We were quite happy to leave the anchorage off of Athol Island after a rather rolly, unrestful night. Here's a shot of the pink Atlantis near Nassau as we rounded one of the small barrier islands.
Though the winds were down somewhat today, as forecast, there was a rather large swell that was sometimes 6 feet or more in size throughout the first half of the day. This was coming down from a severe storm that had passed Bermuda, way north of us.
Once the swells diminished, the trip wasn't too bad. At one point, we had a pod of dolphins dancing around our bow.
Possibly because of the strong swell and sideways motion on the boat, we blew a stabilizer seal about half way through the trip. It was spurting hydraulic oil in the engine room so we are now without stabilizers until we get it fixed. That is one thing we don't carry spares for. Hooray for pretzels. Ughhh.
Also, because of the ugly seas, we stirred up a bunch of gunk in our fuel tanks that clogged our fuel filters. Fortunately, by keeping our speed down, we were able to make it to our destination. One more project for the list.
Here's our first view of Bullock's Harbour, the small town near our marina. Notice the mail boat at the town dock. That means the grocery will likely have some food for sale. Yay!
It's always interesting finding the cut that lead to our marina because you can't see it until you are almost right in it.
We left at 7:30 and arrived at the marina at 4:40, right before they closed at 5:00. Phew! PTL!
The COVID restrictions in place here in the Bahamas are now quite strict. We were lucky to be allowed to even enter the marina. The police are very vigilant to make sure people don't congregate and are constantly cruising to keep it safe.
Jim went to the grocery Wednesday and waited for 2 hours before being allowed to enter. They only allowed 3 people in the store at a time. It was certainly interesting being in the non-line outside. People and cars everywhere. Occasionally, things were a little testy and sometimes, a bit loud as people jostled to try to figure out who was next to go in. Jim stood out as he was about the only whitey in the group and had a bright orange shirt on. That helped him figure out where his order in the group was.
Our marina is nice, small and, due to the regulations, quite quiet. Cruisers aren't allowed to congregate and can't visit other areas of the island. Also, from Wednesday evening until Tuesday morning, they now literally shut the island down to everything. No one moves, no gas and no groceries. Wow!
We plan to stay here only until the next weather window that will allow us to get back to the states. It is 180 miles back so, without stabilizers and a snotty fuel tank, we will need to time it carefully. Possibly late next week. We'll see.
In the meantime, be well!
Blessings,
Jim & Carol
