GHC Carriearl

We go to Carriearl, a small Inn and restaurant on the east side of the island. We walk there with Mark, Karen, Stephnie and Chris. We are the only customers for lunch and have a nice time. Angie and Marty, the owners, treat us to an excellent lunch and drinks at this beautiful place. After a long lunch Marty gives us a ride back to the Marina. We finish the afternoon playing cards at the Pavilion, since the wind has moderated enough to not blow the cars off the table.

Click on the below link for full screen 360 panorama

http://360.io/ZbLPBW

GHC Home again

We get up early to ride to the island airport with Sabrina at 7:00 AM. Her flight leaves for Nassau at 8:00 AM. We spend the day doing some deferred boat cleaning and rearranging things.
Unfortunately for Sabrina today is the first day in the last two weeks that is has been calm enough for the local fisherman to go out. This is the first time in two weeks that we could get Lobster and we do. 

Even Mr. Brown (Browns restaurant) is at the dock with a load of fish, still wearing his wetsuit. Not only is he the Cook, bartender, waiter at his restaurant and also catches the meals.

Fisherman, Mr. Brown 2nd from the right

GHC Rain again

Rainy morning. Play Mexican Train at the Pavilion in the afternoon. Baked brownies for the Potluck dinner this evening, at the Pavilion. We have a couple days of good weather coming up and a number of boats will be leaving tomorrow, hence the reason for a Potluck. We play games and visit with other boaters after dinner at the Pavilion as rain showers roll through the area.

New Freedom leaves tomarrow

GHC Shelling Beach

We walk into town to do some food shopping. Too windy to take the dinghies over. 

 

A&L Grocery, the left wing was added since our last visit 3 years ago

For lunch we all head to the Beach Club. Phil from Desperato II, joins us. Phil is single handling a 40 foot C&C. I had been in contact with Frenchie telling her that Phil was interested in signing up for “My Island WiFi”.

On our way walking over to the Beach Club, Frenchie picks up Linda and Sabrina and gives them a ride over. Then she comes back to pick up Phil and I who hadn’t yet left the marina. Once we are all at the Beach Club, she sets Phil up for My Island WiFi over a beer. How is that for customer service.

 

Frenchie, Phil, Phil, Mark, Karen, Stephnie, Sabrina

 

Frenchie getting Phil connected to the Internet

Shelling Beach

After lunch Linda, Sabrina, Phil and I walk south to Shelling Beach. We do not get back to the Marina until 6:00 PM.

GHC, Shark Creek 2

Sea Vu Play and Manana leave around 9:00 AM to take our guests for a trip up Shark Creek near high tide. Interestingly the current is flowing in on both ends of Shark Creek, filling the large Mangrove area as the tide is rising. In the middle of Shark Creek there is no appreciable current. By the time we get to the east side of the island the wind picks up and it is getting rather choppy in the open water. As we head back through Shark Creek we see lots of sting rays and sea turtles. It is overcast and we get a few showers on the way back. 

Shark Creek trip departure

 

Chris, Mark, Karen & Stephnie

Sabrina & Linda

Mr. Stingray

Chill & Grill for Friday night dinner, excellent ribs as usual. 

 

Chill & Grill

 

Spanish Wells, Boat bound

We were all going to head to the Shipyard restaurant for lunch, but it is rather rough today and we would be quite wet by the time we get there. We all decide to hang on our boats for the day. We work on various projects. I was having some issues with our AIS transponder and the vendors technician recommends that I download and update the software. I do as he says and the units stops working all together, so much for the upgrade. I now have a $600 brick. No AIS transmission or reception.

GHC, Browns

We all take our dinghies across the harbor to town and go to Brown’s for lunch, a very small restaurant and bar. Mr. Brown is the waiter, cook and owner. We have a long enjoyable lunch talking with Mr. Brown and other patrons. 

 

Chris, Karen & Mark

Nile, Linda & Sabrina

Late afternoon we have a game of Mexican Train in the Pavilion while we wait for Pizza, since this is Thursday, Pizza Night.

GHC Birthday

For Sabrina’s birthday we walk to the Beach Club for Lunch. 

Sabrina, Linda, Stephnie, Chris, Mark & Karen

Very Windy

After lunch we go for a long walk north on the beach. There has been some beach erosion from the high winds and tides the last couple days. I find our first sea bean, a “hamburger bean”. These beans drift on the ocean currents from the Amazon region of South America.

GHC Sabrina

I go jogging in the morning on the golf course and replenish my golf ball supply. Probably half of the ones I find are the ones I previously lost. 

Back at the boat Linda and I clean up the boat, put stuff away to get ready for her sister, Sabrina, who arrives late this afternoon. We meet her at the Airport, King one of the marina employees gives Linda and Karen (Karen’s and Mark’s friends Chris & Stephnie are coming in on the same flight) a ride to the Airport. I ride a bike over to the Airport ahead of Linda and Karen.
 

Leair arrival

Sabrina & Linda

Sabrina’s bag goes back in the car and the three of us walk back to the boat. We have dinner on the boat.

GHC Golf & Laundry

Linda and I split chores this morning. Linda plays laundry and I does golf. Linda scores much better at laundry than I do at golf. I still suck, but I am sucking less. Fortunately I found lots of golf balls jogging through the golf “course” yesterday. Today I lose as many as I find.

Linda meets Gayle from “Cicro” a Hinkley here at the marina. She and John were here when we first arrived and sailed around the Berrys for a week and returned a couple days ago.

Manana & New Freedom

New Freedom

In the evening we visit on “New Freedom” a Nordic Tug next to us with Paul & Janet Baker from Seattle, Washington. They bought the boat on the east coast and are on their first trip to the Bahamas and were looking for advise from us and Mark & Karen. They plan on heading north in the spring and starting the Great Loop, leaving their boat in New York state for the winter.

GHC, Cold Front

A cold front is forecast to pass through the Bahamas today. Tracking weather Radar we can see exactly when it will pass through our area. There is lightning along the front. I use a website that shows lightning strikes in real time, from satellites so we can see what is coming. We do a lot of clean up and putting things away. I add more dock lines and put our vinyl enclosure back up, more to get it washed than anything else. By the time the front reaches us around 1:00PM all we get is wind and rain. Most of the lightning passes to our south. 

It is interesting that the northern end of the front running into Canada is dumping snow on our house in Vermont. Lots of happy skiers up there.

East Coast Cold Front

Squall in Great Harbour

Fun in Vermont, Smugglers Notch Ski Area

GHC, BBQ Not

After breakfast I decide to take off the carburetor and tear is down and do a thorough cleaning. All the visible fuel jets had looked to be clean the previous day, but I did notice a few particles in the bottom of the fuel bowl, so maybe there is a blockage some place else in the fuel path. I clean what looks to be an very clean carburetor with carburetor spray cleaner. I reassemble the carburetor and remount it on the engine and take it out for a test spin. The engine now runs just fine. There must have been some small particle blocking the fuel flow to the removable jets. I may look into an additional fuel filter when we get to Nassau.

There is a BBQ fund raiser in town. A poster says at 12:00 noon. So we walk over for lunch. My error, it is 12 noon Bahamian time. They are just setting up at noon time, so we walk back to the boat for lunch. Putter around for the rest of the day. Left over pizza for dinner.

GHC, Chill & Grill

I check the outboard and the silicone has stopped the fuel pump leak. So I take the dinghy out for a test run. Still no high speed, not getting enough fuel. Getting plenty of fuel into the carburetor bowl, so the fuel pump is not the problem. Well, tomorrow's another day and I have better “tings” to do for the rest of today. Lets head to the Beach Club for lunch. We talk with our new dock neighbors “New Freedom” a Nordic Tug.

Beach Club

Nile, Linda, Karen & Mark

Beach Club from the beach

View south from the Beach Club

Late in the afternoon we get together with Robert & Karen and Mark, Karen, Linda and I teach them how to play “Mexican Train” dominoes in the Pavilion as we wait for our Grill & Chill. BBQ Ribs, Bahamian Mac & Cheese and Rice & Peas, life is good even if our outboard isn’t.

Linda, Karen, Robert, Mark & Karen

Great Harbour Pavilion

Dinner Time

GHC, Projects

The Main dock

I have a list of things to work on today, ahead of finding out what the problem with the outboard is. When I finally get to the outboard. I remove the carburetor to check a leak I have been noticing around the fuel pump that is part of the carburetor. The fuel pump diaphragm has a leak around one of the screw holes. Not a part I am going to find around here. I email the Marine store where we bought the outboard in Nassau to see if they have the part in stock, since we will be there in two weeks. I also find the part on Amazon and have it sent to Linda’s sister Sabrina who is visiting us next week. I put some silicone on the leaking area of the diaphragm and put everything back together. I will let it set overnight before testing in the morning.


Tonight’s Pizza night is canceled because the pizza makers don’t have enough materials to make pizza until the supply boat gets in next week. This supply boat delay is now getting serious. Now I have to bake our own pizza, it’s OK, but not as good as the one we had last week.

Linda on my safety line

GHC, Fanny Cay

At 9:30am the four of us head south on another dinghy adventure to Fanny Cay. Unfortunately we leave to close to low tide and spend about an hour “walking” the dinghies, because it is too shallow in places.

Walking Miss Daisy

Once we get to deeper water we shoot down to Fanny Cay and a couple other very remote Cays. Some beautiful beaches and sandbars. Do not find a lot of shells. 

Linda and Karen

Mark

Linda

Live Conch

Now that the tide has been rising we get back in a fraction of the time it took to get here. 
 
As Linda and I get near the entrance of the harbor our outboard starts loosing power and we just barely can stay on plane. Then once I back off on the throttle it stops all together. Mark and Karen have already rounded the corner in the Harbor and do not see that we are dead in the water. I start rowing towards the entrance before the waves can push us toward the rocky shore. After about 10 minutes I pull the starter and the engine starts right up and we head in, but do not have full power. Well, something else to “entertain” me tomorrow, figuring out what the problem is.

GHC, Blue Hole

We leave at 9 am for a dinghy trip to a Blue Hole and the remains of a DC-3 1980’s drug plane.

 

Heading to the submerged drug plane and Blue Hole

We snorkeled on the plane but the water was not very clear in this area. We rode over the Blue Hole but the same stirred up condition reduced visibility there too. We head north to Cistern Cay and Lignumviate Cay and then to Great Stirrup Cay. Great Stirrup Cay is a day site for Cruise Ships and a lot of the locals are employed there. Every morning when the weather is good a couple of snorkeling and para-sail boats leave our dock here to head up there for the day. Many other locals work on the Island. Some days there can be 4 or 5 cruise ships anchored off the Cay.

We do not find any good snorkeling spots and stop for lunch on one small beach on one of the Cays.

Had lobster again for dinner.

Mark and Karen

GHC, Coolie Mays

Mark checked out 4 bikes for us to use today. We rode to the two main food stores. Find out that the next delivery boat won’t arrive until January 22. Usually, a weekly event, but the normal boat has apparently broken down, a comment happenstance in the Bahamas. 
 

Panoramic 180 degree view of the Harbor entrance cut

Cooliemae's

 

Lunch at Cooliemae's

We went to Cooliemae's restaurant, which over looks the Banks to the west side of the island. They don’t have a menu, just a couple items that they are preparing for the day. 

 

GHC, Golf

Linda had a hard time sleeping last night. It seems we have have gotten sand fleas on our sheets. So we strip the bed and Linda washes, sheets, blanket and towels. I make banana pancakes for Sunday breakfast.

Since we have a cloudy over cast day I decided it is a good time to try nine holes of golf. Back in the late 60’s a developer build the marina here, 18 hole golf course, airport, restaurants, etc. Great Harbour was very popular with wealthy celebrities in the 70’s, but they did not have enough business to be really successful. The golf course was not kept up. By the 80’s the Columbian drug trade had come to Great Harbour and much of the northern Bahamas. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 caused a lot of damage, destroyed the Club house and lots of homes that were never rebuilt. Today the local US home owners pay someone to mow 9 holes of the original golf course, but no other work is done on the course. The greens are as rough as the fairways. Some greens don’t have holes and/or pins. 

 

The old Club House, apparently the locals used it as a hounted house for Halloween

I brought a 5 iron, 7 iron and putter. I thought I had grabbed a 9 a iron, but it turned to be a 6 iron, oops. I brought a bag of golf balls to loose. 

Some of the "greens" require a wedge and putter

I played better than anyone here, because I was the only one playing today. A good thing, it would have been embarrassing. On the other hand I could play 3 balls on some holes without holding any one up. Fortunately I found almost as many balls as I lost or I would been done by hole 4. If you don’t keep the ball on the fairway, most times you will never see that ball again. If it rolls off the fairway you have a 50-50 chance of finding it. Some places you could loose the ball in the middle of the fairway. This course in its day was considered one of the 25 best in the world and very challenging. Well this course still has the very challenging mantel, in spades. 

 

Hole 6 along the beach

While I was pretending to “play” golf Linda was playing cards with Mark and Karen.