Hanging around the northern Abacoes

Double Breasted Cays-March 29th- Calm and sunny, motored the short run to the south anchorage, caught and released 2 small Barracuda along the way. Anchored in narrow channel on south end along with friends Craig and Dianne on Tropical Storm. Very tight entrance and had to back off of sand bar once upon entering. (Chris was on bow reading the water and pointing the way in but once again I failed to listen). Had read much about how pretty these islands were but we really didn't find much to keep us there more than a day. worked scraping barnacles off of port side of keel and scrubbing hull. Much easier job in these gin clear waters. Will get to stbd side anither day. After all we are on Bahamas time mon!

Grouper for dinner(and some for the freezer)

Hawksbill Cay-March 30th- Motor sailed under light breezes to anchorage off of Foxtown. Caught a nice Grouper breaking up an otherwise boring trip. Grilled for dinner after freezing enough for at least 2 nights dinners and made chowder with the carcass. Winds are predicted to build from the south and the protection here was good.

Green Turtle Cay- March 31at thru April 3rd. A brisk wind found us close hauled under reefed sails covering the 30 miles in good time. Picked up a mooring in protected Black sound at our friend Donnies. Spent the next few days exploring the beautiful beaches and biking about the island.

Apres-Ski flying along under reefed sails

Life is good at Green Turtle Cay

Grand Cay- Mon thru Thurs, March 26th thru 29th

Spending our days wandering about the tiny village, exploring the many backwaters and ocean beaches. Bought more lobster tails for the freezer as the season ends soon. Gathered Whelk from the rocky shoreline as we were told they were a local favorite. They are a snail like mollusk and I tried cooking them like escargot. Well we could have saved a lot of trouble and just cooked shoe leather in garlic and butter. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Winds have been strong so venturing out to the ocean reefs has not been an option.

Cleaning curbs and whelk

The best bargain yet, 12 tails for $20

Chris' never ending search for a new favorite beach

Back in the Bahanas

Apres-Ski moored in Grand Cay Harbor

March 12th thru 22nd , 2012, Jensen Beach- Headed out mid day spending our first night just 10 miles from home at Pecks Lake. On Tues morning headed south to North Lake Worth (Palm Beach) where we were surprised to meet up with friends Nancy and Harvey on Stardust. We spent the following week here waiting out the strong east winds and seas that make crossing to the Bahamas rather uncomfortable. Bike rides, days at the beach and a few dinner gatherings helped pass the time.

March 23rd- Looks like we finally have a weather window to cross the Gulf stream so we moved to anchor close to the inlet. Have been waiting for winds from the south and fairly calm seas. The Gulf stream flows north at approx 3 knots and any wind from the north kicks up very steep waves making it hazardous for even big boats. After motoring directly into east winds and waves the past two years we decided to wait for the ideal conditions.

March 24th- Anchor up at 3:30 AM motoring until sunrise dodging 3 large freighters that crossed our path. By Sunrise wind veered south enough for us to set full sail and with the assistance of our little diesel, motor sailed all day anchoring at Mangrove Cay for cocktails and a swim in the gin clear waters by 6:30pm. By far the easiest crossing we have experienced.

Sun-March 25th- With a cold front approaching(the reason for yesterdays south winds) We were off early to find a protected anchorage for the anticipated storms. On our way to Great Sale Cay a few storm cells popped up and we changed course to the north for Grand Cay. Arrived at the protected harbor mid afternoon and picked up a private mooring as from past experience we have found the holding to be poor here. The storm front passed thru late afternoon with big winds and lots of lightening and we were glad to be in a snug harbor.

Mon- Dawned clear and breezey. Ashore to activate our Bahamas cell phone(no luck) and clear customs. On our previous visit in 2010 we had to hire a local small boat to take us to nearby Walkers Cay to clear in. This time customs came to us making the process much easier. Bought 7 small lobster tails and 12 cleaned conch from a local for a total cost of $30. Wish we had some room in the freezer to stock up.

Grand Cay waterfront- Rosies Place

refit of Apres-Ski

For those interested I will list projects we undertook and some of the costs involved in renovating our new boat. Many of the misc items we purchased aren't listed but Chris has kept a detailed accounting of expenses and assures me that total expenditures are still well below the cash we received from the sale of Andros.

Clean up- we spent numerous hours cleaning up mildewed interior. Teak was in good shape, but floor needed a few applications of acid to look presentable. After many coats of varnish we are happy with the results. Upholstery all came off and was washed, foam aired out and febrezed. Chris painted insides of all lockers and storage areas.

Engine-Hauled out and after much deliberation (didn't look like it had many hours) decided to replace with a rebuilt warranted engine. Cost to rebuild for parts and machine shop work would have been over $2000. Yanmar parts prices are high, and when injector shop estimate to rebuild injection pump came in at $800 we decided to order rebuilt at a final cost with shipping of $3300. Installation went well, at 350 lbs Chris and I were able to handle it ourselves using boom and blocks with winches. Engine ran great but transmission had a whine that wasn't right. supplier offered to send a replacement but I opted to install our old transmission and deduct $500 from cost. Was a little miffed with supplier when he took a month from the time he received our old engine to refund our core deposit and transmission refund.

Fuel system- Fuel tank was nearly full but after pumping out found 8 gal of water and gunk that I separated from 18 gal of fuel. No wonder engine had problems. Install new 28 gal fuel tank(ebay) (I damaged old tank in removal process) fuel lines, deck fill and racor style filter(ebay).costs tank $230

Batteries- replace house batteries with 2 group 29 wet cells from Andros (were new warranty replacements in June) move batteries to lower in hull behind engine compartment.. add separate starting battery (from Andros) in engine compartment

Head- Holding tank was new but only 9 gal. Traded this tank with a friend for a like new 30 gal tank(he needed a small tank for a fishing boat). Install new hoses and macerator pump, rebuild kit for toilet.

Hull- repair 24 inch long gouge in side of hull (previous repair looked poor) added 2 layers glass mat inside for added strength (accessible from rear hanging locker) spent many hours trying to fair and match gel coat, wetsanding and buffing. Stern- sand, gel coat and buff large section where gel coat was worn thin. Balance of hull was just oxidized, wet sanded starting with 400 grit down to 1000 grit then compound. Could use another buffing but it has a fair shine for now. total cost $75.

Bottom- lots of barnacles near waterline, scrape from dingy then took boat to clear water and spent 2 afternoons new years weekend in the water scraping and scrubbing. Can't get keel clean (to deep for me)so may hire this done. Careen boat in slip using halyard and repaint bottom at waterline. raise waterline 3 inches to above stripe since I know once we load the boat for cruising it will sit lower. Will be hauling boat for summer storage and plan on more extensive bottom work then.

Deck- gel coat in many areas is worn thin. for now I rolled gel coat on the non skid and will paint smooth areas next year.

Sea water washdown- Install pressure pump and plumbing for sea water faucet in both sinks and anchor washdown. (had pump from spares)

VHF radios- install new nav station radio, antenna wiring and masthead antenna. cost $220(ebay)
Found a second vhf at flea market new in packaging for $20. couldn't pass it up and installed this at helm with antenna(ebay) on solar panel mount. total cost $50

Running rigging- add spinnaker halyard, replace jib halyard, furling line, reefing lines, main sheet,dingy davit lines. all from ebay

Whisker pole- bought a used line control whisker pole from friends storage, also had track and car to mount on mast. total cost $60

Sails- wash main, wash jib and restitch sun cover. wash 150 genoa and repair sailcloth under suncover. apparently previous cover was added after orig rotted but was left in place. Since my machine doesn't have zigzag all stitching was with strait stitch, will see how it holds performs.
Mainsail cover was to big, modify size but future plans call for making a stackpack with lazy jacks. costs- minimal but long hours at sewing machine set up in driveway.

Ports- replace lenses on 7 of the 9 opening ports. were crazed and cracked. from sailboatowners.com cost $38 each

Canvas-boat came with a bimini frame(no canvas). Neighbor Jim gave me some stainless bows and I fashioned a dodger frame. After many hours at my sewing machine we now have a dodger with removable side curtains, new bimini and a nearly full enclosure (no stern curtain yet). Chris fashioned screens for the companionway and hatches. I purchased 20 yds of fabric from ebay at a bargain price but it is a sunbrella look alike(hope I dont regret this). isinglass, snaps and zippers were new salvage from Marine Connection and stainless fittings were from ebay.

Refrigeration- we had installed a separate Waeco freezer last year in Andros but found electric use was to high running 2 separate units. Pulled the guts from this freezer and installed in existing icebox building a freezer compartment with a spillover design. works great so far but time will tell.

Range- Install a gas range from r/v supplier on ebay. was new but scratch and dent. cut out counter to fit, added a 20 lb composite tank on stern rail using solenoid and all plumbing from Andros. Add propane sniffer from Andros. Range cost $213 with shipping, tank $80 from gardeners supply(on line)

Outdoor shower- added hot/cold shower on stern above swim platform. from ebay $28

Solar- transferred 2 -80 watt solar panels, controller and stainless framework from Andros. New wiring.

Swim Platform- transferred teak swim platform from Andros

Dingy davits-from Andros, added new bracing.

Outboard lift and storage mount, from Andros

Windlass-transfer anchor locker lid with windlass, all controls and 2nd bow roller from Andros. Thankfully locker lids were the identical.

Anchor locker-purchase 90 ft of new chain for windlass (old was rusty and is now on spare). Cut out top of watertight bulkhead below locker and added drain at bottom. Now chain doesn't pile up under windlass. (idea came from Hunter website modifications section) Chain cost-West marine price match at $1.49 /ft their reg price was $3.50.

Autopilot-transfer from Andros

Chartplotter-transfer from Andros

Renaming Celebration

Having worked on our new boat for much of the winter we feel she's ready to head out. Have taken a few shakedown cruises and a number of daysails and hopefully have all the bugs worked out.
On Saturday afternoon we hosted a renaming party attended by 40 friends. A great time was had with Chris and I putting on a show tossing Champagne to Neptune, Poseidon, Aeolus and the four winds asking for their blessings. Weather was great with Sunshine and temps in the hi 80's.
Apres-Ski is the name we chose, if you non skiers aren't familiar with the term this is the traditional party after a day of skiing. Since winter sailing in the warm southern waters has taken the place of skiing for us this is our Apres-ski party.

An offering of Champagne to Neptune

Tossing a toast to the south wind

New name is finally unveiled

Plenty of libations were consumed to appease the Ancient Gods