Hanging Out in the Bahamas

Communications was the theme of today. Things finally came together and we were able to talk with Earl in NC on the Ham radio. Three o'clock on 14.287 USB seemed to be the magic combination allowing both sides to communicate clearly.  Icing on the cake was a good wi-fi signal that allowed us to talk with my parents using Skype for the first time since leaving Florida. Spent much of the morning while Noah was in school trying various fixes for the web site, but some broken links remain.

All this computer and radio work pulled down the batteries. This called for pulling out the Honda generator for three hours in the morning adding 150 Ahrs to the house bank. Since then, the wind has done a good job of keeping us neutral. The wind picked up yesterday afternoon as predicted.

This was our first real cold front on anchor where the wind completly clocked around. It went from SW to W yesterday afternoon and picked up to 20 kts. After sunset it turned N and picked up a little more with a few gusts over 25. Lots more boats came in here between Little & Big Major's spot during the afternoon. Space was running low, so a group anchored just off the reef where we snorkled yesterday. Another boat came in and anchored just in front of us. We made a run over his anchor and it was a small fortress with only one fluke buried. I went over and showed him how it looked. He is a single hander, and mentioned that he often dragged anchor so didn't get much sleep on windy nights. Diving on, or at least looking at the anchor with a look down bucket, is really important especially when the winds are picking up.

Friends on "Sol Y Mar" had a problem today with a 1.5" thru-hull giving way today. They were aboard and put in a wooden plug to stop the flow. For those able to look at our web page, it is the big Beneteau in the photo with the rainbow. They are heading down to Georgetown to be hauled as soon as the sea state calms down.

Beth and Noah rigged up the new hammock, trying various spots on the boat. Turned out that under the bimini is a good spot. The shade of the bimini is needed as temps are in the high 80's.  Disassembled the vented loop on the engine exhaust and cleaned the valve. There was a small amount of water spraying out on the engine, so we hope this fixes the problem. Want to keep that new engine clean and rust free!

There is a bit of roll in the anchorage this morning and we can see breakers south of us as the winds are NNE allowing some waves in out of the Sound. It is not uncomfortable and we're glad we came in a couple of days before everyone else to get a good spot. Looks like we'll stay put for a few more days as another cold front is going to come through on Sunday.