We left our anchorage at Little Harbour just before dawn on Friday morning in order to have time to stop in Marsh Harbour to pick up some parts and then continue on to our anchorage for the evening. We had a float switch for one of our main bilge pumps quit the previous day and that type of part is one of the few that we didn't carry a spare for. Wouldn't you know it?
The morning was lovely, calm and flat. During the trip, we passed a cute little lighthouse.
The water was amazingly clear and quite shallow. Generally 4 to 6 feet under the keel.
Fortunately, there is a well-stocked marine chandlery in Marsh Harbour which had just what we needed. Also, one of the marinas there let us park just long enough for Jim to walk to town to get the part. Though they charged $25 for up to 3 hours, it was better than anchoring out, dropping the dinghy & motoring in.Between Marsh Harbour and our anchorage at Bakers Bay, we saw lots of large starfish. This is looking down through about 12 feet of water.
Our anchorage was wonderful. The seas were flat, the wind was calm and Samba floated lazily over our anchor.
If you look closely in the picture to the left, you can see the chain in the left part of the picture and just the top of the anchor sticking out from the sand.There were a couple of deserted islands nearby so we dropped the dinghy and headed over to check them out. Here is Carol's classic, "I am not a mountain goat" pose as she follows Jim through the brush.
The terrain around the island was pretty rugged. Our goal was to try to get to a small lookout platform we had seen from the dinghy.
We think it had been quite a while since anyone had been there. Jim tried to get through the brush but finally gave up. Without a machete, it was impossible to reach.
The 2nd island was a great shelling island. On it, there were some interesting piles of wood that looked like they might be there for a bonfire. However, we didn't see any charcoal. Maybe a good Samaritan just wanted to clean up the beach?
This is a shot of Samba quietly at anchor in Bakers Bay. Quite a beautiful spot.
Red sky at night, sailor's delight, they say!
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Saturday morning, we headed over to Treasure Cay to wait out the coming storm. It is a well-protected marina that should do fine in the predicted 50 knot winds!
Notice Samba in the middle of the heart?
Jim spent all afternoon trying to commission a new "watermaker" that he had installed last August. This is really the first time we have had time and had reasonably clean salt water to do the commissioning. After pulling out an old pump we didn't know existed on Samba and after finally figuring out the wiring for a 240 volt contactor relay he had picked up in Florida, it was off to the races. Woo hoo! Fresh, pure drinking water from salt water at last.
Water in the Bahamas tends to be pretty bad. Even the locals don't like to drink it. Worse, we have previously tried buying their "R.O." water and it, too, was bad and murky. That is why we decided to buy the parts & install our own watermaker - - and it works . . . finally!
We have found ourselves surrounded by 3 French Canadian boats and one from Germany. Quite the international group here. 
We also have a mega yacht for a neighbor. They have 6 young girls they seem to be entertaining. Probably 8th graders. The yacht is amazing and its tender even more so. Who in the world needs a "little" runabout tender with 4 x 350 hp outboards on it. Wow, that's just silly!!!
From the sounds of it, we will likely be stuck in this marina for the better part of a week. Winds are forecast to be 20 to 30 knots most of the week and that is just too much to be out in.
See you next post.
