Marsh Harbour

Feb 2 thru Feb 4

--Blogpost written by Bob

Early this morning I returned to the v-berth after visiting the head (using the bathroom in land dweller’s language). I laid on my back trying to get back to sleep. The moon was full and it was relatively light outside as a result. The moon was high overhead and it was casting a shadow of our Bahamas courtesy flag (flying from the flag halyard attached to the lower spreader) on the forward hatch. From my position I could see the full moon, our courtesy flag and it’s shadow on the hatch. A nice cool breeze was blowing into the open hatch. Before I new it I was asleep again.  I think I got the best night’s sleep of this season.

Rainy Days at anchor in Marsh Harbour this morning.  By
this time the light wind clocked around from the north.

Today (Friday) started in complete calm and with the sun shining brightly. There was not a cloud to be found anywhere in the sky except for some low-lying wispy ones on the western horizon. The only sounds are that of a ship’s engine running near the port, about a mile to the southwest of our anchorage, and a dog barking in Pelican Shores, about 1/4 mile to the north of us. There were 23 boats anchored in Marsh Harbour last night, a small number compared to when we were here last year. This harbor can easily handle a hundred boats or more.

Before leaving the boat, I shifted our boom to starboard all the way (since we are facing west) so that we will get maximum sun exposure on our solar panels during the day. This small effort makes a significant difference in how much our boat’s batteries are charged during the day.  (By the time we came back the light wind had clocked around from the north and I had to re-position the boom.)

This morning, I dropped off one of our 10-pound propane tanks at Corner Hardware for re-filling. (Maggie has been doing a lot of baking on board lately.)  From there, with camera at the ready, we ventured into two of the shanty towns in Marsh Harbour.  It was within easy walking distance of the harbor. We just learned of the shanty towns as result of the recent fire in The Mudd and decided that there is some interesting photos waiting to be revealed—a separate blogpost, entitled Peas and The Mudd, will reveal what we found. The following photograph is a sample:

A burned up car was along side the road to the
two nearby shanty towns: The Mud and Peas.

We spent about an hour walking around the two shanty towns.  Maggie felt uneasy, so we left sooner than I wanted to but I intend to come back again sometime this weekend.  

We picked up our propane tank about 1 PM.  Then, it was off to Mermaid Reef for some snorkeling.  The water was a bit too cool but Maggie snorkeled anyway.  I took some pics of the fish by luring them close to the dinghy using cut up pieces of hot dogs as fish food.

Some of the fish that I lured near the dinghy using
cut up pieces of hot dogs.  They turned up
their noses at the hot dogs--they must
be accustomed to better food.

Maggie took this nice picture of rocks.

We came back to the boat, dropped off our snorkel gear, picked up our shower bags and headed for the Conch Inn for nice hot showers.  The showers actually made us feel civilized again.  All in all, it was a great day.

A tranquil evening in the Marsh Harbour.

Saturday, February 3

This morning, I was rudely awoken by high winds, 15 to 20 knots out of the northeast. The sky was overcast and it seemed like January’s windy and rainy weather patterns had returned. There is a 90% chance of rain today according to the weather forecast.

I went out on deck (not in my skivvies this time because it was already light) and set the anchor bridle which takes the load off the chain stopper and applies it equally to our two forward cleats through (shock absorbing) 1/2-inch, 3-strand nylon lines. I have a ridiculous amount of chain out (90 feet) for the 8-1/2 feet of water in which we are anchored—that’s more than a 10-to-1 scope! However, there is no harm in that since we have plenty of swinging room.

We have noticed an infrequent cycling of our fresh water pump lately. During the morning, I systematically investigated the fresh water plumbing looking for leaks. I checked the connections to the outdoor fresh water shower, the galley faucet connections, and the connections to the facet and shower in the head. I found the leak in the very last area I checked: the hot water heater. 

Our water heater is just like a household water heater
except it uses both 110 volts AC and exhaust
heat from the engine and costs much more.

Rust-colored fresh water was leaking out of the base of the 35-year old unit, the leak originating somewhere internally. A water heater replacement was on my list of projects for next summer (2019)—now, it has been moved up to this summer, making the current "to do" list 26 items long. 

The leak from the water heater runs along a
fiberglass support near the hull.

The onboard water heater uses both shore power (when available in a slip) or waste heat from the engine. The replacement 6-gallon water heater costs approximately $775. Until we get back to the U.S. we will simply turn off the fresh water pump when we are not using it. This won’t completely eliminate the leakage but it will, at least, minimize it for the time being.

Before lunch We stopped by the Abaco Dive shop to pick up a few things we wanted.  While there we found out that Abaco Dive was only able to take divers out to the reef two days in January because of the weather!  We went out for lunch at Wally’s in Marsh Harbour--one of our favorite local restaurants.

The only time we really saw the sun today was at sundown but it was a beautiful sundown.

Dusk in Marsh Harbour on February 3.

Sunday, February 4

It rained early this morning between 6 AM and 8 AM but it looks like the rains clouds will disperse shortly. A light 10-knot breeze is blowing out of the southwest. Almost on cue at 8:30 AM, the sun broke through the cloud cover in Marsh Harbour.

Lizzie sleeping on some bright colors.  This photo was
taken a awhile back--she has been awake
since then but not for too long.

A woman hanging out colorful laundry
on Super Bowl Sunday.

A view of the harbor from Bay Street

An inviting wrought iron bench
overlooks the harbor.

I have been working diligently on an upcoming blogpost on the Haitian immigrant communities of Peas and The Mudd. It will be published on Monday, February 5 (tomorrow). Before lunch, I revisited The Mudd to take more photographs to accompany the blogpost.  I think you will find it to be an interesting read. Be sure to check it out! 

We are planning to go to a Super Bowl Party this evening at Marsh Harbor Marina.  Go Eagles!!!


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