The Marina at Emerald Bay Part Two

February 21, 2020 - February 27, 2020

One morning there was no wind, and Bob and I were both attacked by no-seeums.  The problem with these bugs is you can’t see them and the bites are just a tiny prick until the next day when they swell up and itch like crazy.  Consequently, we spent the next very windy day in a benedryl fog trying to combat the itchiness.  

I’ve also been helping Bob test each one of our four batteries which is a royal pain in the neck.  The first two batteries are in the cock pit locker so everything stored in the locker had to be pulled out and stowed in the cockpit. First thing in the morning one of the four batteries had to be disconnected, tested with a volt meter, hooked up to our electric inflator for an hour, disconnected from the inflator, tested with the volt meter, and then reconnected.  The worst part was that the electric inflator sounded like a lawn motor running inside the cockpit. This procedure was repeated each morning for four days. The next two batteries are behind a drawer storage unit that had to be removed to test each of those two batteries.  As you can see it was a long drawn out process with lots of disruption to our living space.  When it was completed Bob sent the data to the battery company and we are waiting for a diagnosis.  To me it looks like all of the batteries are OK.

Because of very high winds, we were marina bound for a couple of days. One bit of excitement was that in the middle of the night during this high wind event one of our dock lines broke and the electric cord and the spring line were the only thing holding the bow, not a good situation. Bob stayed on board to throw me a new bow line.  I jumped off the boat and with the assistance of our neighbor got a new bow line in place and pulled the boat over next to the dock.  The only thing we could figure was that the bow line chafed on the houzer pipe (the stainless steel hole in the toe rail made for lines to pass through).  The next morning Bob repaired the dock line and put a leather chafe protector on it to prevent the line from breaking again.  Fun times in paradise!

Sandy Toes is our favorite beach bar.
You can see how it gets it's name.

After lunch at Sandy Toes (great barbecue pork) we noticed that the bow line had chafed through the leather protector in just one day.  This unleashed a mad rush to fix the problem.  Bob decided the best solution was to use rubber hose as a chafe protector.  Of course, the hose was stored under the quarter berth requiring me to remove all the stored items once again.  Getting the hose onto the line was no easy task and required us to sew the line to a smaller line, feed that line through the hose, and generously grease the thicker line with vaseline so we could pull it through the hose.  We also replaced the leather cafe guards on the spring lines with rubber hose as well.  This should solve the chafing problem.  One good outcome of tearing the quarter berth apart was getting  our bikes out to use while we are at the marina. The next day we took some photos around the marina.

We found this lion fish swimming near the dock.
They are an invasive species and all are
encouraged to eat them.

We find many clever boat names on our travels.

You got to love palm trees!

For the next few days I took a bike ride up to the entrance channel of the marina and all around.  It’s great to have my bike to ride again and this marina with all of its docks and roads is a safe place to ride.  We arranged to get a rental car on Wednesday and drove down to George Town to grocery shop at the Exuma Market and on the way back we stopped at Island Prime Meats to finish our shopping.  We actually were able to get everything on our list for a change and spent a grand total of $240.  After lunch at the Lighthouse Cafe and Ice Cream Parlor we spent the afternoon exploring the northern most area of Great Exuma Island.  The roads were particularly narrow with plenty of pot holes in this part of the island making for a hair raising trip.  I had to ignore Bob’s expressions of terror and focus fully on driving on the left side of the road.

Bob and I had the best lunch
we've had yet in the Exumas here.

This was the view of Paradise Bay
we enjoyed from the porch of Lighthouse Cafe.

The water is so shallow in this bay
that these sand flats appear at low tide.

Exuma Point Beach was the most northern
of Great Exuma's beaches.

An abandoned pier at Exuma Point Beach

I enjoyed another walk on the beach.

We have two more weeks left in our month long stay at The Marina at Emerald Bay.

Thanks for reading my blog.

The Marina at Emerald Bay, Great Exuma

February 16, 2020 - February 20, 2020

Sunday morning we took our cameras for a walk around the marina.

The marina office, lounge, and coffee room
is located in this building.

A lone palm tree stands on
the point of land near the beach.

The narrow beach is crowned
with golden beach grasses,

It seems impossible to take a bad picture
when surrounded by such beauty.

A view of the marina taken from the
point at the entrance channel

The sail boat is leaving the marina
through the narrow channel.

With all of our boat maintenance completed we decided to walk to the restaurants at Grande Isle Resort for lunch.  We first stopped at Sandy Toes Bar (right on the beach) for a drink before lunch as we were a little early for Bahamian lunch time which starts around 12:30 or whenever. The bartender, Annette, was fun and poured a great drink.  She suggested we should try to see more of Great and Little Exuma Islands and that renting a car would be the best way to do it. She gave us a list of interesting spots to see. Why hadn’t we thought of that?  After a great lunch at the Palapa Restaurant beside the pool we returned to the bar and met another cruising couple that was nearing the end of their month long stay at The Marina at Emerald Isle.  The month long fee is very reasonable and they told us they regularly used the pool and beach at Grand Isle with no charge.  It seems if you purchase drinks and meals at the two restaurants everyone overlooks the fact that you are using the facilities.  Bob and I started to think seriously about staying in the marina until mid March when the winds will be more favorable. 

These plaques decorated the wall
in the Palapa Restaurant,
Notice anything odd?

Bob enjoying lunch at the Palapa Restaurant.

We rented a car on Monday morning to get groceries and explore some of the spots Annette had recommended.  We had breakfast at La Fourchette and on our way south we picked up two hitch hikers who were headed to school in Mossville.  They were nice, polite young boys, one in 9th grade and one in 11th. Next stop, Island Prime Meats and grocery, where we purchased some much needed bread, meat, and some fresh produce. Unfortunately the mail boat doesn’t come in until Tuesday so there was not much fresh produce available.  We will have to remember that for our next grocery shopping trip.  After stowing all of our provisions on board we set out for lunch and some exploring.

The food was delicious at
Shirley's seafood Restaurant,
We ate on the back porch.

This "retired" work boat was
behind Shirley's.

There were several colorful
restaurants near Shirley's.

We stopped briefly in George Town and then headed for Little Exuma.  I was getting better at driving on the left, but occasionally I heard a gasp from Bob. LOL You have to understand that the roads are narrow (no shoulder, no center line) and the pot holes on the edge of the road are cavernous so driving is not that simple.  When we came upon the one lane bridge leading to Little Exuma Island I held my breath all the way across. Phew! We drove to The Tropic of Cancer Beach and then a little further south to Santana's Bar and Grill, and of course a beach. We also visited Mom’s bakery next door to Santana’s and purchased two pieces of her famous rum cake.  She shared the inspiring story of losing her husband and soon after her bakery to Hurricane Irene and how her church and neighbors helped her to rebuild.

A sign announcing our location,
we are finally in the tropics.

These stairs lead from the snack bar
to the beach at the Tropic of Cancer,

The beach was wide with soft
powdery sand that doesn't ever get hot.

The water was beautiful.

The covered picnic tables
at Santana's Bar and Grill.

The bar at Santana's had signed
hats hanging from the ceiling.

The beach at Santanna's

Mom boxing up some rum cake
for these customers.

After such a busy Monday we spent Tuesday relaxing. I spent a little time on the bow getting some sun, but the sun gets so hot I can only take a little. On Wednesday morning I took a walk around the marina to get some exercise. Late that afternoon we headed to Sandy Toes for happy Hour and I took a swim in the ocean. The water was perfect. By the way we did decide to stay at The Marina at Emerald Bay for the month.

Bye, Bye 'til next blog

Thanks for reading my blog.

George Town, Great Exuma to Emerald Bay Marina, Great Exuma

February 10, 2020 - February 16, 2020

On Monday morning, Bob called a local refrigeration expert and made arrangements to have him come to fix the fridge on Friday while we are in Emerald Bay Marina (about 12 miles north of George Town).  Finally there was some hope! In the meantime we planned to keep the fridge cold with bags of ice purchased at the Exuma Market.  So, off we went in the dinghy to buy ice and get RO water.  The wind was strong and the tide was going out.  With the 20 foot wide opening to get into Lake Victory the opposing wind and tide created a washing machine effect and by the time we got to the dinghy dock we were soaked.  (That 15 HP engine is looking better and better.) 

We had to get through this
 narrow passage to get from
Elizabeth Harbour to Lake Victoria.

We cleaned up when we got back to the boat, had lunch and relaxed for a bit.  Since we didn’t have any repairs to work on we went into Chat ’n Chill and Volley Ball Beach where many of the cruisers hang out in the afternoon.  We watched the games going on over French Fries and Kalik Beers.  There was volley ball, dominoes, various rope swings, and swimming at the beach.  About midway through our beers some friends who lived next to us one summer at Anchorage Marina stopped by our picnic table.  It was great to see them (Bobbie and John on s/v Ambience) and talk about our adventures since we last saw them in Baltimore. We talked about meeting up for lunch on Wednesday. 

Nothing fancy about this beach bar

Inside the walls and ceiling are covered
with mementos from former visitors,
shirts, burgees, undies, etc.

In the bar the bartenders provide
the entertainment with their amusing
comments and happy smiles.

Dominoes

Rope swings
Notice there are lots of kids
 here from babies to teens.

The beach

Our friends, Bobbie and John enjoying
our conversation with a Kahlik.

Tuesday was very windy again and kept us boat bound.

Wednesday morning we had to go into George Town to get more ice to keep the fridge cold enough to prevent everything from spoiling.  What a ride!  The closer we got to the entrance to Lake Victoria the worse it got, again we were soaked.  Going back to the boat wasn’t any better.  We decided showering would be useless as we were going back into town to meet Bobbie and John for lunch.  On our way in the engine stopped when we were smack in the middle of the entrance to Lake Victoria (the worst possible place for our boat to quit). We scrambled to get out the oars and then the boat behind us offered to help us get to the dock.  First, he tried to push us, but we couldn’t get the boat facing forward.  Then he passed us and handed me a tow line.  I was stretched out flat on the dinghy sides and the seat holding on to the tow rope for dear life.  Finally, we got the boat facing forward and it was easier getting to the dock.  I was sure my arms and shoulders were going to feel the pain of this effort in the morning. 

After all of that excitement, lunch was a calm affair at Driftwood Cafe with Bobbie and John.  We walked around town a bit and then headed back to the boat. Again, it was fun meeting up with friends from the states.

Thursday morning we left our anchorage for our stay at Emerald Bay Marina (a part of the near by Sandals Resort).  It was great getting plugged into electricity allowing us to run the air conditioner and get “real” hot showers. 

This house sits above the channel
entrance to the marina.
Notice the channel is cut out of
the limestone rock that created the islands.

This is the entrance channel into the marina.

After having our fridge fixed (it turned out to be a simple easily fixed problem, phew), we had our Valentine’s Day lunch at La Fourchette the restaurant connected to the Paradise Bay resort.  Paradise Bay is a small resort on a beautiful bay off the ocean.  It has a small pool and about nine one and two bedroom cottages right on the beach.

We could see the bay, the cottages, and the beach
from our table on the porch of La Fourchette.

Here's Bob waiting for our great lunch.
The highlight was the rum cake with
vanilla and caramel ice-cream.

Since we already had the quarter berth torn apart we spent Saturday doing boat maintenance.  We changed the engine oil and filter, checked all fluid levels, replaced the engine water pump impeller (the worst of the jobs), cleaned out all of the raw water strainers, and changed the water maker filter. Quite a day! After getting the boat put back together we were exhausted and ready for nice hot showers.

Our plan (always fluid) was to leave Emerald Bay on Tuesday, but when Bob checked the weather forecast the wind would be too strong for us to leave until Thursday.  Our time table for passages is always based on weather conditions.

Thank you for reading my blog.

George Town, Great Exuma

February 6, 2020 - February 10,2020

After breakfast we moved the boat closer to George Town.  Since our 6 hp engine is out of commission and we are using a small 2 hp Honda engine we thought being closer to George Town would be better.  Let me explain the geography of this harbour.  The Elizabeth Harbour is formed between Stocking Island (the barrier island) and Great Exuma creating a large protected area for anchoring.  All along Stocking Island and Great Exuma there are beautiful beaches and reefs for snorkeling.  George Town its self surrounds Lake Victoria which has a small entrance from Elizabeth Harbour.  The big cruiser gathering places, Chat and Chill Restaurant and Volley Ball Beach, are both on Stocking Island, but provisions and services are all in George Town.  Right now there are close to 300 boats (mostly sailboats) anchored in Elizabeth harbour off the many beaches, but there is so much room to anchor it doesn’t seem crowded.  

We took the dinghy into Town, after getting settled in our new anchorage.  We had lunch again at the Driftwood Cafe and then bought a few provisions, ice, and filled our water jug ( we hadn’t been making much water because of overcast conditions which lowered our power production).  The trip back to the boat was horrible since we were riding straight into 16 knot winds.  We were both soaked and grumpy by the time we reached the boat.  Salt water can be a big problem on a boat and this water is very salty.  When cloth gets wet with salt water it never seems to dry out.  The same thing happens when salt water gets inside the cabin. We have to be vigilant about keeping salt water out of the cabin and only in the cockpit or else everything winds up damp and sticky. UGH!

This is the George Town Primary School.
At lunch time the children come out side to play.

I took this picture because of the colors.
The pink administration building compliments
the turquoise water wonderfully.

This is an open air crafts market featuring
local crafts (straw baskets, etc.) and souvenirs.

The George Town Anglican church sits upon a hill.

Local flowers

After a windy day which kept us boat bound the wind calmed down.  We weren’t really happy with this new anchorage and decided to go back to the Stocking Island side and anchor off one of the beautiful beaches again.  We went into town  to the Farmer’s Market and for ice, water and lunch at the Peace and Plenty Hotel and Beach Club.  Beach Clubs in the Exumas usually have umbrellas, a wide beach, and a pool that cruisers can access for a small use charge for the day.  It was quite hot and I wished I had my bathing suit and could take a dip in the pool.  Instead after we moved the boat I swam into the beach to cool off, explore, and swim back to the boat.  It was actually comfortable on the boat with the nice breeze, but when we were in Town the buildings were blocking the breeze and the sun is very hot.  

Looking north from our deck you can
see the numerous boats anchored off
Monument Beach.  This is just one
of the many anchorage spots in the harbour.

We are now anchored off South Monument Beach.
We call it our beach!

That evening Bob noticed that the refrigerator was running constantly, using too much power, and not staying as cool as it should.  The next couple of days were taken up with solving the problem.  First, we cleaned the refrigeration unit coils and added some freon from some canisters we had on board (probably 5 or 6 years old).  The fridge cooled down to the appropriate temperature by night fall.  After communication with the company that we had purchased the unit from, Bob decided we needed to add more freon.  We took a long dinghy ride to the beach just south of the Napa Auto Store. We walked up to the highway and to the store and purchased fresh freon.  We were just thankful we could find the freon. Next morning we added more freon, but kept getting a fault signal that too much freon was in the system.  Anyway, after bleeding the system a few times and doing more problem solving, we realized that we were not going to be able to fix the refrigeration system ourselves ): which of course led to a very pessimistic night.  Some of Bob’s medication has to be refrigerated so we can’t survive here without a working refrigerator.  Thoughts of heading home (at least to Florida) ASAP came to the surface. We knew we could get the refrigerator fixed there.  

Monday morning brought some better news.  We were able to obtain a small cooler from a fellow cruiser to keep Bob's medication in if we only had a small amount of ice, and Bob was able to contact the refrigeration company in George Town and make an appointment to have the fridge fixed on Friday.  Until then we will purchase ice to keep things cold in the fridge.  Minn's Water Sports was recommended to us to fix our 6 hp outboard, but unfortunately they did not have the parts we needed, however, we were charmed by a 15 hp  outboard they have in stock and may buy that if our fridge gets fixed.  Maybe all of our problems can be solved right here in George Town.  I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for reading my blog.

George Town, Great Exuma Island

January 30, 2020 - February 4, 2020

The wind picked up during the night and by Thursday morning we were rocking and rolling from a westerly wind.  We moved the boat in behind Galliot Cay to give us some protection from the wind.  Since we didn’t want to be crashing into waves for 39 miles, our planned trip to George Town had to be delayed.  It was a lazy day, but I did some cooking to provide meals for a couple of days.  We are getting very low on fresh produce and bread.

Some past photos that I haven’t used in my blogs:

I never expected to see a sign like this in the Exumas.

I took this picture in Lorain’s Restaurant in Black Point.

A great example of the beautiful flora of the area

When is the last time you
saw one of these in the states?

Friday turned out to be a perfect day for our ocean passage from the Galliot cut to Conch Cut where we entered Elizabeth Harbour.  We anchored off Stocking Cay just west of Monument Beach across the harbour from George Town. Our first outing was to find ice for Bob’s celebratory bushwhacker.  We wound up at the Chat and Chill Restaurant and Bar.  With instructions not to come back empty handed I walked from the beach to the bar.  They did not sell bags of ice or have the ingredients to make a bushwhacker so I used my charm to talk the bartender into selling me two large cups of ice (for $3).  At least I didn’t come back empty handed and with the ice that was left by the time we got back to the boat I made Bob his bushwhacker.  Unfortunately, our dinghy engine was overheating on our way back to the boat and Bob figured it had to do with the water cooling system, namely the water pump.  Of course, we didn’t have the parts on board to fix the problem.  The Bahamas are a fabulous place for exploring, boating, and water sports, but not for any kind of breakdown.  What  can we do????? Since our dinghy is our only transportation to get off the boat it is essential to our happiness and comfort.

Saturday proved to be immensely frustrating.  First, Bob was unable to top off our BTC account (pay for our next month’s service) remotely as he was instructed to do.  Next, he was unable to make a telephone call to BTC to get help with the problem.  Third, our only option to solve the phone issue was to get to George Town and a retail store that could help top off our phone and with our dinghy out of commission that was impossible. Bob did get through to the Yamaha dealer in town, but no mechanics were on duty on Saturday or Sunday. Next, we got the idea to hail the water taxi companies to take us into George Town, but we couldn’t get a response from any of them. If we had phone service we would have had a better chance of reaching them.  It was a real catch 22 or a scene from The Twilight Zone. So, we did what any good cruiser would do - had lunch and chilled for the afternoon.  Since nothing except bars and restaurants are open on Sunday in the Bahamas we will have to wait until Monday to solve any of our problems.  Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

On Sunday morning on the cruiser’s net (a daily broadcast to help local cruiser’s) we found that a small Honda outboard was available and we made arrangements with the sellers to purchase it.  At least now we will be able to get around. He also finally successfully topped up our phone!!!! The day was windy so we decided to stay on the boat to watch the Super Bowl. Great game and the Chiefs won 31-20.  

We visited George Town on Monday and were surprised at it’s bedraggled state, so many of the buildings were in disrepair. When we turned north to explore that area of town we found much better conditions. There was a colorful open air market that sold local crafts and souvenirs. I also visited a lovely clothing, local crafts, and local artwork shop. We were able to purchase all of the items we needed and have a nice lunch at Driftwood Cafe. 

One morning we took the dinghy into Monument Beach to explore.  My plan was to climb to the top of the hill which surely had spectacular views of the islands.  I made it half way up and turned around to take photos.  When I saw how steep my descent would be I chickened out and started back down the hill clinging to plants to keep myself from sliding down.  Later when I looked at the spot I had stopped climbing I realized that the rest of the climb would have been easier. Too bad I quit.

This is Monument Hill which is the highest
point on the island.  It has a white obelisk
on the top.

The beach in front of the hill was wide.

It seems to be the custom to write
on the beach using rocks.

I took this photo from Monument Hill, but
it's hard to see the words created with rocks.

We saw over a dozen starfish on
our travels in the dinghy that morning.

The restaurant at St. Francis Resort and Marina
served us a wonderful lunch.
Bob claims the conch fritters
are the best he's had this season.

Our view from the restaurant

We took a path behind the restaurant
to the beach on the ocean side.
This shot is looking south.

This shot is looking north.
There weren't even a dozen
people on this gorgeous beach.

Thank you for reading my blog