Lost Rocna Anchor - AND halyard and high pressure floor for dingy

About 1830, the boat began emitting strange sounds from its hull.  The anchor rode was wrapped around the keel.  Winds and currents rotated the ship in 22 feet of water. 

We managed to spin the boat around to untangle it, but it kept getting caught.  Eventually, we were taking up the slack, and the 8-plait line broke.  Possible explanation later. 

We swapped the spare bent Rocna with 35 feet of chain and anchored in 13 feet of water, which was more open.  Rocky night. 

Explanation - I figured the only way the line could have broken was if it fell off the bow roller and got caught on a sharp edge.   I was aware of this possibility, but the person at the windlass was not familiar.  

Second realization, the line got cut by chafing on the keel.

She was very new to the process.  When I was swapping the anchor, she was driving the boat while the transmission was in neutral, and she eventually asked for permission to put it in forward.  

In the spirit of Richard Lariviere, I was responsible for letting a crew do what she was not competent to do.  I might have been better off resolving the issue single-handedly. 

Friday night was rock and roll. 

The bulkhead was squeaking.  Chatted on the Mirage Facebook group and with Maurice Gagnon.  Filed an accident report with Aviva on Saturday 

Saturday was Natalia's 55th birthday.  On hand, we had the Bahamas rum cake we purchased in Nassau. 

Saturday or Sunday, we moved back to the original anchor site.

Spent Sunday looking for the anchor.  We discovered we had lost the dinghy's high-pressure floor. 

I tried snagging with the dinghy anchor, but it slipped - it seemed to be a faulty bowline.

We tried free diving, but could not get to that depth. 

I tried using a fishing line to hook it, but that didn't work. 

A nearby boat with an Israeli couple had a Hookah Dive System, a battery-powered portable dive compressor for Tankless Diving, but I couldn't dive that deep.  Mostly anxiety, and I did not compensate enough and popped my ears.  Claire, a free diver, coached me through the Valsalva maneuver, which helped me recover the next morning. 

The Israeli couple tried to fish the chain using their anchor by dragging it on the seabed.  I caught it a couple of times, but eventually dropped it before retrieving it. 

 

Eventually, we found some lobster fishermen who easily dived and recovered the anchor and rode.  There was 50 feet of chain and only 30 feet of line. 

Also found that the main halyard holding the dinghy up had chafed and broken.  Chiheb had warned me about that, and I ignored him. 

Nassau to Highbourne

On Thursday morning, we set off on a dinghy to get gas for the outboard and recover the lost oar that fell underwater at the dinghy dock the night before.  

We departed Nassau harbour at 11 and motor sailed towards Allen Cay.  Along the trip, I decided that the northern winds would not be suitable for anchoring at Allen Cay and proceeded to Highbourne Cay, which provided better protection and was about 5 miles further. 

Nice evening.  

The next morning, we had breakfast and spent most of the day at the beach. 

Nassau with Natalia

Natalia showed up on Tuesday.

Very disorganized - last-minute busy packing, cell, not printing what I asked her.  She bought a data package without telling me.  I figured it out myself.

We met at  McDonald's, where I updated my iPhone on their wifi.

Walked 2 km to the boat.  Had a beer.  Did not have supper.  She was tired, so she slept for 12 hours and snored a lot. 

On Wednesday, we went to the parade. 

Bought shampoo and hair spray

Bought a Rum Cake for her birthday on Jan 11

Bought fishing stuff from Boat Haven

I bought $70 worth of groceries, including $15 worth of grapes and $15 worth of salami.  This was what Natalia wanted.  She didn't pay for it.

I bought $10 worth of Parrot Fish at Potter's Cay for supper, which was very good. 

Had a beer and a drink at Potters Cay and shared a $22 Couch salad. 

We came back to the boats, put the groceries away, and then decided to go to Atlantis.  I tried to get gas, but the marina closed early.  We walked across the Sidney Portier bridge to the Royal at Atlantis, arriving just before sunset.  A fantastic tour of the resort and The Dig. 

We returned at 9:30 and found the dinghy backed to the boat, only to realize the starboard oar was missing.  We then decided to head back to the dinghy dock, where another dinghy informed us that the oar was at the bottom of the water.  We decided to dive tomorrow. 

We pan-fried the Parrot Fish with Plantains and a cucumber and tomato salad.  22,000 steps.  A great day 

 

From Bimini to Nassau

We departed Bimini at 8:45, motoring North to North Rock and bearing east for an easy and fantastic sail in North winds of 13-15 knots, doing over 5 knots boat speed.  Chiheb kept quoting SOG - I guess it sounded more impressive. 

I filed our float plan with Norm and Jason, letting them know there would be no cellular connection for a while. 

The autopilot started making the nose, so we minimized its use. 

We anchored in the middle of the ocean around Mackie Shoal.  It was a lovely evening, but the night was very rocky, and we didn't sleep much.  The cockpit light was left in the cockpit and fell, rolling onto the floor, forcing Chiheb to get up and retrieve the broken light. 

The next morning, we weighed anchor at 8:30 and had another wonderful 8-hour sail to Chub Cay.

We regained cellular connection as we approached Chub Cay, and I reported our position to Norm, Jason, and Marie. 

Chiheb intensely argued again with me about how much scope to put out.  It was very nasty - no respect for the captain's decision to put out 75 feet of rode in 8 feet of water at low tide.  This time, we were pretty heated.  I've just completed 100 days, mostly single-handed, over 20 years as Captain. Chiheb has lots of courses, but I don't think he has ever captained anything but a Tanzer 22 on Lake St. Louis, which he rented or sailed in the Caribbean with a captain, and yet he knows better. 

He has Sail Canada intermediate sailing, and he should have known his position as CREW.

He said he would never sail with me again.  I'm not sure if I would ever invite him again. 

There was free Wi-Fi from the Chub Cay Club, but it was very marginal. 

Friday morning, I got up at 8 and opened the wheel pilot to find it dirty, but the belt looked good. However, one of the plastic tabs holding the tensioner mechanism had broken.   I epoxied and reassembled it, then drained the engine sump and tightened and WD40ed the inline auto reset fuse on the engine panel, hoping to prevent further engine starting issues.

We agreed to stay at Chub Cay for another night since there wasn't much to do in Nassau, and the winds would be better on Saturday.  Chiheb wanted to swim in the green Bahamian waters 

I cleaned the water line and the bottom of BELLUM 

Quiet Friday at Chub Cay 

Saturday morning, we departed with one reef with 18 knots of wind abeam.  It soon declined to below 15 knots broad from the port.  Easy run.   

Entered Nassau Harbour just before 3 PM.  Got permission from Harbour Patrol to enter the harbour.  Fueled and 20 Gallons of water at Rubes at Harbour Central.  Nassau Harbour was a little tense for me. 

We anchored and dinghyed ashore, but didn't go ashore since it was late and we weren't willing to pay $20 for the dinghy dock. 

On Sunday, we toured the city and then went our separate ways.  

I took the 12 B bus to the Airport to check it out for Natalia's arrival. 

I spent Monday cleaning and tidying the boat, studying Exuma navigation and opening up the autopilot wheel again.  The epoxy did not hold up.  Will need to retest on the way to the Exumas. 

Crossing the Gulf Stream

We weighed anchor at 6 AM in the dark and motored out into the North Atlantic, then motor-sailed for almost 8 hours in close-hauled conditions, occasionally heading upwind to improve our sail shape. 

Chiheb did not seem to understand my tactic, complaining we were off track.  But we were making good headway. 

All port tack with a southerly wind

Most of the other sailboats were ahead of us on our port side, and they were all bigger and thus faster. 

First time out of view of land

For the last 40 minutes, we turned off the motor because we could. 

Slowly, we motored into Alicetown, staying clear of the shallows.  Arriving at Big Game Club.  They quoted us $3.75 a foot, but the bill came out to $160. 

I cleared immigration and customs, and then got my fishing license.  The "click to clear" feature was troublesome, especially on the iPad, but it worked.  However, I never received my drone license, despite having paid for it and having the receipt. 

Chiheb really wanted to take a shower, so we did, had supper and walked the town at night.

The next morning, we walked the entire North Bimini, from the marina to the south cut and north to the Hilton resort.  

We picked up a loaf of Coconut bread at Nate's for $10.  I'm not sure if it was expensive, but I fulfilled the ritual. 

Chiheb wanted to go to the New Year's party at the resort, and I wasn't interested.  The Eventbrite site said it was sold out anyway. 

We got back to the Mariana Islands.  I went for a swim and tried to fly my drone, but we were in restricted airspace.  

I noted the bilge pump ran about 8 times and realized I had to tighten the shaft packing again.  Chiheb was at the marina using the final wifi. 

I decided to anchor just north of the marina instead of going further north, and we got stuck in the mud.  A local worker on a wreck came and towed us out, suggesting a place near the shore, but it was tight. 

I had never intended to use less than 50 feet of chain, and Chiheb argued that I had too much scope.  I took my time before agreeing to a smaller scope and used a line to make a snubber with a bowline.  

I still preferred to take my time to change my mind, and I still would have preferred to set the anchor with more scope. 

It was only then that I realized how clear the water was, allowing me to see the whole chain and where the anchor was.  Spectacular!

Chiheb’s arrival

I did many errands in the morning before Chiheb arrived at about 2PM

We met at the metro station.  Had a burger at Burger King, walked around a bit, and went to the boat  

Saturday, we toured downtown Miami.

On Sunday, we did the groceries with San Rito Raou and Chiheb, and filled my spare diesel Jerry Can as well as a fellow boater's using Sanrito's car.  

Chiheb and I swapped out the damaged anchor. 

Boat Work

Put away provisioning 

Cleaned fridge 

Installed newly filled propane tanks 

Installed a new battery 

Empty food nets 

Cleaned the water tank filter screen

Inspected the oil leak on the camshaft manual crank

I slept aboard BELLUM.

The next day, I went to the Apple Store in Brickell to have my iPhone battery replaced.  They were slow at changing the battery, so I went to tour the local urban sprawl. Like the rest of Miami, everything was densely built up.  Reminds me of the movie BRASIL.

Nothing interesting, so I went back to the Apple store and had a demo of the incredible Apple Vision PRO - very impressed, but also expensive.  I bought it.  

I came back home to find Sandro had ordered Pizza from Domino's, which didn't deliver, so we ended up having pork.