"Three and a half hours on the toilet"

"Three and a half hours on the toilet"   …   Thursday 14th February 2013

The good news is that neither of us have upset stomachs. The bad news is that our forward head developed a leak. So the title actually refers to the time I spent this morning working on the forward head. After dismantling and cleaning the pumping mechanism I was really none the wiser as to the cause of the leak. However, when I reassembled the system it leaked worse than ever and the source was more obvious - simply a case of the gasket on the waste hose not sealing properly because the hose is not very flexible but needs to bend in the way that it is routed. Anyway I reassembled it using some marine sealant and hopefully the system is now secure. Gloria made the comment "three and a half hours on the toilet" when we were discussing whether today should be logged  as a day of experience - coupled with all the cleaning we figure we easily have more than enough hours working on the boat today to justify notching it up as a day of experience. What great way to spend Valentines Day!

We continue to try and figure out when is the best time to head south to Spanish Wells. From here it's about 70 nautical miles due south, the first 20 can be done within the Sea of Abaco, then you need to cut out into the Atlantic for the remaining 50 miles. It's been blowing consistently from the S / SW for several days now with a strong cold front due to pass through on Saturday bringing near gale force N / NW winds. The only real opportunity that we could see was to head out late Friday and catch the best of the winds as they clock through to the W and then NW. This was looking feasible until this afternoon when the forecast changed, suggesting that the southerly winds would not only persist but strengthen before swinging round to the W / NW.  The window between the stiff southerly breeze (right on the nose) and forecast northerly winds of 30 knots and 10 ft seas is just too tight - so at the minute we've decided to stay put in the Abaco. At least this afternoon we were finally able to get hold of the paper charts for Eleuthera - which was critical before we set off. I, for one, am now itching to get going. It's been great visiting this area but 6 weeks is enough. Being laid back and "hanging out" has never been my strength.

Tonight we celebrated Valentines Day by cooking dinner on the boat for Sharon and Frank, our sailing friends that we met in Vero Beach. Tomato and mozzarella salad, chicken with pancetta and olives and pineapple with a rum and lemon sauce and a fine bottle of cold white wine that our friends brought over!

Mike

Sunrise in Marsh Harbor