It's Better in the Bahamas

Anyone who was in Canada in the 80s must remember these commercials:

So far I agree with the Bahamas tourism office.  It really is better here.  Such an easy place to be a tourist.  Close to home, everyone speaks English so communication isn't a problem, but clearly a different country.  Not like traveling to the US which is so similar to home in many ways that it doesn't feel like much of an adventure.

We (finally) left Key Largo on Sunday and headed out to an anchorage off Angelfish Creek just east of Card Sound.  The conditions were perfect for sailing.  We had 17 knots of breeze on a close to beam reach in the glorious sunshine.  In the anchorage there was a strong tidal current of about 2-3 knots so we had a great time floating in the river while holding on to a dock line for dear life! The boys were happy to be able to swing from the main halyard into the sea again after so long in an busy canal beside a boat yard.

Our friend Marty aboard Lucero seeing us off with a salute 

Sam relaxing at the helm on  a perfect day

After a night at Angelfish Creek we set off before first light for our Gulf Stream crossing.  The true course from the cut in the reef near the anchorage to the entrance at the Alicetown harbour was approximately 60°T but had to head for 90°T to account for the push north from the Gulf stream.  This unfortunately meant that the wind was a little too much on the nose to sail so we motored the whole way across the stream.

About an hour out from Bimini we raised our Q flag to indicate that we had not yet cleared customs and immigration.  The flag stays up until the Master of the vessel (that's me!) has finished checking in to the country.  At that time the rest of the crew is permitted to leave the ship and the Bahamas courtesy flag is raised in place of the Q flag.  The reason the flag that represents the letter Q is flown is that originally the flag meant that the ship had not been cleared medically so everyone was under quarantine until they had been deemed free of the plague or measles or whatever else used to kill hundreds of passengers in one swoop.  The process with the Bahamian officials was straight forward and by 5pm we had 90-day visas for us, a 1 year cruising permit for the boat, and 4 fishing licenses.

The water really is the turquoise I imagined it to be

As I type this we've now had 2 wonderful days on North Bimini. We've played at the beach, walked all over the island, visited the laundromat (cruising in paradise isn't all fun and games), and filled up our tanks for the next leg.  Both fuel and water are very expensive here.  The fuel because, like almost everything else, it has to be shipped in and the water because the only real source is desalinated ocean water.

The view from our cockpit

Doesn't matter how old they get, they still like to chase seagulls

My boys

Fresh pina coladas at Radio Beach 

The strip of bars and restaurants at Radio Beach

The boys finally get to use the kayaks Grandma and Grandpa gave them for Christmas

I think I have a photo just like this taken when they were 4 and 7

The boys exploring in the dinghy

Sunset in paradise

Our next stop is anchoring in the middle of the Bahamas Banks because we can't do the next hop in one go.  The water is very shallow and all our guide books assure us it is very straightforward but it is unlike anything we've done so far.  Wish us luck!

We'll be out there somewhere in the light blue between Alicetown and Chub Cay

We have lift off!

So far so good, we'll see how she hold up to another 500 or so engine hours.

How do you do laundry on the boat?

While I'm here alone I've been keeping myself busy with daily chores since even simple chores take a long time on the boat.  Take laundry for instance.  The yard we are at doesn't have laundry and while I could go to a laundromat or my friend Ginette's house I have been doing it on the boat.  I figure it is good practice for the Bahamas where we could be away from civilization for fairly long stretches. Since I don't have anything really exciting to blog about right now I thought I would show you how I do it - maybe this will help some other future cruisers.

Although we have a water heater it is fairly small so I like to supplement using solar showers.  Down here in the Keys a good one can get the water really hot by mid-afternoon.  This is the one I use (as recommended by Carolyn from theboatgalley.com - a great resource for cruisers):

Advance Elements 5 gallon solar shower. $30 US on Amazon

I put my clothes in a bucket with warm water from the shower and a pinch of oxyclean.  That sits overnight until I'm ready to wash in the morning.  The overnight soak is needed because the water isn't warm in the afternoon but by then there is no time to line dry.  In the morning I agitate the clothes using a fancy laundry plunger:

EasyGo Washing Wand. $19 US on Amazon

I was skeptical that this hand method would actually get the clothes clean but it is amazing how much dirt comes out of the fabric:

After washing clothes I didn't think were that dirty.  Gross, right?

Next step is to rinse in fresh water.  I use the washing wand again to get the clean water through the clothes.  After that is wringing and hanging the clothes out. It would be helpful to have something to wring the laundry as doing it by hand isn't very effective.  I'm thinking about making something like this to help push the water out:

Thanks, Pinterest

Line drying.  In a busy marina you have to be
OK with everyone seeing your underwear

The only thing I'll change when we get to the Bahamas is that I'll use seawater for the wash as water is a precious and costly resource in the Exumas.

Overdue for an update

It has been pointed out by a few people that I'm getting pretty lazy with this blogging thing.  Truth is the engine repairs are sloooooow and I've been sulking about it. Here's the update:

The engine I bought in Punta Gorda was no good.  The gear case had been damaged (in a different spot than mine) so was no good as a replacement (the man who sold it to me gave me half my money back and I can still pull all sorts of other parts from it to use as spares).  My mechanic and I spent some time brainstorming ideas and putting calls in to Westerbeke.  We have finally settled on welding my original gear case which was always an option but a better repair would have been replacement.  Unfortunately replacement is off the table right now.

My mechanic, Carl, looking annoyed with the engine.

The welder has been on the case (punny, right?).  It was supposed to be finished on Thursday but he didn't get it done so I had to wait (impatiently) over the weekend.  My mechanic is due on Monday to put everything back together.

The broken corner of the case

Reg and the boys have been at home this whole time.  They are heading back here on Tuesday morning and should be back on board by Wednesday night.  I'm really excited about having everyone here again.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Here is a post I wrote a few days ago when I thought I had the engine problem solved.  Turns out under the timing cover/gear case are some factory set pins and shims that require secret knowledge from Westerbeke and also tools that even Westerbeke licensed mechanics don't have access to.  So, I am still trying to figure out a solution but I didn't want to waste this great post with some really awesome pictures of animals behaving like people.

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So the engine saga continues.  The cracked gear case has been difficult to fix due to the unavailability of parts.  The engine is a Westerbeke 30b built on a Mitsubishi LE3.  I was able to find the part from Mitsubishi in Japan but couldn't confirm that it would work with the engine after Westerbeke's modifications.  After many phone calls I was able to find the part from Westerbeke for $1200 and a 6-week delivery time frame!  At that point we decided to drive home for a visit.  No point in sitting in a boat yard in Key Largo sulking.

The time at home was a salve for our stress.  I got to visit with a few friends and the kids got to do the winter things they miss.  Remember in the early days of the trip when I would post pictures of animals when I didn't have any of my own?  Here's what we got up to at home (the active ones are the kids.  The lazy ones are me.  The hard working one is Reg):

  

     

Eventually I was able to find a used engine for sale in Punta Gorda that my mechanic could strip the gear case off.  On Sunday morning I flew into Fort Myers, rented a car, picked up the engine, and drove back to Key Largo.  As I type this my mechanic is taking that engine apart and should be here tomorrow to start installing the case on our engine.

The rest of Binary's crew is still in the cold waiting to be summoned back when we have a functioning boat again.