Bahamas 2018

Thursday March 1, 2018 - Layover in Rock Sound

Something very odd happened late this afternoon. The cockpit of the boat was in the shade and the sun was still shining. For the first time since I've been in the Bahamas, the boat was pointed west - into the late day sun. Tomorrow, I'll be moving to be in position for my first cold front. The wind veered from SE to S yesterday and from S to SW to West today. It shouldn't be a big deal because I'm in a great place for a cold front (where the wind blows from the NW and North for a day or two. I'll just pull up the anchor and motor about a mile and a half to the west and I should be all set. There are about 15 other boats here in Rock Sound that will be doing the same thing but there is plenty of room in the NW corner of the Sound.

Today was a busy day. I was the first to dinghy to shore. I did some laundry on the boat, then went and refilled my water containers. Before coming back to the boat, I walked a little over a mile to the new restaurant, Frigates, at the north end of town. It is really a pretty nice place. The name has changed 2 or 3 times in the last 10, or so, years. My new friend Holly was sitting out on the deck waiting to meet a woman who lives here. Holly has been here many times and was bringing one of the natives some yarn for knitting. Holly and her husband Rob Sanger live in Norfolk VA aboard their Pearson 365 ketch Hampshire Rose. She told me they are members of the Chesapeake Bay Pearson Sailing Association. What a small world. She works at West Marine in Norfolk. Anyway, I had walked to Frigates to see if they might have a free wifi connection. I've read about several places that were supposed to but none have - so far. Well, to my surprise, they DID and a good one (fast). I wished later that I had brought all my electronics but I did download about 15 app updates while I chatted with Holly. Before I left, we both ran into Peter aboard S/V Pearl - a beautiful 1973 Bristol 40.

I walked back to the dink and motored the water back out to True Blue, got my cameras and hiking gear and headed back into town for some sightseeing. First was the Ocean Hole - a small lake near the center of town. On the way there, I ran into Peter again and he gave me some tips about getting from the Ocean Hole to the Boiling Pot. His advice was to carry a rock and/or a stick since there are dogs that will only back off if they see one of the two. It was a good tip because I likely would have been bitten by only one dog along the way.

The walk from the Ocean Hole to the Boiling Pot was a couple miles and then another mile back to the dink. Both "attractions" were fun and I'm glad I went. The Ocean Hole was somewhat commercialized with signs and picnic tables. It is a large hole filled with water that is about 1/4 mile in diameter. The Boiling pot is much more rugged and out of the way. It is also a water hole with some caves around the perimeter.

I got back to the boat around 1pm, quickly (two hours) processed my Warderick Wells Videos and rushed off for a walk back to Frigates to upload 5 or 6 (two weeks' worth) of videos. I got a drink so they didn't feel like I was a total freeloader but as soon as I started computing, I could tell the wifi had degraded since morning. In 45 minutes, I download 42% of one single video. I ended up using the data on my phone to finish the upload which took less than 2 minutes. The wind had shifted to the SW and had picked up and now True Blue was on a lee shore (being blown into shore). That made me nervous, plus I knew the dinghy ride back out to the boat was going to be a wet one. So, I hustled back to the boat, pulled up the anchor and moved about a mile to the north where there would be a little better holding and a little more protection.

Like I said, it was a busy day - but a GREAT one!!

I'm back at Frigates (it's Friday morning). Just uploaded 2 short videos - took 2 hours. Like watching paint dry. The rest will have to wait.