Hoping to Head to Staniel Cay Soon

Three days of catch up:

Tuesday, March 2

After the Bumms left from dinner the other night, we saw water sloshing up from the floor boards as the boat was rocking. We ran the pump to drain it out. Today, Chuck worked on sectioning off the bilge to try and figure out where the water is coming from. It’s salt water and we suspect it’s coming from the keel bolts.

I was on the computer paying bills and recording transactions from our bank statement into the check registry and writing notes for some birthdays back home.

When we finished, we picked Patti and Sailor up in the dinghy and headed over to a long beach across the harbor. The dogs had a blast running around and chasing each other. Patti and I walked on the beach.

I had the portable VHF radio and I hailed Chuck when we were ready to come back to the boats. There is shallow water far from the beach, so we walk in water to reach the dinghy.

I cleaned Jazzy up and we left her on the boat and took the dinghy over to visit Seventh Heaven. Jude and Paul are from England and have been living aboard for four years and cruising around the world. They spent a year in the Mediterranean and cruised to Turkey, Grenada and St. Maarten, to name a few.

I made boneless chicken breasts with barbecue sauce, baked potatoes and corn. We topped off the meal with vanilla pudding for dessert.

We are expecting winds to 35 knots tonight and tomorrow. Radar showed showers going north of us, so we didn’t put the rain catcher out and, wouldn’t you know, it started to rain. So we scrambled and put it out to catch what we could. Water is a valuable resource and is not available on this island. Every little bit helps!

Wednesday, March 3:
We stayed on the boat today weathering out the high winds. We were so glad we weren’t still at Emerald Rock because the winds and seas were worse than the other night. Our alarm that notifies us that winds exceed 30 knots kept going off. I felt sorry for the poor souls out there. It was much calmer in the harbor. I took a Dramamine and slept in the aft cabin last night.

Today was a lazy day, which was wonderful. Later this afternoon, I made a sign for Sheet Music and Bum’s Rest with our names on it for Boo Boo Hill on a piece of driftwood that Chuck found on one of the beaches. That’s where everyone leaves a piece of driftwood with their boat name on it. We’ll lug it up there when the weather improves. It looks like we’ll be here all week.

Patti cooked dinner tonight: salad, homemade vegetable beef soup with fresh-baked cornbread and pudding for dessert. Delicious.

Thursday, March 4:
The winds kicked up again last night, but not nearly as bad as the night before. Temp was probably about 68 or 69 today. The winds were from the northwest and brought in cold air. That seems to be the story everywhere we go. Cruisers tell us this is not a typical weather year at all. Blame it on El Nino.


Today the four of us hiked up to Boo Boo Hill and put out sign on the pile. I wish this Internet service would let me post photos!

Patti and Wayne went to the book exchange and Chuck and I hiked several more trails. We saw another couple taking photos of each other and I offered to take a photo of them together. It turned out to be Peter and Lynn from First Edition. They are from North Jersey and have liveaboards for three years, but are getting ready to split their time between cruising and land again. It's those grandchildren that we just can't seem to stay away from! Maryann from MicMac told us to look for each other, so we were happy to spend some time chatting with them and exchanged boat cards.

Tonight I'm making spaghetti and meatballs with jello and pineapple for dessert. We're out of fresh produce, so no salad. And no bread. There's no place to shop on this remote island, so we're low on fresh stuff. But we have plenty of canned and packaged goods and a few more things in the freezer.

I think that the next stop is Staniel Cay, then Black Point, where there's groceries and laundry. Maybe as soon as tomorrow.

Will keep you posted when we have Internet again. It's hit or miss down here.