Waiting on Weather

September 6 - 12, 2007

Thursday, September 06, 2007 - Hamburger Beach Anchorage, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

We made a trip in to town this morning to exchange 25 books at the library. The couple of elderly ladies that volunteer there always make a big deal when we bring back so many books. I guess they can't believe that we read that much or something.

We left with 15 new ones, which invariably will multiply into 25 by the time we are ready to trade them in. I think it's some immutable law of cruising that says books just show up on your boat and you are left with no idea of how they got there. Such are the mysteries of cruising.

We dropped our load of books off at the dinghy and then went in to the liquor store to stock up on rum, gin, and whiskey, which we also deposited in the dink.

Post liquor run, we hit Exuma Market so Amy could get her vegetable fix and I could get a few sodas. By the time we had everything in the dinghy, we were barely floating. It's a good thing we are anchored right off town as we would not be able to cross the harbour to the east side.

We made it back without incident and then spent thirty minutes putting our purchases away. We upped anchor and crossed back over to Hamburger Beach where we anchored in 15 feet well off the beach. We chose to anchor so far out because there is no wind and in close to the beach is within reach of the dreaded no-see-ums that come out at night. Hopefully this far off shore, we will be out of range for their very tiny transport ships.

Once the boat was put to bed, I dove over board and spent an hour and thirty minutes cleaning the port side hull. It was fairly disgusting with lots of red fungus looking growth. When I was done, Amy took over and did the starboard hull. While she was cleaning her half, I took the opportunity to run out to the reef and look for dinner.

I came home with a bug and a medium sized (4 pound) Nassau Grouper. Needless to say dinner was a lobster and grouper affair.

Afterwards, we dinghied up to St. Francis for poker, but neither one of us played really well. I think I have overloaded on poker because as soon as the game started I realized I didn't want to play. I think I need a break from the poker circuit.

During a break in the action, a mega storm moved in with torrential down pours. Like a couple of jackass's. Greg (St. Francis) and I went up to the overlook on the ocean side and watched several water spouts reach down out of the sky and spin across the surface of the water.

I kept waiting to see the wicked witch fly by followed by that dumb ass dog Dorothy was always toting around, but I didn't see them. It was impressive to see from a distance of less than 200 meters and fortunately neither Greg or I was swept out to see.

Anyhow, we were done playing and back on the boat by 9:30 and to bed by 10. We plan on heading out first thing tomorrow for points south, but the weather forecast is for torrential rains of death, so who knows if we'll make it out.

Friday, September 07, 2007 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

We awoke to over cast skies and scattered rain showers. There is a tropical wave (trough ?) north of us and it seems intent on sending rain and clouds our way. Of course, with the clouds, the temperatures are down, but we aren't making any solar power at all, which causes us to run our generator to keep the batteries topped up.

Today we wrapped up shopping in an attempt to leave the harbour, but by 11 am severe thunderstorms moved into our area and we opted to stay put. At times the rain got so hard that visibility fell to less than 50 feet.

We hunkered down and hid inside doing odd cleaning jobs, reading books, and catching up on internet duties for most of the day. The weasels mostly slept and offered little help in the cleaning process.

The rain let up around 4 pm and I worked outside on tidying up the rectifier replacement installation from a couple of weeks ago. Mostly this entailed using zip ties to neatly corral the electric power lines through the various turns they take on their way to the master panel.

Around 5:30 pm, we battened the hatches and headed across the harbour to the Fish Fry for a happy hour drink. We started at the Bar 12 shack and moved on from there. We hung out until 8 pm with several of our Bahamian friends before pulling the dinghy off the beach and heading home.

We opted out of dinner in favor of some cheese crackers which we shared with the fury personnel on board as well. We turned in around 9, but we were woken again at 11 pm when a mega squall moved through the area and we got up to ensure the boat didn't drag anchor in the 50+ knots of wind.

The anchor set on Team Dream Catcher was up to the task and we stayed put through the blow. The storm left by midnight and we were soundly asleep shortly there after.

Saturday, September 08, 2007 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Another day of no wind and sever thunderstorms kept us in the harbour yet again. We had breakfast and then I made two trips in to town to drop off trash, get water and get fuel.

I spent most of the day reloading the operating system on my newly repaired HP lap top. I bought it about 9 months ago and it broke after only 6 months and then it took HP 3 months to fix it.

Anyway, Amy brought it back with her during her recent trip stateside and so I thought I should at least make it usable again.

George from St. Francis called us in the afternoon and invited us up to their place for a potluck in the evening. I made bacon stuffed barbecue shrimp kabobs while Amy contributed home made brownies.

We went up around 5 pm after battening the hatches in case of rain. We had a pretty good turn out with 14 people showing up. George set up a propane grill on the deck and everybody cooked their own dinners. We all brought a side dish to share and in the end there was a ton of food.

Dinner was over by 7 pm and then we set up and played the Saturday night, $10 buy in poker game. We had 10 players and in the end, Amy stunned us all by taking the $60 top prize with a spectacular victory over Charlie in second and Howard in third.

By the wat, several of my long term readers had requested a picture to prove the existance of my frequent log side kick, Speedo Ed. I have provided said photographic evidence side right.

We were back on the boat around 11 and immediately turned in for the evening.

Sunday, September 09, 2007 - Hamburger Beach Anchorage, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

The wind died last night and the bugs showed up, consequently I was up and moving the boat at 6 am. I dropped the anchor well off shore up at Hamburger beach in an attempt to out distance the bugs until the wind picks up.

Amy and the rest of the crew awoke by 9 and we opted to go swimming instead of making breakfast. The wind built back in by noon and we both sat in the cockpit under the sun shade and listened to the start of football season on the satellite radio. Go Pittsburgh!

The afternoon passed in a blur and I don't think I accomplished anything of value today. Amy was slightly more productive as she did the dishes and also changed the sheets on our bed.

Dinner was grilled Grouper and baked potatoes along with a small side salad. Post dinner Milo and I watched Star Wars III while Amy and Mila read books in our forward cabin. Milo is a spiritual weasel who's down with the dark side of the force. To bed by 10.

Monday, September 10, 2007 - Hamburger Beach Anchorage, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

We had hoped to head out this morning, but the Tropical Weather Outlook from NOAA now shows the formation of two distinct depressions over the next 48 hours.

As I've mentioned before, we have already decided not to the leave the safety of the harbour here, where we have already scoped out three hurricane holes, if there is bad weather brewing. It looks like we're here a while longer.

Faced with another day of tedium at anchor, I took the dinghy out to the north end of Conch Cay and looked for life forms. I found three micro lobsters that I left alone as well as one Nassau grouper that I did not.

Back on the boat, lunch was fresh grouper sandwiches and fries. We hung out doing boat work until 5 pm and then headed up to St. Francis for Monday night poker. I finished 5th and Amy finished 3rd out of 11, which isn't bad, but not great.

We were home and running the weasels by 10 pm and to bed shortly after.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 - Hamburger Beach Anchorage, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

I was sick all day today and did not leave my cabin. There is nothing to report.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - Hamburger Beach Anchorage, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

I felt marginally better today, so we do in fact have a log of events for the day.

Amy and I slept in this morning and we missed breakfast. The weasels were left out last night and so they were up and about at first light.

We got moving around 10:30 and I made a trip into town to get some WD-40 from Top to Bottom as well as a couple of miscellaneous items from the grocery. As an aside, the four trash containers that usually occupy the north end of the parking lot at Exuma market have gone missing. I'm not sure what's up with that, but I'm sure word will be on the Coconut Telegraph before sundown.

I got back to the boat and we made some simple sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, I got in the water and lubricated the pivot points on our out boards for the big boat. The engines have been getting harder and harder to lower from their raised position. Amy stayed in the cockpit and helped me raise and lower and adjust. It took an hour or so, but when we were done, the engines seemed to be moving a little free-er.

Next I got one of our lengths of dock line and spliced a new bight into one end to act as a spare bridle line for when we are anchoring. Somehow, I managed to loose our other bridle last time we were out and about.

The weather gurus at NOAA show three different tropical depressions in the Atlantic, so we probably aren't going anywhere soon. Dinner was grouper fingers and French fries and in the evening we watched Bad Boys 2 for the 30th time. To bed by 9 pm.