76 37.942W, the center of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. The Park
Ranger moved us this morning from Mooring 19, where she had put us
yesterday when we arrived. Mooring 19 is for boats up to ninety feet
long.
The path from Chub Key was through Nassau Harbor to Rose Island, then
to Highborne Cay, then to Warderick. Weather has been only fair, too
windy and not enough sun. It seems a string of cold fronts is coming
at us one right after another. The next front may keep us hunkered
down here until Wednesday because of high winds. But it is a
beautiful place to be hunkered down. Today we walked two miles over
Hutia Hill to see the surf of Exuma Sound pounding the Cay. We
returned by way of Boo Boo Hill. We will do the beaches and snorkel
over the next several days if we sit tight.
There have been two boat issues that have caused some grief. The
first, our EPIRB went off for a brief period last Thursday,
unbeknownst to us. Only after a fellow cruiser dinghied over this
morning did we know friends Carey and Hayden were wondering about us.
United States Air Force Search and Rescue had called Carey. We have
been in close and constant contact with numerous boats and marinas by
VHF. It still took several days to get a message to us to call home.
We may need to rethink putting a satellite phone on the boat. I guess
if the EPIRB had stayed on, and if position information had been
transmitted, a search for us would have been conducted. Once back in
the states the EPIRB is going back to ACR for testing. We cannot
explain why it went off. The Air Force did tell us, false firings
happen all the time.
The second issue, our genoa furling line parted! The line was less
than two years old. It parted midway between bow and stern when the
genoa was reefed to about a second reef point. It looks like it was a
clean break. There was little chafe if any where the line broke, or
anywhere along the line. When it broke seas were about three to five
feet. Winds were twenty-something knots, gusting to thirty. No
pounding or bad motion. Nothing about the conditions would normally
cause concern. It was easy enough once the line parted to furl the
sail from the tail that I could put my hands on while at the bow. So
at this point we have a used furling line, borrowed from Sailing
Vessel Lady. We will be able to use the genoa when reefing is not
anticipated. Hopefully we will be able to replace the genoa furling
line, and get a spare that would work for any of the furling lines,
once we get to Georgetown.
In any event, all is well, very, very well!
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