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Day 4-6 – July 18th to July 20th
Wednesday, July 18th
Very slow day – slept in, tried to walk to the beach but Condo construction had blocked off our path and we couldn’t even get to the dog park. Barry and I managed to get a cab to Radio Shack to pick up some bits and pieces for the camera card chip then off to Wallgreen’s to stock up on a dozen more large water bottles. In 96◦ weather, you drink a LOT of water! The mechanic was supposed to show up around noon – well, 2:00 came and went then Barry got a call around 3:00 pm to say the mechanic got into an accident and would be there tomorrow - WHATEVER. I did, however, manage to get some ReMax work done online, do some laundry, tune up my story and pictures. Will we ever get out of here? I certainly don’t want to call it the Bahamas 2007 Adventure that never was. Anyway, off we go to dinner at Stone Crab Joe’s – a South Beach landmark and played like tourists – Martini’s and all. Until tomorrow morning, when the mechanic SHOULD show up.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Salty and I tried again in vain to get to the dog park then on to the Beach but we were blocked off by construction fences. I thought at first it was because of the condo construction but it seems the City is making improvements to Southpointe Park with a new pavilion, water displays, walkways, etc. That will be very nice for Miami residents but it would have been better if we could have used it now! The mechanic (Alec) showed up (YAY) with a very heavy Hispanic accent and hardly any tools at around 8:15 am – he was so young, I thought “how the hell can he fix anything” he looks straight out of High School? I’d peek down in the engine room occasionally and there he was, this little wee guy, all crouched up reading an electrical chart and pulling at wires – OMG – this just goes from bad to worse. He came up after about an hour and said he knew what was wrong and went off to get a “relay switch” but he’d be back….yeah right. Salty has settled in on the docks maybe a little too much. He used to do that when we had the boat docked here last year; he’d get off the boat and lie right in the middle of the dock and watch the hustle and bustle of marina life go by with mechanics having to walk over or around him. But, don’t touch him what ever you do – he’s got that dock mentality again where his “look but don’t touch” policy has kicked in. Alec the mechanic returned around 2:30 pm with the little magic part that he said he went to three places to get. After about 15 minutes, he had the generator going… and going… and going (I’ve learned to love that humming noise)! The moral to this story is don’t judge a book by its cover – good ole (young) Alec must have learned something in school – he’s my hero! It’s amazing that such a small part can cause such a huge amount of aggravation. At least it’s going (for now) but we still need to get through this Adventure with NO generator problems. So, I guess it’s off to Clarke’s tonight for dinner – that’s a little Irish Pub just walking distance from the Marina, another one of Barry’s old haunts, up early tomorrow and off to Chub Cay tomorrow (of course I think I’ve said that more than once in this story, haven’t I). Wish us luck!
Friday, July 20, 2007
A week later, but now we are REALLY going across the Florida Straights and over to the Bahamas. We were up very early getting things organized, batten down the hatches and head over to the Fuel dock in order to be there waiting when they open up at 7:30 am. Starboard tank took 54 gal. and port took 56 gal. for $379.58 – and we’re off! We were out in the channel at 8:00 am and on our way to cross the Florida Straights and then into the Bahamas Banks what will take us to our first dockage in Cat Cay and should be there by 2:00 pm. The water was not too rough with only a 2 foot chop but after we got out of the cut and into bigger water (about ˝ hour), it smoothed right out to nothing and again we were amazed at our luck – the water was like POAP. Hopefully, our luck will continue this way. When you are “out there” the water turns a deep, deep navy blue – so dark it’s almost purple. The bright white froth of the boat’s wake against the deep blue is just beautiful… ah, the simple things in life. When we were cruising along, we passed by a huge Coast Guard ship (always good to see those boys out here), as well as a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over what seemed to be two smaller boats. Barry heard the helicopter Coast Guard, over the VHF, tell the boats to stop whatever they were doing, hovered some more than took off. Barry charted the course – constantly checking and double checking the Garmin, Standard Horizon and Ratheon instruments and checking the engine room from time to time to see that all is working fine down there. Bonus – the generator is still running! Up top, Salty and I lounged around, (I) read and I found a new way to get him to have a drink – the spray bottle (with ice in it). It now has a double use – spraying us when the weather is torturous and getting him to have a drink while we are out on the beach. Within a couple of hours, we could see the tiny islands scattered in the distance and by 2:00 pm we were at the dock at Cat Cay, settled in with the gangway on and finally, finally, we were in the Bahamas! Great docking – just tied up along one side – I like that much better than having to back into a slip and hook bow lines onto the front pilings, spring lines along the side and stern lines crossing over the back. Yes, this side-long docking is very easy. After all the times we’ve come to the Bahamas, we were prepared for the Customs and Immigration documents we had to fill out and it was probably the smoothest “checking-in” that we’ve ever had. Cat Cay is a privately owned Island and Marina so we are limited as to where we can go on the Island. They do have a small beach where we went immediately so Salty could have a swim and run on the beach – that’s his favorite thing. We had visited here last year by dingy when we were staying on Bimini and thought it would be a nice place to stay. Well, now that we are here, there’s really not much to do or see so we decided we wouldn’t stay more than one night and head off to Chub Cay tomorrow. Dinner was very expensive for what we got so I believe I will start cooking on board from now on – not a deal, we have provisions for months, it seems.
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