Makani Update

November 26, 2015; Thanksgiving

During this past week we have experienced one of the longest stretches of windy weather that we have ever seen in the Bahamas.  The winds have been blowing 20-30 knots constantly and with frequent gusts in the mid to upper 30s.  The forecast is for this weather to continue until Sunday before moderating.  We are not complaining though; seeing the snow and ice storms that is occurring across the States. Also, we had looked at long term weather predictions and pretty much knew what was in store for us. The good news is it has rained some every afternoon so we are able to keep our water supply topped off and take hot showers.

The weather has reduced, but not stopped, our snorkeling excursions.  For a few days in this past week however we have been to tired to do much of anything.  Kathi has been struggling with some type of cold or flu or infection since early November. We even considered staying in the U.S. until she felt better, but the stubborn nurse wanted to be in the Bahamas for her birthday. After we used our entire supply of Nyqil, Alka Seltzer Plus, Loratadine and 10 days on Augmentin and Erythromycin eye ointment, she started to feel a bit better so she decided to clean the bottom of the boat. She worked for two hours the first day AND then cleaned and polished the stainless.  I was so happy she was feeling better and her energy had returned. After we went hunting the next day, she worked for another two hours cleaning the bottom. This is not an easy task. It requires a lot of diving and breath holding and elbow grease. That night Kathi started feeling punk again. Over the next few days the virus or bacteria returned with a vengeance. She woke up with sore throat, matted eyes, ear aches, and a persistent cough. She dug through our first aid kit and found a few more packages of things that would control the symptoms, but finally relented and allowed me to take her into the clinic at Green Turtle Cay. She had been sick for 23 days and was worn out. Unfortunately, the Doctor would not prescribe any more antibiotics because it was “too soon” since the last dose. He did give her more medications that somewhat control the symptoms. She has read 12 books and has watched most of seasons I,II, and III of Downton Abby.  Normally she would be going stir crazy, but she doesn’t even have the energy to complain. I’ve managed to fight it off until two days ago. I don’t have all the symptoms that Kathi has (knock on wood), but it sure does zap your energy. 

 It hasn’t all been snot and cooties. Yesterday was Kathi’s birthday.  We celebrated with steak and fresh-caught lobster. Today we are anchored at Manjack Cay in the northern Abacos.  People who have one of the houses ashore, and also have a cruising sailboat invited everyone in the anchorage to their cottage for a Thanksgiving potluck.  Unfortunately we had to decline because of our illnesses and not wanting to risk spreading the cold or whatever it is among others.  We are cooking a traditional meal aboard, turkey, potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, etc so we will not go hungry!

Kiwi is doing a bit of her own adjusting. Between to fowl weather and sick owners, she has not been able to get into any sort of sleep, eat, and be merry pattern. She does not like the noises caused by excessive winds and rain and she can’t seem to dig herself into a hiding place that suits her. She is very vocal when she is not happy and unfortunately she is most unhappy around 4am. Right now we have to excuse her as our own sleep patterns and routines are discombobulated to say the least.

We are thankful to be back in the Bahamas doing those things that we love most. We hope that next week we will have beautiful weather and we can move about and explore some of our favorite islands in the northern Abacos. Sorry no pictures with this post, but we promise lots of pictures next post

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The weather has turned quite blustery, as was predicted.  The winds are blowing 20-25 knots and are projected to stay that way for the foreseeable future, which in terms of weather prediction is generally 4-5 days.  Fortunately for us, the winds are out of the east and we’ve moved from Spanish Cay to Powell Cay and have a fairly protected anchorage.  

Carl and Annie on Muse

We feel fortunate that we crossed the Gulf Stream and got to the Bahamas when we did.  Long term projections are for windy weather and no good crossing opportunities until around Thanksgiving or later.  We would much rather be here in the Bahamas than waiting in the States for a weather opportunity to cross over.

New trac LED lighting

We met another cruising couple while at Spanish Cay; a Canadian couple who 3 months ago sold all of their stuff, bought the boat and are now full-time cruisers.  This is their first trip to the Bahamas.  They have never spear-fished before so we shared our tools of the trade and went out hunting yesterday.  We came back with 7 lobster and 3 fish (two yellow snapper and one red snapper).  Carl is a natural with the Hawaiian sling and was immediately hooked on the sport.  Annie needs some practice using the pole spear although she got her lobster also.  We cooked the lobster for them last night and discussed cruising plans.  They have family flying into Georgetown in the Exumas for Christmas so they will be heading south as quickly as weather permits.  We have decided to stay in the Abacos as we have family and friends flying in to Marsh Harbor beginning in early February.  Kathi and I had discussed going to the Exumas again this year for December and January but we have heard over and over that “due to  El Nino, this years weather is going to be unpredictable”, so we’ve opted to stay “close to home.”

New countertops

Makani has been working beautifully and we’re pleased with the projects we completed this past summer.  One of our major jobs was replacing all of the fuel lines.  Last year we were having problems with fuel filters clogging which we attributed to the old fuel lines.  We replaced the old 1/4 inch lines with 3/8 inch lines and have had no fuel issues this year.  We also repaired our wind generator and it is helping to keep the batteries at full charge.  Kathi painted our corian countertops to better match our interior and we installed additional lighting which has brightened our home.     

Sunday, November 15, 2015

We left the Lake Worth inlet (West Palm Beach, Florida) at 4am on Thursday, November 12.  Our destination was West End on Grand Bahama Island where we intended to check through Customs and Immigration.  We had never been to West End before so this would give us an opportunity to travel a different route.

The travel from Florida to the Bahamas Banks can often be difficult as the Gulf Stream pushes through the Straits of Florida at 3-4 knots and can build rough seas.  This time, the seas were about as smooth as we've experienced with about 2 foot swells.

Unfortunately, even with the gentle swells, the wind/swells/currents made travel to West End slightly difficult so we altered our course and headed for Memory Rock, our usual arrival point on the Bahamas Bank.  We arrived there around 2pm and continued motor-sailing to Mangrove Cay, a small deserted island, where we anchored for the night just before dark.  The next morning we travelled 8 hours to an anchorage outside of Foxtown on Little Abaco Island where we had internet access and could get updated whether information as well as let people know where we were so they would not call out the Coast Guard to start a search for overdue vessels since we had intended to be in West End the day before.  On Saturday, we travelled another 4 hours to finally reach Spanish Cay where we could check into Customs and Immigration and be legally in the Bahamas.  The overall travel from Lake Worth to our check-in arrival point was about 25 hours.

We're thrilled to be back in the Bahamas!