Update from Staniel Cay Bahamas

May 6, 2010
05:00 I was up and in the galley making coffee. Excited about what laid ahead. We all said goodbye to our friend Ron Daniels who came down earlier to drive Diane’s car back to Mason City. We were sad to see him go but anxious to get underway.
06:00 I commanded the ADVENTURE out of the marina and down though the river as the morning’s light started to laminate the surroundings. Nav lights came off as we eased our way under the last bridge of the St. Lucie River. Just as we had learned in the tender, by hugging the green line outbound from marker #7 we had plenty of depth. Past the breakwater lies open water and West End Bahamas 76 miles out. The seas were as flat as I have ever seen them.

Capt Jim took the helm and away we went. First order of business was dump the holding tank. Second order of business was repair the starboard state room head. We discovered the head would not flush. Tearing into the plumbing we discovered that the metal toilet paper role holder had somehow gotten into the toilet and plugged her up. Problem cured, hoses reinstalled and everything was operational, until of course we attempted to use the newly rebuilt water makers.

Fishing Yielded no fish on the crossing.

Day Summary.
Dept: 06:00 Stuart Fl.
Arrival: 15:30 West End Bahamas
Hours Traveled: 09:30
Miles Traveled: 74
Miles to Go: 5926
Weather: Winds Calm / Seas Flat 90o
May 7, 2010
Water Maker Morning.
Jim, Gale and I spent the morning rebuilding the water maker pump. Thank the good Lord we had a spare on board. We made the necessary repairs and then decided we’d stay an extra day. We rewarded ourselves with an afternoon of playing in the Tender exploring the local waters.
Day Summary.
Dept: No
Arrival:
Hours Traveled:
Miles Traveled: 74
Miles to Go: 5926
Weather: Winds Calm / Seas Flat 90o


May 8, 2010 07:00 -
Today Started out without a hitch we made our way out of the harbor at West End and headed down the coastline of Grand Bahamas. About 10 miles into our trip we locked onto two beautiful dolphins (Mahi Mahi). I boated the first one and Gale the second. After several minutes of a good fight the fish were boated and put on ice.
We spent the day making repairs and performing preventative maintenance to the dingys. We pulled all the gear out to air it out and repaired the transducer which was damaged on a reef. After the repairs were completed we put the Mahi on the grill and enjoyed a nice luncheon. The seas were as flat as I have ever seen them making for a good passage.
After we figured there’s be nothing else to see, we saw the biggest dolphins in the clearest water we have ever seen just before arriving at the Berry Island Chain. WOW !
We took the dinks to shore and went for a walk on the beach. The no-see-ems were out in masses making for a short walk on the beach.
We dined on Mahai again and it was wonderfully delicious !
Day Summary.
Dept: 08:00 West End
Arrival: 15:30 Berry Islands
Hours Traveled: 07:30
Miles Traveled: 86
Miles to Go: 5840
Weather: Winds Calm / Seas Flat 90o

May 9, 2010 07:00. Happy Mother’s Day ! !
After spending the night Capt Jim and the Gale spend time in the engine room troubleshooting what appeared to be a fuel and oil leak. As it turned out, we just had a little bilge water on the top of the holding tank under the engine. Gale was kind enough to put new oil sorb diapers under the engine. We also managed to get the 800 gallon per day water maker working and are happy to know we’ll be able to make plenty of water for the rest of the trip.
After we stowed the dink and pulled up the hook we headed for Nassau Bahamas.
Put out some lines and all we managed to catch today was barracuda. So we stopped fishing with bait and went to pulling some heavy lures for wahoo and tuna. After about an hour underway at 9 knots, we caught the biggest Mahi of the trip yet.
Ended up in Nassau for the night. This will be our last stop in Civilization until we reach Kingston Jamaica.
Day Summary.
Dept: 08:00 Berry Islands
Arrival: 15:30 Nassau
Hours Traveled: 07:30
Miles Traveled: 50
Miles to Go: 5790
Weather: Winds Calm / Seas Flat 90o





May 10, 2010
This morning was off to a slow start. Capt. Mobely and I ran to the Marina Store to purchase a new salt water wash down pump. The one on board is a 10 gallon per minute (GPM) and the best we could find is only 6 gallons per minute. We pulled away from Nassau at 11:00 and headed for Highborne Cay. Seas were once again calm. We dropped the anchor and splashed the 10 Amanzi tender to run the dogs to the beach for some much needed exercise. Once the dogs were wore out we ran up to Allen’s Cay to check out the Iguanas and do a little snorkeling. Diane doesn’t care for snorkeling, so I bought her a glass bottom bucket which she enjoyed viewing the bottom wild life from on board the dingy.

Grilled Chicken Potatoes and a movie (Hangover) was the event of the evening.
Day Summary.
Dept: 10:30 Nassau
Arrival: 15:30 Highborne Cay
Hours Traveled: 05:00
Miles Traveled: 33
Miles to Go: 5807
Weather: Winds Calm / Seas Flat 90o

May 11, 2010
Up at 06:00 and transferred 135 gallons of fuel into the Day tank. Pulled up the hook and headed for Warderick Wells Cay.
This morning was a bit on the windy side. The stabilizers did their job and ADVENTURE stayed plenty level as we took salt spray over the bow.

Our anchorage is plenty shallow only showing 4’ under the keel. Bottom is sandy and the hook is holding well.
Capt. Jim pulled the salt water wash down pump out of the engine room while Gale and I dove the boat to scrap off the remaining slime and barnacles she acquired in the St. Lucie River at Stuart. We got most of her done before we ran out of oxygen. When Jim came up from the engine room with the pump, Gale and I discovered the damn Scuba compressor was inoperative. So Jim hopped into the dive locker while Gale and I disassemble the old salt water pump. We discovered the shaft was frozen and with the turn of a crescent wrench we were back in business. Now all we needed do was have Capt. Jim figure out how the reassemble the dog gone thing.
Maureen made Lasagna for supper. Quite possibly the best I’ve ever eaten.
Day Summary.
Dept:
Arrival:
Hours Traveled: 00:00
Miles Traveled: 0
Miles to Go: 5782
Weather: Winds Easterly at 20 to 30 / Seas 3’ 85o

May 12, 2010
We spent the day playing. First stop was to the park headquarters for a hike to Boo Boo Hill. Here people will leave pieces of driftwood with their boat names creating memorial to their travels in the Bahamas. We left a modest one for ADVENTURE.
Most amazing of all is the color and clarity of the water.

Having some trouble with the 16’ tender. Seems to be getting harder and harder to start. Capt Jim, took her in to the Park Station to see if he could find an internet site to hook up to. He got a ride back with the park warden because she would not start at all. We’ll head for Staniel Cay tomorrow where we hope to find someone to work on it. I would hate to not have that tender as the 16 is the best equipped and can haul more faster and farther.
Day Summary.
Dept:
Arrival:
Hours Traveled: 00:00
Miles Traveled: 0
Miles to Go: 5782
Weather: Winds Easterly at 20 to 30 / Seas 3’ 85o

May 13, 2010
This morning everyone got up early and tended to the morning chores of cleaning up the boat and conducting engine room and systems checks.
Capt Jim and I went in to the Park Station to retrieve the 16’ Tender and tow her back to Adventure. The tow went without any mishaps and we managed to get them onto the racks. Jim tested the starter and looks like we may have a starter relay problem. After looking at it we soon discovered the problem was in the shifter handle. Seems it had been getting looser and looser as we used the boat and eventually we lost our contact which only allows the boat to be started in Neutral. With the repairs complete, we think we have a fully operational tender once again. Arriving at Staniel we dropped the hook and quickly deployed the tenders and headed to the beach to see the famous swimming pigs. I never realized how well and how fast a pig can swim.
After that it was off to town to the Staniel Yacht Club for a few beers and to drop off the dive tanks for a refill. We strolled though the town and purchased a few groceries. Placed our order for bread at the local bakery and plan on picking it up tomorrow morning when we pick up our dive bottles. When we arrived back at the tenders we were greeted by some of the local water residents.

Day Summary.
Dept: 07:30 Warderick Cay
Arrival: 11:30 Staniel Cay
Hours Traveled: 04:00
Miles Traveled: 24
Miles to Go: 5758
Weather: Winds Easterly at 20 to 30 / Seas 3’ 85o