Leaving the Abacos

Travelling Tools – The Fein Multimaster

Tom has used almost every power tool known to man and can’t say enough good things about the Fein Multimaster, a miracle in a box. It is everything the television ads make it out to be and then some.

Wonder tool in a box

This high quality tool both cuts and sands with amazing efficiency and versatility. It was lent to us by another boater when we arrived in the Abacos with our broken bulkhead tabbing. Tom has used it to remove over 40 feet of fiberglass tabbing from the bulkheads in awkward corners that would not have been accessible with other tools. The very thin blades and their back and forth action make fine cuts possible and minimize the amount of sawdust created. I can attest to the minimal amount of dust that it makes. The job was done without covering everything on the boat with dust. The blades are extremely durable. Tom has used the same 1 ¼ inch (30 mm) blade for the entire job and there is still a lot of life left in it.

Cutting in awkward places is easy with the Multimaster.

The full kit is a bit pricey (around $400 USD) but contains a wide selection of accessories. Tom has said that if he could only have one power tool on board this would be the one. It is at the top of the shopping list for when we get back to the US.

Just look at all the attachments!

Thanks again, Howard, for the introduction to this great power tool. It has definitely made a difficult job a little easier. Everyone should have one.

Leaving the Abacos - February 15 to 26, 2010

We planned on leaving the Abacos within days of our guests going back to Canada but things happen and we got busy and it just took longer than we had planned. That seems to be normal in the Bahamas.

Somehow I got talked into doing some sewing for one of the boats in the marina. Apparently there is no business in Marsh Harbour that is available to do custom canvas work so I sent my Sailrite out to work for a few days.

The Sewing Shop

New Deck Panels in Place

Junkanoo weekend was scheduled for February 19 and 20 with the juniors competing on Friday and the seniors slated for Saturday. Few events in the Bahamas start at their scheduled times. Junior Junkanoo was to start at 6:30 PM, presumably so the little ones would still have enough energy for singing and dancing. Sometime around 8:00 PM Junkanoo Weekend was officially opened by the attending dignitaries and the little peoples party got started.

The littlest junkanoo participants. They should be the winners in the ‘Cutest’ category

.

Drumming is a serious job.

My favorites, the group from Treasure Cay Primary.

The boys from Treasure Cay.

Many food stands lined the junkanoo route selling typical Bahamian food. We tried a few dishes with mixed results. My fried snapper was quite tasty but had a lot of bones to pick through. Tom had the pork dinner which had good flavor but was a little chewy. The guava duff would have been better with more rum sauce; the pineapple pastry was quite good. The conch salad was typically heavy on the onions but the small size was a good choice.

A sample vendor menu.

A trunk full of fresh conch for salad.

Fried snapper with three sides:corn on the cob, lobster n’ rice, coleslaw.

And then Tom and I had an opportunity to enjoy an afternoon sail on a forty foot mono hull one absolutely beautiful day. Photographer, Bill Kund, (www.billkund.com) was doing a photo shoot for Pacific Seacraft sailboats and Ulman Sails and needed someone to crew his boat , Worthless Wench, while he took pictures from Sesame, a trawler from Conneticut. How could we turn down such an offer? Chelsea Renn, a local gyotaku (Japanese fish printing) artist was on board with us as the main model. Chelsea’s art is sold in many of the galleries around the Abacos and she uses the same studio space as my Sailrite occupied (www.chelsearenn.com).

Gyotaku

As much as we have enjoyed our time in the Abacos, with our repairs completed and the Fein wonder tool returned to its owner it was time to move on. We re-provisioned at the Price Right grocery in Marsh Harbour, filled the spare propane tank, topped up the diesel and headed for Little Harbour for staging for the next weather window to make our way to Eleuthra. When we arrived in Little Harbour there were three Prout catamarans in the harbour besides Polar Pacer; another 37 foot Snow Goose with no name and a different paint scheme, a 38 foot model called Knot in Vein, registered in Edmonton and a 45 foot sailing school boat called Kanina built in Thailand.

Sunset in Little Harbour, Abaco

If all goes well we will be on our way before dawn.

Cooking With Tri

Cooking With Tri - February 1 to 14, 2010

While we waited for our visitors to arrive we had an opportunity to catch up on some laundry that had been piling up. The rules of doing laundry change when you are living on a boat and using facilities that are a little unpredictable. Sorting the laundry has nothing to do with “like colours” like the labels tell you. If there is enough for two loads I sort by ‘tops’ and ‘bottoms’. If there is only one load it may all go in together. (So far I have not turned anything pink!) Some items might have to be saved for a future laundry event. Most articles of clothing do not make it to the laundry bag unless they are visibly dirty or starting to smell or have somehow gotten salt water on them.

In the Abacos we have been able to find ‘token’ operated washers and dryers whenever we need them. Prices have varied from $3.50 to $7.00 per token. One token for the washer and one for the dryer is usually sufficient even with jeans and towels.

The Jib Room Laundry

Our good friends, Tri and Sandra, arrived late Saturday afternoon. Their taxi driver called ahead from the airport on VHF channel 06 to let us know that she had Chi Chi Maru on board so we know when to watch for them at the gate to the marina. To celebrate their arrival we attended the weekly steak BBQ at The Jib Room.

Steak Night

Once dinner was served, Jason, one of the bartenders, provided Rake and Scrape for dancing that morphed into a limbo competition.

Sandra with Jason

‘Rake and Scrape’ Tri

Tom

Chris

Tri

Desmond

We had a beautiful sail across the Sea of Abaco and into Hopetown Harbour on Superbowl Sunday. Shortly after our arrival we had a crowd spilling out of the cockpit onto the backdeck being treated to Tom’s version of Bahamian “well drinks” (more about that another time). That night we started Cooking with Tri. For Tom’s birthday our guests came prepared with eight juicy lamb chops in their luggage. Grilled to perfection on the BBQ and accompanied with seasoned carrots and potatoes from the pressure cooker, they were perfect. We finished eating just in time to take the dinghy over to Cap’N Jacks to watch the Superbowl halftime show. Seeing Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend on stage made us all feel a little old so we returned to Polar Pacer and scanned the iPod for the original recordings from The Who.

During the course of the evening at The Jib Room, Tom and Tri welcomed an invitation from Carl and Sue on Wind Rose to crew for them in Monday’s race at the Hopetown Sailing Club on Elbow Cay.

Tom & Tri aboard Wind Rose

After the race we all attended the “stand up” at the Hopetown sailing Club and were treated to a wonderful spread of hors d’oeuvres.

Hopetown sailing Club Stand Up

While the boys were out racing Sandra and I had a girls’ day out. We watched the filming of a Bahamas Tourism ad, visited the museum, took a long walk on the beach and did lunch.

Re-enactment of Loyalists landing on the beach at Hopetown

The Wyannie Malone Historical Museum contains many artifacts from the Abacos.

Surf’s Up!

We wanted to spend some time at Tahiti Beach and maybe Little Harbour but once again the weather made us change our minds. Instead of heading south we turned around and went north. Man-O-War Cay was ‘Plan B’. Man-O-War is a wonderful walking island. Depending on the direction you take there is a different treat each time.

Heading north along the Queen’s Highway that runs the length of the island you will arrive at The Low Place, a narrow isthmus that joins the two parts of the cay with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Sea of Abaco on the other.

The Low Place

Crossing the island via the street that passes Miss Lola’s Bakery (famous for her decadent icing topped cinnamon buns) will take you to the beach on the Atlantic side of the island. The cinnamon buns are perfect for breakfast on the sand before the search for sea glass starts.

Directions to Miss Lola’s Bakery

Sandra at the bakery

Where the street meets the beach

The street that heads to the southern part of the island soon turns into a winding path that passes by several secluded homes and cottages.

A gate bell to announce your arrival

What could this be?

A bit of humor for the tourists

Storm, Zephyr and Joshua Slocum – Our favorite Portuguese water dogs enjoying a walk on Man-O-War

The ‘Cooking With Tri’ show swung into high gear at Man-O-War. With the addition of a few specialty ingredients to the locally available products fabulous feasts were prepared for the four of us and friends Donna, Howard and Scott. Episode One was filet mignon steak (from Canada) with lobster (from the Bahamas). Episode Two was a three course Vietnamese dinner that consisted of two types of stuffed rice paper rolls and two versions of pad Thai. Half of the rolls were stuffed with grouper grilled in banana leaves with vermicelli noodles and a green mango relish. In the other half, Bahamian lobster (crawfish) was substituted for the grouper. The second course was pad Thai with local stone crab and the third course was pad Thai with chicken breast. Episode Three featured more lobster rolls and a delicious chicken ‘pho’ (noodle soup) with cinnamon stick in the broth.

Grouper grilled in a banana leaf donated by a Man-O-War resident

Lobster Roll in the making

Crab pad Thai

Episode Four started with a green salad topped with Tri’s avocado dressing made with a store bought giant avocado and the juice from two sour oranges we came across on one of our walks. The main course was conch chowder. With on board cooking this good, who needs restaurants?

Speaking of restaurants, have I mentioned that Man-O-War is a dry island? In order to maintain the peace and quiet of their beautiful island home the residents of Man-O-War have decided that no alcohol will be sold on the island. If you want to have wine or beer during your visit you need to bring your own or be creative and make a phone call to the liquor outlet in Marsh Harbour. For a small fee they will take your order and send it to you on the ferry. You may need to borrow a cart from the ferry dock to get the goods to your boat.

Sandra – your order has arrived

Community fundraising to support the local schools is a fact of life for the Bahamian education system. Government funds are not enough to cover the basic requirements. Besides relying on many foreign visitors who volunteer their time in the schools, the complement of regular teachers is less than stable. Articles in the local newspapers discuss a new program that trains senior students to be teaching assistants and the Minister of Education recently expressed his concern that many new teachers have not been paid since they started teaching in September due to extensive red tape.

We were happy to attend the Man-O-War Fair which is an annual event to raise funds for the school on the island. It was a combination of giant white elephant sale, art and craft tables (some boaters had tables where they were selling their sea glass jewelry), a raffle, a silent auction, crab races (with real hermit crabs) and lots and lots of food to sample or take home with you. The advertised start time for the was 9:30 AM but vendors started setting up their tables by 7:30 and had many early customers soon afterwards. We had front row viewing at the marina. Special ferries bring crowds of people from the other nearby islands.

Most of the local people arrive by golf cart or walking

Picture frames made from driftwood

Conch fritters – a Bahamian specialty

Local preserves – I bought some guava jam and some date and lime chutney

The crab race – Tom had #2, Tri had #8

It was a bit rough crossing back over to Marsh Harbour so Tri and Sandra could catch their flight to Canada on Sunday morning. Unfortunately the weather did not improve over the course of the week and we actually plugged in the heater on the boat the last night that they were on board. I’m sure the mercury dropped below 60^o F that night!

Wow that week went fast! It was wonderful to be able to share our experiences with friends who are looking forward to making a similar trip in their own boat sometime in the future.