Bahamas Express and Red fuel barge

                                                           Rikava with Bahamas Express

 
The Bahamas Express barge comes in from the U.S. once a week, and hopefully will be bringing our batteries this Thursday.  There is another large ship that comes in weekly from Nassau, and the fuel barge also makes a weekly stop.  Bitts and I enjoy watching them unload all their cargo.

Putting up the quarantine flag

Jan 22-25 Morgan's Bluff

We got checked into customs and immigration without any problems.  We had to fly a yellow quarantine flag until they said we could stay in their country.  Well the news for Rikava is not good.  After a couple days of trouble shooting, it was determined that the starter battery was bad and fried the other 2 batteries.  We have 5 in all, and could possibly limp around with those, but Rich wants to play it safe, so he is going to order new batteries from the states.  That will take awhile, at least a week and a half to 2 weeks.  Rich was really bummed out, I mean I think I actually heard him singing "No body knows the trouble I've seen, no body knows but...".  Once in awhile when I do my whining thing, Rich gets aggravated and Kathy has to remind him that "SHE'S A DOG".  Kathy does the same thing to Rich when he gets frustrated at the boat, and she tells him "IT'S A BOAT".  Anyway we have had fun watching the supply ships, and the fuel barge come into this little port.  The local people are real friendly, and now that the other US boaters are here we have a nice group.  Rich and Kathy and 2 other boaters got a guide for a 3 hour tour of the local area.  Ollie picked them up at 3:15, and they all needed to stop at the local Bahamas Telephone Company (BTC) to get their Bahamas SIM cards so they can text.  Well, between the 3 of them and their fancy phones and computers, it took until 5:00 p.m. to leave there, so needless to say, they did not get a very good tour.  What they did see was pretty primitive, but very neat homes and schools.  A lot of different churches.  A few resorts with very pretty beaches.  All the locals know each other, and they are genuinely nice to us.  Bitts and I are very happy because we are tied up next to another boat which we walk across, and yes, there is grass to do our business.  I hope this doesn't set Bitts back, as she was just getting the hang of doing her business on deck.  I guess Rich and Kathy will take us with them tomorrow to explore some neat caves they have here.  I also heard Rich talk about putting down the dinghy to take us to the pretty beach just outside the harbor so we can swim...we can't wait for that!!  Rich and Kathy are going to a party tonight where you bring your main food for the grill, and then a dish to pass.  Bitts and I are keeping our paws crossed that they will take us with them.  Everyone thinks we are so cute, and Kathy says we are being really good.  Bitts is the main security guard, as she growls or barks every time a boat or car or person goes by.  Maybe some of the other boaters will even give us real food when Kathy isn't looking. 

Bahamas Banks

Crossing

Jan 21, 2015 Morgan's Bluff, Andros

Yeah, we made it to Morgan's Bluff.  What a trip!  The weather guy was wrong, and when we left on Tuesday, Jan 20th, it was predicted to be about 2-3 foot seas and winds 20 knots, but decreasing in the early afternoon.  Well as far as Bitts and I were concerned, the winds and seas never calmed down (25+ knots), and  the swells were big, so it was a rough passage until we reached the Bahamas Banks the next morning.  There were 8 boats in all crossing from Marathon.  Three of them decided to go to Rodriquez Key and spend the night, then on to Andros.  One started to join them, then changed his mind and caught up with us.  There were 3 single handlers behind us.  They get really tired by themselves, so there was a lot of "yakking" going on the radio all night long.  They seemed to think Rich was in charge since we were the lead boat, so everyone would call him with questions.  Rich and Kathy only took cat naps, and Bitts stayed up all night long.  I finally got tired, propped my paws on the settee for support, and went to sleep.  Rikava was the only boat to make the trip non-stop.  The rest of them anchored on the Banks to get some sleep.    Good thing Rich has radar on the boat.  They were following a big tanker on the radar, until it crossed in front of us about 1 mile away.  We actually had to slow our speed to let it pass.  Then there was the orange and red clouds on radar that gave us a few good downpours, but they didn't last long, and there was no lightning or added wind.   It got a little scary at one point, when Rikava lost the alternator and tachometer.  Rich was afraid we would lose all power, and that would have been a bummer to lose the auto pilot and have to steer by hand all night.  He even plotted a course back to Dinner Key near Miami.  I guess he went into the engine compartment, wiggled some wires and everything came back on line...whew!  I hope Kathy sends you some of the most spectacular pictures of our first Bahamas sunrise.  When you enter the Bahamas Banks you go from thousands of feet to about 16 feet of water.  Boy, the beautiful tourquoise water made the trip all worth it.  It took us 34 hours to get to Morgan's Bluff, and we were all exhausted.  Rich went to put the anchor down in the outer harbor, but yikes, no power to the windlass.  We were lucky to have the engine running, so went to the inner harbor, where the nice dock master helped us tie up to the fuel dock.  Kathy and Rich went to Willies Water Bar for a drink, then a quick dinner, and some badly needed zzzzzs.

Pics

Lights in harbor

                                                            Ready to jump, but Kathy won't let me.