May 1-2, 2015 Adlers Cay to Chub Cay

It was an early day for me, 7AM.  I wanted to get the generator up and working again before we had to make decision on high tailing it to a marina or just heading further down the chain and anchoring.  The LOW, or “LO” as Parker refers to it, seems to be causing a flurry of excitement in the weather circles.  Some say it won’t be comes a tropical storm.  Others insist it will.  So we’ll be gambling on this either way.

But first the generator.  I shut the seacock off, and started taking the face plate off the water pump.  Once all six tiny screws were out I had to pry the face plate off and scrap the eroded gasket off.

Guess it needed replacement

The impeller was in bad shape with only 2 of the original fins intact.  No wonder there was no outflow of cooling water.  I pried it out with some screw drivers and then soaped up the housing and the new impeller and slid it back on.  Well, wiggled and pushed it back on is probably closer to the truth.

Once I had the face plate screwed down tight I started the genny and … no water!

Ugh …

But, after a few seconds I had a seacock epiphany!  I didn't re-open the darn generator seacock!  

Once opened, I restarted the generator and it was spewing water like a new unit.  Yeah.

I kept it running and re-charged the batteries, made water and we used the microwave to actually cook something this morning. It’s wonderful to have power!

After talking with Jeff and Judy we decided to throw the dice and make our way south to one of the other Cays.  Either Alders Cay or Bond Cay.  Both are OK anchorages.  Bond Cay is prettier and has a beach area we can use although it is rumored to have been purchased by a group of pop stars.  Adler Cay is a private island so no shore access but has much better holding. 

Good bye Great Harbor Cay

We chose Adler Cay mainly because it seemed to offer more wind protection and better holding.  It's only a 3 mile dingy ride to Jeff and Judy at Devils Cay.  And it is close to Flo’s on Little Harbor. 

Flo's Conch Bar is one of those must stop, out of the way places.  Its evidently known for conch, the best conch salad anywhere.  Hope we can find out first hand.  

Patrol Boat

It was a pleasant ride out on the ocean.  The swells gentle now, where from the north and pushed us along.  We called LeAnn from our Bahamas phone but the cell signal wasn't strong enough to sustain a decent connection.

We even saw our first Bahamas Defense Force patrol boat.

We made a non eventful turn into the inlet between Bond and Alders Cay and pulled up near a jetty of sorts and dropped the anchor in about 9 feet of water.  We let out 100 feet, hooked on the snubber and then sat out on the bow to enjoy the vista.

It's a private island.  A nice one too!

Pretty nice.  White sandy beach, palm trees, light breeze to keep us cool and not too sunny to save us from burning ourselves in unprotected spots.

Our official Alders Cay greeter

I took a quick dip when we first arrived and met Stubby, Mary’s pet name for the 3 foot barracuda hanging around the boat.   Later I donned my fins and mask and dove to check the anchor.  It was on its side but one fluke was well dug in so I’m leaving it alone.  As I swam back to the boat Stubby hung off in the distance.  I’d approach and it would back away.  As soon as I got out he’d wander back under the boat.  This is some pet we've acquired.  Might even be better than a dog.  It could swim alongside us and scare off would be intruders.  I’m sold.  Mary?

Even underwater he wouldn't let me pet him

We eventually started to get dinner ready.  We were having shrimp.  But the shrimp, alas, had sat too long and presented a pungent fishy aroma which, when I unwrapped it, reached heights well beyond the “dump it”  threshold.

We donated the shrimp to numerous ocean creatures which will become Stubby’s dinner.  The little fish will eat the shrimp and Stubby will, well eat the little fish.

The winds have now swung to almost directly north and the skies have cleared.  The barometer is beginning to fall so maybe we’re in for some more rain.  Gentle rain I hope.

Anchor on its side

It didn't rain last night.  We had cool breezes all night though and we both slept really well.  Until about 6 AM when the boat starting rocking with increasing frequency.  The winds stayed NE but the swells had moved to the north so we were rocking again.

And, Parker's forecast update came out and was calling for pretty nasty weather through Wednesday of next week.  I couldn't call Jeff & Judy who had remained in Devils Cay but we talked over the VHF radio and decided, regardless of the price, to head for some comfort at Chub Cay Marina.  We've been on the hook (anchored) for 11 days now and while we could go for another month, I guess we've grown soft in our old age and require solid land every once in awhile. 

We made water and got the boat ready to leave.  Jeff & Judy did the same but they left about 20 minutes before we did since they were further north by a few miles.

Leaving the anchorage through this inlet was an experience.  Rather large swells with short periods gave us some bouncy moments but we after ten minutes of bounce we got 2 hours of soft, rock & roll.  The 20 mile journey wasn't too bad and as we rounded Whale Point the swells calmed to only a ripple which was nice.

Winding entrance channel to the marina basin

Tucked in our slips.  Not real crowded in here.

Entering the marina was neat.  The channel leading into the marina basin is almost hidden until you’re almost on top of it.  It winds around into a large basin where most of the slips were empty.  We docked right next to Jeff & Judy.  We both backed in.

Our backing-in episode was a bit more demanding since the stiff wind was pushing us off the dock and I couldn't see much behind me but I could hear all kinds of directions from the dock hand and Jeff and Judy.  But we made it in without a problem.

The marina office

Hiked over to the marina office where we paid what would be known as a sizable ransom in some areas and went back to the boats.

We all hit the internet expect I had to fiddle unsuccessfully with the power pedestal which refused to dispense any 30 amp current.  It was a bad pedestal electrical box.  After Kenny, the very knowledgeable dock-hand couldn't make it work, he simply just switched pedestals and we were fine. 

Instead of paying the $40 a day (that is not one of my frequent typos) we opted for only 30 amps.  That will leave us with only the forward air conditioner.   But its breezy and cool as long as this low pressure lingers around here so we shouldn't need it.

The hot water heater wont work either but I can start the generator to handle that if we need to.  The water should stay hot for a few days anyway.  The engines heat it up to near boiling and the insulation is very heavy so it retains its heat for long periods of time.

So we are back in the boat until cocktail hour.  We might go out to eat except paying $49 for a 10oz

The restaurant  

sirloin steak might rattle Mary’s financial cockles a bit.  We’ll have to see.

And of course we stayed aboard,   Jeff and Judy came over for drinks and snacks and after, we ate dinner and then I wandered the quarter mile to the showers which were underwhelming at best.  Pricey place,  and suspicious showers.  Tomorrow is review time where I post my impressions of the place.  The showers just might find themselves in a lengthy paragraph regarding deficiencies.

Meanwhile we are hitting the sack on a comfortably cool and breezy night anticipating a few days of thunder, rain and general mayhem until Wednesday when we might be able to head to Nassau.