Thanks for the comments.

It certainly is nice to be getting some comments, especially from people who haven't commented in the past.  To answer a few of the most recent comments:

Ron, glad to hear from you and Patti.  I think it might have just been crud and water in the fuel.  There was a bit of water and some crap in the fuel that we double filtered out before putting the gas back in the tank.  And I know I'm not enough of a mechanic to have "adjusted" it back into running.

And thanks to Mark for your emails trying to help me sort out the outboard probems.  Mark knows that I'm NOT a mechanic.

Eileen posts lots of comments.  Yup, the weather here is much better than back home.  But can you imagine what kind of mood I'd be in if we were having mid west weather here?
We are anchored right next to the monument on Stocking Island and just this afternoon we hiked the beach trail and to the monument.
Because we're anchored by the monument for the best holding, and the Rake and Scrape schedule and not wanting to get soaked after dark getting back to the boat, I'm not sure if we'll hear raking and scraping this week.
We did check out the straw market and also a woman out of town who does straw work (native basketry) by the side of the road.  We did make a couple purchases.

Bill, I'm glad you're following our blog.  Thanks again for all your advice and information to help us get here.  The outboard service place you described sounds like Minn's Water Sports.  They were the first place we called.  They don't carry Mercury parts and said that they would do basic oil changes but no mechanical stuff,as they do not have parts.

This morning we took the dinghy to another part of the island.  There is a wonderful lumber yard/hardare store there.  We also stopped at the NAPA store (auto parts back home).  This NAPA had auto parts, cabinet hardware, towels, house paint, pots and pans, plumbing items, and lots of other stuff...  We then took the dinghy back "downtown".  We got another 10 gallons of water, filled the outboard gas tank, and bought some bread and oranges.  By then it was past lunch time so we stopped at one of the local street vendors.  The building looked more like a garden storage shed but the ribs and jerked chicken were very good.  The wind and waves were once again back up so we got another salt water soaking on the way back to the boat.  Since it's almost the end of the week, as well as the end of the month, we decided it was time for yet another boat shower.  Haven't decided what we're doing tomorrow.  Stay tuned...

Errand day in George Town

Today we did all the things we had planned to do yesterday.  I'm not sure what the problem was with the outboard, or what/if I did anything to fix it.  (I think we might have had dirt or water in the fuel.)  At any rate, the dinghy started several times and we made two trips to town, 20 minutes each way.  Sue did laundry first thing while I tried to get on line to take care of some back home business.  The access was so slow I finally gave up.  I filled up our 3 five gallon water containers, free at the Exuma Market dock.  I also showed Nadine and Louis where everything was in the nifty little (emphasis on little) hardware store.  For a little store it had almost everything, except room to turn around.

By now Sue was about done with the laundry so, after we had things folded, I took our clean clothes back to the dinghy while Sue went looking for the Batelco office to buy a phone card so we could call home.  None of the four pay phones we found worked so we walked back to Batelco.  They said one of the phones (the one that usually worked as the other three were covered with dust!) should be working again in a couple of hours.  In the meantime we could use one of the office phones.  So Sue stood behind the gal at her desk and called the States.

Next we bought 10 gallons of diesel for $47.75 and headed back to the boat.  After putting the fuel and water in their respective tanks, and lunch, we headed back to town.  The phone still wasn't working so back to Batelco.  The lady recognized us and came back in a few minutes to tell us the phone was now working.  We walked back to the pay phone and indeed were able to make our phone calls.  We got another 15 gallons of water, another 10 gallons of diesel, and a pint of ice cream and headed back to tthe boat.  We arrived just before sunset which was too cloudy to see.

Our plan is to make one more trip to town tomorrow to see the sights and relax.  Possibly on Saturday we might head east to Long Island.

Stuck in sight of George Town with the wind bound blues again

Yesterday was even windier than Monday so virtually no one went ashore.  We thought another boat might be dragging on its anchor towards us so we moved to a different spot.  Sue baked a nice chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  After lunch Nadine and Louis came over for cake and dominoes.  A good time was had by all.  Shortly after they left we realized that we were now anchored in the channel.  We probably should have moved but the anchorage was pretty tightly packed, and we hadn't seen any large ships coming through the channel.  Later I spent the night napping and getting up frequently to look for ships.

First thing this morning boats started to leave so we moved to a spot out of the channel.  Our plan for the day was to get to town early to get laundry started.  We loaded our dirty clothes, 3 water comtainers, and 2 diesel containers into the dinghy.  Since we had just re-anchored and were going to be gone for several hours we wanted to look at the anchor before doing our errands.  As we were idling over the anchor the outboard engine died.  We couldn't get it running so we rowed back to the boat.  We spent the entire day trying to get it to run.  Louis and Nadine stopped on their way to do an errand and spent an hour helping us.  We pulled the carburetor off to clean and check for water.  It started and ran so we thought we were on the right track.  But then we couldn't get it to start again.  I took the carb off a second time without any better results.

Sue called on the VHF to see if any boaters had any suggestions.  We tried a couple of sugestions with no luck.  A friend thought it might be the fuel pump so we called to see about getting a pump or a repair kit.  No one has them here but we might be able to have one sent from Nassau!!

I played around with the outboard some more...  As of 4:30 I got it to start several times and actually motor around.  I'm not sure what I did or if it's fixed - the test will come tomorrow if we are able to motor to town, and then motor back later.  (Mark, send me an email if you have any suggestions.)

I think tomorrow I'll just read a book - not too much can go wrong with turning pages!

Georgetown

We spent Saturday afternoon and evening at Lee Stocking Island.  (I have no idea who or what a lee stocking is.)  There is a small marine research center there - two people!  Also Perry's Peak, which is the highest point in the Exuma Cays.  After a grueling climb to the summit we had a marvelous view from 123 feet above the ocean.  There is also a spectacular white sand beach with coconut palms.  It reminded me of the South Pacific islands you see in the movies.

Sunday we sailed to Georgetown on a beam to broad reach in 15 to 20 knot winds and 5 foot waves.  Just as we were arriving our French-Canadian friends Louis and Nadine sailed up behind us.  We had both had a great sail, coming from different starting points.  We are both anchored together now.  Georgetown Harbor is about a mile wide and 3 or 4 miles long with a good sand bottom.  It also offers fairly good protection from all wind directions and has lots of stores and services as well as a decent size airport.  As a result, it is not unheard of to have 500 boats anchored here.  Many boats will spend the entire winter here.

We spent the morning doing (what else?) a couple of boat projects.  After lunch we decided to go ashore to get water and a few groceries.  It was/is still windy, so by the time we motored a mile and a half or so in the dinghy we were a bit damp around the edges.  After we hiked around a bit we bought some bread and eggs and got 15 gallons of water to take back to the boat.  Either the wind had picked up while we had been ashore or our angle back to the boat was wrong, so by the time we got back we were both pretty much soaked.  And we still have to go back at least two more times to finish fillimg our water and diesel tanks.

Back to school at Farmers Cay

We spent the last couple of days exploring Black Point.  Never did find the Wal- Mart.  We did see the weekly mail boat arrive and eventually found the fresh vegetable lady.  Many of the stores are also the owners' homes and we're not always sure if we're looking for a house or a store.  We also had a surprise lunch at Lorraine's - sort of famous in Black Point.  We ordered the "snack" of conch and french fries with a soft drink.  Part way through waiting for our food Lorrain left.  She came back 20 minutes later.  Almost two hours later we finished our lunch.  The surprise was when we got the bill for $27!!  Sue only had $21, after paying a dollar each for bananas, so we had to dinghy back to the boat for more money.

When we were in Annapolis in October we anchored next to a rather unique boat.  Every week or two since we've seen them.  In Black Point we finally stopped by their boat and introduced ourselves.  Louis and Nadine are from Quebec.  The boat is a 60 foot cat which Louis built.  Today we motored to Little Farmers Cay.  A little while later our new French-Canadian friends showed up and asked if we wanted to visit the local school.  I should mention that the population here is about 65.  There are 14 students at the All Age School, taught by a husband and wife team.  He is the principal and teaches the 4 upper grade students.  She teaches the 10 younger students.  This is their third year at Farmers, after teaching three years in Nassau.  They are both from Guyana, South America.  They have a house in Nassau, and fly back every other weekend.  They also have their food shipped from Nassau on the weekly mailboat.

The weather continues to be sunny and warm, with highs in the low 80's.  It cools to the upper 60's or low 70's at night.  Winds have been light the last couple days but are predicted to increase to about 20 to 25 knots this weekend.  We'll be tucked in somewhere safe then.

Kind of like Canada - but different (as a foreign countrty)

I don’t mean to rub it in for all you northern snow-bounders, but it’s summer time all over again here in the Exumas. Most days it’s full sunshine with very few clouds. The temperatures are in the 70s or 80s. The trend has been for 2 or 3 days of stronger winds out of the north or northeast, and then a couple of days with lighter, variable winds. We’ve been moving 10 to 20 miles every other day, stopping to visit or explore on the off days.

Two days ago we stopped near Staniel Cay, which is where Thunderball Grotto is - filmed in the James Bond and other movies. It’s one of those “must see” places. I’m not a big fan of actually going in the water, which is why we’ve always had canoes and sailboats. But I decided to take the plunge anyway. Am I glad I did! First, the saltwater makes it very easy to tread water or stay afloat. Second, the view underwater inside the grotto was great, with colorful fish within arms reach, and coral and plant life on the bottom. We got there just as new friends from Amsterdam showed up to dive with us, and before the tour boats showed up to disgorge another 10 or 20 people into the water.
The local businesses use channel 16 on the VHF to advertise menus or special events such as the NFL parties at the Staniel Cay Yacht club on Sunday. Something the Coast Guard would take a dim view of back home - but then they don’t have much of a sense of humor. Staniel Cay is also the home of the swimming pigs. All the tourists and tour boats feed the pigs so as soon as they see or hear boats coming they rush out to the beach, and sometimes swim out to meet the boats. Our friends told us they saw one pig actually try to climb into a boat. Now that would have been a Kodak moment!

We did a little shopping while in Staniel Cay. We wanted cabbage, carrots, and bread. The pink store wasn’t open but the blue store was. She had two pounds of carrots ($4.50) but no cabbage. The bread we bought was home baked and fresh out of the oven at her house. It was a large loaf for $6.00. We are glad we stocked up on groceries before we left the U.S.! We bought a phone card and also a cell phone in order to be able to call home. The minutes are very expensive. It’s all controlled by Batelco, the Bahamas Telecommunications Company, which is a monopoly. The good news is the phone came with a 10 day warranty.

We’ve also been trying to listen to a little of the local radio programming, though we’ve also heard many Spanish speaking stations from Florida, and a New York and a North Carolina station. One of the features of the local Bahama station we listen to (the Voice of the Bahamas!) is the Community Service Announcements, which include obituaries, complete with extensive lists of surviving relatives, many of them living in the States.

This afternoon we’re going ashore at Black Point. It is the second largest settlement, after Georgetown, in the Exumas. I’m sure they will have a Wal-Mart and a Burger King!

View from above looking into Thunderball Grotto

"Looky bucket" view of ray.

Iguana at Allens Cay.

"Sidewalk" on main street in Nassau.

Rock wall - we don't know why - on Warderick Wells.

If you're high enough you have no difficulty telling water depths.

Bahamas update

It's been a while since we've had real internet access but we just realized we can update our blog with the Kindle.  We had an uneventful Gulf Stream crossing - the best kind.  We cleared Customs and Immigration in Alice Town, Bimini.  The cats are now here legally and we got a 180 day permit.  We did a day-overnight sail to Nassau, where we did some sightseeing.  We are now working our way SE through the Exumas.  Temps are in the 70s with 15 to 20 knot winds.  We keep seeing lots of the same boats, some that we first saw in Annapolis.

Right now we are anchored near Staniel Cay which is where some of the movie Thunderball was filmed - the underwater grotto scenes.  If it warm enough tomorrow we might try snorkeling there.  We are one of about 25 boats anchored here.

Alice Town, Bimini

Bright and early Monday morning (5:30) we headed out from Rodriguez Key, dodging lobster pot buoys in the dark.  Once we got out into deep water about the time it was getting light we started sailing.  The winds started going light after a few hours, and since Bimini was 70 miles away we motor-sailed for a while, and finally just motored.  The Gulf Stream was pretty calm, so we had a pretty easy crossing.  We did have some light rain in the afternoon, and a couple of hours of big rollers which made motoring rather uncomfortable.  Sue sighted land around 3:15, and we were tied up at a dock by 5:30.  By then it was too late to do all the paper work and clear Customs and Immigration.

With all our paper work in hand I arrived at the Customs office at 8:00 this morning.  They didn't know I was coming, so they didn't show up until after 8:30.  We had been worrying about not getting the 180 day cruising permit that we wanted (some people we only getting 90 days), or that we didn't have all the proper paper work to bring the cats into the country.  But things went without a hitch, and 15 minutes and $300 later I was on my way back to the boat.  After breakfast Sue and I walked into town to sight see.  We also bought a loaf of bread for $4, causing us to realize we might only be able to stay half as long as we had planned, or eat only half as much as we are used to.  One of the first things I noticed in the store, all the products are from the States.  Kellogg's, Ritz crackers, Oreo cookies, Clorox, Campbell's soups...  When I asked, the store owner said almost every thing came from the US.  And someone else told us if the cargo freighters missed a couple of weeks everyone would go hungry.

The cars drive on the "wrong" side of the road.  Gas is $5.20 a gallon.  There are as many golf carts as cars on the roads.  Virtually all of the cars are from the States, though some of the newer ones are right hand drive from Japan.  Every block or two there is a small food shop, and there are almost as many churches.  Two of the newer, more modern looking stores are the Alcoholic Beverage Controls.  One side of the island has the King's highway, while the other side of the island, a block away, has the Queen's highway.  Both are not much wider than one lane, and since there are no sidewalks to speak of, cars can't go very fast, and often need to stop or slow for on-coming traffic or walkers.

When we sat in Marathon for two weeks the barnacles and other sea creatures started taking up residence on our boat and dinghy.  The paddlewheel for the boat speed had quit spinning due to little barnacles so we didn't have speed through the water the last couple of days.  And the bottom of our dinghy was getting covered with grass and barnacles.  We had pulled the dinghy up on deck for the Gulf Stream crossing, so yesterday I scrubbed the bottom and pried off all the growth when we were crossing to Bimini.  Tonight we pulled the impeller out and chipped off all the growth so we will have boat speed tomorrow when we start heading across the Bahama Banks, and south.  Once again we expect to be out of touch for a while.

Bottom growth.

King's Highway.

Alice Town gas station.

17 years, still not finished, house using reclaimed local materials.
The builder/artist is renowned, local artist and author, Ashley Saunders.

Happy New Year! On the move again...

We hope everyone is having a wonderful 2011.  We attended an appetizer potluck on New Year's Eve at the marina, then went out to eat with new friends.  We were back at the boat by 9:30, not expecting to make it to midnight.  However, a little nap solved that problem and we saw some fireworks and heard people blowing conch shells to welcome in the New Year.  The next day brought more shopping for materials for boat projects.  The latest fix for the dinghy floor (the plastic lattice) was disappointing, so Richard bought some plywood to replace it.  Then we headed over to Discovery II to get their input about where to go and what to see in the Bahamas.  This morning the weather forecast looked good for a crossing to Bimini on Monday so we ran a few errands and then left Marathon.  We had a very pleasant sail to Rodriguez Key, planning to leave early tomorrow morning.  The dinghy is on the foredeck, ready to go.  However, the latest weather reports are contradictory, some saying winds for tomorrow will be light and variable, others saying they will be northeast 10 to 15.  I guess we'll just have to check in the morning.  Assuming we are able to make it to Bimini tomorrow, this will probably be our last post for a while, as internet access will be quite limited.  The Spot should continue to work and we will update that whenever we arrive at a new anchorage.  We will be in touch by phone with my sister, Chris, whenever possible and she will let everybody know how we are doing by email.