Flushing Lunchbox

November 18, 2005

Friday, November 11, 2005 - Guana Cay Harbour, Guana Cay, Abacos
By Amy

The forecast put today as the only opportunity in the next week to cross the dreaded "Whale Cut." This inlet takes you from Green Turtle to the rest of the Abacos to the south, but it is susceptible to rages. Apparently there was nothing to anger it today, and we made it through with only rollers.

Once on the other side, we opened the sails back up and made it to Guana Cay Harbor in steadily increasing winds. The harbor suffers from the plague that is taking over the Abacos--mooring balls. The local marinas have claimed almost the entire area for themselves, and we were only able to find a spot to anchor because of our extremely shallow draft.

We spent a little while unwinding on the boat and then headed to town. Spotted Milo's stand, which was advertised in the guide as a produce stand but which actually sold jewelery. I wanted to get a shot of the Abaco Milo and our Milo together, but Abaco Milo was not overly friendly. Next stop, Nipper's, considered the social (drinking) center for the area. Some tourists and a few hard-core locals were gathered at the bar. We got some info regarding the development going up in Baker's Bay--a new resort complex with a golf course that locals worry will poison the barrier reef. The issue is in court, but no one seemed to expect to stop it.

Now up to date on the area's politics, we returned to the boat for dinner and a night being serenaded by the real drinking crowd at Nipper's. Apparently I'm old because they didn't get noisy until hours after I'd fallen asleep.

Saturday, November 12, 2005 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos
By Tom

We left Guana around 10 am and sailed the 10 miles to Marsh Harbour. The place looks much better than it did last year and I think most of the hurricane damage has been repaired.

Once the anchor was down, we dinghied into Solomons Grocery and we were both pleasantly surprised to find grocery prices extremely reasonable. I actually was able to get Johnsonville Brauts for 1 buck less then we can get in the US. Sweeeet.

In the afternoon, we made a list of things that we need to fix while we are here and near supplies and then we took the dinghy around the harbour to see what was going on.

We stopped at the Jib Room and found that it was closed while they were doing some renovations. Depressed, we were about to leave until another cruiser (not me) did a little more B&E and we suddenly found ourselves at an impromptu pizza party. Timing is everything.

We hung out with about 12 or 14 other people off of boats here at the marina or in the harbour until about 8 pm and then we returned back to the boat.

It was nice to get to talk to other people, but I don't think this is our crowd. All of the people we met here come to Marsh Harbour and stay in the marina for the season. Some of them have been here for 4 years and never moved. Thats ok if thats what your into, but its just not us.

Anyway, tomorrow will be a busy day making repairs. More to follow.

Sunday, November 13, 2005 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos
By Amy

The morning started off pleasantly with Mila projectile vomiting for nearly an hour. Thomas got the honors of holding her for this hour-long event, after which she slept for an hour and emerged fully recovered. I got the joy of cleaning the head, so I think the humans came out about even on disgusting jobs.

Our engines have been acting up in reverse...well, not so much the engines themselves but the apparatus that holds them down. Yamaha wants hundreds of dollars for a new assembly, so Thomas began jury rigging some engine-retaining straps. First effort was unsuccessful due to parts failure, but I think he's on the right track.

Finally, Thomas sacrificed our Kuub King to the bathroom gods. It was the only scrap of wood we had to fix the latch on the cabinet, so the King now stands about two inches shorter than he was. This may have a devastating effect on the game.

Having achieved so much, we felt no guilt at all retiring by 2 PM to enjoy football and NASCAR on satellite radio

Monday, November 14, 2005 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos
By Tom

I spent the day continuing repairs. Today's job was to sew the sacrificial cloth back onto our head sail. It's been falling off for about 2 weeks, so I thought it was about time to do something with it.

The job took about 4 hours, but when I was finished the results looked really good. Our sail is no longer an embarrassment.

While I was busy playing seamstress, Amy did the laundry. We haven't seen a laundry machine in almost a month, so there was plenty to do. Amy reports that it was the most expensive laundry in the history of man. The total was 24 dollars or 4 dollars per load per cycle.

In the afternoon I perfected my tie down strap arrangement on the outboards. I used two sail ties and sewed in retaining clips on each end. I then drilled and tapped 2 sets of holes for the engine cowl and a strong mounting point in the engine bay. With the addition of two quick connect carribiners we now have a system that seems to successfully hold down our engines while in reverse. Life is good.

This afternoon we went into a water front bar called Snappas. They have good prices and Amy likes their food. They also have CNN and I've got this really weird thing for Linda Stouffer.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos
By Amy

More fixing and errands too mundane to record here. We are eager to leave Marsh Harbour. The blustery weather continued. Apparently, the weather man didn't get the memo. This is supposed to be paradise!

I decided to stop being a wuss and took the kayak out in the evening. It was a bit rough but I made it to the lee shore and found a little canal I could paddle around in. Interesting wildlife sightings included this wacky egret/heron style bird with a tan body, a black and white Mardi Gras mask for a face, and a dark blue bill. God must have been trippin' the day he made that guy.

Returned to the boat for a quiet evening with Thomas and the weasels.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos
By Tom

Did you ever have one of those days that just sucked right from the get go?

This is how mine went. First we got in the dinghy to head to town to see the Honda man about a prop. I started the dinghy, put it in gear and the whole f@#!%ng prop assembly fell off! Shitty death!

Amy got the privilege of diving into the water to retrieve the various pieces and parts. Twenty minutes later she had completed recovery operations and I was able to put the prop back on.

I thought our luck had changed as the Honda dude had the exact prop we needed on the shelf. It cost 90 bucks which is a little steep, but beggars can't be choosey.

Unfortunately, after a quick trip to the grocery store we discovered back on the boat that our head was broken. Don't ask how.

I spent 4 hours rebuilding said head and I can assure you it was in fact a shitty job.

Half way through the head rebuild, my helper, Lunch Box(Milo), dropped one of the pieces down the bathroom sink drain. I tried to squeeze his fat ass down there to get it, but it was no good. He truly is the fattest ferret in the world.

I then tried to remove the drain assembly during which the drain fitting cracked! Shitty Death!

Amy went into town in search of a replacement while Lunch Box hid from my wrath. I finished the head and successfully tested it by giving Milo a swirly.

Amy returned to say that there were no replacement parts available. I ended up expoxying the piece back into a useable form, but I fear this is a temporary fix.

With all of the fun behind us, we retired to Snappas for a few cold ones. We met a nice couple at the bar from Ohio who are getting married on Saturday. I don't remember their names, but he was in computers and so we had a lot in common.

Back to the boat and off to bed.

Thursday, November 17, 2005 - Hopetown Harbor, Hopetown, Abacos
By Amy

We sailed a whopping 8 miles today, arriving in Hopetown before 11 AM. Last year, we skipped this place, as it seemed to be pretty beat up from the hurricanes. Everybody says how nice a spot it is, so I wanted to take a gander this time.

I concur that the town is as "quaint" as reported with the brightly painted houses, gardens, etc. On the whole, though, it seems a bit like a Disney re-creation of an island town. Like 75% of the houses featured "for rent" signs, as if no one really lives here, it's just a simulacrum for vacation purposes.

In search of local flavor, we headed to the "Full Moon Party" in the evening. We spent most of the time talking to a New Yorker here to update the Adventure Guide to the Bahamas. He was nice, but he knows little about the Bahamas, so you might not want to rely too heavily on that book.

The night's excitement was when flashing lights and sirens sent people, boats, and vehicles scurrying in all direction. We jumped in the dinghy to check out the situation. We asked John, a kid maybe 8 years old in another dinghy with his parents. He did not know the reason for the sirens, but he did know a lot about fishing and was very cool to talk to. We floated around with them for a while, watching the emergency boats load up and then zip out of the harbor at Mach 5.

Later we found out that a catastrophic fire burned 300 homes in Mud Abaco on Marsh Harbour and that all surrounding communities sent volunteer fire fighters and equipment to help put it out.