Little Darby Island, Exumas, Bahamas

Lots of pretty scenery as well motored into the wind southbound.

Where the 1% vacation - Musha Cay, a private island.

More pretty little uninhabited cays.

Duane spotted a small cove on Little Darby Island that we had never noticed before.  The wind conditions were just right for us to try it out as an anchorage.  There was a swell that made entering the cove a little scary, but all is well and it’s absolutely beautiful.

Since we had most of the afternoon to relax, Time for a little exploring.  Good to be swimming but no fish or lobsters were taken.

Back to the boat.  It is such a sweet little spot we have all to ourselves!

We’ll be up early tomorrow for a long sail to Georgetown.

Blackpoint, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas

 Up early for another day of motoring south...

 

 We decided to go "outside" in the deep water of Exuma Sound so that we could troll fishing lines.  (In the protected waters west of the islands, the water is shallow, 10-20'.  The deep water fish we are looking for aren't generally in the shallow waters).  It was rather bouncy outside but we were rewarded with one small skipjack tuna! It was put straight in the fridge for fileting once were were anchored later in the day.  Most was vacuum packed but I had a nice meal of seared tuna with pickled ginger!

 

 Since we're blasting down south with a motor on, we came in the cut at Staniel Cay and topped off with diesel.

Walking over to the pay station, the marina looks a bit empty.  But the nurse sharks are always around looking for fish scraps.

Back to the boat and ready to head over to Blackpoint for the night.

There were a few boats on the mooring balls and several at the Big Majors anchorage.

As we motored over to Blackpoint....passing the rich peoples toys... There were eight other sailboats anchored at Blackpoint when we arrived. We had to dodge the new mooring balls that appear to still be in place. I thought they were supposed to have removed them, but apparently not. All the boats were anchored, none of them had picked up a mooring ball.

C

Norman’s Cay, Exumas, Bahamas

 We were up at first light for the 60+ mile trip over to the Exumas.

There was less than 10 knots of wind, mostly on our nose, but just enough angle that raising the main sail provided a small push to the single engine while underway.

Uneventful day, almost no other boats except a couple of fishing boats.

As we approached Norman’s Cay in the very late afternoon, we were welcomed by some friendly dolphins!  Always a good sign.   We’ll be traveling south for the next few days.

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 We met up with Charm and took the dinghies into town. Always an adventure to tie up as there is no designated dinghy dock.

It was Kris’s birthday- we went to Buddha’s for yummy sandwiches and generally caught up with all that has transpired since we saw them last. 

After lunch, a trip to the well stocked grocery store for some fresh veg.  The three pack of Romaine lettuce heads that I usually buy were $14 each.  Instead, I got a head a cabbage for $3 that will have to do for crunchy salads.

Walking back to the dinghies, always enjoy the pastel houses!

Back to the Manta’s for a lazy late afternoon.  

A bit of traffic out in the anchorage.  Nice fishing boat. 

Duane installed the new windless motor and we’re back at 100% there! We’ll head over to the Exuma’s now

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 A relaxing day…read some on my Kindle, made some ginger cookies, washed the bedding.   We moved about a mile over closer to town to meet up with Charm. 

Around sunset, a mail boat chums out of the harbour.

Charm arrived from the Berries and a long day. We’ll meet up with them later.

Charm early this morning looking pretty!

Meeks Patch, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 Just a travel day, taking advantage of decent winds to carry us north.  Just a lovely day to sail.

Several hours later approaching Current Cut.  We cranked both engines just to be safe going thru the cut.  Swirling currents makes steerage a little unpredictable.  We timed it well for a 2 knot following current.

The Current Settlement looks lovely as we pass by.

We turned off the engines and slowly sailed another couple of hours to Meeks Patch.   Passing the private little Lobster Cay….for $$$$ you can vacation there!!

We’ll move over closer to Spanish Wells as the winds shift.

Hatchett Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 We need to be back north near Spanish Wells to meet up with Charm in a few days as they have our spare windlass motor. (By the way, Duane’s patched repair is working for now! But don’t wanna risk it.).  There are favorable wins to allow us to sail all  the way there right now. So we pulled the anchor and headed out,  doing less than 40 miles today.

Uneventful but very nice sail with no motor noise to Hatchet Bay.  The man-made entrance always looks smaller than it is.

Anchored for the night, very protected and calm. No other boats!

We grilled the last lobster that we caught a week or so ago off of Egg Reef.  Need to go fishing again! (Pork tenderloin for Duane)  

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 The winds are calming....we're just really hanging around pleasantly.

Time to figure out the dinghy leak...this is made much more difficult because the dinghy has a "double floor".  So there is the outer "V" shaped aluminum hull, and a flat aluminum plate on top of that making the surface where our feet ride completely flat.  This is welded in place and completely non-accessible.  The fuel line and electrical cables are hidden beneath this flat plate.  

On to the troubleshooting -  We filled the dinghy up with buckets of seawater then observed the hull to try to figure out where the leak was coming from.  Tilted the dinghy 45 degrees to position the water for maximum impact.  Nothing obvious right away, but we did find a small drip that couldn't be explained.  After quite a while we finally honed in on a very small corroded area in the middle of the outside aluminum hull.  This had to be the culprit as the hull was dry everywhere else.

Since the dinghy is hanging in mid-air we needed a "work platform" to proceed.  Darcey and Michelle on New Ambition answered the call.

 

Now that we could reach it, just poking it with a small punch opened up whatever debris was slowing down the flow.  We definitely found our leak - very strange spot.  (We were expecting it to be at the hull-to-tube junction.

Super easy fix that we hope is "good enough".  Since Darcey was still in the dinghy, he took the honor of doing the repair.  Just a quick sanding of the area, drill out the hole for a large aluminum rivet, copious amounts of 3M 5200 sealant, then he popped in the rivet.  Covered with more 5200 just for good measure.   So nice of them to help!

Later in the afternoon, Michelle invited us over for some games.  Darcey came and provided taxi service to let the 5200 cure on our dinghy.  (It's underwater rated so should be a fine fix.)

Had a fun afternoon chatting and playing 5 Crowns.   They will head out for points south tomorrow.   We'll likely stay around or head a bit north.   

If you're wondering about the dinghy and the corrosion.....the dinghy is a Highfield brand - which is well liked and reviewed.  We bought it in 2019.  The warranty for the tubes is 10 years but the hull is only 5 years.  So we are out of luck as far as that is concerned.  All the aluminum surfaces are powder coated.  We have seen a good amount of "bubbling" from underlying corrosion on several areas.  Probably not a great process although it looks great when new of course.  Obviously, the ocean water is a terrible environment.  But the location of the hole is strange - not a seam or anything.  I think the next dinghy will probably be bare aluminum....

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 Another quiet day….rainy and windy. 

A tanker docked over near the airport….that was the total of boat activity for the day. 

The only productive thing I did was bake a batch of macadamia nut cookies. Yum. 

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 Not a lot of excitement for the next day or so…just hanging out in the windy anchorage.

We did get a nice visit with Darcey and Michelle from New Ambition.  It’s been a couple of years since we’ve seen these Canadians and it was nice to catch up. We’ll be seeing them a good bit this winter as they will be heading to the Raggeds after a Christmas visit with relatives in Georgetown.

Rock Sound, Elethera, Bahamas

 Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day (or just a regular day if you're not from the US!!)

We motored in almost flat seas and little wind about 6 hours south to Rock Sound.  There are some strong winds forecast for the next few days and Rock Sound provides excellent holding and good wind protection from most wind angles.  No other boat traffic and a familiar shoreline.

 

Anchored mid-day.  By the end of the day, there was a total of 4 boats anchored in the huge bay.  I got busy immediately after arrival making a Thanksgiving meal for Duane and I.  

 

 The meal was yummy!  Plenty of leftovers.....