still in Mangoes Marina in Marsh Harbor

DATE March 23,2008	TIME START continuous	CRUISE FROM Still in Marsh Harbor	CRUISE TO Still in Mangoes Marina
ENGINE HOURS START	ENGINE HOURS FINISH 1406.6	SEA CONDITIONS calm in the Marina	WEATHER CONDITIONS Raining

JOURNAL

We are still in the marina. We have been enjoying the company of Karen. Karen is our contact from the states and she came down to enjoy the Bahamas for a few days. The weather has not been very good so we did not get to do much. We did go to Man o War for one day trip and we went to Hope town for a day trip. We finished our day trips with a trip to Guana Cay. While at Man o War we did some shopping and walked around the Island. We walked to the ocean side of the Island and saw the ocean. When we went to Hope town, we showed her the famous light house. The light house was on the other side of the water so we were not able to get to the top of it. We walked around Hope town to see the sights. We showed her our trash can. We bought the trash can during a fund raising and our boat name was painted on it. We went to the Guana Cay Island and showed her Nippers and Grabbers. We walked the beach and we found two sea hearts, one horse eye, and one seed we did not know what it was. We have walked around the Marsh Harbor area. We wanted to go snorkeling but the weather did not co-operate with us so we told her next year we will have better luck. She came here with out a tan and she is returning with about the same look. Maybe a little tan but not much.

tucked in at Mangoes Marina

We are still in a slip at Mangoes Marina. We are waiting for our new anchor. We will be here until Monday. The anchor is supposed to be in but the store has to wait for it to clear customs. The anchor came in on Wednesday but they unload the food first. So it will be checked in whenever they find the time. Island time equals; not today mon. We hear that phrase a lot of the time. No one and I mean NO ONE, is in a hurry around here. Which is o kay but that also means more money goes out to the slip. $1.35 a foot isn't bad for where we are at. (Bahamas) but it is still money that could go to better usage like Kalik beer. Oh well! We will just have to sit back and drink a few cool ones and wait for "later".

OUCH !!!

March 8, 2008
We cruised from Great Guana, Fisher's Bay to Red Bay and back to Fisher's Bay.
To start this little adventure we were on a mooring ball, Troy's, and went to Red Bay. We went to red Bay to get out of the wind. We let out 50' of chain. The anchor would not set. Then we let out 100' of chain and the anchor seemed to take hold. After we were settled in we let out 100' more of chain just to make sure. We set the anchor alarm at 350'. We will see if this works. It did not. In the middle of the night a big storm came through. A couple miles north of us in Green Turtle, the winds were measured at 55 knots. The anchor alarm went off. While trying to control the boat we heard from our buddy boat that we were heading straight for them. We let out about 30' of rode and that did not help. We started the engine and the line cutter on our shaft cut the rode. We lost the cqr again but this time we also lost 200' of chain. We motored back to Troy's mooring and did this in pitch dark. What an experience. When we got back on the mooring ball, we discovered that we did not have a radio anymore. We took the mike apart and it was full of water. We dried it out and it worked okay. Now we need a new mike. "Good judgment is the result of experience! Experience is the result of bad judgment. We are now experienced in this situation. We are now in a marina called "Mangoes". (Marsh Harbor) We ordered a new anchor. We are getting a 40 lb. fortress. Once we get the anchor, we are going hunting for the 200 feet of chain we lost. We got another mike for the radio and it is working just fine. We have been cleaning out the water that we took on during our little adventure as the wind was blowing from one direction and the rollers from the Whale came from the opposite direction. We are fine and now that it is over and we discussed our adventure between each other, we laugh at the experience. Attitude is what made this an adventure and not an ordeal. We are fine and we are doing a lot of laundry today. Darn near everything got wet inside the boat.
Cruising the Abacos is great and next year we are planning on going all the way to the bottom of the Bahamas. From there we will slowly work our way north.

Here in Guana Cay

Well we are on a mooring ball in Great Guana Cay. We are here for the famous Nipper's party. What a party is was. We listened to the Barefoot Man in concert. It was one big party. When we left the party we went down to "Grabbers". They had Steel Daddy in concert there. We are partied out.