Waiting for our boat part…

Still in Spanish Wells, waiting for our boat part… Something simple in the US, but getting things to The Bahamas is a bit of a chore.

We had been having a few issues while raising our anchor. It looked like the chain wobbled as it came up on the windlass (a wheel motor which raises the anchor chain). While we were in Florida, we decided to replace with a new windlass. Since we got our weather window to cross to The Bahamas right after, we didn’t have much time to test it. Once we got to The Bahamas, the chain was wobbling more than before.. After inspection, we found out that the chain we have is not the correct size (thanks to another yard the year before). So we ordered the new chain. You can imagine how much 225 feet of 5/16″ chain weighs, so there is no putting it on a plane. It was shipped to a delivery boat in Ft. Lauderdale to be delivered to us in Spanish Wells. Add to that… the weather, Holidays and Customs added to the mix .

So we made the best of it, and waited.

We took advantage of the extra time and visited Eleuthera. Another beautiful Island that we don’t know very well. We rented a car for the day to explore. It is famous for it’s beautiful beaches and Harbor Town, and very nice resort area.

Debi had her mom and friend visiting, so they also rented a car to explore as well.

Thanks to Debi’s investigation, we found a local fisherman willing to part with some treasures of his own…

So excited to finally see our delivery ship come in…

Time to say goodbye to our temporary home and head to our favorite place. The Exumas! The weather was still not perfect, but we left anyway and headed towards Norman’s Cay, our usual first stop coming from Nassau. Below is our path so far..

Timing the tide through small cuts is very important. This flat calm could be raging with wind and current opposing each other.

Even though sky was threatening, we had a pretty good 7 hours to Norman’s Cay.

Norman’s Cay.. Infamous location of Pablo Escobar and Carlos Lehder’s Drug smuggling operation from 1978 to 1982. A plane wreckage from those days is still there to snorkel on.

We continued the next day to Staniel Cay, one of our favorite spots… We wanted to pick up the small boat we left here last season. It is great to have, but not so fun to tow. So we leave it here and pick it up on our way south.

Going to be here a week, decided to do some baking…

We snorkeled a bit, stocked up on provisioning. Luckily the ship had arrived for a refill.

We had a great time in Staniel… a little too quick, but looks like we have a weather chance to move down to Georgetown, and taking it.

We anchored in Musha Cay, and will meet up with Debi and Bruce on Fast Betty at Prime Cay tomorrow. Plan to move on down to Georgetown in a couple days.

All in all, we are having a great trip, and look forward to seeing some old friends in Georgetown. Hoping all of you are enjoying your winter, take care and be back soon.

Here are some video clips to view…