Stay Over Days in Nassau

—Blogpost written by Bob

Friday, January 10

This is our fourth day in Palm Cay Marina on the east end of New Providence Island and it’s really not a bad place to be stuck. We’re stuck here due to high wind (25 to 30 mph) out of the north-to-east quadrant. Yes, I know we are on a sailboat that uses the wind...but this much wind is almost unmanageable (by us, anyway) and you can’t see dangerous coral heads when the surface of the water is so disturbed.  (Hitting one of the thousands of coral heads nearby would probably wreck our boat which is also our home.)  Looking ahead for a weather window to leave brings up Thursday, January 16, as our most likely exit day.

We are currently on the southeast corner of
New Providence Island at the blue dot.

This is an enlarged view of the
 location of Palm Cay Marina.

Like most Bahamian Islands, there is a shallow bank nearby, in this case on the southern side of the island--one called White Bank and another called Yellow Bank.  The shallow banks are surrounded by very deep water in the vicinity of 6,000 feet deep.


I had our spring lines and fenders perfectly positioned to resist the impact of the wind (while accommodating the 3+ feet of tidal range) and we were able to sleep very peacefully last night.

I had three fenders between the boat
and one of the slip's pilings that
took the brunt of the wind.

The sky was overcast this morning and rain was expected sometime during the day (>50% probability) with wind velocity still much greater than 20 mph during the day.  The sun appeared about 10:30 AM and the wind died down a little in the afternoon.  Then the clouds came back at about 3 PM.

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I downloaded an additional weather app last night (Dark Sky) because my usually reliable WINDY app was wrong about the wind velocity when we made our trip between West End and Nassau.  Both apps agreed on the wind velocity for today.  (For all I know, they may even be using the same weather model.)  

Our escape route awaits.  The
water really is this pretty!

Today was a Bahamian holiday--Majority Rule Day--it must be something like our Independence Day.  (The Bahamians we asked about it didn't know what it was.  Apparently it was a relatively new holiday.)

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I checked with the marina office at mid-morning and we are good to stay in our slip (#98) until we leave on Thursday morning.  Now, our only concern is the expense--$95 per day ($2.50/foot x 38 feet) for the 9 days we will have been here— a total of $855 + water and electric.

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We had to throw out some chicken and some hamburger patties because they smelled funny.  Fresh meats and poultry just don't last long in the refrigerator.    Maybe I have to set the refrigerator to run a little colder.  We ate lunch at the Pink Octopus Restaurant on the premises.

This drink contains about 1-1/2 ounces of Sailor Jerry
rum and the remainder is Crystal Light
Classic Orange and ice.

Before we knew it Happy Hour was upon us.  Since I have felt the need to wean myself from  bushwackers for a while, I made a simple rum drink with (carb-free) orange juice to end my day.

Saturday, January 11

It actually rained at some point during the night and the wind shifted direction slightly (now from the southeast, but still greater than 20 mph) causing us to experience a different boat motion and some new sounds (like a halyard clanging against the mast).

The high wind velocity symbol is still showing on the weather forecast for the day, along with the typical 10% chance of precipitation and the typical daily temperature range of 73 to 78 (a difference of only five) degrees F.

Lola plays on the cabintop in mid-morning. 
(The buildings in front of the boat house 
the showers, laundry, and offices.)

We were planning to go into Nassau today but decided to research our transportation options further before going.  (The center of the city of Nassau is actually 9 miles away from the Palm Cay Marina.)

I had every intention of getting a coat of Cetol on our teak toe rail today.  I got the forward port side half taped off and then we had a light rain.  I had to stop because the tape wouldn't stick when wet.  I never got re-started with the taping (but I will tomorrow morning).  I choose the blame the delay on the rain but, in reality, bushwhackers had a role in the delay too.  (I have to layoff the bushwhackers for a while--they are like drinking a milkshake but they contain a lot of alcohol!)

Sunday, January 12

The wind has died down considerably this morning—to about 20 knots and is still out of the east like yesterday. We’re expecting easterly winds all next week, gradually diminishing in velocity to about 11 to 12 knots on Thursday (the day we expect to leave Palm Cay Marina).

Maggie made French toast this morning which was a special treat for me. We try to keep it as healthy as possible by using whole grain bread (with a fair amount of preservatives) and sugar-free syrup (with lots of chemicals).

A special Sunday morning
breakfast of french toast.

My goal this morning is to complete taping (and begin applying Cetol) for the (partial) toe rail refinishing. My taping was interrupted yesterday by a brief rain shower. While we are here, I only intended to refinish the worst section of the toe rail—the forward starboard section (but short of the bow where dock lines occupied a lot of the space).  (I'll work on the area around the bow while we are at anchor in Highborne Cay.)

Taping off the inside of the toe rail so that I don't
get Cetol on the fiberglass deck.  (I use a
special plastic tape for this--it's
manufactured by 3M.

By 11 AM I had the intended section of the toe rail sanded with 100-grit sandpaper (to smooth out the areas where the finish had peeled off) and the first coat of Cetol applied.  (It takes a lot of get-up-and-go to actually do some work here in Paradise!)

In the early afternoon I spent a lot of time working on our travel plan, coordinating it with the current weather report.

After applying the first coat of Cetol, we ate lunch onboard. During lunch I read the application instructions for Cetol. I’ve always treated it like varnish, applying 7 or 8 coats while lightly sanding between coats. I was always able to get a smooth finish that looked almost like varnish. However, it has not been what I would call durable—it would breakdown and peel off in spots subject to wear. The instructions call for only 3 coats. Have I been applying too many coats? Maybe.

The instructions also indicate the a coat of a Cetol will dry to the touch in 4 hours and a “hard dry” in 24 hours. I would typically re-coat after only 4 hours. So, I decided to go for the “hard dry” before re-coating this time around. (Besides that, if I re-coated sooner, it would interfere with our Happy Hour.)

Lola, my trusting feline companion.

Lately, I’ve been feeling my age. I’m 72. I’ve recently read an article where my age range was referred to as “between 65 and death.” In my case, I hope that age range contains many, many years—I’ve still got a lot of sailing and exploring to do. On that note, I will end this blogpost.  There will be one more blogpost from here in Palm Cay Marina before we take off to the Exumas...stay tuned!

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