Black Point Settlement Day 2

December 30, 2015

Ganja is going to get a facelift today hopefully!

 

I think I have updated the blog as far as what we did each day since we left but I still have lots of pictures to download.  I did go and get a phone so hopefully I will at least be able to daily doses from here on out.  Right now I'm sitting at the Laundromat using their internet verses mine.  A lot less expensive!

 

 Bob is taking this picture from the boat....I am sitting at the

table outside of the Laundromat updating the blog

 Once a week the boat comes in with supplies...fresh veggies!  Yay!

 Not ours :-(  But a nice catch for an $800 couple of hour day!

 Even the stingrays are into the heads of a lobster!

 Now where do we want to go?  I think Blow Hole tomorrow?

 That's right Gary!  We are at Scorpio's Bar!

We are waiting for Tim and Michelle to join us for Happy Hour

Bob is calling them on Channel 13 asking them where they are and

they are right in front of us! He was being silly!

 

Today was another great day.  I finally bought a Bahamian phone with internet service for hotspot so hope to be able to communicate a little bit more now as far as internet goes. I got a lot of the blog caught up while I was doing laundry.  Bob stayed back on the boat and did a fantastic job of cleaning!  We went back into town this afternoon and did some walking around.  Then we did a little Happy Hour and came back to the boat. 

 

Ganja never got his facelift today, maybe tomorrow.



Black Point Settlement Day 1

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

 

Picture of our anchorage

 First heron we've seen since the crossing of the Gulf!

 School

 Local Church

Our anchorage again

Frans...and Patrick!  I really need to get the spelling of her name!

We decided to leave Staniel Cay and head to Black Point Settlement today due to the weather.  We may have a crossing window coming up either Saturday or Monday and wanted to make sure we were in place for it in case it should happen.  It's crazy how the weather has been the same for the last 3 weeks. Those that didn't make it across the Gulf Stream in that two day window we had are still sitting in the United States waiting for their crossing!  Yikes! Today was the first time we've seen dolphin since leaving the states! 

 

It was a pretty rough trip over but it was only 6 miles so that made it a little better.  It sure does take a lot out of you though, not sure why?  Once we got here, you got it, we took a nap!  After the nap we did the town...literally, all of the town!  We ended up running into Tim, Michelle, Patrick, and Fran.....? so we went to the local bar and had a beer.  We are all getting together on New Years Eve and doing dinner, then Bob and I are moving on to another one of the local bars, Scorpio. 

 

I feel like I am getting further and further behind on my blog.  Without getting the internet but every so often makes it hard to keep up with it; especially trying to download pictures!

 

Tomorrow, it's Wednesday!, the one day of the week that the BTC office is open so I am going over and purchasing a Bahamian phone so I can get internet access.  I also get to do laundry!  Yay!  It's been a while!

Staniel Cay Day 5

Monday, December 28, 2015

 Sun coming up

 Some pretty shells Bob found today

Gonna try and make something out of them!

Our sunset!

No matter what we do each day it’s always a beautiful day.

We went into town today so I could purchase some internet and catch up the blog.  I walked all over that island trying to find some internet.  I ended up at Staniel Cay Yacht Club again.  But even there I couldn’t get it.  I finally asked one of the locals and they said sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.   I had charged my computer before leaving the boat; when I only had 51 minutes left on the charge I knew it was getting close to me to stop searching for it.  Should I have found it I wouldn’t of had enough time to do it!  So I’m hoping to get the internet in Blackpoint Settlement.

Bob did quite a bit today.  He walked a couple of miles to the dump (we were afraid to see what they would have charged us today).  After the dump he found the store that sold stamps and post cards. Not sure how long the cards have been there but he got me a couple.   From there he walked to the Pink Store to see what they had.  They actually had more than the Blue Store.  After checking out everything Staniel Cay had to offer he went back over to where we met the Buchanan’s with the hopes of their being there so he could say our good-byes. They were there so that was nice. 

In meantime, I’m back at the bar having a beer say good-bye to Clarence Buchanan. Bob did run into him somewhere else and was able to say his good-byes.  We didn’t see Henry or Anna so they must have flown back to Miami. 

After getting back to the boat we were too tired to go out and water the piggies.  We will get them tomorrow!

Staniel Cay Day 4

Sunday, December 27, 2015

 This seaplane landed right next to this boat and dropped off

a couple of people.  He then took off and flew right over top of them!

 Kathi - see how much your plant has grown...this is from Key West!

 Dad - yours is enjoying the boating weather also!

 Time to water the piggies!

 These people think we are crazy!

 I was able to sneak a little in for the babies!

 How adorable!

 He's like....leave me alone....can't we get any peace around this place!

 Where's my water!

 I have no more!

 What you got in that cup!

 Let's just look and make sure she doesn't have anymore!

 I see plastic containers!

 I'm going in for it!

 Some more visitors!

 Bob look! More visitors!  Go get the last of the water for

the baby pigs while the big ones are distracted!

 

 Our sun setting

 Storymaker

 We went over to the other beach and had a little Happy Hour

with Tim & Michelle.  Gizmo is not old enough to drink yet!

They are headed home!

What a great day today was even though we worked our butts off!   I wasn’t expecting today to be that day but I talked with Jen & Jon today and Jon told me how Jenny had de-Christmas’d the whole house already!  That put me in the mood to do so here!  So, I took down all the lights, took down what ornaments I had left (I lost a couple of them with the winds, one was very special to me….it was a “Lone Ranger lunch box” Mike and Sharon had given to us when I had my MC accident back in 1997 and they drove from ILL to South Dakota to pick me up since my bike was no longer drivable…they gave us the ornament for Christmas, what a great gift that wasL  Thankfully I have another one from them!) After taking all the lights down I decided to clean the stainless steel on the boat, and I put another coat of Teak Guard on my toe rails.  Busy, busy, day!

Bob was just as busy as me.  He continued making water to put in the water tank.  He hooked up our bilge pump for the next heavy rain.  He ended up unhooking the sea salt water pump and hooking the bilge pump in its place.  That way we don’t have to go outside during the storm. We just turn it on from inside! Brilliant!!  This is just another means of getting water into our tank without running the watermaker all the time, well, every two or three days anyway!

While he was doing all that he had to go into a couple of different lockers to get “stuff” to make things happen….and guess what he found??!!?  My regulator!  He forgot he had moved the weights to a different location and for some reason he put my regulator with them!  Silly! Silly!

After we finished for the day we took a shower and then ran over to give the piggies their 4 gallons of water. They sure are smart.  They know when they see the plastic containers it’s time for water!  They are all over me as soon as I get out of the dinghy.  After spending time with the piggies we went over to the other beach and had a drink with Tim, Michelle, Gizmo, Patrick and Franshaw (French, never took a class in French!) Tim and Michelle live in the vicinity of Glen Burnie and we are going to get together this summer on the bay somewhere, perhaps Fairlee Creek, yeah, that’s it! J

Staniel Cay Day 3

Saturday, December 26, 2015

 Now the water won't seep out while the piggies are trying to drink it!

Love the duct tape!

 Anna and Henry from Miami

 Mama hen with her chick's!

 Police Station

 Blue store...that's the name of the grocery store!

 Flora

 Beautiful!

 Hand painted pictures along the wall

 scenic

 These

 are these, when they bloom!

 Pink Store advertising

 Clinic

 Huge sea shells!

 Laundry and Wholesale Liquor all in one!

 Now this flammable liquid truck could be a little sturdier....

Rainbow after the shower before the sunset

Well all the traveling is starting to catch up with us.  We were very tired today and wanted to make it a down day here on the boat.  But! Somehow or another I have misplaced my purse.  The only thing I can figure is I left it at the Yacht Club.  So…..

We made 4 gallons of water for the piggies, poured all the water we had left in our 5 gallon jugs into our water tank, packed up the trash and headed into town.  It’ only $2 to fill up a 5-gallon jug, which kind of evens itself out when it comes to us using engine hours, or genny gas to run the watermaker here on board.  However, yesterday when we got rid of trash and it only cost $3.50 a bag, today it was $7, same size bag, just a different person from the day before!

Another good example of how explicit you have to be when speaking to the Bahamians.  I walked into the bar and there was another woman working.  I told her I was in here yesterday and wanted to know if anyone had turned into a purse.  She said, “no not to me.”  I said maybe someone turned it into the other woman, she said “I came on at 3 yesterday and no one turned one into me.”  That was the end of the story for her.  I thought “OK what question am I not asking directly?” So I said “do you have a lost and found?”  She didn’t answer me but I could tell by the way she looked at me that they did. I asked if there was someone else there that could look for me.  She just kind of looked disturbed and said “wait a minute.”  Then we went to a closet not 5 feet away and there was my purse hanging in it!  So had I not pursued with my questioning, it would still be there.  Gotta make sure you are specific with your words here!

I tried to get back on the internet today, it was free on Christmas; but today it is not.  I wasn’t going to be on land long enough to do the blog so we are going to wait another day or two.  Hopefully when I purchase it I will have enough data time to do everything I want.  I’m suspecting not.

We ran into Henry and Anna again at the bar.  They’re friends that were supposed to come in by boat had to cancel.  It was a brand new 65’ sport fish.  They filled it with water in the states before crossing and overfilled the tank.  The water ended up going in between the ceilings and shorted out all of the electricity.  Bummer!  So Henry and Anna paid $500 to spend the night!  Yikes!  They were debating to spend another day or not or just get another plane back to Miami.  That’s where they live.

We decided to walk the town since we were there.  We found a grocery store, laundromat that sells wholesale liquor, and took a lot of good photos.  By the time we got back to the boat it was starting to drizzle and the sun was going down, so we never made it over to piggy’s.  Tomorrow we will!