Day 268
April 4,
2016
NM Today: 7
NM Total:
4096
Time on route: 1 hour
Clark’s internal clock must be changing as he was up just
after 6:30 this morning without using an alarm clock. He threw on some clothes
and went “up top” on the fly bridge to see if he could catch any weather
reports for the next couple of days. He got up there at 6:45, missed the 6:30
Bahamas report on the shortwave, but managed to listen to the broadcast on a.m.
radio at 7:00.
We had a choice due to weather – one night (last night) in
Nassau only or potentially four nights or more. At over $100 a night we thought
it best to move to an anchorage -- weather permitting. We decided that we should
wait out some rain storms and get some chores done this morning before leaving
the marina. Both Clark and I had ‘to do’ lists although my list only had two
items on it – laundry and shower.
I packed up my shower bag and my bag full of laundry and
told Clark I was heading up to take care of my tasks. He looked at me
expectantly and said, “I need to go to Radio Shack for parts. I think it would
be better if two people went as opposed to one. Don’t you?” That made quite a
strong statement about how Clark felt about safety in Nassau. How
could I refuse to go with him? I handed him my two bags to put back on the
boat, asked him to retrieve my hat and wallet, and set out with him to walk to
Radio Shack.
Fortunately the walk to the shopping plaza was a short one.
When we got there, however, we could not find the Radio Shack even though multiple
people told us it was there. Clark popped into a store and inquired as to the
Radio Shack location and was told, “It’s just after the food market.” Hmm. We
must have walked right past it. Earlier, as we wandered around the shopping
plaza, I pointed out UTC Electronics to Clark. Well, the store everyone called
Radio Shack was now UTC Electronics, so we had seen it and not even known we
had.
Clark found the wires and connectors he needed to improve
the reception he gets on his shortwave radio. Having been successful there, we
decided to cross over to the other side of the plaza and visit the BTC office
to see if they could help with some miscellaneous questions and issues Clark
was having with his phone such as no hotspot. Instead of waiting in the cashier
line with everyone else, I asked a man working there if he could help with some
technical support questions. He said yes he could help us straight away, and with
his help we proceeded to check off the phone-issue items on Clark’s list one by
one. When we walked out of that store, we had all our questions answered.
Another of Clark’s projects for today was to swap the two
anchors to put the CQR plow on the winch and the Danforth as the spare. Given
our dragging experience in the other anchorage, he decided that conditions
might be better in our next anchorage as well for our CQR. Working the anchor
by winch is a lot easier than manual labor! When Clark swapped the anchors, he
decided he should also address an issue whereby the anchor roller does not
roll.
Since we were out walking due to the other errands, we
stopped into a couple of different marine parts stores to see what they had for
anchor rollers. The one store that sold them had miscellaneous sizes, but we
needed to go back to the boat to find out which size might be the closer fit.
When we got back to the boat, I once again picked up my shower bag and laundry
bag to head up to the office. As I started to leave, Clark said, “I need your
help with the roller. You need to hold one side of the bolt while I turn the
nut to loosen it.”
I could not believe that I got stopped in my tracks yet
again. The idea of hanging over the end of the anchor pulpit holding a wrench
on a bolt also did not appeal. However, I either helped him before my shower or
after. I figured if I helped him after I would just get all hot and sticky all
over again and need to take a second shower. “Okay”, I said. “Let’s get this
done so I don’t have to get sweaty again after I shower.”
After helping him loosen the bolt, I hoped I would be free
for a while, but I was highly skeptical. With all the delay due to assisting
Clark in one way or another with his ‘to do’ list all morning, I felt I was in
jeopardy of not getting either item on my list taken care of before we had to
leave the marina. I decided that even if
I had to miss the shower, I should at least try to get the laundry done. I told
Clark that I would be back, but I at least wanted to get the washer running. Thankfully,
he agreed that was a good plan. I left the shower bag on the boat and just took
the clothes up to get that part going.
I had to buy tokens for the washer and dryer. For the life
of me I can’t remember to add in the V.A.T. (Value-Added Tax) ahead of time.
When I was told the cost for a wash or a dry was $2, I multiplied 2 x 2 and
came up with $4. Wrong! Even a load of wash has V.A.T., so my cost was $4.30,
and of course I did not have the change with me. Instead of the dollar bills I
did want for change, I got back a handful of Bahamian coins I truly did not
want.
After I got the washer going, I returned to the boat
intending to drop off my laundry tote and pick up my shower bag. When I got to
the boat, however, it was low tide. I could not manage to get onto the boat
without Clark’s help. I decided I would just hand Clark the laundry tote and
ask him to hand me my shower bag. Unfortunately, when he heard what I wanted to
do, he said, “Oh, you’re leaving? I need to go to the marine store and buy a
washer to use as a spacer on the anchor bolt.”
I could tell quite clearly by the tone of his voice and his facial
expression that he wanted me to stay with the boat while he went to the store.
I understood it was because he had tools and such out and didn’t want to put it
all away and lock the boat or risk theft of his tools. Sigh! “Okay”, I said, “I’ll
wait here while you go over and get what you need. You have 20 minutes until I
need to move clothes from the washer to the dryer.” Just as he left to go to
the store, it started to drizzle.
While he was gone, I decided that I could start prepping the
boat for departure. That kept me entertained the whole time he was gone. By the
time he returned from his buying-a-washer run to the store, the rain was
looking a lot more serious. I figured he would be busy for a while, and I
needed to get my clothes in a dryer, so I took my shower bag and I left. As I
walked away, Clark said, “Don’t you need your hat?” “No”, I replied, “I’ll get
wet in the shower anyway!”
As I walked the labyrinth of docks forming the path to the
office, the rain fell harder and harder. By the time I got to the laundry room,
the rain was coming down in torrents. “Well”, I thought, “he won’t need my help
on the anchor in a downpour!” I decided to stay in the laundry room. At some
point I decided I might as well get that shower done. I got plenty wet getting
to the shower. At least I was going somewhere that I intended to get even
wetter.
As soon as I got in the shower however I heard thunder. I
decided I better make the shower a quick one. A couple of minutes later I heard
two very loud claps of thunder close together and decided my shower was over. I
dried off and headed back to the laundry room to wait it out. A timely but brief
clearing in the weather allowed me to get back to the boat where I was very
pleased to find that Clark had managed to put the anchor roller back in place
without my help. Yay!
I was hungry at 11:30 this morning, but it was a bad time to
stop for lunch. By the time I got back to the boat, it was going on for 2:00. I
needed food! As I started pulling out the items for lunch, Clark was busy clearing
up his tools and such. “You came back too soon”, he said. “Another few minutes
and I would have had everything back in place.” Another few minutes and I would
have been a drowned rat with wet laundry. No sooner did I get back on the boat
with my bags than the heavens let loose another deluge of rain. My timing was
perfect!
We waited out the rain and finally paid the marina bill and
left Nassau at 3:45 this afternoon. Check out time is normally 12:00. We asked
for an extension and they said we could stay until 4:00. We just made it.
Before leaving Clark called Nassau Harbour Control and told them we would be
passing through. We got their blessing and started out for an anchorage at Rose
Island.
It rained the whole way there. The rain fell steadily, but at
least it wasn’t a deluge. The trip only took one hour that is why Clark chose
this destination. We kept the full enclosure zipped closed which made visibility
very limited. As we approached the anchorage, I unzipped my window a bit and
peaked out through my small opening. Once again Clark was concerned with
possible obstructions in the water – rocks and coral heads.
As we approached, we could see that one 240 foot boat plus a
number of sailboats already occupied the anchorage.
 |
| Looking closely you can just see the rainbow over the anchorage Note the 240' boat at anchor called Laurel |
Clark moseyed on in and found a spot between two sailboats
that appealed to him. We dropped our CQR. It only got a short distance past the
chain and started making growling noises. Clark asked me to see what was wrong
with it and we found that the line was tangled under the winch. We managed to
untangle it which was fortunate because if we had not stopped to investigate,
we probably would have tripped the circuit breaker on the winch.
Unfortunately, due to the snag in the line, the CQR had not
landed in Clark’s desired spot. We had to pull it up and start over again.
Clark asked me if I could tell what was on the bottom – sand or weeds. I said
it looked good for sand, and I guess it was because the CQR took hold and held
fast. We arrived at Rose Island at 4:45 and by 5:00 I was free to start dinner
if I so desired. Nice!
 |
| View of anchorage from our selected spot (Now Laurel is in the background) |
 |
| View off the back of our boat at Rose Island anchorage with our two flags flapping in the wind. (The Bahama courtesy flag is about one fourth the size of our U.S. nautical flag) |
Due to the unusual weather, we had an unusual sunset. The
sun just managed to peak through the clouds on the way down.
 |
| "Funky" sunset at Rose Island |
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