Stay Over Days in Emerald Bay

—Blogpost written by Bob

Monday, April 13

As I was returning from the shower this morning, I stopped and watched several sergeant majors swimming by the pier.  You simply can't find this beautiful sight anywhere else.  We can see the bottom through crystal clear water all around the marina.  The water in the marina takes on an "emerald" color, hence the name.

The warm wind was out of the southwest today, a very unusual direction and it was hot but not muggy.  (In talking with the Harbour master recently, she told us that it rained every day in May last year.)

Emerald Bay Marina on
Great Exuma Island.

New Bahamian COVID-19 Restrictions

The current lockdown in the Bahamas due to the COVID-19 pandemic is in effect through Friday, April 17.  (I fully expected the lockdown to be extended again and I’m sure it will continue week by week for a month longer or more. The prime minister of the Bahamas is a physician and he seems very competent.)

We have just been notified that "Foreign boats (like ours) are encouraged by the Government to DEPART The Bahamas."  In addition, "A foreign boat departing the Bahamas must proceed DIRECTLY and NON-STOP to its destination/home port outside The Bahamas."  (We don't even carry enough fuel to do this!)

Further, there are about 8 marinas throughout the Bahamas that have remained open for servicing returning boats, even though one must call and make arrangement ahead of time for fuel.  This directive will be very difficult for us to comply with since we are in the southern Bahamas and we must go through Florida which is currently a coronavirus hot spot.  By email to the Bahamian government, I have applied for an exception so that we can leave in mid-May and "shelter in place" until then.  We'll see if it is approved (or not) but we will still evaluate the conditions for leaving week by week, probably on Wednesdays.  

New Structure Under V-Berth Long Overdue

Since we arrived at Emerald Bay Marina I’ve been sleeping in the v-berth with my head in the bow (opposite the way we normally sleep) because the uneven support under the v-berth causes my back to twist and endangers my back issues. Maggie has been sleeping on the starboard settee.

You may recall that last summer I spent a lot of time leveling (or rather flattening) one support under the v-berth—it wasn’t enough, even though it was an improvement over the previously sagging platform under the mattress.

The single support under the removable platform
in the v-berth was not sufficient, even
though it was carefully made flat.

I’ve designed a solution involving four or five deep cross braces that will ride on a plywood platform over the fresh water tank and be rigidly fixed to the hull at the ends. The deep cross braces will be epoxied to the platform over the tank forming a strong inverted T-section.  I intend to attach wood strips over the complete length of the top of cross braces that will provide a perfectly flat support surface (and will receive the mounting screws from the new platform) before they are epoxied to the cross braces.  Then, I will make a new platform that will sit on top of the edges of the old platform. (Of course, all the existing braces, supports, and removable platform areas will be removed.)  I intend to construct almost everything from 1/4” thick marine plywood to keep weight down and the structure will be completely coated with epoxy, in addition to reinforcing all connections with fiberglass. 

Grocery Delivery Day Again

Yes, it is that time again--for grocery delivery.  This time, everyone was wearing face masks.  If the restrictions tighten further by next delivery they may have to deliver right to the customers' boats.  (We have no idea how all the other cruisers who are anchored nearer to George Town are making out with groceries.)

Everyone except Maggie (far right)
was wearing a face mask
for grocery delivery.

Scotch and Soda for Happy Hour?

The liquor stores in the Bahamas have been closed since March 18, about a month now.  Up until that time, we had accumulated quite a varied stock of liquor and wine. (We didn’t hoard liquor just before they closed!) Our liquor stock has been steadily dwindling during the lockdown caused by the pandemic. 

We usually have one drink at Happy Hour, sometimes two. Happy Hour has been a tradition for us long before we moved aboard our boat—it’s time we take to communicate with one another. 

We're not fond of Scotch but times
are desperate, we had Scotch
and soda for tonight's
Happy Hour in
our cockpit.

We recently opened an old bottle of scotch that was hidden in a nondescript crevice in our liquor cabinet because our more preferred liquors (and wine) were gone or nearly gone. Neither one of us is wild about scotch but we were down to crunch time—we diluted it with club soda and it served its purpose.

Thursday, April 16

Our Rather Sudden Change of Plan

We have had a big change of plan—we are leaving Emerald Bay Marina on Sunday morning (April 19, four days from now), taking advantage of a short-term legal window . The Bahamian Government has arranged at least one marina on each island group to provide fuel and provisioning services for boats leaving the Bahamas (and we have been encouraged to leave).  In leaving the Bahamas, we must move DIRECTLY and NON-STOP.  Once we leave, we cannot get off the boat again within Bahamian waters.  Weighing the future risks is what changed our mind so quickly.  This marina could shutdown completely on a very short notice,  Hurricane season starts in just one month.  Grocery deliveries could end in the very near future.  Restrictions to boat movements could get even tighter than they are currently (and we wouldn't be able to leave).  

Our current travel plan includes the following milestones:

First refueling after leaving Emerald Bay Marina (Grand Bahama Island) - April 24

Crossing Gulf Stream to the U.S. - April 25

Refueling and major provisioning in Vero Beach FL - April 28

Refueling and light provisioning in Jekyll Harbour Marina (GA) - May 3

Refueling and major re-provisioning in Southport (NC) - May 12

Final refueling and re-provisioning in Solomons (MD) - May 23

Preparation for Leaving

To prepare for leaving we took our two red 5-gallon Jerry cans in which we carried gasoline for the dinghy motor, gave away the leftover gasoline to one of the dock hands, and then, filled them with diesel fuel. We already had one yellow jerry can on deck filled with diesel fuel. So, right at the moment, we have 64 gallons of diesel fuel onboard—this is equivalent to thirteen 8-hour days at cruising speed. I have developed our travel plan going all the way back to our slip in Baltimore, refueling every 10 days along the way. Our plan leaves 3 days worth of fuel in reserve at all times. (Of course, whenever we can sail, our range can be extended.)  We should arrive back at our Baltimore slip on Memorial Day.

We also loaded the little 2 HP Honda outboard onto s/v Rainy Days. The dinghy is now virtually empty and ready for crossing the Gulf Stream.

A large schooner currently in a slip
on F-dock in Emerald Bay Marina.

That's it for now!  I will probably make just one more blogpost from Emerald Bay Marina, covering our last two days here (Friday and Saturday).


Stay safe and thanks for following our blog!