Meet Jerry! This is Joey’s friend and Joey is our grandson, Xander’s pet bearded dragon.
Jerry hangs out just behind Samba on warm days. He doesn’t move very fast but seems to be at home here.
It’s been windy here all week but our marina, though pretty low budget, is safe.
Through this week, we completed a number of boat projects. Since
the marina’s washer was $9.00 per load and the dryer was similar, Carol used
the washer on board Samba to do several loads of laundry.
Our dryer wouldn’t get hot enough to dry so she hung the
laundry out to dry the old-fashioned way.
A local fuel truck came to the marina to fill up a smaller fishing boat so we took advantage of him to top our tanks off before making the jump to the Bahamas.
When we arrived last Saturday, we paid to stay in the marina
until Friday. They ONLY take cash or checks and the daily rate was ridiculously
high, especially for what they offered – gravel parking and a sleazy restroom
we had to walk a block to get to.
At the time of our arrival, it looked like our only chance
to cross to the Bahamas would be on Saturday.
That, of course, changed during the week. Rather than use our last check
to extend our stay, we opted to leave and wait for the weather while anchored
off Rodriguez Key, just a mile away.
The Bahamas requires a COVID rapid test within 3 days of
arriving at port so we biked 3.5 miles to the nearest clinic & got our
tests Friday morning. Friday afternoon, the tide was finally high enough we
could leave the marina at 3:30 – this was an event we were both dreading.
The marina is so small that the “turning basin” was too
tight for us to turn in without hitting someone. Jim stepped it off and
determined it was not possible for us to simply turn to leave. Argghhh - - NOTHING
is EVER easy!
Come time to leave, the wind was up so we had another boater
hold our bow line tight as we gently swiveled on it until we could slither into
the exit canal. Fortunately, we didn’t hit anyone and we didn’t touch bottom,
though the depth gauge did read less than 1 foot of clearance several times.
All the extra fuel we added made us sit pretty low in the water!
Sunset off of Rodriguez Key
Saturday, 2/26,2022
Though this was supposed to be our crossing day, the tiny
weather window was now moved to mid-morning, Sunday so we puttered around all
day.
Sunday morning dawned clear and . . . windy – of course.
Our weather router had told us to expect the winds to change
from 15 knots to below 10 sometime around 10:00 so we decided to take a chance.
As an extra precaution, we both took Dramamine the night before - - just in
case (good thing, too!).
Well, guess what? We hit the Stream at 10:00 and the wind
was still 15 knots and we were battling 3 to 5 foot seas on the nose. It was
uuugggllly!
It was pretty much 6 hours of nastiness. The rocking was bad
enough that we hated to leave our flying bridge nav station. It was just too
difficult to hang on to go anywhere else in the boat.
At one point, we had a frolicking head of cabbage doing a
little dance in the pilot house. The refrigerator had pulled 3 mounting screws loose
and was doing its own 2-step dance. Slide forward; slide backward; open door;
repeat.
We temporarily secured the fridge with towels and blue tape
and went back to the top.
Finally, 6 hours into our 8 hour trip, the wind began its
long-awaited abatement. Woo hoo!
As the seas calmed down, we had a fish strike.
It was a nice little 17 inch tuna!
As Jim was moving him over to the corner to sedate him, he
was spraying blood all over everything!
Though he wasn’t all that big, he provided some nice tuna steaks. Also, the fresh sushi was good!
At long last, with the winds light and variable, our destination, South Riding Rock came into view. Thank you, Lord!
The notes Jim had read indicated that we should be able to
find decent holding for our anchor here and it would provide a modicum of
protection from easterly winds.
NOT!
We tried anchoring in 2 different spots here. Each time, Jim went in to check the anchor and each time, it was scoured bottom rock with no place for the anchor to grab. Ughhh.
There was a decent-sized barracuda that was watching Jim closely. Jim also had a large sea turtle that was checking him out as he was checking out the anchor.
With such a scoured bottom, we upped the anchor and headed a
couple of miles further north to another “anchorage”. There was what appeared
to be a local or maybe Cuban fishing boat anchored there.
It was no better, even after trying 2 different places and
diving on the anchor each time. It was nearly dark and the winds were quite
light and were forecast to remain that way into the next afternoon.
Soooo, we did something we have never done before in
our lives! In 30 feet deep water, we let the anchor just lay on the bottom with
150 feet of heavy chain. We hoped the chain would help hold the boat in place. We
realllly did not want to drag into the rocks tonight!
Jim set his alarm and was up every hour and a half to check on
the anchor - - all night.
Though the boat swiveled around the chain with the tides, it
didn’t wander far. Thank you, Lord! Had it been a safety issue, we would have hauled
in the chain and headed onto the shallow Bahamas Banks for our 80-mile trip to
our next anchorage!
Monday, 2/28/2022
The day dawned hazy with a foreboding sense of high humidity
and no wind so we left at 6:30 which was as soon as we could see the anchor
chain.
Calm water - - we like calm water, especially when it lasts
all day! PTL!
The water was calm and flat enough, we made better time than
we had anticipated. Woo hoo!
We always know we’re getting close to Great Harbour Cay as
we have to pass by Coco Cay, a cruise ship private-island playground. Notice
the hot air balloon ride underway.
The entrance to Great Harbour is through a tight little cut
in the rock.
The marina, though older, is safe, clean, and well-protected
from just about any winds.
At this point, we’re uncertain what our next steps will be
or what the timing will be. We’ll be sure to let you know when we know.
Have a great rest of your day!
