Mikey the chicken chaser

Mikey the Chicken Chaser

The winds calmed down and were forecasted to blow from the NE for the next several days. With that in mind, we decided not to continue further north in the Exumas.  We will head back to Rock Sound, Spanish Wells and then back to the Abacos for our trip across to Florida. We are a little earlier than we need to be, but it is time to move.

When the wind calms, it calms, so it was a motor/sail. We dropped anchor and relaxed. The next day we went into Rock Sound to see if we could find the wafer fan for our head and to do some laundry. We got directions from the cruiser to the laundry, but were also told that when a local sees us with our laundry, they will point the way. We, being luckier than most, received a personal guide. Mikey, a native of indeterminate age with an absolutely hairless head except for about 6 curly white eyebrow hairs above each eye, was walking down the street towards us and stopped to say, “You need 3T’s. I need bread. Come with me, I show you.”  I never did figure out how showing us to 3T’s wasn’t out of his way since he had been going in the opposite direction. At one point he saw some chickens and told us this story: “When I was young, I trained for the 100 yard dash by chasing the chickens. I chased them all the way past the service station until they got to tired and fell down. Then I put them in the bag. I go home and my granny say, ‘where you been?’ I hold up my chicken and say, ‘I got Kentucky!’ Then I go get another one.”

At the laundry there are washing machines available, but a waiting line for the dryers. We load our clothes in the washers and the lovely attendant assures us it is ok to go to lunch. We gave her permission to take our things out of the machine if she needed it for someone else.

Lunch at Sammie’s was very good, but our waitress was the best. She loved Reggie’s sense of humor and told him if he would come back tomorrow she would have Guava Duff for desert and pay him a quarter for every joke. Lucky for her, we headed to Spanish Wells the next day.

We had noticed a sign advertising Guava Dough next to Sammies, so we stopped there after lunch. We walked in the door and up to the counter. There was a woman busy cleaning and she didn’t notice us come in.  We waited awhile and then cleared our throat, which scared her to death. She explained that she had to keep everything clean for when the inspectors showed up. We asked for Guava Duff and she said, “I’ll look, but I think it left.” As she searched her freezer and refrigerator, she told us about her daughter, the master chef, who experimented with everything. She hoped we would be there for Easter when her daughter would be there. After searching and talking, she finally told us that all the Duff had left. Strike two.

Our clothes were washed and ready to go into the dryer. Now we have another wait, but no one was waiting for a dryer, so we had time to go to visit the Ocean Hole.  This is a park built around a 600 foot deep hole from the ocean. It is difficult to describe. It looks like a pond, but it is connected to the ocean underground. It is possible to swim in it and that is something I would like to do some time. There were ‘pet’ fish visible. I heard that there were some caves on the outskirts of town, so I’m thinking this is a cave turned sideways.

An ear had been bothering me for several days.  I had a slight ear ache that morning and it continued to get worst, so we decided to visit the clinic. When we walked in, we saw rows of chairs with some people sitting in them. I asked one of the women if I should just sit down and wait for the doctor. She said yes, but then added that I should check in and pointed to a door. I went to the door, but there was no one there, so I just waited by the desk. The woman called out and someone came out of an adjoining room and asked if she could help me. I explained that I had an ear ache. She asked if I wanted to see the Dr. “Yes”. Fill out this form. Not so easy- local address? Phone number? Fortunately, she didn’t really care. Reggie paid the $30 fee for the doctor and we sat down to wait. When it was my turn, I went into his office, got some ear drops, $12, and then checked with our personal physicians, Ben and Stacey, by email when back at the boat.  As we were waiting to see the Dr. and watching the TV there was much discussion about the missing Malaysian airplane.  I don’t know if that is big news everywhere, but it certainly is big news here.

We had a great sail to Spanish Wells.  To our surprise, Kelly and Jason of Chance, whom we met in Hope Town, were in Spanish Wells. They have been there for a couple of weeks waiting for parts. We had a really fun evening with them on Submit and then we dingied down to see them the next day before leaving for Royal Island. They are a really fun couple. Check out their blog at www.sailing chance.com.

Sailed to Royal Island and then joined the 50+ mile open ocean boat parade to Lynyards Cay in the Abacos the next morning.  More often than not there is no wind or wind from the wrong direction. This was no wind. We experimented with sails with no real solution. They mostly slatted and banged and did not help in any fashion.

Next stop, Marsh Harbor, where we plan to wait out the next front. Marsh Harbor has good holding  for our anchor and many on shore facilities. We went ashore for the wafer fan search and scored! Stopped at our favorite bakery for Guava Duff and failed. Strike three. Lunch at Mangoes was delicious, but their internet connection did not work on the boat. L

We are anchored next to Mambo. That is the boat that Uncle Dev was on in Hatchet Bay. Bruce came over and we had a delightful evening getting to know him.

Then the weather came. The wind was too much for our wind generator, so I got up to shut it down. Later Reggie got up to close a hatch that was banging. Then it started raining, so we got up to close all the port light (windows). Then the wind clocked as predicted, which meant the fetch was much longer, so we started the rock and roll. Today was spent sleeping, eating, reading and playing cards. We feel blessed, as one boat came into the harbor with a broken mast.

The forecast is predicting moderate to high winds from the NE for the next few days. We will look at our cruising guide to see if there is some place that would be comfortable and fun. Tomorrow I hope to go to town to get some food.  Creative cooking from a can might be getting old.