April 20 2015 More Biminis

Captain Bob's

Us eating in Captains Bobs

Since we are staying another day, we all went to breakfast and Captain Bob’s.  Pretty good food.  Pricey, but not untypical for here on the island.

While we were there we met another couple on a 1979 Hinckley 49’ center console.  They, Grant and Diane, came over after hearing us discussing anchoring in the Bahama Banks tomorrow.  We ended up having a rather long conversation ending when I suggested they join us at BTC where I had to purchase a Bahamas phone and Diane needed to buy a Bahamas SIM card.

As we were getting ready to leave Grant asked if I wanted to take is electrically powered bike out for a spin.

Its basically a regular bike but with an electric motor in the rear wheel hub, and a heavy lithium ion battery on the rear fender.  Heavy bike too with all that motorized gear, about 50+ pounds.

So I got on and really had to push on the pedals to get it moving with Grant shouting at me to use the throttle.  Very strange to be on a bike and operate a twist throttle on the handlebars much like a motorcycle.  But I finally overcame the pedaling fixation and twisted the throttle.  Wow … there is certainly some torque in this thing.  It just took off so smoothly with plenty of power.  What a cool little vehicle.  And you can use the pedals anytime you want.  Batteries have enough juice for 30 miles and it sure seems fast. 

Only downside was the price tag.  $1500 for the low to mid level model.  I'm guessing but Santa probably isn't bringing me one anytime soon.

This is our dinghy's twin sister

After my all to short joy ride, they returned to their boat and we ours.  After a few minutes Jeff and Judy met us on the dock and we walked to the Bimini Big Game Club Marina (reportedly a Hemingway haunt years ago) to meet Grant and Diane. 

While the others milled around looking at the place I went to their boat and was invited aboard.  Very spacious and livable.  I usually don't make such observations about sailboats either.

Diane, Judy and Grant and Mary sitting

Phone booth right outside the BTC Cellular Phone store

We all walked to the local BTC (Bahamas Telephone Company) store where we waited in line awhile before I purchased a Samsung J1 smart phone and $44 worth of minutes.  The minutes seem to be  applicable either as phone minutes or data.  Edollia was the nice lady who took care of me.

I have yet to figure out how all this interacts with each other but at least we will have access to internet data.  Not for web surfing but weather information.  I'd hate to be caught out in all this shallow open water in a named stormed.

On our way back to the boats we stopped at the better grocery store on the island, Roberts.  Nice

Diane and Mary in Roberts

people in there and it had a surprisingly extensive inventory considering all the stories we heard about lack of standard grocery store items.  The supply boat doesn't get here until Thursday so they are a little light on inventory.  

We walked back to the boat and said good bye to Grant and Diane who are planning on leaving a few hours earlier than we are. But we'll surely run into them down the island chain since they are also going to be poking around the Exumas.

Mary and I did a few boat things and then walked to the straw market where she bought some shirts and a dress. 

The Straw Market shops

Mary buying a dress and getting opinions from the owner and some other woman

We then hiked to Charlies Bread which was a mile back up the road in Bailey Town.  We talked with him, a really pleasant fellow.  Unfortunately we was sold out.  But if we stay another day we'll certainly head back there since its reputed to be the best bread in Bimini.

We took the upper road back to the marina.  It runs along the raised shore on the ocean side and is less congested than the main road.  As I said previously, the road is narrow, barely wide enough for two cars to pass.  Add, golf carts, bicycles and many pedestrians and ... well its gets crowded!

Bimini Dolphin Museum

We took the short road back down to the marina which goes right by the Dolphin museum which we didn't enter but will, I;m sure tomorrow if we stay another day.

Then we walked the short distance back to Captain Bobs restaurant where, next door, is the liquor store.   Mary bought a six pack of Kalik beer and I noticed that Captain Morgan rum was only $17 a bottle.  Thats cheap!  Well, it was cheap until I noticed the VAT tax which brought the price back up to $21 a bottle.  Still not bad.  Cheaper here than in Marathon!

I stopped in the marina office when we came back and had them add another $40 to my pre-paid phone account.  I walked the docks and talked with a few fellow boaters who gave me some pointers on anchoring out on the Bank.

Anchoring on the Bank means just anchoring anywhere on the Bahama Banks which is quite large and lacks almost any navigational aids.  But Mackie Shoal, which is shallower than most places on the Banks, seems to be a popular place to anchor because of the depth and its location off  the main commercial shipping routes.  The inter-island ferries and supply boats ply the Banks, usually at night so we need to be well lit if we do anchor out there.

The alternative would be a 90 mile run tomorrow and I'm not comfortable leaving until at least the tide starts rolling in giving us another foot of water over the shallows here next to the dock.  The issue revolves around backing out and turning the boat around very near shoal water and risking running aground.  Don’t want to to that.  But waiting means we won't be able to make the journey all the way to Great Harbor Cay on the other side of the Bank.   Decisions, decisions...

 

Our boat flying the Bahamian courtesy flag 

But we’ll see what tomorrow brings.  It’s supposed to rain, or maybe storm, or possibly be calm and wet or … the number of alternate forecasts are as numerous as they are different.

I stopped over at Jeff’s boat to see if I could resolve an autopilot issue they had.  No joy on that one.  Then tried to get their Bose bluetooth speakers working with their laptop but that was also a bust.  There’s some driver incompatibility.

So I finally returned here, ran the water maker (making 65 gallons an hour even in this extra salty warm water!) and pondered fiddling with the new phone.  Nah ... too much gadget fiddling today.  So we just went to bed since we have to rise rather early and decide if we’re leaving or staying tomorrow morning.

Today was a hot day.  Even the pool water is hovering around 90.  Ice cubes in drinks last only minutes.  And its not even summer yet!

April 19, 2015 More Biminis

We woke up late.  I slept in the forward cabin because the A/C got it down to around 68.  Mary, tolerating heat far better than I at night stayed in our stateroom where it hovered in the 80 degree range.  The A/C unit in there isn't cooling.  Low Freon I’m thinking but we won’t get it repaired until we are back in the states.

 Our ships backup computer suddenly ended up with a video problem.  The DisplayLink sub video driver wasn't working thus providing a wonderfully dark screen.  Ugh …

So out came the backup VGA monitor and after 2 hours of finding and downloading new usb and  video drivers I went out for a walk with Mary and Judy.  We left Jeff behind.  He was fervently cleaning his boat.

Shopping!

It was Sunday and this guy was a Sharp-Dressed-Man

Looking out the inlet towards the ocean

Cemetery near the beach 

Path to the beach

The Beach

We all started out together but once we hit an area with a few shops I knew what was in store (no pun intended) and headed off on my own.  Went to the end of the island (we are on North North Bimini) where the inlet is located, and walked the beach to Alice Town.  The sandy portions of the beach are wonderful, especially framed with the very blue, multi-hued ocean.  

That is a goat

Entered Bailey Town which is just north of Alice Town where our marina is located.  Walked around there for a little while before heading back to the marina. 

Bimini has two major roads, King and Queens highways.  There "highway" designation must follow a wildly different set of criteria.  Very narrow!

Popular conch place.  But its right out of the shell.  Raw.

Most of the people I met were indifferent to my “Hello”.  And, because the drive on the “other” side of the road over here I’d have trouble anticipating where cars were heading on the very narrow streets.  Not much room for two cars to pass much less 2 cars and an old man.

There is a mix of traditional cars here but the majority of vehicular traffic is golf cart, both gas and electric.

I was back and finishing up the the backup computer configuration when Judy and Mary returned wanting to go to the beach.  Jeff was napping so fine, I went with them.

The incredibly clear water was a cool 78 degrees but the colors were intense and the sandy beach was great.  We hung around in the water for about an hour and then walked up to CJ's where we each had a Kalik.

Mary and Judy

Mary and I

CJ's

Inquisitive pigeon at CJ's who like to nibble toes

We walked back and agreed to meet on the dock for dinner.  Once we were assembled we got in a cab driven by Rider and he took us up to Resorts World Bimini resort on the north side of the island.  We had thought we’d eat there but Rider suggested we try the Bimini Blue Water Resort restaurant.  And yes we’re staying at the Blue Water Marina and they, we discovered, also run the Blue Water Resort and Restaurant.  Rider’s suggestion that we try local cuisine seemed like a good one so off we went. 

Hostess and bartender

Jeff, Mary and Judy

Blue Water Restaurant 

But only after he gave us a driving tour of the Resorts World resort, and stopping at the two stores that served as drug stores for a cooling pad for Jeff’s back.

We were he only ones in the place at first and ordered drinks and then stuffed lobster.  Actually we all had stuffed lobster.  It was light on the lobster but had a wonderful curry flavor. 

Mary had Key Lime pie and we brought a piece back for Rider the cab driver because after he dropped us off he went back to that first store that sold drugs and fetched Jeff’s cooling pad.  He had made a few calls and found out they really did carry the item.

We walked the short distance back to the boats where we fired u our satellite TV for the first time in months.  It found the satellites and the signals were all god but our only programming choices were 43 pay-for-porn channels and some guy droning on about how to use the remote control.  After several attempts at resetting etc. we just gave up and went to bed.

No TV in the Bahamas for Mary.

April 18, 2015 Bimini

Ocean Sunrise

Well, we left at 5:45.  We were supposed to leave at 5:30 but  neither of us woke up.  I finally did at 5:39 and scrambled around to get ready to leave.  Mary woke up with the engines running.  Jeff and Judy were prepared to swing over by use and use their horn.

We left the anchorage but They went of on my original routes and I took my new route out to sea.  The main difference was that I had originally had us anchored on the south side of the islands.  But with the weather change I planned on anchoring on the north side of Rodriguez so altered the route which altered how we left and traversed the reef out to the Ocean.

In any event we met up with them about 5 miles off shore and cruised together I the beautiful ocean.  We had large, but very widely spaced rollers from the north which proved to be no trouble at all.

Ocean cruising is great  for napping

About 30 miles off shore we had an encounter with a large container ship from Singapore.  I simply just slowed way a down and veered off to pass them on their stern rather than risk a miscalculation on our meeting courses. 

Our Car Carrier friend

After we did this Jeff and Judy began experiencing Auto pilot errors and ended up following us all the way into Biminis.

Entering Bimini's inlet. 

The water out in the gulf stream is incredibly blue.  And deep.  A few thousand feet.  Once we neared Biminis the color differentiation was quite noticeable.  Dark rich almost velvet blue to the light blue of tropical seas.

The inlet it self was a torrent of waves because of the tide rushing out..  Made for an interesting few minutes going in to the harbor.

Once inside we called repeatedly to Biminis Blue Water Marina but no one answered.  I even tried Browns marina and no one answered there either.  Mary had called and made a reservation for both of our boats at Blue Water the day before.  W ended up powering up a cell phone and calling them.  The dock master finally got on the radio after the office lady yelled at him.  It only took us a few minutes after that and we were tied up.

Thats us out on the end of the pier

They put us on the north face dock behind another large trawler while Jeff and Judy went into a slip on the same dock we were tied too.

After getting secured we filled out the paperwork the dock master gave us and walked the 4 blocks to Customs where we had to fill out a few more forms and then walk another few blocks to Immigration for 2 more forms and a passport stamping.  The the instructions on the door in big bold lettering were to knock first.  I did and a disembodied voice said "come ".   It was a spacious office with one guy and a humming air conditioner keeping the place nice and cool.

Customs Office and Administrative and Police offices

The neighborhood is typical of Caribbean towns, at least from my experience.  Run down, but not necessarily seedy.  Just tired and worn.

Looking back towards the marina

As we were walking back to the marina after completing the immigration process, I did notice a steady stream of boats coming into the harbor and heading down past us to the ritzy Resorts World Bimini.  And not small boats either but large yachts and sport fishing vessels.   Busy place!

Mary was confined to the boat during this check in procedure so once we were legally admitted to the country, she got off the boat and we put up the Bahamas courtesy flag.  The general rule here is only the master of the vessel (captain) can leave the boat and check into the country.

And I should also mention that even though Verizon has service over here, its hugely pricey so most everyone shuts down their phones and just buys a BTC phone with 4 gigs of data for a hundred bucks or so.  I'm afraid to see what that phone call to the marina cost us.

Mary, Jeff and I went to the marina office where we paid for two nights and Jeff got his phone updated with more minutes.  And I got their wireless key which only works if your within close proximity of the office.  But we have a wifi booster and … well, we can get the signal out here at the dock.  Not real fast network speeds, but at least its network access.

The marina pool

As we walked back to the boats, the pool was really humming with lots of activity and jovial boaters.  Cocktail hour around here seems to be thriving.  The boat behind us is leaving for Chub Cay tomorrow morning with a delightful, elderly couple.  I was able to pick their brain a little about the Bahamas and where to anchor. 

So we’re going to bed early tonight to recover from the shock of a pre-sunrise departure and then wander the town tomorrow.  But it is Sunday here and many places wont be open I’m guessing.

But down here no on has a plan.  You just go with the flow.

April 17 2015 Rodriguez Key

We really did get up around 7am and had a leisurely process to ready the boat for sea.  Lisa and David, sweet hearts that they are, were up and helped us untie.  I backed out and spun the boat around and headed to the fuel dock 100 yards away where early riser Debbie helped us put in a whopping 29 gallons of diesel.  That’s enough to get to Rodriguez Key and half way across the Gulf Stream to Biminis.

After fueling, we gave up our cable box and bathroom cards and off we went to Rodriquez Key  This is a popular spot for staging for a run to the Bahamas because it offers protection for most wind except westerly.  And the prevailing winds down here tend to be for the east.

It was a rough going at first.  The worst seemed to be down near the Marathon.  As we headed north the swells did down to all most calm.

Dropping the anchor

We made it to the Key, spotted Just Faking It and anchored a ways away from them and most of the other boats.  I wanted to take advantage of the incoming tide to make water.  Well, test the water maker, but optimism reigns here.  So it will be making water!

Its only about 6-7 feet deep here so we laid out about 50 feet of chain.  And I dove on the anchor in the 86 degree water.  The anchor was on its side with one fluke dug n but since it isn't going to be very windy and all the chain tend to keep the anchor down, I left it alone.  Which was a good thing because I couldn't stay deep enough to fiddle with the 70 lbs. anchor without weights to keep me un-buoyant.

That angular looking thnk is our anchor

We talked with Jeff and Judy on the radio a bit and then I fired up the generator which hadn’t been run for 2 months.  A testament to the equipment we have.  It fired right up. 

We started the generator to run the water maker and take advantage of the incoming tide as I mentioned before.  This was all about making water because I really don’t want to pay $0.75 a gallon for water over there.

I took our bed off and opened up the boards so I could see the water maker canisters.  And then fired it up.  I let it run without much pressure floor a few minutes and then cranked the pressure up to 200 psi. 

Geysers!  Leaks galore.  I was able to stop most of them by tightening down on the fittings but two wouldn’t succumb to my wrench.  And my attempts simply exacerbated the leaks. 

Lovely!

I shut the water maker down, went back and re-positioned the hoses, tightened everything back up and re-started the water maker. 

No leaks,  Ran it up to 400 psi.  No leaks,  Ok, so now comes the real test.

Cranked the pump up to 1,000 psi.  No leaks, flipped the product water lever from Test to Tank and the TDS was reading in the 450 range.  We are making water!!  Quite a relief!

I should explain the TDS (total dissolved solids) is a device that monitors water coming out of the water maker.  If its too high it would allow it to be routed to the water tanks.  Nifty little device.

So here are making water at 6pm in a lovely anchorage where the ocean temperatures are in the mid 80’s and there is a nice ocean breeze.  Hard to beat.

We leave tomorrow around 6:30AM for Biminis.  Cant wait!

April 14 - April 17 2015. Its a Marathon stay in Marathon

I took the dinghy out for a spin out in the ocean this morning and then went over to the fuel dock to fill it up.   Fuel isn't cheap in the Bahamas.   I tried to start the dinghy after and the starter just spun.  I’m pretty sure the spindle isn’t retracting correctly because it was whining every once in a while when we'd started it up.

That really is Mary in the cool shade of the laundry room

So while Mary was closeted in the laundry room doing laundry, I was trying to figure out why the outboard wasn't starting.

I finally just gave up and luckily a kindly gentleman who had a dinghy at the fuel dock towed me the 100 yards to our boat where I got out the hoisting harness and got the davit in place.  But before we pulled it aboard, I biked over to Marathon Boat Yard to see if they could repair it in a timely fashion since we're trying to leave Thursday morning.  "Maybe" was the answer.  But only if they had a new starter in stock.

A visit to the parts department proved otherwise.  $400 for expedited delivery and a new starter.  Ugh …

But one of the parts guys who remembered me from last month when we were in here with a fuel leak, slipped me a paper with a name, Mike, and phone number.  Mike it turns out is a rebuilder on Big Pine Key just south of us about 5 miles.  I called him and he was free to work on it.   Except I had to take the starter off.  He’d come by and pick it up and work on it this afternoon!

So I raced back and, interrupting Mary and her boat cleaning, hoisted the dinghy aboard.

Two gold bolts and one underneath and it was off

I pulled the outboard cover off and was able to remove the starter.  Called Mike back and he came down about 30 minutes later to pick it up.

The cause of our problem.  The missing cap nut on the shaft.  

Once he left I tried to clean the dinghy but it was so fouled with growth I gave up and just flushed out the engine with fresh water.  Once we get over to the Bahamas we’ll get the dinghy in the water and clean it there.

Mary finished up cleaning the boat exterior while I checked on our membrane order.  They should be delivered to SALT tomorrow.

A whole new head macerator, pump and motor.

I also checked in with Judy at the Marina office and retrieved my head pump.   Excitement reigns here when packages arrive, even if they are toilet parts.

I hopped on my bike then and rode back to Marathon Boat Yard to be sure they didn't complete the starter order and also made sure I knew when this guy (cant remember his name) would be working so I could take him a bottle of rum as a thank you for saving us several hundred dollars.

While I was there Jeff called to say they were coming over to Lazy Days to meet us for a pre departure meeting/cocktail party.

So I hurried back and told Mary who had just started cooking a roast in the oven. Timing is everything.  Some of us have that talent.  Others not so much.

We went back to Lazy Days and met them, including Curt and Marilyn who have the car which transports us around the area  stores and happy hours at various bars.  We spent a few hours discussing the trip and agreed to leave Thursday morning for Rodriguez Key and then leave from there to Bimini.

We said goodbye to Curt & Marilyn who are heading back to North Dakota Thursday.  They have a number of issues to deal with and Marilyn is leaving for Africa in early June.

So it was back to the boat for dinner, and then I shutdown the fuel polishing and changed the Racor filters.  But I noticed a puzzling fuel imbalance between the port and starboard fuel tanks.  Not sure why we have 2.5 inches more in the starboard tank.

So tomorrow, its one last trip to the store, drop off the rum and buy 2 quarts of oil and a filter and water separator filter for the dinghy, Home Depot for 2 more packs of TP,  Publix for lemon juice and a few other things.  And then a stop at a bank or someplace where I can get $500 in cash so we have about $2000 we can use in the Bahamas in lieu of a credit card.  Over there they usually add a 3-7 percent fee for the credit card transactions.

So we should have plenty of cash to sustain us for a few months.  Did I mention we have a safe on board?  We do.  

Mike called me around 9AM this morning and had the starter.  He dropped it off and I installed it and everything works just fine.  One success.

SALT called and said the membrane was delivered.  Not membrane(s)?  Nope, just one membrane.  Ok, now what.  I went back and traced through the order and discovered that both membranes had shipped and were estimated to be delivered by the 15^th.  Turns out the one shipped via UPS arrived.  The other via  FedEx, was still in transit. 

You know, I'm getting really tired of typing "SALT", "water maker" and "membranes".

As it turns out the tech who is slated to reassemble everything wont be starting that until later in the afternoon.  Ok, so we’re still looking pretty good since the second FedEx membrane should be delivered by 3PM.

Meanwhile I ran off to do that last of the errands.  I probably shouldn't say, “last” since it seems to never end, these errands.  Some people wake up and drink coffee.  I wake up and ride off to do an errand, chit-chat with store employees who now know me by name, and ride back with a basket full of things we sorta  needed.

First, I stopped off at marathon boat yard and purchased oil and filters and a water separation filter for the dinghy.  And flares since ours are 3 years out of date.  The Coast Guard has been imposed upon to make sure all of us cruising types have flares in case the 6 radios, two flare guns, dozen flashlights and two cell phones all fail at the same time during an emergency.  Sarcasim?  Ok, yes.  

I also gave the guy at Marathon Boat Yard a bottle of rum for turning me on to Mike, the starter rebuilder thus saving us several hundred dollars.  I've acquired several gallons of the stuff (rum) because of a coupon allowing me to purchase 3 bottles for $17 a piece.  I stocked up at that price the other day.  Plenty to go around and having bestowed rum on several boat yard employees in the past has paid dividends!  They all know me and can make things happen outside the normal, and sluggish process.

I did get 8 more rolls of that special toilet paper at Home Depot.  They don't have it over in the islands and its not always readily available in stores here in Florida.  While I was there I tried to exchange fifteen $20 bills for three $100  bills but they didn't have any.

Hundred dollar bills?  Am I hoarding big bills so I can join the high rollers at some casino in the Bahamas?  Ah,  not really.  There is a cruising fee imposed by the Bahamians of $300, and they like to be paid in cash.   Hundred dollar bills, is the preferred denomination.

I only bought a few essential things at Publix and they, at least were eager to fork over hundred dollar bills for all my $20 bills. 

Curt and Marilyn keeping an eye on the parking lot

And then ran into Curt and Marilyn again.  We always seem to meet at Publix.  I think they just hang around in the parking lot there to accost us frequent shoppers.

They had brought Jeff and Judy down so they could do they’re last shopping.  And judging by the fullness of their cart it was a big last hopping.

Jeff and Judy depleting the Publix inventory

Curt and Marilyn aren’t going with us to the Bahamas.  They have a number of issued to deal with back in North Dakota including a dead fridge, blown down fence, prairie fire that’s very close to their house, a lot in Nebraska which they own but their new neighbor elected to just cut down all their trees without asking.  Some of those trees were 40 years old.  Oh, and she’s zooming off to Africa in early June too.

When I got back to the boat I finished up charging the dinghy battery and came up with a plan to troubleshoot the navigation system which was doing fine until recently.  It follows a course fine but doesn't do well when fed a route from the chart plotter. 

I was going to call SALT to check on the water maker but decided to bike over there.  Got there at 3:45 which was a few minutes after the last membrane arrived.   The tech guy leaves at 4 so guess what.  Yup, another day at Marathon Marina, our new second home here in the Keys.  You cant imagine how thrilled Mary is about this.  But on the good side it will leave us plenty of time to get the water maker re-assembled and tested before leaving Friday morning.  And the weather looks good Friday and Saturday too.   

So now, after all this work we’re exhausted.  We have a clean boat, enough stored food to feed a small nation, enough booze to stock a popular bar, and no more errands to attend too.  All we can do, to combat this vacuum of activity is go to the pool with a drink and float around.

And oddly enough I ran into a guy at the pool whose blog I followed years ago, Ron,  They owned a boat, Equinox which was a Krogen 58 which we actually went on at a boat show a few years ago.  His wife, Karin has parents living in Oconomowoc of all places. Small world again,

So this morning we arent leaving!  I rode over to SALT and they were having issues finding properly sized O-rings and needed to locate some that fit properly.

All apart and just waiting for O rings

So I pretty much gave up on the idea of leaving here before noon.  I thought we might be able to sneak out of here if the we had the things in hand, but no joy on that one.  We'll hear from them this afternoon when they should be completed with everything and I can get the darn things installed.

So our current plans are now to leave tomorrow morning and join Jeff and Judy at Rodriguez Key before heading across to Bimini Saturday morning.

Jeff and Judy are anchored off Rodriguez Key and we're definitely leaving tomorrow.  Terry from SALT drove the membranes over here and I had them hooked up and flushed with water within an hour.

New high pressure washers

 I decided to just back flush them now and once were anchored at Rodriguez Key I can start the generator and run the water maker.  We have a bit less than 200 gallons of water for the last water maker run we did a month ago, so we are in good shape.

To celebrate our finally leaving this place even though we are paid up until the end of the month ...?

Wait.  What did you say?  Monthly rate?

Good bye pool until next year

Well, it turns out the monthly rate is actually cheaper by $300 compared to the weekly rate.  So since we've been here over half the month we ended up doing the cheaper monthly rate.  As an added benefit, if something does go haywire and we can't make it to the Bahamas, we can always come back here since we've paid for it already.

We wandered down to the pool for one last time and said good bye to various people we've met over the course of that last few months.

Free Banana Bread!  Alright!!

And we did celebrate by going to Lazy Days one last time.  We even got a free loaf of banana bread.

So tomorrow morning we leave the dock at 7:30 for the fuel dock for 60 some gallons of diesel.  And then make our way out to Hawks Channel to Rodriguez Key where we'll meet up with Jeff and Judy and a few other boats there.

We'll be off the grid for a few days until I can secure a data capable Bahamas phone.  

The weather looks good on Saturday when we go across to Bimini.  So it should be a nice ride!

April 9-15, 2015 Marathon (yes, still here)

We heard from SALT after Curt, who was there at the shop, called Mary and she talked with Terry who’s sort of overseeing the membrane fix.  They couldn't remove the caps from the cylinders.  These cylinders are about 40 inches long and have end caps at both ends, held on by a slotted metal tab and sealed by O rings.  Seems they can't break the corrosion bond.  But they haven't given up yet.

Before all this took place I spent the day mostly taking care of email and research for the Bahamas. 

We did make a reservation at Brunswick Landing Marina for July and August.   Brunswick Landing is in Brunswick Georgia.  Our original plan was to keep the boat at Lambs Marina on the Ortega River where they have concrete overheads in case of weather problems.  Our insurance doesn’t care about that.  We must be above 30.5 degrees latitude until July 15 until November 1.  This is their hurricane period I guess.  So given that constraint and our unwillingness to fork out and additional $3600, we’re going to Brunswick,Georgia.  And then make our way north to other places we only briefly visited.

Later, Mary took a walk and when she returned I walked out on the old bridge for the first time.  Very neat.  I have a few more days to make the walk to Pigeon Key, about 5 miles round trip.

After we showered we headed over to the Hyatt to met Jeff, and Judy and Curt and Marilyn for cocktails and to listen to a band which is composed of guys from their marina.

Jeff reported he’s quite happy with the DVD’s we gave him to watch.   All those DVD’s we collected over the year seem to have found a purpose now!

We made it back to the boat just at sunset and headed off to bed by 10.  Didn’t watch any Boston Legal again.  We have to get that finished so we can give it to some friends who are watching the first four years.  We have year 5.

This morning I spent a few hours fitting the internet connection here.  It was pretty steady and slow, but usable.  Not this morning.

Mary got up about the time I gave up and was getting ready to visit SALT again with my spare membrane.  I strapped it to the bike and made it to SALT with much trouble.  I gave it to Sean as we walked back and took a quick look at our membrane cylinders.  The puller was on one but the end cap wasn't off.  I’m hoping to have this all cleared up by Wednesday next week. 

After SALT I rode down to Publix but before I arrived Curt called me.  They must have seen me riding don the rode.  I turned around and headed back towards them.  They asked if we wanted to hit the Big Pine Key Flea Market.  That sounded better than anything we had planned so they drove to the marina and Mary and I eventually climbed in their truck and off we went to Big Pine Key which is across Seven Mile Bridge.

Scoping out the white shirt things we eventually bought

It is a fun place, this Flea Market

The flea market has a wide variety of,, well, stuff.  I bought some electrical connectors, and Mary bought a hat and we got a deal on 3 white jackets.  We also consumed two oranges.  Then it was off to No Name Pub again.  Curt and Marilyn had never gone there so we figured why not!  It's a good place.  The waitress there answered Curts question about how much money is stapled up on the walls.  $200,000 is the estimate.

Curt Marilyn and Mary at NoName Pub.  Yes, those are dollar bills on the wall

After lunch we headed back with plans to convince Jeff and Judy to join us at Sunset Bar where the local Blues Brothers were playing.   The bar has a restaurant overlooking the pool where the main bar is located.  The bands all play by the pool which is right along the shoreline overlooking the ocean.

The two Blues Brothers beyond the pool

These Blues Brothers are almost the spitting image of the original.  Very talented, but no band.  Its sort of like karaoke where they have record music playing while they sing.  Wish they had a band.

Mary wasn't feeling well so we didn't stay long. And headed back to the boat.  I took a long walk while Mary digested some TV and then we went to bed.

Fought with the deteriorating internet here all morning, then spent more time trying to get a bootable usb / repair disk made.  After a while I just gave up and rode to the store.   It's our daily store run to keep us stocked for the Bahamas.  Came back and headed out to walk out to Pigeon Key over the old bridge.  Ran into Jeff and Mary who told me Rob's house inspection went well so all they have to do is agree on a closing date.  And move.  Mounds of stuff.

Entrance to Old Seven Mile Bridge

Looking down the bridge towards Pigeon Key

The trek to Pigeon Key is across the Old 7 Mile Bridge and is about 2.5 miles one way.  On the bridge itself, they used the old rails to form the railings.  All welded.  And rusting too.

On the way to the Key I saw at least a dozen rays, 3 barracuda which where much larger than I've ever seen before.  Easily 4-5 feet.  And a sea turtle.  It's an Aquarium out there!

Windlass cover

As I came back Mary finished the windlass cover she was making and was on her way out for a walk.  So I took some time to watch the Masters and then we showered, watched a little TV and went to bed with all three air conditioners running.  It was hot today.

  

After dealing with one of our investment sites and discovering the password I changed 14 months ago was rejected, we finally get off the boat at noon. 

Noon.   The ubiquitous time so familiar to us.  It’s the time when we leave to do things.  Be it errands, appointments, or play time.  Anything.  Regardless how early we get up or how prepared we are, its always Noon.   Maybe that’s why we rarely have anything scheduled in the morning because people who know us know that their 8AM is our Noon.

Before we left I did move the mattress off our bed and soaked the water maker high pressure fittings in vinegar to remove the salt build up.  I was thinking it would take several hours.  Took and hour!  So we were able to leave at noon for SALT so we could find out the status of our membranes.

We made it there and discovered Terry, the guy handling the membrane re-build was out.  We will be getting a call from him this afternoon.

We left SALT for the Post Office so I can mail in our tax payment and some other mail.  We ran into Jeff and Judy who were wandering around with Curt and Marilyn near the Publix.  When we left the post office we saw them there and talked for a few minutes.  We kept bringing up the subject of the Bahamas more than once to Curt and Marilyn who are wavering about crossing over.  I mean so the freezer at your house died and a fence blew down.  Its why we all have kids, right? 

Not sure if we can cajole them into going over with us, but it sure is fun trying.

We shopped and biked back to the boat with a good supply of stuff, but need a few more trips until we have everything.   Question is will Marathon have anything left.  

SALT called and the message was specific.  NO membranes for at least 2 weeks from all their suppliers!  Except they found some on Amazon.  2 to be exact.

So I biked over quickly they gave me the link and I ordered them on the spot.  It’s costing us a little over a hundred dollars more than the place where I had originally had ordered them, but time is getting critical.  We now might actually, really, be leaving Wednesday or Thursday!

I went back to Publix late in the afternoon to take advantage of a sale on water they were having.  Bottled water.  I know, I know we have a water maker.  Whats with the bottled water?  It's backup in case the water maker refuses to make water in some remote location.

It's almost like having a truck.

Got the last case of water but I couldn't get any Seltzer because someone bought all the LaCroix.  Damn these Marathon Seltzer drinkers.  Down here though its soda not seltzer.  I always have a difficult time ordering drinks because they say, "oh you mean soda", when I say Captain and seltzer.  I think they mean 7 up or something similar.  And they don't know what Seltzer is.  Fizzy water seems to work most of the time.

I didn't polish any fuel today.  Basically forgot.  So tomorrow I’ll have to do that, and change some filters, fuel up the dinghy and get it aboard and washed, and lay in the navigation stuff.  And also to be sure to get three $100 bills to pay the entrance fee for cruising the Bahamas.  Busy day tomorrow, but now its another one of those humdrum tropical sunsets.