Docked Overnight at Berry Islands Club in Frazier Hog Cay; Nassau in a.m. for Jib Sail Repair

On Saturday, Feb. 13, we moved our boat behind the Bimini Sands condos to block the wind. Wayne ran around the U shape of the canal to help dock us so we could take down the jib. We moved back over to our dock and took the jib up on the grass to access the damage.

It turns out that when the sail was made, the sun cover was sewn at the same time as construction and they didn’t catch the seam that holds in the leech line. So when the sun cover ripped, there was nothing left to hold the leech line in the sail. Bad construction.

So, change of plans. We’re now in Frazier Hog Cay at the Berry Islands Club and tomorrow we’ll head to Nassau to get the sail repaired. Hopefully, Phillip’s Sails can do a quick repair. At this point, we’ll probably just have the leech line sewn in and forget the sun cover. Chuck has been itching to get a new jib sail anyway…this gives him the excuse to do so.

After we folded up the sail, I went up and paid for our stay. Water is metered in the Bahamas and we didn’t think to check the meter when we arrived, so we ended up paying for 125 gallons…no way we used that much, but what are you going to do? At 20 cents a gallon, the bill was $26. Note to self: check meter readings upon arrival.

We readied for dinner and stopped in the office for the shuttle to the Beach Club, the sister marina of Bimini Sands. What a trip! It was a miniature school bus with some wild painting on it. It was a very bumpy ride on a dirt road…and they drive on the opposite side of the road here…and no lighting. Lots of turns. A little scary.

The Beach Club was offering a Valentine’s special…any dinner on the menu for $25 per person, including appetizer, entrée and dessert. The menu was very upscale. We were greeted with roses for the ladies. After we ordered our drinks and dinner, they brought us chocolate-covered strawberries to enjoy while we were waiting for our appetizers.

I ordered prime rib. Chuck had rack of lamb. Patti ordered lobster and Wayne ordered a seafood pasta dish. Our appetizers included cracked lobster, cracked conch. Desserts were over the top too. Yum. I wished we had come earlier in the week so we could go back there!

The Beach Bar, attached to the restaurant, was a building with no floor, built on the beach sand. Pretty cool.

We asked for the shuttle back to Bimini Sands, but our driver went home sick, so we had to hop a ride with two guys that worked there in their SUV. They got us safely back to Bimini Sands. No sweat.

I still had laundry to do and Patti had to do her hair, a two hour project. The guys went to bed. We were up until after 1 a.m. Alarms went off at 4:30 a.m. Chuck was already up looking at the weather. We were ready to leave at 6 a.m., but were waiting for Passages and N’Joy. They called when they were on their way, about 7:20 a.m. We pulled out right behind them. The seas were rough in the harbor. Good thing I took a Dramamine! I snuggled in with Jazzy on my lap. She was under my blanket and pea coat. It was cold on the water!

Winds were 11-16 knots. SOG was 5.7 knots with the main reefed. By 10:30 a.m., winds were only 5-6 knots and seas were only about 1-2 feet. Very calm. It was a beautiful, sunny day on the water. Perfect. The water was only 7.5-11 ft. deep and the color was a pretty turquoise.

At 1:45 p.m. I took the helm so Chuck could sleep for a few hours. SOG was 6.2-6.6 with 11 knots of wind. By 3 p.m., the winds were down to 8.5-9.5 knots and SOG was 6.44. I bumped our speed up to 2900 rpms and SOG was 6.5-6.7 knots.

Chuck woke up around 5 p.m. We took lots of photos of the beautiful sunset. We anchored in the ocean at 25.27.758N, 78.15.155W. There were five boats. It was so dark you could see a gazillion stars in the sky.

When we woke up this morning, there were four more boats anchored near us. We woke up at 5 a.m. and were going to head to Nassau, but N’Joy was having alternator trouble and didn’t hear the radio call. Wayne wasn’t thrilled about another 55 mile day, and Sailor was still holding it and wouldn’t go on the boat. So Wayne tossed out the idea of going to Frazier Hog Cay overnight. There’s wi-fi in the little “beach house” here so I could e-mail about the sail repair. Sailor could get his walk. And we won’t get into Nassau at night.

Nine sailboats started out together. Two boats went on to Nassau. But five boats are here with us. Bum’s Rest and Sheet Music are at a dock. The rest are in the small mooring field that’s part of this marina.

It was cold on the water today. We wore our pea coats. By 8 a.m., we were in the Northwest Providence Channel. The water was over 2,000 ft. deep at some points, and a deep navy blue. So pretty. I took the helm for a little while to let Chuck catch a nap. He ended up trying to figure out where our water is coming from under the floor boards. He’s going to seal off the different compartments to help narrow it down.

We’re going up to the little beach house tonight for dinner. It’s a home-cooked meal. We placed our order and it will be ready at 7 p.m.

I e-mailed Phillip’s Sails to see if they could repair our jib. I’m hoping to hear back from them.

We got here early…about 11:30 a.m. It’s warm! I’m back in shorts, T-shirt and sandals. Sweet!

We saw a stingray and a shark while standing on our dock. The water in the Bahamas is crystal clear and you can see everything. It’s so beautiful.

They serve conch in the restaurant here. Here's all the shells from the conch they've served!

Tomorrow: Nassau!