Bike adventure in Marsh Harbour

Yesterday I rode my bike to the end of Marsh Harbour to the penisula and back.  There were beautiful homes situated between two bodies of water.  Great views of the Abacos.  Then I tried to go to the yellow castle in the sky and got as far as the entrance where there was a beware of dogs sign.  So I stopped and then tried to sneak in and of course the dogs started to bark so I left.  Shopping at some of the boutiques were next on the agenda for the day. Then back to the Asian store to trade my movie CD for a new one, he is doing them illegally but they work well so whatever.  I got La La Land, Sully and Fences, which were all award winning movies this year, should be fun to watch. I then biked up to the Monkey store in town and got some monkey cheese, which is supposedly an Irish cheese with herbs and a salad dressing called Da Bomb, interesting.  On the way back to the boat I stopped at the grocery store to try to get some milk, but they were all out, so I picked up 2 large bags of ice to keep the food in the freezer colder. 

While I was on my adventure, Brad and Andy put up the sails on the boat and got it ready to sail, which was a huge job and one that I am glad I did not have to participate in. My job when I got back was to clean the tape of the boat windows with a razor, what a mess that was. Today I will be cleaning the mold areas of the cushions, fun right. So, far boating in the Bahmas has been all about boat prepping, it has been about 2 weeks now and we still have not left the dock. Hopefully we will sail soon, I am tired of working on the boat and I am sure Brad is even more tired since he is doing most of the heavy lifting and complicated.  A new job is the air conditioner, it seems to be running all the time when it is on, so now we have to get someone out to check it out.  The one thing I have figured out about owning a boat, is that it is a hell of alot of work and worry at times.  And when you are the Captain, it is you that does most of the work and worrying.  Because I don't know as much about the workings of the boat, I also do not worry about it as much.  Of course unless something I need breaks or is not working well, then I am on top of it.  But other than that I just go about my business, planning our trip.  I have noticed that we are not the only ones working on our boat all the time, everyone at the dock is either fixing something, shinning or cleaning the boat.  Hardly anyone is sitting on the boat reading or relaxing.  Now if you charter a boat instead of owning it, then you mostly relax.  When we chartered in the past, our jobs were to provision and go to the seminar about the location.  Sun Sail would give you all the info you would need for your adventure, where to go and what to see. You also did not have to make sure the boat was in good working condition, because most likely it was not, but if something happened on the boat, it was also not your responsiblity, just call the basecamp and they would come out ant glue it back together.  How safe was it, is questionable but at least you did have someone that could help you.  If you want help out here, you have to pay for it or ask another boater.

This season I have decided to get serious about navigation.  I am determined to learn the details of navigation.  So far I have read all 5 navigation books on Eleuthra and the Exumas.  I have also figured out the waypoints, so the next step will be entering the waypoints in the system and plan the route.  I think it is important for me to learn how to navigate so that if something happens to Brad, I can get us back to where we need to be.

Right now we are getting ready to listen to the Cruiser's net to get the latest news about the Abacos. We have clear weather for the next week, so we are planning to leave Marsh Harbour and go to Hopetown in the next couple of days.  Then we will stay in Hopetown for about a week or until the next weather window.  That is what I have finally realized, the weather window is your life, everything should be arranged according to what the anticipated weather is going to be.  You had better listen if they say a storm is coming, hunkering down in a safe place is very important! Currently the temperature is 71 degrees, partly cloudy, 10% chance of rain and 72% humidity.  A cold front is supposedly coming next Mon-Wed so best to be tucked in during the storm. We will either be in Hopetown on a mooring or maybe the marina.  With potential gale force winds (32-38) we want to be somewhere safe.