Chub Cay Club Extravagance!

Yesterday we woke up late and decided we were tired and didn't want to set sail immediately and thought it would just be easier to check in at Chub Cay. So we radioed in to see if they had slips, pulled anchor and headed in to the marina. We were greeted by a friendly employee who helped us with our dock lines, brought us our customs forms and gave us all the information we needed to get checked in. Brad went off to check in to the marina and customs while I made sure the boat was settled in the slip and then went about cleaning her up from our travels. While underway on long passages, dishes tend to pile up and clothes that we shed and change into get strewn about below. It is said that you should be dressed nicely and have your boat looking good when checking into new countries as this is a respectful gesture towards them.

Once we were all legal, we broke out the bubbly and celebrated our arrival!!

We excitedly hoisted the Bahamian courtesy flag and headed straight to the bar for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ice is a thing of extravagance for us and on a hot day, an ice cold beverage hits the spot. Once we had whet our whistles, we went back to the boat, got the mutt and commenced our tour of the area.

Chub Cay Club is a high end marina designed mainly for sports fishermen. They have also built beautiful houses around the marina that unfortunately seem to mostly sit empty. They have a fancy restaurant and have built a clubhouse (unfinished) behind a beautiful infinity pool with a pool bar looking out over the beach. Since the marina and surrounding houses are mostly empty, we had the pool all to ourselves. It was a bit chilly, but a freshwater pool in the heat of the Bahamas is not something to be passed up!

It is great to be back in the Bahamas, where everyone is friendly and laid back. Island time does actually exist and it seems that it is the way we were meant to live. This lifestyle suits us just fine and we are so excited to be back here visiting this wonderful country.

Tomorrow looks mostly rainy so instead of slogging down to Nassau, we are going to stay put and catch up on some much needed sleep. Saturday we will set sail and start making our way to the Exumas....our paradise.

Should I stay or should I go now?!

Tuesday morning struck early for us as a rain storm hit around 6am...the time when we had planned to get up and get the boat ready to set out for points East. So, what else do you do in a rainstorm but go back to bed?! By 8am, the rain had subsided to a light drizzle and I was antsy to get the day started and to get the mothership on the road (so to speak). We readied the boat and headed to land for a few last minute fill ups of water and gas, then a quick stop at the Marathon Marina on our way out of the harbour to top off our fuel and we were heading East.

We turned the corner around Marathon and were happy to see some wind in our favor. Out came the sails and we were soon enjoying a great sailing day. However, as with most sailing days, the wind wasn't quite in our favor and we found ourselves quite a ways off course. While we were enjoying the sailing, we were not making much progress Eastward.

All morning, we had been monitoring the weather and talking among the other boats in the harbour about crossing over to the Bahamas. We had originally planned on crossing today, but the wind had turned more East and that would mean a motorbash. Add to that the fact that there was a cold front bearing down behind it and we would be pressed to make it to the Bahamas Bank before it hit. All morning while we enjoyed the nice weather and wind, we tossed the idea around to see if we should go or not. Finally, at 1pm, I looked at Brad and said, "We are going." The wind was predicted to stay light through the night when we were crossing the stream, and although we would be motoring into it, there hadn't been any more favorable weather since we had arrived in Marathon a month prior. And the clincher was the following day when the wind was favorable for us to cross the banks under sail. So, at 1pm, we stopped farting around with the wind, pointed our bow to the East and turned on the motor.

We knew there was a gaggle of boats ahead of us and another gaggle of boats behind us, but as usual, we hadn't joined into the buddy boating mentality and were going it alone. We motored through the night across the stream. For the most part our mainsail just luffed in the wind and with the light wind, the water was mostly calm. It wasn't until about 2am that the wind piped up a bit and the waves became a bit larger. We were both awake and in the cockpit and having already put a reef in the mainsail, there wasn't much for us to do but hang on and press onwards.

By sunrise the waves had laid down and we passed onto the banks into shallower water without incident. By 9am, we had turned off the motor and were making great time under sail alone. At this point, we were exhausted and were debating whether we should stop and anchor or continue on. If we anchored, we were in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how close the front was to being upon us and if the wind piped up, the waves would also mount and we would be bouncing around. So, with the wind being in our favor and us making great time, we opted to continue on. Both fortunately and unfortunately, the wind held up and we made great time across the banks. But, by this time we were extremely tired and just ready for the trip to be over.

By nightfall, we were within 30 miles of Chub Cay and so we pressed on. We passed through the Northwest Channel, with the assistance of a large passing motor vessel, with no issues. This channel comes in from thousands of feet of water, through a narrow cut onto the shallow 20 foot banks. In strong wind and flowing tide it can be quite dangerous, but everything worked in our favor and we had a strong current on our stern pushing us through the calm waters.

Finally, at midnight, we dropped the sails, turned on the motor and motored the last few miles into Chub Cay as far as we dared in the pitch black and dropped anchor. We were so excited to finally be ending our 39 hour sail and as soon as we got everything put away, we both fell into bed for what I'm sure was the best sleep we have had in weeks.

Bad Weather Blues

Laundry is done, jerry jugs are filled, provisions are stocked and now....we wait. Winds have been steady over 10 knots for the past few days, which would be good sailing - if they weren't coming directly from where we need to go! Seems the fronts keep pushing through so either the winds are strong out of the North, which is a no go when crossing the Stream, or they are blowing like stink from the East.

During a recent happy hour gathering, we were told that this was the El Nino year and that doesn't bode well for sailors. The jet stream dips lower and keeps that fronts coming through and the winds strong out of the East. This is great once you get down to the Caribbean and can just sail North to South - beam reach heaven the whole time. But, if you're trying to go East, you are shit outta luck (pardon the saying).

So, we wait. Or you can do what most of us antsy sailors are going to do this week and wait for light winds and try to sneak farther North up the Keys. This gives you a new location to explore, a new anchorage and more friends to meet, and also puts you closer to the Bahamas Bank - which translates into less sailing at one time. So, tomorrow, if the weather subsides, we will sneak out into the deep and try to get closer to Miami. If the weather really lays down and we are happy with the sea state, we may go all the way! Otherwise, we will get as far as we can and then tuck into a safe harbour by sundown. At this point, we are just going stir crazy being in one spot, so any movement is a step forward!

Hopefully King Neptune will bless us with calm seas one day soon and we can safely cross to the Bank and get on with our winter sailing adventure!

Outboard Woes

This week has been an eventful one. Our outboard decided to go tits up this week and just stop working completely. Although Brad gave it his best shot, we couldn't figure out the problem.

Hoisting the outboard up on the mothership with the cowling off is like waving the white flag.

Since we are on a mooring ball a mile from the dinghy dock, that was a bit problematic. We tried rowing in, to the great amusement of all of our boat neighbors. This was largely unsuccessful in the strong winds and after going in circles for a bit tied along with a few expletives thrown between myself and Brad, some of them offered to tow us in. Thus started the three day hell of having to rely on our neighbors for rides and tows, as well as outboard repair assistance. Everyone was very obliging, but it is taxing on them and us to have to tow another dinghy a mile. We had a line of people offer to come over and look at our outboard to see if they could impart some wisdom and every one of them went away just as perplexed as we were. So, while we learned this was the quickest way to meet our "neighborhood", we realized they would soon tire of us and thus we found ourselves in the market for a new outboard....as it were.

As luck would have it, there was indeed one outboard available on craigslist in Marathon. We have been lucky enough to befriend a young couple here with a car and so he and Brad drove out to put it through the paces. After a bit of haggling and some test drives, they decided it would do and we found ourselves the proud owners of a "brand new" Suzuki 15hp!! It is a 2010, which is the newest anything we have ever owned and it is a gem! It starts on the first pull and idles quiet as a mouse; and even I can work it!!!

When we returned with the outboard out to our neck of the mooring field, we were greeted by applause and laughter from our neighbors, who were obviously relieved not to have to tow us around anymore. While this outboard was certainly not in the budget, we are glad that if we had to have an outboard issue, it was here in the harbour. We were able to find a relatively quick solution, thanks to the generosity of the boaters.

So, now, with our new outboard in hand, we are waiting on weather....the story of our lives. But, while waiting, we have been reunited with some boating buddies we met down in the Exumas. They are also waiting for weather and it seems that we will all be making the crossing at about the same time. In the meantime, I'm sure there will be lots of rum consumption, good laughs and volleyball games for all. All in all, there are worse places to be "stuck"...