots of pretty women wandering around the square today, for some reason. Read my book, bought rolls and bananas and grapefruit. On the way back to the government dock, saw a swirl of local guys coming off the dock, including a couple of the Navy guys carrying shotguns. Passed through them, onto the dock, and then looked back to see a commotion starting. They were trying to force a guy up to the Navy barracks; I guess they were arresting him or something. Maybe he was from the fishing boat that came in this morning, and didn't have a passport or something ? He kept balking and trying to walk past the entrance to the footbridge to the Navy barracks. One of the Navy guys kept pushing him, but was holding a shotgun in the other hand, so was having a tough time. A couple more Navy guys came running down to help. Lots of yelling and confusion. I just kept walking, and soon a building was blocking my view. Kept going, wondering if I'd hear a shotgun blast. Never did. Salad and lunchmeat sandwiches and grapefruit for dinner. 10/12/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Squashed a cockroach in the aft head; he was walking across the boric acid stuff. Called Papo to get his price for diesel, but he wouldn't give it over the radio; he wanted to come out to my boat. But I was leaving, and missed him. Dinghied ashore about 8:45 and caught guagua to Imbert. Had a nice chat with a cruiser from "Seachange" on the way. After a few missteps in Imbert, caught nice Javilla Tours bus to Santiago (60 pesoes; $2). Arrived in Santiago about 10:45. Walked a mile or so from bus area to the big suspension bridge crossing the river, which has a great view. Looked down on a guy in a large rowboat ferrying people across the muddy river. He had a line across the river, and was pulling the boat by hand. But I couldn't figure out how he was keeping the bow pointed upstream correctly: he was sitting in the stern, and there was a moderate current, and he had his hands close together on the rope across the river. So what was keeping the bow from swinging off too far from one side to the other ? Sat a little while in a park near the bridge, then walked over to the street 30 de Marzo and sat in a huge park there, next to a cathedral. Sprinkled rain a few times, but generally very pleasant. Picked a great day to come here: it's mostly overcast, so cooler than usual, but not quite raining. Chatted a little with a woman and a boy, but got a bit uncomfortable when the woman tried to bum things from me, and then a couple of bummy-looking older guys started coming over. So I left, and went walking some more. Wandered through a large department store. Lots of interesting shops on the streets, some nicely-painted buildings and houses, and a fair number of nice-looking women. Lots of car-traffic, so you have to be careful; it's a big city. Found a small place for lunch, and although they had pages and pages of menu, not a single price listed on any of it ! So the only guy who spoke English came over and started translating all the items for me; I didn't really need that, just a list of the prices. When the food came, it was delicious, a nice stir-fried chicken and broccoli and cheese. Very good. My book for today is "Lieutenant Hornblower" by C. S. Forester, and what's really neat is that the action takes place in Samana Bay, about 100 miles east of Luperon ! Walked and walked, and went to the big "Monument" at what I think is the east end of downtown. Lots of steps to climb just to get up to the base of the monument, but terrific views from there. The city is huge, sprawling over several sets of hills, and there are mountain ranges in the distance on two sides (a little too cloudy to see them much today). And a nice cool but humid breeze. On the street down below the monument is a huge "Western" (as in Country & Western) restaurant/bar, with a replica stagecoach out front, and a local guy dressed as a cowboy out in the street trying to drum up business. The place is done up to the max in the C&W theme, with dark wood walls with half-barrels embedded in them every 20 feet or so. Really hideous. Back down into the center of old downtown (I think) and shopped at the supermarket there. Not much selection on things like peanut butter, and frustrating because I can't get cold or heavy stuff, since I'm so far from home. But I bought a bag of groceries and headed for the bus. Not too much trouble getting the bus back, but it was smaller and more crowded than the bus in. Halfway to Imbert, the skies opened and the rain pounded down, and traffic slowed to a crawl. I hoped it would rain itself out before I had to get off, but no such luck. Sat in the bus shelter at Imbert for 20 minutes or so with a dozen other people, until there was a lull. Slogged over 100 yards to the waiting guagua to Imbert, and waited in it for 15 minutes until enough passengers collected. Off to Luperon, and it's a good thing we were in a high van instead of one of the small Toyota cars, because the road was flooded at one place. Looked like a whole field full of water uphill from the road, and 10-12 inches of water flowing across the road and through some cement-slab houses. About 100 yards of the road were flooded, and we crept through slowly. Got to Luperon around 5, and rain had eased a bit. No point in waiting for it to stop, so I headed for the dinghy with only my hat to keep the rain off. The crew from "Exuma Grouper" was doing the same, so we walked and talked together. Into the dinghy, bailed it out as I motored out to the boat, and wasn't too badly soaked when I arrived. So, that was a very pleasant day ! I enjoyed Santiago. Salad and peanutbutter-and-banana sandwiches for dinner. Rain stopped from 6 to 7 but then rained again until 10 or so. 10/13/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Sunshine in the morning, although plenty of big clouds on the horizon in a couple of directions. Got Papo on the radio, and he quoted me $3.75/gallon for diesel, delivered to the boat. That's about 116 pesoes/gallon, and PB marina was charging 104 two days ago (but I have to dinghy it from marina to boat). So I think I'll get some from the marina every time I have to go over there. 15 minutes later, as I was leaving the boat, Papo came by and did a hard-sell to try to get me to buy diesel, gas, water, and scraping the hull. Dinghied over to the Yacht Club and did a long session of internet. As I was finishing, the main electricity went out, and 10 minutes later the internet went too. Chatted with the guy from "Serendipity" while doing internet, and we started having the usual conversation about how many things we have to fix on our boats. But then I realized he really has a long list of serious things: broken water-pump on one engine, inverter/charger is broken, etc. He's ordering a bunch of stuff to be shipped in, and he'll have an ordeal to get it through Customs. Went to PB marina and dropped off diesel jug and loaded 10 gallons of water. Loafed on the boat all afternoon, except for a brief look at the ignition-timing area of the outboard. Very dark low clouds came over at 3:45, but no rain. Salad and chicken-rice-corn and mangomix-and-rum for dinner. 10/14/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Did a small bucket of laundry. Dinghied to Yacht Club and did internet. To PB marina, paid for diesel (525 pesoes, at 105/gallon), got water. After lunch, planned to go into town, but Roberto asked me to keep an eye on his newly-anchored boat while he dashed in. So I waited, and replaced the zinc in the engine heat-exchanger. By the time he got back, rain was threatening, but I dashed in anyway. Bought pan de aqua (rolls), guineos (bananas), tomates (tomatoes), and onions (don't know the word for that, yet). Back to boat, and 20 minutes later it started raining. Rained hard, then gently for a couple of hours. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 10/15/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Very cloudy; dark, threatening rainclouds in all directions, and no wind. Loafed all day. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and pineapplemix-and-rum for dinner. Lots of bedbugs biting my legs at night. 10/16/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Mostly clouded over. Sounds like most of the Caribbean is this way. Exchange rate is 32.5; it's been moving in our favor; it was 28-something three months ago. On the cruiser's net, I asked to borrow an ignition timing light for my outboard, but got no response. Did a bucket of laundry (all the bedsheets) and bug-sprayed my berth and mattress several times. In the afternoon, went to PB marina and got 5 gallons of water and dropped off diesel jug. Dinghied to Yacht Club and did a long internet session. Salad and salami-and-cheese sandwiches and pineapplemix-and-rum for dinner. Light rain in the early night. 10/17/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Moderate rain at 5:45, then a partly-sunny morning. But totally clouded over by 10, and threatening rain. Dinghied into town, mostly just to get off the boat. Read a book in the park, bought bananas and mayonnaise. Can't find sausage here; will have to have Steve get some for me. Back to the dinghy dock, and did my good deed for the day: a family I'd said hello to a few times in town was stuck 30 feet off the dock; their outboard had quit. Even when I loaned them some starting fluid, not a peep from it; must have a totally fouled plug. So I gave them a tow. A long, slow tow through oily-calm conditions to the far end of the harbor. They were very thankful. Called Steve and asked him to buy some sausage for me. Cleaned the outboard's spark plugs; the top one was fouled with big grains of hardened crud in a way I've never seen before; the bottom one was just oily as usual. Around 3, dinghied to PB marina. On the way, throttled up a bit and the motor actually accelerated ! So maybe it's not a compression problem, but an ignition problem. Maybe I need new spark plug wires or something. Took a walk up the road and over to the ocean side, to see if there were any big waves. Half a dozen cattle wandering loose across the road and grazing in the edges. Disappointing; a hotel guard stopped me out in front of the hotel, so I couldn't get down anywhere near the beach. But I saw a little section of ocean, and it looked calm. So why do I hear big surf noises every now and then in the harbor ? Back to the marina, paid for diesel (109 pesoes/gal now), and back to the boat. Read for a few minutes, then nasty-looking dark clouds approached from the S. Had time to hoist the dinghy, take a quick shave and shower, close the hatches and ports, and then the storm hit. Pretty violent: horizontal rain and wind up to 40+ knots, and kept going for a while. A trawler slid into a sailboat and both went into the mangroves; apparently both are owned by the same guy, who's out of town at the moment. Salad and chili for dinner. Rained quite a bit for most of the evening. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. 10/18/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Day started out cloudy, but then the tradewinds came back ! They've been gone for a couple of weeks. Turned sunny and blew E 20 or so. Dinghied to PB marina and dropped off jugs to get filled with diesel and gasoline. To Yacht Club and did internet. Chatted there with Chuck (I think) from "Serendipity". He and his family were up here when the monsoon hit yesterday afternoon, and he says it caused pandemonium up here. The Yacht Club 2nd floor is just a big tiki-hut, with no sides, so the horizontal rain blew right through and soaked everyone and everything, including someone's laptop computer. One of his daughters tried to dinghy out to their boat to take down laundry, I think, and the wind overpowered the dinghy and blew her right back to the dinghy dock. Dinghied to town. Long chat with pushy girl who used to work in Gina's and Steve's. I find long conversations where someone's trying to teach me Spanish to be very tiring, although she's generally a nice girl. Then she started wheedling me to bring her out to the boat and cook her dinner sometime, and I'm just not up for that, and I finally said no and left. Bought some rolls at the bakery and back to the boat. Salad and peanutbutter-and-banana sandwiches and rum-and- fruitmix for dinner. In the middle of dinner, dinghied over to PB marina and paid for fuel: 109/gal for diesel and 133/gal for gas. 1589 pesoes ($50) for 10 gals of diesel and 1.5 gals of gasoline. 10/19/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Up early, put diesel in the tank, took a cold shower, and dinghied in to town about 8 AM. Caught guagua to Imbert and then crowded bus to Puerto Plata. Long walk to the medical clinic, to get a checkup at the cardiologist. But it turned into a fiasco: the secretaries at the clinic (which is a big place) spoke almost no English, and barely understood any of my Spanish. They eventually had me write my name on a blank card, told me to take a seat in the crowded waiting room, and then I sat for 2.5 hours reading my book and being totally clueless. Most other patients had envelopes of papers that I didn't have, I couldn't figure out how patients knew when to go in and which room to go to, nothing made any sense, and they never called my name. Around noon, I think the doctors left for siesta or something, because traffic died down although the secretaries and a few other people were still around. I never was sure how many doctors there were. Eventually I gave up and left, hungry and tired and confused. Hope I never get sick for real around here. Long walk back to the bus stop, keeping an eye out for the supermarket but not finding it. Both ATMs in Imbert refused to give money. In Luperon, bought bananas and a cabbage. Back to the boat at 3:15. Waste of a day. But I guess I would have loafed and wasted it anyway. Chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-fruitmix for dinner. 10/20/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Another clear and sunny day; nice after the two weeks of clouds and rain we just had. Dropped off empty fuel jugs at PB marina, then did internet at Yacht Club. Told Doug about my experience at the medical clinic. Salad and salami-and-cheese sandwiches and rum-and- orangemix for dinner. Some rain in the early night. 10/21/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied in to town. Read my book, did some internet, bought rolls and bananas. Then over to PB marina and paid for fuel; diesel price still 109 pesoes. Chili-and-noodles for dinner. 10/22/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Emptied fuel jugs into fuel tank. Dinghied to Yacht Club and did internet. To PB marina and dropped off empty fuel jugs. Back to boat, and listened to November-Mike-November marine weather broadcast. This morning's Carib weather net broadcast said Tropical Depression 25 was SE of us and was going to move WNW and glance off the SW tip of Haiti, but in the Yacht Club Doug told me it's going to go right over top of us. Sure enough, that's what NMN says it will do. But we probably won't get more than strong squalls from it: the strength will get knocked down as it crosses over the island. Then it will strengthen again in the water north of us and head off into the Atlantic. Still, I'm wondering if I should put out a second anchor. Decided to snorkel under the boat and clean the prop instead. A nasty job in this sewagey water full of jellyfish. And I'll need to do it again in a couple of weeks just before I leave. I wonder if we're going to feel anything from hurricane Wilma, hovering over the Yucatan right now. If it follows the extreme southern edge of predictions, and hits the Florida Keys, we might feel some of it here. I think the Keys are about 200 miles away, and Wilma has strong winds out that far from the center. But not likely. So, right after lunch, I got my courage up and went snorkeling under the boat to scrape the propeller. Tons of growth under there, with some white ropy things hanging down a foot long. Prop had barnacles and stuff at least an inch thick on both sides of it, and I had to work hard to chop it off. Had about 6 feet of line wrapped around it, too; had to go aboard and get a knife and go back down to cut it off. Lots of little crabs fleeing the destruction and crawling on my wetsuit. But the worst was the jellyfish. Almost a foot in diameter, translucent and white, but with very short tentacles; they were almost saucer-shaped. Visibility was only about 3 feet, so I feared swimming right into a jellyfish and getting stung all over my face. A couple bounced off my wetsuited thigh, and I got a few little stings on ankles and neck. And a few times I came face to face with a cluster of 3 to 5 jellyfish, and had to turn around and retreat. But it went pretty well, and I was relieved to get back aboard and shower thoroughly. Dinghied in to town, read my book, and bought rum and grapefruit and tangerines. Grapefruit and salad and tuna-fish sandwiches and rum-and-gingerale for dinner. 6 PM weather from NMN sounds like Tropical Depression 25 (now Tropical Storm "Alpha") will pass 50 miles or so to the west of us. The island will knock down the strength anyway. 10/23/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Listened to Car Talk at 5 AM. Completely grey, solid cloud. Rained on and off starting at 6:30. Zero wind. Carib weather net says TS "Alpha" has slowed down, and will pass west of us this morning. Its path has split the difference between the WNW predicted by Carib and the NNW predicted by NMN: it's going NW. Forgot to turn on the VHF radio in time to listen to the cruiser's net this morning. Missed it on Wednesday too. Radio listening has gotten complicated: Car Talk at 5 AM, NMN and BBC both at 6 AM, NPR and Carib Weather both at 7 AM, more NPR and cruiser's net both at 8 AM, more NPR after that. Found a bite-rash on the inside of my right elbow; don't know if it's from an insect or a jellyfish. Size of a quarter, swollen and pink, an itches. And a smaller red lump on my forehead; pretty sure that one is a jellyfish sting. And a couple of small lumps on my neck, and one on the back of my left upper arm. Loafed through a grey, still day. Salad and chicken-onion-rice-mushroomsoup for dinner. Added water to batteries. Ran engine for an hour to charge batteries. 10/24/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Sunny and clear; nice. Hurricane Wilma is hitting south Florida this morning, and American Forces Radio on shortwave, where I get some NPR content, is off the air. Wonder if their antenna is down or something. Dinghied to Yacht Club and did internet, then to PB marina and picked up filled fuel jugs. Price of diesel has risen to 113 pesoes ($3.50) per gallon. After lunch, dinghied to town. Read book, chatted with a couple of cruisers, bought rolls and a pastry and chicken. Salad and "salami"-and-cheese sandwiches and rum-and- orangemix for dinner. Killed a cockroach in the cockpit. Hot, still, buggy evening; hard to sleep. 10/25/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Sunny and clear and will be hot again. AFR/NPR is still off the air. BBC said nothing about Florida and hurricane Wilma. Loafed all day on the boat. Fuel level 9.0 inches at engine hour 3784. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. Huge lightning storm and tons of rain from 6 PM to 7:45. Several weapons-grade lightning strikes on the hilltops less than 1/4 mile from me. [The next day, I heard that a strike exploded a power transformer somewhere, probably on the other side of the harbor, and it was a huge explosion and left lots of power lines destroyed too.] Rain got so bad that I had to close even the main hatch, inside the doghouse. 10/26/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. AFR/NPR shortwave still off the air. I've still heard almost nothing about what Wilma did to Florida; guess I'll have to look on the internet today. Finally remembered to listen to the cruiser's net. No response to my request for an ignition timing light. Heard something about a cruiser (on a motorbike, I assume) who hit a cow and was injured. Did a bucket of laundry. Dinghied over to the Yacht Club, and they were still mopping up the rainwater that flooded them last night. Chatted with Terry, and found out that a cruiser named Bruce riding a motorbike hit a cow in the road at night, and was injured fairly extensively. Hung around for an hour hoping the cell-phone connection for their internet would start working, but instead eventually the power went out too, so I gave up. Chatted with Dave from "Ilean" on the dinghy dock; he was complaining about a new fuel tank he'd had made for his boat. He said "just once, I was thinking I'd finally got the locals to do something here without screwing it up or screwing me over". But when they brought out his new stainless-steel tank, he found they'd made it of very thick metal, on the theory that more is always better. So instead of weighing 40 pounds, it weighs 140, and I think he doesn't want to put it in the boat. Went to PB marina, got 5 gallons of water, and picked up 10 gallons of diesel (109 pesoes/gallon). After lunch, cleaned spark plugs on outboard and then went into town. Lots of pretty women wandering around in the central square, and some kind of political meeting going on at the PRD headquarters there. Often noisy, as usual: they like to run cars or trucks through town with immense sound systems on them, blasting out music or advertisements of some kind. Sometimes someone will park their truck next to the square and play music at a chest-rattling volume for an hour or so. Half of the time it's pretty good music. Bought bananas and onions. Stopped in at Steve's Place to look for fruit, and chatted with Bruce from "Molasses" (he has a second boat, too). He's the one who hit the cow, and he's a mess. The cow was walking up the road as he motored out of a traffic circle, and he barely saw it swing its head toward him before he hit it. He was going 20-25 MPH at the time. I think he went flying off the bike and landed on a whole lot of glass and gravel on the road. He has a huge nasty bloody welt just under his left eye, bloody oozing punctures in arms and legs, and a big hole down near one ankle where the doctor pulled out a chunk of glass the size of a shot-glass. He looks and feels like hell. He's a nice guy, and had been working hard to fix up his second boat and sell it so he could sail out of here, and this is a big setback. Salad and "salami"-and-cheese sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. Completely still and warm and humid and buggy evening; hard to get to sleep. 10/27/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. AFR/NPR shortwave still off the air. Jellyfish stings finally have faded away almost entirely. Dinghied to the Yacht Club, but their internet was still down, and they hadn't even tried to fix it since yesterday. We decided the cell-phone wasn't working, and they're going to have to take it in to be looked at. Got water at PB marina and dropped off a gasoline jug. Chatted with a guy who said Bruce is back on his motorbike today ! He must be feeling a lot better than he was yesterday afternoon. Back to boat. Dinghied to town, stopping to chat with Doug and Paula on "Exuma Grouper", and then Kip from "Golden Dawn" at the dinghy dock. His wind-generator fried itself in the thunderstorm a couple of nights ago, and now is draining the batteries instead of charging them. Bought bread at the panaderia, then to Verizon for internet. Their computers are infected with a virus that opens tons of browser windows all the time, but I was able to get a few things done. But still frustrated: I'm trying to buy airplane tickets to fly from Puerto Rico to USA for Christmas, and I keep hitting roadblocks. The latest is that the ticket I want can't be an electronic ticket, probably because it involves a puddle-jumper on a partner airline in addition to the main ticket. But I have no way to pick up a paper ticket, and I wouldn't trust the mails. And I'm unsure what alternatives are available in PR for getting from Salinas to San Juan, which would eliminate the puddle-jumper. Salad and chicken-onion-potato-mushroomsoup and rum-and-orangemix for dinner. Another still and warm evening. 10/28/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. AFR/NPR shortwave still off the air. Internet still down at the Yacht Club. 80-foot motoryacht "Johanna" has come in to the government dock. Trying to calculate how many more pesoes to get out of the ATM. Need to get more fuel, and maybe some more meat, and I'm unsure how much the tourist-card official is going to clip me for when I leave. Don't want to get extra pesoes, because there's no way to change them back to dollars (what a racket). Although when I get to PR I might find a cruiser going the other direction; I did that for a cruiser in Georgetown. Repaired torn Dominican Republic courtesy flag. Dinghied to PB marina, with very little gas left in the tank, and found they hadn't filled the jug I left yesterday morning. So I had to keep going, hoping I don't run out and get stranded somewhere. Went to town, and caught guagua to Imbert. ATM worked; got 5000 pesoes / $160 from it. Walked from the crossroads in a direction I'd never gone very far before, and found the actual town of Imbert. Turned out to be a pretty big place, with a very nice central square. Sat and read for a little while, then back to the crossroads and caught guagua back to Luperon. This was one of the cars that have been modified to run on propane, now that gas prices are up so high. Some cruisers think they're unsafe, and I guess they are less safe than a gas car, since the propane tank is in the trunk instead of outside, and the conversion is a custom job. In Luperon, read in the square for a little while, bought bananas and tomatoes, and back to boat. Outboard tank starting to run dry; had to tilt it and pump it to keep it going. Salad and "salami"-and-cheese sandwiches for dinner. 10/29/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. AFR/NPR shortwave still off the air. Heard a snip of USA news on another station; apparently lots of people in FL still don't have power after hurricane Wilma. So I guess it did some significant damage. That's the first I've been able to hear anything about it. Motoryacht "Johanna" has left. New catamaran at the government dock. Yacht Club has figured out why their internet died: a rat chewed through one of the cables. Opened up starboard nav light and found the bulb had come apart. Cleaned up the socket, put a new bulb in, and caulked and screwed the housing shut. Then did half a dozen other caulk jobs I'd been saving up: outside of port-aft cleat (may be the deck leak into my berth), outside of starboard-forward stanchion (can't get to it from the inside to rebed it properly: there's an air-conditioner evaporator right under it), base of mizzen-mast, starboard-aft corner of cockpit coaming (may be the leak into the aft head), and around some pilothouse roof drains (there's an alarming leak where water comes OUT of the upper-port-aft corner of the underside of the pilothouse roof; just can't figure out how water would ever get to there). PB marina says they actually have filled the gas jug I left, so I'll head over after lunch. Started making a Puerto Rico courtesy flag. Dinghied to PB marina, hoping the gasoline in the tank would be enough to get there, and it was. Got my jug of gas (193 pesoes for 1.5 gallons), and dropped off jugs for more diesel and gasoline. In to town, and read my book in the square. Did internet, bought bread and pastry. On the way back to the boat, got a clue about the outboard problem: at one point, it started starving for gas, which makes it run lean briefly, which gives it a burst of power. When that happened, it really did surge forward powerfully. That seems to indicate that it's not limited by compression. So maybe I have a carburetion problem. Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-orangemix for dinner. Power catamaran came into the harbor and anchored near the govt dock. 10/30/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Have a sinus headache. AFR/NPR shortwave still off the air: no Car Talk this morning. Listened to cruiser's net, and no response to my request for a timing light. Boat has arrived from Cartagena, to spend 3 months here, at a time when everyone else is about to leave. I guess daylight-savings time must have changed last night; my computer says so, but I can never remember, and the cruiser's net happened on "old time". Internet still not working at Yacht Club; they went to Santiago and still were unable to get a new cable. Changed one clock and was about to change another, when I heard something that reminded me that Puerto Rico doesn't do daylight savings, so I probably shouldn't change my clocks. Or maybe I should change them by two hours. Confusing. Left them unchanged. Loafed all day. Did some more painting on the Puerto Rico courtesy flag. Salad and "salami"-and-cheese sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. 10/31/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Dinghied to PB marina, picked up and paid for the diesel (price down to 106 pesoes/gallon, or $3), but he had sold the gasoline he fetched for me. That's okay, I don't need it yet. Dinghied to town. Read my book in the square, and did internet. Got some news about the hurricane Wilma damage to Florida from my friends, and it's worse than I had guessed. My relatives in Ft Laud had little damage to their house, but water went out for a day or two, electricity has been out for a week and may be out for two weeks more (but they have a generator), and all phones went out for a while (but now one of their cell-phones is working). One of my friends in Miami Beach was sheltering in an apartment when he saw his boat dragging out in the harbor. He ran down to the dinghy dock to go out to the boat (madness), and a falling telephone pole just missed killing him. It bashed his arm so hard that he still can't move his arm, although the doctor says nothing is broken and it will recover. His boat dragged a couple of hundred feet but survived, but several boats near South Beach sank, and who knows how many more near Watson Island and Dinner Key went down ? Bought bread and grapefruit, but no bananas to be had. Very confusing in the little fruit shop: I couldn't understand the price he was saying, and one reason was that it was 1/4 the usual price. I think the guy gets confused every now and then. Got four grapefruit for 10 pesoes (30 cents). Salad and chicken-onion-rice and rum-and-coke for dinner. 11/1/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Saw a cabin-cruiser leave for Puerto Rico; I think it was Ernie, and he'd been here for the season. So he's the first to leave. Loaded diesel and water into the tanks. Probably get one more load of fuel before leaving. Cleaned spark plugs on outboard and leaned out the mixture a bit. Painted PR courtesy flag some more. Chatted with Doug on the radio for a long time. He says I'll have to pay a lot more when I check out of here than I was expecting to pay. Dinghied to PB marina and picked up 1.5 gallons of gasoline; price is down to 121 pesoes/gallon ($3.75). Got 10 gallons of water too. Dinghied to town, and had a long chat with Doug and Amanda in the park. Bought bananas. Salad and peanutbutter-and-banana sandwiches for dinner. A sudden, very rainy squall hit around 7 PM. Could hear the rain hissing on the water as it approached, and had to scramble to get the forward hatch closed. 11/2/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Headachey in the morning. I think Doug is right: when the wind dies in the night, the harbor fills with smoke from burning fields, and the air here isn't very healthy. Put grommets in Puerto Rico courtesy flag, finishing it. Dinghied to town. Did internet, and finally bought tickets to fly from San Juan PR to USA for Christmas. But I don't know how I'm going to get from Salinas to San Juan; there doesn't seem to be inter-city bus service in PR. Also found out I was right: the AFR shortwave I like to listen to was broadcasting from Key West, so I guess the power outage in South Florida has knocked them off the air. Sat in the central square, read my book, and looked at the pretty women. A big group of teens nearby exploded in laughter, from some practical joke played on one of them, I think, but the rest of us sitting around couldn't figure out what the joke was. Bought rolls, and bought sausage from Steve. Unfortunately, had to buy an entire 6-pound package of it, which filled my freezer completely. Last time, Steve and I split a package. And they don't seem to do spicy sausage (chorizo) here, so it's a decent basil-spiced (I think) sausage (languestina) I've had before. Spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 11/3/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Started looking for a weather-window to leave here and go to Puerto Rico. Wind will be starting to moderate Sunday or so, but seas will be coming from NE around then, which is no good for hopping along the north coast of the DR. Maybe leaving Monday will be possible. Will spend 3 or 4 days hopping along the north coast before getting to the Mona Passage; I plan to stop at Mona Island in the middle of the Passage. Did a bucket of laundry. Fuel level 10.6 inches at engine hour 3784 Repaired fire-hose bumper on starboard davit. Dinghied to town. Read my book, did some internet, bought bread, bought a bucket. Salad and "salami"-and-cheese sandwiches and rum-and-coke for dinner. Scattered rain in the evening. Very strange: seemed to be very big, very discrete drops, in many separate little squalls. Then some steadier rain for a while. 11/4/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Planning to leave Luperon on Monday evening. I think a bunch of other people will be leaving then too. Put the mainsail and mizzen up. Dinghied to PB marina, dropped off empty fuel jugs, got water. Dinghied in to town, bought D batteries, did internet. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 11/5/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. Up on deck early, and cleaned mass of barnacles and gunk off the anchor chain. Weather forecast from Chris Parker / Carib Weather Net looks good, even improving: swells this weekend are smaller than forecast. I might leave Sunday night, if I can get clearance on Sunday. But couldn't get NOAA forecast at 6 AM. Straightened up and cleaned the boat, to get it into shape to move. Dinghied to Yacht Club, to look for Steve on "Manana" who sent me email saying he was arriving and wanted to say hi. But he wasn't there; he must be staying in town. Exchanged some paperback books. Heard Dave from "Ilean" talking, and apparently there was some excitement in the middle of last night: two guys swam out from shore and tried to steal a dinghy. They cut through a rope painter but couldn't get through a cable, and then the owner came out and chased them. Dave got out there too, and the Navy came out eager to shoot someone, but the guys got away. To PB marina, and paid for fuel, but instead of 5 diesel and 5 gas, they gave me 10 diesel. 106 pesoes/gallon. Took it to the boat, put the 5 from the gas jug into the tank, and took the empty back to PB marina. Talked to the guy to make sure I'll get gas this time. Mentioned to Mike from "Seacomber" (some call him "Mayor Mike"; he's been here quite a while, and sort of patrols the harbor in his dinghy every morning) that I was thinking of leaving soon, and he immediately said "but there's NE in the forecast, and the nightly lee won't be working". So that gave me pause. Back to boat. Shoot: the NOAA forecast at noon doesn't sound as good as Chris Parker's: there's a touch of NE in the forecasts, which is bad for the north coast anchorages. So maybe I won't leave Sunday evening. After lunch, managed to contact Steve on "Manana" on the radio. Dinghied over to the Yacht Club marina and met Steve and his friend John and Don (who I'd met before). Nice chat on his boat, then up to the Yacht Club restaurant and chatted over a late lunch. Steve has been reading my web site and log file, and it was fun to meet up. He left here (leaving his boat behind) about 9 months ago, and was pointing out the ways it's changed even since then, and recognizing people and boats, and wondering where other ones had gotten to. He taught English in one of the schools for a while, and that helped improve his Spanish quite a bit. He said that Dominican girls like the gringo guys because the guys have good "peso-nalities"; the Dominican woman with us, a friend of his, knew that joke and laughed about it. He said lots of the girls have burns on their legs from hitting motorcycle mufflers, since motorcycles are the main way of getting around here. Dropped off my boat card at "Exuma Grouper" and chatted with them for a minute, then dashed into town, mostly to get some exercise. Bought bananas and bread, and right back out to the boat. Dinghied up into the harbor entrance and went to a barbecue on the beach. A bit of a fiasco getting ashore, since my outboard won't tilt up (the grease in there congealed a long time ago, and I can't figure out how to fix that). So I ran aground fairly far off the beach, anchored and got out to walk in, and quickly found a patch of water 3+ feet deep. Got wet up to my waist, felt like a fool, and was glad I'd left my wallet back on the boat. The barbecue was okay, and I grilled a couple of sausages I'd brought with me and chatted with various people. But people had brought dogs, and 4 or 5 of them chased each other through everyone's legs and fought with each other and made a real nuisance of themselves. Tried to look out to see the sea state, and saw some roughness on the horizon. Some of the cruisers told me stories about taking their dinghy 5 miles out of harbor, mostly along the shore, to go exploring or fishing. I just don't have the confidence in my dinghy to do that ! And one of the stories was about having his dinghy rolled in the surf and having to hike for 3 hours to get back and get help organized. The couple from "Wandering Albatross" was ruefully musing that they might have to wait quite a while for a great weather window to go to Puerto Rico. (They have an odd restriction: they have an electric motor instead of a combustion engine in their boat. So they can power only 30-45 minutes before running out of battery power. And they have only solar to recharge. So they really MUST sail.) Doug of "Presque Isle" mentioned that he cleaned the hull of one boat three times last year before they finally made it out of here; twice they thought they would go and then didn't. Back to the boat, getting bitten by mosquitoes on the way, and with the outboard still partly-tilted. 11/6/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Wasn't able to hear the 6 AM NOAA weather, and Chris Parker is off today. But I hear some surf noises. And I think I won't go tonight. Brief rainshower at 8:10, during the cruiser's net, out of a mostly-sunny sky. Nice huge rainbow, too. Bruce Van Sant says Wednesday forecast is NE 20-25, and will be stronger along the coast (during the day). That's not what I heard yesterday, but maybe he's getting some forecast I'm not getting. Hauled out the storm jib, took it to the bow to check that I remember how to rig it, then put it back in the cockpit. Dinghied over to PB marina to pick up the jug of gas which was supposed to be filled yesterday afternoon, and there's no sign of the jug, empty or full. Hope it wasn't stolen. A fair amount of NE and 20 sprinkled through the noon NOAA forecasts, but it's hard to tell if that will affect me, since I'm at the boundary of the forecast areas, and in the coastal area of a large island as well. Confusing. Dinghied to PB marina and got my gasoline; price has fallen to 120 pesoes ($3.90) per gallon. Told Mike from "Seacomber" he was right, there was too much NE in the forecast, and he applauded me for agreeing with me; I guess others have been arguing with him, and planning to leave. Dinghied to town, and found a big political rally going on. Lots of people in the park, and plenty of pretty women. Read my book and loafed and enjoyed the scene. Bought onions. Salad and chili for dinner. "Neshuma" and "Quest" left the harbor, heading east. Didn't hear much from them about conditions outside. 6 PM NOAA forecasts still have NE and 20 sprinkled through them. 11/7/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. I think I heard Kenny on "Smidgeon" make brief SSB contact with "Neshuma", but fail to make contact with Judy on "Quest" several times. 6 AM NOAA forecasts still have some NE and 20 here and there. But since I'm at the edges of all the forecast areas, that weather may be 300 miles from me. Who knows ? And the weather here in the harbor has nothing to do with the weather outside the harbor, so you can't eyeball it yourself. And the daytime weather is quite different from the nighttime here; it blows 20+ all day and then zero at night. As I hoped, a boat here who has a Marine SSB transceiver (I don't) and is a "sponsoring vessel" asked Chris Parker about leaving Luperon for Puerto Rico, and his answer was far more encouraging than the NOAA forecasts. Sounds fine for leaving Wednesday night, maybe even Tuesday night, with conditions moderating more and more all week, and the wind's slight ENE tinge turning into a slight ESE tinge. Seas decreasing from E 5 on Wednesday to E 4 on Sunday. Should be good conditions for crossing the Mona Passage next weekend, wind probably ESE 10. Another unfortunate timing: Chris Parker will be off the air Friday through Sunday ! Listening to his Caribbean Weather Net in the morning is interesting: various boats check in from all over the place. So you hear from someone who's 1/3 of the way from Bermuda to St Martin, and get to share in their situation and planning. Then you hear from someone heading from Bonaire to Panama, and share their situation. Around 9:30, heard "Smidgeon" saying that "Quest" was doing fine, in fact they were continuing in daylight to Escondido instead of stopping for the day at Rio San Juan. So conditions must be pretty good out there. I think Judy has two people with her to help her get to PR, so they can go continuously. But it blows hard along the coast here in the daytime; the tradewinds get sped up by the coast. After lunch, heard Peter on "Lady Margaret Rose" calling "Seacomber", and I eavesdropped. He just put in his injectors after servicing, and tried to start the engine (4-cyl diesel) with the exhaust through-hull closed accidentally. Wouldn't start, then he opened the valve and started it and ran it for 30 minutes, but it won't throttle up above high idle under load, and he sees gas bubbling in the coolant tank. So he thinks he's blown his head gasket. Mike said that would be an easy fix, which surprises me, but what do I know ? They're going to check for water in the cylinders. When Mike asked if the engine had seized, Peter said no, it didn't stop or seize, but it had been seized at some time in the past. Dinghied in to town, read my book in the park, and took a walk up to the top of the hills south of town; nice view over the harbor and out to the ocean. Plenty of whitecaps out there; it's blowing hard during the day today. At sunset, dinghied in to town again, and went to Gina's restaurant. Met Kenny there, and soon Steve and John and Tom (the buyer for Steve's boat) and Don showed up to toast my pending departure. Had a couple of beers and some nachos, and nothing else for dinner. Had a good time, with the guys telling lots of stories that were funny or crude or both. After Don left, they told one story about him. He's about 70 now, a former 101st Airborne trooper. And they told me he'd been a karate instructor too. Apparently a couple of years ago he had a habit of getting into bar fights here. Anyway, one night he and his Dominican girlfriend were in a bar, and they were teasing and taunting and insulting each other. But she was better at it than him, and eventually he lost his temper and poured a bottle of beer over her head. A couple of big Dominican guys took exception to that, came over, and started throwing punches at Don. He just stood there blocking every punch; they couldn't touch him ! Eventually they gave up and went away. Most of the stories were about gringo guys and Dominican whores, and they were rude and crude. Apparently there's a long history of that, and some of these guys know every "available" woman in town and have a history with many of them. When I got here, someone told me that every car-wash here is a brothel. Kenny and Steve said that's not true. Many car-washes exist because it's easier to get a license for a car-wash that sells refreshments (alcohol) on the side, than it is to get a license for a bar. And any bar-like business that has beautiful women employees may have a prostitution angle going on. If you want to hire a woman for the night, you pay a "salida" fee to the business to free her from employment, then you pay her for services. Left Gina's about 10:15, and had to wait out a couple of rainshowers under roof overhangs on the street. Walked out to the govt dock to the dinghy. Didn't see any of the guards who are supposed to be watching the dinghy dock, but maybe they were there and watching me. Dinghied out through dark and dead-calm harbor to the boat. Got everything unlocked and the dinghy hoisted. Into bed and it started raining again 15 minutes later. 11/8/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Crap: the weather forecast has changed a bit. As before, conditions will moderate through Friday, with Friday being the best day. But then NE 20+ will appear on Saturday, and blow for several days. If I left tonight and all went well, I'd be at Mona Island on Saturday morning. I think I'll leave tonight and hop to Samana, which has protection from the NE. But if I break down between here and there, I'll be in an anchorage with no protection from the NE. And I didn't want to stop at Samana, because it has an evil reputation for theft. Should have left on Sunday evening as I originally thought. If I push a bit and skip Escondido, I could get to Samana in 2 nights, and get to Mona Island on Friday morning. But the anchorages at Mona Island don't look tenable in strong winds, so I wouldn't want to stay the weekend there. Topped off the batteries and strapped them down. Dinghied ashore and went to the officials to get my clearance to leave. Just about as painful and expensive as I feared. Took about 90 minutes, with three sets of officials: $50 to Immigration, $75 to Port Authority, and $15 to Navy. Fortunately I didn't get dinged for $50 worth of crew-change fees that I might have owed for leaving the boat for a couple of weeks to fly out to the USA. So, with the $70+ I paid when I entered the country, it's worked out to $210+ for about 4.5 months (June 27 to Nov 8). I hope officials further down (Samana) don't find a way to get more money out of me. So: I'm heading out tonight at 6 PM, probably will get to Samana by Friday morning, and probably will sit there for a week or more waiting to cross the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico. At 11:30, someone announced on the VHF that "Neshuma" and "Quest" have made it to Cayo Levantada, near Samana, and are okay. Apparently "Quest" just arrived there this morning. So I guess they did it in 2 nights, as I might be able to do if I pushed. Dinghied in to town, did internet, read a bit in the park, and then spent my few remaining pesoes on bread, bananas and tomatoes. Next to me in the internet place, Kenny on "Smidgeon" got email telling him that friends of his hit something hard between Trinidad and Grenada and their boat sank. They were taken off by a nearby sailboat. Back to the boat, with some extra time to kill, and did little jobs to get ready to go. I'm feeling incredibly jittery, since the last trip was so rough, and it's been 4.5 months since the boat moved much. And I'm worried about weather, and the engine, and officials in Samana. Ate a salad, but too nervous to eat a full dinner. Started raising and cleaning the anchor rode. Called the Commandancia at 5 to get permission to leave. I was worried that they might want to come out and board me, which they have done to a couple of boats, but they just said "okay, good luck". Engine started at 5:10, and seems okay. Anchor up and moving by 5:30, and I pushed it up to cruising RPM as I moved through the harbor, to see if it would start surging or overheating. Seems okay, although I'm making only 4.1 knots into the stiff afternoon wind. Lots of other cruisers saying goodbye to me on the radio, which just makes me more nervous. Out of the harbor and into the inlet without running aground, but there's more swell and chop coming in the inlet than I expected. Hope it will ease a bit after I get away from land a little, but it doesn't. Soon I'm out, and seeing NE and E swells about 2-3 feet high and very close together, and speed over ground is down to 2.2 knots. It's rolly and uncomfortable. Another boat, "Tango 2", comes out behind me, with a sail up, and they're rocking and rolling all over the place too. Finally it dawns on me that these swells probably won't go away even if the wind dies down as it's supposed to at night, and the north coast anchorages will be untenable, and I'll be lucky to make 3 knots against this. So I turn around and head back for the harbor, at about 6:45. Now, down-swell, I'm making 5.2 knots over ground. Of course, I waited just about 15 minutes too long to make the decision. The sun set at about 6:15, and the last light from it is fading fast. I'm going to have to enter the harbor in the dark. It's do-able, with an easy GPS line through the inlet, but then a tricky right turn surrounded by shoals, and lots of anchored boats to avoid. My friends inside the harbor hear me telling "Tango 2" that I've turned around (so we don't collide), and Amanda on "Sanctuary" offers to dinghy out with a spotlight to help me get in. Being a stupid guy, I decline. Two minutes later, I realize my stupidity and ask for her help. Doug on "Presque Isle" asks if I'm having engine problems, and right after I say "no", the engine surges. When I get halfway into the inlet, she's there with a spotlight marking the buoy for the big shoal on the W side. I get past there with no problem, but then she goes further in, has trouble with her spotlight, and I try to make the right-hand turn on my own. As many boats do, even in daylight, I overshoot it and run aground. Fortunately, it's fairly calm here and I'm in no real danger, and we're somewhere near low tide. And I can feel the boat bumping and moving every now and then; I'm not stuck fast. For five minutes, I try to power off, as Amanda comes over and pushes sideways on the bow with her 25-HP dinghy, and other people call to offer to come out and help. Suddenly, the boat is pivoting, then it's off and moving ! I motor in another 100 yards, just enough to get away from the inlet, and drop anchor before I get to the first anchored boat. Safe at about 7:10, at lat 19.54.061 long 70.56.736. Then I thank Amanda profusely, and call everyone else on the radio to tell them I'm anchored, and thank them for their offers of help. Several nicely say that it's a sign of wisdom to turn around when things aren't right, but I still feel kind of foolish. I call the Commandancia and tell them I'm back in the harbor. After some initial confusion, I think they're glad I'm not asking them to come tow me back in. So, what did I learn from this ? - probably should have scraped the prop again RIGHT before leaving; maybe 2 weeks of growth on it was helping to kill my speed. And I guess I should scrape the whole hull; I was hoping to do that after the first day's travel, when the motion would have torn the loose gunk off a bit and made the crabs leave. - Mike and Bruce were right about the swells, and Chris Parker was wrong. - Everyone's telling me I shouldn't have left the harbor until the wind has stopped completely. Don't remember hearing that before, and it means transiting the harbor and inlet in the dark. - Should have made the turn-around decision sooner. Had a "salami"-and-cheese sandwich for dinner. A sailboat [probably Dave on "Ilean", I found out later] quietly motored past me at 9:15, heading out into the ocean. Turned on the radio and heard nothing; don't know who they are. They used a spotlight to get close to the cliff and then look for buoys on their way out. I heard local fisherman in rowboats much of the night, out in the area between harbor and inlet, fishing in the night calm. Slept uneasily, between all the excitement of the day, and the new position I'm anchored in. 11/9/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Checking out the engine, I see diesel leaking from the top of the secondary fuel filter, so that bolt/washer combo still is not sealing properly, and may be causing the surging. Raised anchor and started engine around 7. Engine surging badly at moderate RPMs; glad I didn't keep going last night. Through the harbor and anchored in my old spot by 7:30. Repaired courtesy flag has been torn in half again by the wind. Bahamas weather report sounds ugly: massive cold front and then trough coming, to saturate Bahamas with N 20-30 for a week or more. If it gets down here, and I'd kept going last night, I probably would have been stuck in Samana for 2 weeks. I seem to have dodged several bullets by accident; thought by now I'd be doing things smarter. Adding to my depression, I've been reading a printout of logs that Steve on "Manana" gave me, and it sounds like he's had a lot more fun cruising than I have. We're totally different personalities, and I don't like to party like he does, but he sure does have fun and meet a lot of people. My cruises through the Bahamas were totally sedate and unadventurous compared to his. I guess he did burn through his money quickly and had to stop cruising, but I still wish I was more outgoing and sociable. I'm reading a history book, and it mentioned a guy named "William the Silent" (Dutch, late 1500's); that's me ! Listened to the cruiser's net; apparently a couple of gringoes have caught salmonella poisoning, one of the pretty severely. At 8:30, Chris Parker says the trough may give us ENE 20-30 from Sunday through Wednesday or more. So I'm glad I didn't head for Samana. Feel stupid for going last night. But I guess it was sort an unintended shake-down cruise. And two other boats went, so I wasn't the only one. Maybe they're a lot faster than my boat (most are) and have crews so they can sprint to PR ? Loafed on the boat all morning. Had a nice chat with Doug on the radio, about politics and my aborted exit and lots of things. After lunch, dinghied ashore, passing Peter from "Lady Margaret Rose" heading out with a head-gasket-shaped package (that was quick). Went to the Commandancia to see what paperwork needed to be done now that I am back. The officials here never cease to amaze. It took me 90 minutes to check out yesterday, a completely standard procedure with no hitches. So I was dreading today, figuring getting "un-despacho-ed" would confuse them and result in result in hideous forms and payments and phone calls to other officials or something. Instead, I said a few words to get across that I'd tried to leave but weather and engine problems had made me return, the guy took my despacho back, said something like "I'll get your money for you", and a minute later handed me the equivalent of my $15 back ! I was stunned ! Now, the fact that the bigwigs were having some meeting in the Navy office may have been a factor. The underlings were sitting on the benches out front, and didn't want me to walk up to the bigwigs. Some cruisers later suggested that they didn't want the bigwigs to hear that they're claiming a $15 fee for the despacho. But I don't think that was it. It's nice to have some pesoes in my pocket again, even if only $10 worth. That should last me a while, and means I don't have to take a guagua to Imbert to use the ATM there. I still have $100 or so in US dollars, but I want to save them as much as possible since it's impossible to get any more dollars here. And DR pesoes are useless in any other country. Read my book in the park for quite a while, chatted with a cruiser or two about my misadventure, then back to the dinghy dock. There, met Mike from "Seacomber", and he says I left too early (should have waited for the wind to die away at night), but otherwise did everything else fine. He said in the past some boats have left and returned 2 or 3 times before they finally got out. Replaced the washer on top of the engine's secondary fuel filter. A few months ago I replaced the old metal washer with a rubber one, and that seemed to stop the leaks. But now I'm thinking there's too much pressure there for a rubber washer, so I put the original metal one back on. The rubber one looked pretty decayed, too. "Maker's Match" left at 5:30. I don't see why anyone's leaving now, in the face of the bad weather coming. They certainly can make it to Samana, but can they make it to Puerto Rico in 3 days ? I'm still confused about making the weather decisions here, I guess. Spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. 11/10/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Couldn't hear the NOAA weather this morning. Ran engine for 15 minutes to test it. Ran fine, but the real test is to see if any drips of diesel appear at the bottom of the filter in the next 12-24 hours. And the real real test is to head for PR again. I just will have to live with some uncertainty. Engine shut-down solenoid didn't work; probably needs lubrication. Had to move it with a screwdriver to shut down the engine. Chris Parker's weather says a trough to the NE, moving away from us, and a tropical wave with heavy rain heading for the Virgin Islands. Sounds like next week is going to be bad weather. Couldn't hear the noon NOAA weather either. Loafed on the boat all day. Lubricated the engine stop solenoid. No diesel drips appeared. Roberto came over to say hello, and ended up staying for almost 2 hours, chatting about politics and religion and cultures and the DR and other things. Lots of fun, although he gets very excited when delivering his opinions. He's been cruising 6 to 7 years, and he's the first black or Hispanic cruiser I've ever met (and I've met only one or two asians, also; cruising is a very white activity). He started cruising mainly to get out of the USA, because he couldn't stand the politics and culture any more, and to learn other cultures and find out truths unfiltered by the US media and business and government interests. I think he's going around to a lot of cruisers and trying to tell them to learn the culture here more, and I was one of the stops on his "tour". He's a US citizen, but he cruised to Cuba quite a bit before the Bush administration shut that down, and then came here. He's cruised to Bahamas and Puerto Rico also, and really doesn't plan to ever stop cruising or go back to the USA. Lots of fun to talk to. He says the US government donates used military equipment to the DR (he says all the Navy patrol boats such as "Sirius" here are ex-USCG boats), and uses that program as a lever to keep the DR government in line. And that the DR has a strange govt structure, where the head of the military is equal in rank to the president, and each provincial military commandant is superior to all the local politicians, and the police have checkpoints and stations set up so they can shut down all movement in the country very quickly. He says they do EKGs at the clinic here; I'll have to check into that. He told me all about some big run-in he had with the officials once when he tried to check out; he did everything wrong, irritating the heck out of them. He has an Island Packet 31, and says it doesn't sail very well; too beamy and too light (makes it hard to tack against a swell). He runs a little Honda generator for electricity, and gets about 8 hours to a gallon of gasoline. He said something about finding a nice local girl for me. No thanks ! I have enough trouble talking to women who speak my own language. And I'm leaving in a week or two anyway. Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. 11/11/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. Lots of NE 20+ coming in the NOAA weather forecast, including NE 20-25 with 9-foot waves in the Mona Passage in a couple of days. Chris Parker is off for three days. Ran engine for 15 minutes to test it. Shut-down solenoid worked. Dinghied ashore and went to the hospital. The usual number of missteps: I thought I knew where the hospital was, but that turned out to be just some medical offices. Got directed to the hospital, and even right in front of it I had to get someone to point to it; it looked and sounded like a school full of kids, and had no signs whatsoever out front. It's bigger than the glorified clinic I expected; I didn't realize they had a fairly decent hospital here. The first window turned out to be a dispensary, not reception. And at Reception, I think they understood me but I certainly didn't understand them; finally a receptionist walked me down the hall to the office for taking blood pressures. Again, I think the nurse understood me, but I got only 10% of what she said back; it amounted to "stay here". After five minutes, a doctor and some more patients appeared, and soon he was checking me. I told him my story, he listened to a couple of places on my chest, took my blood pressure (120/80, perfectly normal), and told me they do EKGs here on Mon, Tues and Wed mornings ! So why did I waste a day of my life going to Puerto Plata a month ago ? No charge for anything today, but I hear the EKG will cost $10 or $20. Great ! Out to the park, did some reading, saw a funeral procession walking down the streets carrying a casket. Chatted with some cruisers, and to my irritation they all say they knew about the hospital and EKGs here ! I've asked about this before; I even asked on the VHF this morning before coming ashore; why didn't I hear this info ? Bought bananas and bread, and back to the boat. Heard people saying goodbye to some boat leaving the harbor around 12:15 ! I think it might have been "License to Chill", and somebody said they might be going downwind (which means what in NE wind, Panama ?). But I talked to Derek on "Unity", and he said he thinks it's blowing E out there (could be right) and they're heading for the Bahamas. Heard Peter on "Lady Margaret Rose" calling someone to get an "insert" to repair a stripped hole in his engine block; guess one of the head-bolts got mangled. Cleaned the outboard's spark plugs, then took the carburetor off and dissassembled it. Fair amount of varnishy grit in the bottom of the fuel pump area, but otherwise okay. But when I put it back on and ran the motor, there was a steady drip of gas leaking from the bottom of the fuel pump area. Maybe that explains why I've been getting horrible gas mileage lately. Tightened the screws and the drip seemed to stop. Salad and chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. 11/12/2005 (Saturday) At anchor at Luperon. NOAA forecast says strong NE wind until Wednesday, when it becomes E 15 or so. A little smear of diesel at the bottom of the engine fuel filter housing, but I think the leak is mostly fixed. At 9 AM, clouds in many directions, and no wind at all in the harbor, so of course they've set fire to the garbage in the big enclosure on the govt dock, and the smoke is drifting lazily along the water. They burn the garbage in place when the enclosure gets full, then I think a truck picks up the remains and carts them away. Around 1:30, snorkeled under the boat, and scraped the hull for almost two hours. Soon after getting in, a big jellyfish hit my cheek and neck, and I got out and sprayed vinegar all over that area. Back in the water, and didn't have any more jellyfish problems. I tried to keep my arms up to protect my face a bit. The trip out of the harbor seems to have ripped off most of the colorful hanging growths, but left the barnacles and a tough mat of dead roots about 1/4" thick all over. Too tough to scrape off with a wide plastic scraper; had to use a 2"-wide metal putty knife, so it was slow going. Lots of little crabs tried to flee up the hull from the "awesome putty knife of Death". One tried to flee into my right ear, but he was too big to get in, and I dug him out with a finger. Cleaned about a 3-foot wide strip all around the boat, down from the waterline. Not bad on a beamy 44-foot boat. Will have to do it at least one more time to get the deeper parts of the hull. Salad and "salami" sandwiches for dinner. 11/13/2005 (Sunday) At anchor at Luperon. Some rain at 1 AM and 2 AM, then dawn came with total cloud and heavy rain off and on all morning. Occasionally the sun peeked through and charged the batteries a bit. I think this is a tropical wave. Lots of noise of surf crashing ashore on the oceanfront. Cruiser's net mentioned "Seacomber". Apparently it's a steel boat, and "the bottom has rusted out". It was aground in PB marina for a while, then Mike moved it out and apparently grounded it somewhere else, and now he's "digging a hole" to fix it somehow. Read some more of the log file from Steve on "Manana". Amazing how he got here and immediately plunged in to local schools and restaurants, meeting people and finding incredibly cheap meals and stuff. But that was 2.5 years ago; I don't think prices are quite so cheap any more, even though the exchange rate has improved a bit. And the crew from "Exuma Grouper" this year plunged into the local restaurants the first week they were here, and were sick for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Stitched some of the hatch screens to fix the Velcro. About 2 PM, snorkeled under the boat again, for almost two hours again. Making good progress; think I'll wait until the day I leave before I do it again. Didn't get jellyfish stings this time, but the fins chafed through the skin on my feet in a few places, and I banged and scraped a sore knuckle on my right hand. Frankie and Terry from "Second Wind" came sailing their dinghy through the harbor, and Terry called over "we got a window!", meaning a weather-window. Pretty funny, since we're all waiting for a weather-window to get out of here. Spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Blew 15-25+ most of the night; calmed around 5 AM. 11/14/2005 (Monday) At anchor at Luperon. Lots of low, heavy rainclouds, and occasional heavy rain. But some sun peeking through too. Still lots of surf noise. Couldn't get the 6 AM NOAA forecast. Chris Parker's weather forecast said "the calendar says it's time to be moving around, but the weather says stay put". Lots of strong E and ENE wind everywhere, and lots of squalls. Dinghied ashore at 9 and went to the hospital. Fairly crowded on a Monday morning. Eventually found the cardiologist, and was told to come back at 11. Went to Verizon and did internet; it was unbelievably fast on every web site; strange. Back to the hospital, waited 15 minutes, and took the opportunity to weigh myself. Said 202 on the fancy balance-beam scale, but I find it hard to believe; I'm usually more like 215. Then in to see the doctor. He spoke little English, so we stumbled a bit, but we got it done. I told him my symptoms, he gave me an EKG (normal), took my blood pressure (normal), listened to my heart (normal, I guess). Wrote me two prescriptions, one for aspirin (which he grabbed from a nearby dispensary), another for something else (maybe Agilac ? I'll have to do some detective work about it). I paid $14 for the use of the machine, and that was it. So, everything's normal so far. Maybe I should have a cholesterol test. And take a daily aspirin, and carry something like nitroglycerin spray. Bought bread. Couldn't find any decent bananas or grapefruit. Saw Roberto on the govt dock, and he was going in to bring a potential girlfriend out to his boat. He said again that I shouldn't leave here without getting a Dominican girlfriend. Out to the boat through howling wind; probably 25-30 today. Clouds are going away and now we have the wind behind the front/wave. Barely got aboard when there came Roberto after me, with a girl in his dinghy, to introduce her to me. Her name was Natalie, she didn't speak much English, and she was a cutie. Again he said I should get a Dominican girlfriend, and it's the best way to learn Spanish. He said they were hoping to do a little cruise to the Turks and Caicos together to see if she liked him and cruising, but getting a visa for her was taking a long time. Then they were off to his boat. I was wrong about the clouds going away; an hour later, we were totally socked in by low dark clouds, and then it started raining. Off and on, quite hard at times, sometimes with strong wind and sometimes not. All afternoon. Doug said it's supposed to be like this for the next four days ! Salad and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. Rained off and on all evening, and then rained harder and more frequently all night. Towards morning, huge torrents of rain. Incredible amounts of water. 11/15/2005 (Tuesday) At anchor at Luperon. Bummer; thought the two deck leaks I caulked a while ago were gone, but after 12+ hours of rain, they both appeared. Totally grey, low dark clouds, lots of rain. Ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. Shut-off failed again. After sun came up, saw that the harbor water has turned coffee-and-milk brown from all the silt being washed down into it. There's a clear dividing line out toward the harbor mouth, where the water is the normal color again. Various trash floating in the water. Heard that "Satori" had dragged anchor, and later heard that 2 or 3 mooring balls had been "lost" and one found in the mangroves; can't imagine that an unoccupied mooring ball would have come loose. Heard "Seacomber" say wind-blown water had pushed him further ashore, which he wants; he's trying to careen himself so he can repair his leaky bottom. Rain stopped around 8, and sun came out by 10. Blew hard all day, and still had some occasional rain. Still a drip of diesel from bottom of secondary fuel filter. Afternoon not bad: wind howling, but mostly sunny with just a few spates of rain. Chili and rum-and-coke for dinner. Squalls after sunset, then pretty quiet until midnight, a long series of huge violent squalls for the next several hours. 11/16/2005 (Wednesday) At anchor at Luperon. Sunny and fairly clear, but still some big clouds in a few directions. Weather forecast sounds like it may be possible to leave this weekend. Winds should be very light, but seas still from NE are not good. Confirmed that deck leak into aft head is coming from water pooling in the starboard-aft corner of the cockpit lockers. Have to rebed all of the vents and shorepower connectors. Spent all day loafing and dodging squalls. Close up the boat when one's coming, open again when the sun comes back. Heard a cruiser deliver a brief tirade on the VHF radio. He had a lien put against his boat by a marina, was fighting it in court, but bribes and stalling have made him give up. And now someone suggested to the commandante that he might try to sneak out of the harbor without paying. So he's pretty pissed off. "Salad" and tuna-salad sandwiches for dinner. Incredibly bright full moon. 11/17/2005 (Thursday) At anchor at Luperon. Sunny and fairly clear early in the morning, so I did a bucket of laundry. An hour later, clouded over again with squall clouds. But it never really did rain, and by 11 the sun was out nicely and the clothes started drying. Dinghied into town, hoping the squalls would hold off, and they did. Bought bananas, cabbage, tomatoes, bread. Back to boat. Nice afternoon. Lots of clouds going past, but really never did rain. Just before 4 PM, there was a call on the VHF radio saying a boat was aground on the east shoal of the harbor inlet, and in big trouble. People started jumping into dinghies and zooming out to help; I didn't go because my outboard doesn't "zoom" any more. Soon they had a dozen or more dinghies out there, and they probably couldn't have helped much in the big breakers anyway. Fortunately, the boat "Star Chaser" got off the shoal themselves, with no damage. Half an hour later, another sailboat came in too; I think they both came from PR, although they weren't buddies. Salad and spaghetti and rum-and-coke for dinner. Brilliant full moon, covered and uncovered by clouds. Rained several times during the night, hard a couple of times, but I think the squalls are petering out. 11/18/2005 (Friday) At anchor at Luperon. NOAA weather unchanged: wind sounds good for leaving Saturday night (NE-E 15 or less for several days after that; wish the NE wasn't there), but direction of swells is bad (NE; will make for a rolly ride and unprotected anchorages). Still a bunch of rainclouds lazing around this morning. Heard occasional heavy-surf noises before dawn; still some big waves out there. Suddenly realized that I don't have any small bills for paying bribes and fees while getting out of the DR; I spent all of my small US bills at the hospital. I don't want to give a $20 bill to an official, and I don't want to end up with lots of extra pesoes when I get to PR. Maybe I can change pesoes back in PR ? Probably not easy. Tightened fuel filter bolt and ran engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries. Shut-off solenoid failed again. Did a small bucket of laundry. Very still morning; half of the sky totally clouded over, other half totally clear and sunny. So still that I'm wondering if I should leave tonight. Wind started about noon, but it's much lighter than the normal daytime wind here. Dinghied to PB marina and got water. Then to Yacht Club to do book exchange and get "Phoenix" to change a $20 for me; struck out on both counts. Yacht Club was practically empty; there seems to be a semi-boycott going again, and they've started laying off some employees. I'd go there for internet if they'd get it working again. Nancy and Norma were the only gringos there; Nancy told me the Commandante was refusing to issue despachos today because he said conditions out there were too rough; didn't know he'd ever do that. To "Exuma Grouper" for a little chat before going into town, and I never made it into town. We talked for about 3 hours, about all kinds of stuff. More about local gringo politics and grudges than I wanted to know; this place really gets dysfunctional with everyone cooped up here for a whole hurricane season. Heard a completely different version of the story about the cruiser who tangled with the marina and ended up in court. But it's not just the gringos; heard a couple of stories about locals too. One I'd heard before: a year ago, a gringo sold a boat to a DR citizen, who packed it with DR people and headed out to smuggle them to USA or somewhere. Boat sank just outside the harbor and a large number of people drowned. Gringo wouldn't say who he'd sold boat to, so he is in prison. Another story: last February, I think, a local vendetta ended up with some locals walking into a supermercado here and gunning down three other locals. So, the whole place is weird, not just the gringos. Doug is just now starting to work on the hull leak that developed on his passage to here 4.5 months ago. Mainly because it's a tricky one: he hasn't been able to locate it from the outside, and he's going to have to demolish a lot of cabinetry and fiberglass partitions to even get to the suspected area involved. It may be a crack on the starboard leeboard trunk, and if it's on the far side of the trunk he may have trouble patching it even then. And there's no haul-out facility here. I tried to come up with ideas to locate the crack, such as using dye or applying caulk on the outside until it goes away, but it's a very slow leak while the boat's at anchor, which makes everything harder. Dinghied back to Yacht Club and met guy from "Phoenix", who changed $20 for me into smaller US bills. Salad and "salami" sandwich for dinner. [Next log file is http://www.geocities.com/bill_dietrich/Magnolia/MagnoliaLog2005Late.txt ]