Adventures on Algonquin: The picture tells it all !

Time travelled: 2 days
Nautical miles: lots
Docked at: Old Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama

Wide open spaces and nothing in sight

Here is the picture that tells most of the story.

Looking over the port side

We left Green Turtle Cay at high tide and made our way to Great Sale Anchorage with one little hitch, or is that hitchhiker. I was enjoying the sunshine and the calm water sitting out on the bow.

No wind, no waves, no other boats!

Garth came out and as we were sitting there he heard a splash. We both looked back and saw a large crate bouncing around in our wake. Garth ran in and stopped the engines., I ran, grabbed a boat pole, and headed to the cockpit. Zeke, sensing imminent danger, jumped off the couch and was beside me in the cockpit shaking like a leaf ! I looked for the line attached to the crate to grab but by this time the crate had gone under. Garth threw the engines into reverse and back we went. We have cutters on our props for just this situation. Instead of the rope wrapping itself around the prop, and causing major damage, the cutters shear the rope and the pot dropped away. Then I guess the theory is that the line and the float just drift away. So, I thought. We got into the anchorage and when Garth was setting the anchor he looked back and saw the rope and the float on the port side. The rope had managed to wrap itself around the stabilizer. Garth was able to reach the rope with the boat poll and pull it up but couldn't get it to release. Options: A) Garth jump in the water with his mask, snorkel, fins and knife to cut the rope B) lower the dingy and try to cut it off C) secure the rope and wait until we get to a marina .

I had read about the currents in the area and the books warned you to always throw something in the water first before you jump in order to judge how fast the current is moving. It was swift, moving out to the open ocean, but doable. We talked about tying a line around Garth and securing it to a cleat .....could have gone really bad. I remember when we were at this anchorage last week a women said that she had seen sharks. Even though it was around the other side of this uninhabited island we decided to go with option C and wait. When we left this morning and placed a fender under the rope so that it would not rub against the boat. When we pulled into the marina tonight the dock hand asked, "Do you know you have something attached to your port side"? I said yes and my husband is going to jump in later and get it off. Oh, he said you need to watch out for sharks - but this is a shark free marina I said.

Nop, was his reply. Rule one of boating is to always get local knowledge. So, we decide that the crab pot float and rope would continue the journey with us to Florida. As we were walking to the marina office a dive boat came in. Garth asked if anyone would like to make a few bucks and cut the line off our stabilizer - the answer was sure. Sixty dollars and ten minutes later the deed was done!

We honestly believe that this crab pot was dropped in front of us at the last minute by Neptune just to ad to our day!

Just when we thought our troubles for the day had been taken care of the front head decided not to flush. The pump works but the water will not go down. Draino - NO. After pulling all that he could apart, and searching the Hatteras forums for answers, we decided to wait until we get into Florida and have someone look at it. If it's not one thing it's another on an old boat!

The good news of the day is that Zeke, after a year, finally decided that it was OK to poop on the pet grass!! When the dingy didn't go down last night or this morning he was left with no option.
Tomorrow is another day.
We are looking at Friday to make a crossing to Florida. It should take about eight hours and we have to time the tides because entering the inlet is a little sketchy due to constant shoaling.We then need to rent a car and present ourselves to Customs in West Palm Beach within 24hrs. On Monday we need to go back again and see a CBP Marine officer to obtain a new cruising licence. OH VEY!

A few pics from our past two days of travelling.