Day 10 in the Bahamas

Cellular and WiFi access has been spotty for the last few days, so we have not been  able to upload regular blog posts. This post will cover the last week or so and as a result will be long.

On Wednesday morning I woke up, made coffee and went over to the beach to watch the sunrise. There were a few fishermen out on the water indicating that maybe things were getting back to some normalcy after a few days of high winds. A couple of sailboats took off early with some assistance from other boaters. The winds were still giving some of them some challenges getting off the dock.

​One catamaran and a trimaran had come in during the night and tied up at the fuel dock. This meant that we had to wait until they cleared customs and immigration, and moved off the fuel dock before we could untie and get fuel before departure. Since the customs office didn’t open until 9am, we were going to be delayed until at least 10.

I had leant the guy who lost his anchor my spare anchor and rode. He felt bad about me not having a spare, so he borrowed an extra anchor from another boater and returned mine. He held onto the rode until he can get some more chain delivered from the States. Since we were delayed, we had time to get that stowed away. 

A little after 10am the boats moved off the fuel dock and there was room for us. We fueled up and checked out of the marina. As some of the boats left the marina, one of the ladies on a sailboat blew her conch horn. She and her husband had been at Old Bahama Bay for two weeks due to engine problems and they weren’t sure when it would be resolved. It was a fun group there and we enjoyed getting to know them.

We pulled off the fuel dock about 10:40 and began our journey. We were originally going to anchor at Soldier Cay, but decided to change course and go to Great Harbor so that we could top off the fuel tanks and not have to worry about it for a few days. Our route took us down the shoreline of Grand Bahama Island and by the Freeport Harbor. There were quite a few large cargo and container ships coming and going and you could see that the port was quite substantial. We eventually moved further offshore and headed to Great Harbor. The water was fairly calm and made for a nice day. We made good time running between 19 and 20 knots the entire way. 

The entrance to Great Harbor is a fairly imposing narrow channel cut into the rock. It is about 200 yards long and there is not enough room for two boats to pass. After taking on a full load of fuel, we headed out the narrow channel to anchor for the night. We found a good anchorage spot and settled in for the evening. We took the dinghy to shore, but there was no place to get off and explore, so we returned to Encore, enjoyed a gorgeous sunset and had a good night on anchor. There was larger commercial fishing vessel nearby that was lit up and apparently had quite a few workers on it. We never did figure out what they were doing. 

We woke up to a nice morning and pleasant conditions. Before leaving the anchorage, I tackled a project I had been dreading. Our temperamental macerator pump had been working intermittently, but now it was not working at all. The pump is used to pump the contents of the black water tank (sewerage) overboard. We don’t ever use the macerator pump in US waters as there are pump out stations at most marinas. There are no pump outs in the Bahamas so you have to be able to pump your black water overboard. The Prestige dealer had sent me a replacement pump and I was hoping to not need it, but my luck ran out. Sparing all the ugly details, it was a big mess replacing this pump and I have no desire to ever do it again. Fortunately, the new pump works. If it did not, we may have had to cut our journey short.

A shower along with some disinfecting was required before we could continue the day. As said before, conditions were pretty nice and we were looking forward to a nice cruise around to the other side of the island and down the chain a ways. I had determined a first choice destination and a backup. We had to cruise north for a couple of miles to go around the top side of the island. When we got to that point, the seas got angry and we were back in some rough conditions. We took it slow and continued on, passing by an island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. There were two large cruise ships docked at the island. It wasn’t as bad as the day we crossed to West End, but it was still messy enough to cover the boat in salt water. We decided to go with our backup destination, Soldier Cay. 

Soldier Cay is a small island with a beautiful little anchorage. We could see the waves on the Atlantic side from the anchorage. Following the recommendation of the written guide, I anchored about a quarter mile off the beach. This turned out to be the wrong decision as we rocked and rolled all night long. In addition, the water was pounding against the hull and really making a racket. The anchor held firm, but it was not a comfortable spot. The other boats there were anchored closer to the beach and may have had better conditions. It’s hard to tell. One casualty of the night was our anchor bridle. The heavy-duty thimble came out of the loop end of the bridle and was loose when I brought the anchor up. Between our very sturdy anchor and the rough wave action the thimble just couldn't hold up. I have now temporarily repaired it, but I don't expect the repair to survive in rough conditions. The company has said they would replace it for me as it shouldn't happen.

We had a nice dinner in the cockpit and enjoyed another beautiful Bahamas sunset. The blue underwater lights work really well in the clear water and our solar LED light does a nice job on the cockpit table.

It was a little calmer in the morning and we decided to move to the original anchorage from the previous day, a popular area near Hoffmans Cay, about 6 or 7 miles away. The seas were rolling a little, but the swells were much more gentle. We enjoyed looking at the rocky shoreline and came upon the entrance to the anchorage after about an hour. it was good that the conditions were better, as the Seakeeper quit working again, this time with an overheating issue. It may be another pump problem and not one that I think I can fix. I am losing faith in this very expensive option. The annual service was completed as necessary and it has been totally unreliable since then. The first repair was expensive and I suspect this one will be as well.

​We arrived in this very popular anchorage and found a spot among ten or so boats. The adjacent anchorage has about 15 boats. Besides being a nice protected area, Hoffmans Cay is home of the famous Blue Hole. It is a popular attraction that we took some time to see. We took the dinghy to the beach and followed a trail to the Blue Hole. It is a round very deep body of water  in the middle of the island. You can jump from the cliff into the water, but we chose not to do that.

​After the hike back to the beach, we waded in the water for a bit before returning to Encore for some afternoon rest. 

Friday night started out fine and then got much rougher as the wind changed direction. There was a lot of noised from the waves lapping against the hull and the winds were brisk. We were again in a spot with little protection. I was up all night checking our position, but the anchor held very well in the Bahama sands. Most of the boats headed out in the morning. The big 53’ Jeanneau behind ran aground as they were going out. It was low tide and I knew they might have a problem as went over that spot the day before and only saw about 6’ of depth. They were towing a large tender with a 250hp engine. After 30 minutes of pushing and pulling, they finally got loose and headed out the inlet.

We left about 30 minutes later and had a moderately choppy cruise 25 miles down to Chub Cay Marina. it was a nice day and we took it slowly. There were many islands with rocky shorelines and a few with homes on them. I imagine some of them are private islands. We didn’t see any other boats until we got near the marina and then all of sudden we had quite a traffic jam. There is a narrow and winding entrance to the marina and a 65’ yacht was waiting just outside for two boats to depart. We waited as well and had to move out a little bit due to the wind and waves pushing us around. Once the two boats cleared the channel and the 65’ yacht started in, we began our entry until a sportfisher boat zoomed ahead of us. We were planning to top off the fuel tanks and of course the sportfisher was heading to the fuel dock as well. This delayed our arrival at the dock and was a little frustrating.

I hate to generalize, but it seems that the sportfisher boats are the least courteous out on the water and don’t care much about anyone else. I think it is the nature of the tournament type of fishermen and this one helped solidify that reputation. We were able to get our fuel and directions to our slip.

​We chose to come here due to the forecast of high winds over the next few days and it is a convenient location. As Martha scouted the marina, she decided she really liked the place and wouldn’t mind staying a while longer. it really is one of, if not the finest marina we have ever stayed in. The floating docks are great, the facilities are beautiful and the infinity salt water pool overlooking the beach is fantastic. It has a Tiki Bar that you can swim up to and get drinks and food. We also spent time in the hot tub relaxing. The place is expensive, but I think you get your money’s worth. The place is loaded with very large yachts and huge sportfishing boats.

The resort is isolated here and as a result, they have a small village where the employees live. They have a little bar there called the Nauti Rooster and we had dinner there on Sunday night. It was a short walk from the marina and we enjoyed seeing the chickens and roosters running around and crowing. Just as we finished dinner, a big rain and wind storm came through. Fortunately the resort offers complimentary transportation, so our server immediately called for a car to get us back to the marina. They really do go the extra mile to make everyone feel welcome here. Before leaving, Martha had to get a picture with the bronze pelican in the background.

This morning we still have some scattered showers and a lot wind. I booked the slip for three more nights as it looks like the winds will be too strong to leave for our next location.