MAYAGUANA - OUR FIRST LANDING IN THE BAHAMAS
Once we set off from Sapodilla Bay in Turks and Caicos, we anticipated having about a eight to ten hour sailing day ahead of us. Abraham Bay, on the south end of Mayaguana Island, was our next destination and would be our first stop in the Bahamas. We knew that the east end of Abraham Bay had a narrow entrance bookended with reefs and a shallow bottom, but that's where we chose to make our entrance. We wanted to anchor close to the settlement to make checking in with customs a little easier by avoiding a two and a half mile dinghy ride from the west end. We left early enough to ensure that we would be dropping anchor in plenty of daylight.
Our sail was pretty un-eventful. The weather was good. We had sunny skies, light winds and relatively calm water. The wind was blowing from a favorable direction, so after clearing the reef at the edge of Caicos Bank, we set our course and made a straight shot to Abraham Bay. Gorgeous weather, calm water, two functional engines, full fridges and my girls by my side. Life is good.
We arrived at the inlet in good light with a little bit of choppy swell. The reef was difficult to see as the tide was rising, so the girls and I put sails down with plenty of room from the inlet (just in case we hit a snag - safety first!). With both engines on we had good maneuverability and speed potential. I checked, double checked and triple checked our chart plotter, paper charts and a back up app on my phone to make sure we were lined up for a safe entry between the reefs. The wind had picked up by this point (we always seem to get the best wind right before arrival) but it wasn't blowing to the point that it would be an issue.
This was the first time that we had to navigate a narrow inlet, and the shallowest water that we had seen to this point. Needless to say, my nerves were up a bit, but I knew we'd be ok. We took it slow, and followed the suggest course line on our chart. As we got closer, the reef inlet became more apparent and I was able to navigate by sight. We slowly passed through with plenty of room on both sides, cruised to where we wanted to drop anchor and set the hook without issue.
After a good night's rest, we dropped the dinghy in the water and prepared to head in to the settlement. It was Good Friday and we had big plans for the day. We wanted to get checked in with customs, pick up a BTC sim card so we would have phone and data coverage in the Bahamas, and maybe grab a bite of some local fare for lunch, and drop off the bottle of rum that we had transported for Marina Bob from Turks and Caicos.
True story. If you remember from our last post, Marina Bob gave us a ride to and from the grocery store to provision. Once we were back to the marina and had the dinghy loaded, I thanked Bob for his hospitality, and asked if there was anything I could do to help out. He thought for a moment, then asked if I would mind taking something to a friend of his in Abraham Bay Settlement. I told him I would and he quickly disappeared into the back room of the marina office.
Bob emerged from the back room with a bottle of rum and a huge smile on his face. He began to explain with teen-age enthusiasm that he had a good friend named "Scully" who was the self proclaimed "Ambassador of Mayaguana". Scully and Bob's history went way back (Bob is probably in his seventies) and they had "bailed each other" out of a few situations in the past. Bob assured me that if asked anyone on the island where Scully was, that they would know exactly who I was talking about and point me in the right direction. He thanked me, I thanked him again, and assured him I would get the gift to his friend.
The route into the government dock was supposed to be pretty shallow and narrow, but just how shallow and narrow was bordering on ridiculous. As we approached the "channel", we lined up with the sticks (literally sticks) that marked it. We got a bit closer and could see that we needed to line up the markers on our right on approach. At the first marker, we seemed to have plenty of room and depth, but things narrowed really quickly.
I honestly don't know if two dinghies could pass side by side with out a bit of bumping on the bottom. As with most new things, we took it slow with everyone's eyes helping out. We successfully navigated the channel and tied off to the relatively large concrete dock. I have no idea what they think this giant concrete dock is needed for, but there it is.
We headed down the road towards the settlement. The customs and BTC office were only about a quarter of a mile away, and we could see them as we walked. We didn't see any vehicles at either building, which were each the size of a food truck, but I figured that homes were close enough that maybe the employees walked to work. As luck would have it, both buildings were closed. The hours posted showed that they should be open, but that was not the case.
We walked back over to the BTC store, and saw a young lady walking towards us. We asked about seeing a customs officer and whether the BTC store would be open later in the day. She politely explained that Good Friday was a holiday, and folks wouldn't be back to work until Tuesday. Perfect. She tried to call the woman who ran the BTC store, but didn't get an answer. She then explained that there was a regatta happening over the weekend on the north side of the island and that was where everyone was and would be until Tuesday.
We thanked her for the information and attempt to get someone into the BTC store for us and asked if she happened to know Scully. She smiled and said "everyone knows Scully!" She pulled her phone back out, made a quick call, and let us know that he was on his way. Moments later Scully pedaled up on his bicycle with a giant smile on his face and introduced himself as Scully, the Ambassador of Mayaguana.
I handed Scully the bottle of rum, and told him Bob said hello and wanted him to have this gift. His giant smile grew even more and he described how much he loved and missed Bob and thanked us for the delivery. Scully gave us his phone number and assured us that we could call him for anything. I asked him about customs and he said that he could call the customs officer and he would probably come to the office for an additional fee. He followed that up by saying that it wouldn't be a big deal to check in when we got to Clarence Town on Long Island. We decided that would be the easiest option, thanked Scully, and went on our way.
We decided that we would stay at Abraham Bay for Easter instead of trying to push to Clarence Town right away. We had a great time doing an Easter Egg hunt on the boat and then weighting some plastic eggs to dive for. This was our first time in the water in the Bahamas. It was a bit chilly, but the water was crystal clear. There were no fish to be seen and the all sand bottom. What was plentiful were the red cushion sea stars. They were everywhere and huge!
There were also a number of sand dollars, which is probably why there were so many sea stars. Apparently they feed on them, along with whatever else they consider to be tasty on the sea floor. We swam for a while, collected some dead sand dollars, and called it a night in the water as the sun went down.
Lisa and I were up early the next morning to start our sail. We started our two and a half mile route to the west inlet of Abraham Bay as the sun rose. It was absolutely gorgeous, the wind had calmed and we were making great time motoring on both engines. Once we got out of the bay, we put sails up and started our motor sail. Our route would take us around the north end of the Plana Cays, then continue east to Attwood Harbor, Acklins Island for the night.
About two hours into our motor sail, our recently rebuilt starboard engine came to an abrupt halt. I didn't like the way it sounded when it stopped. It wasn't a sputtering stop, it was hard and immediate. I put the starboard drive back in neutral, started the port engine, and asked Lisa to take the helm so I could take a look.
After pulling Lauren's mattress out and opening the engine compartment access, I noticed a large quantity of oil in the sump under the engine. "What the hell!" I thought to myself as I looked around the engine compartment. The oil pressure idiot light and buzzer had not activated, but I was certain that we had lost enough engine oil that it had seized. I could not find evidence of a leaky oil pipe or leaks from the sides of the engine, and I could not see the bottom of the oil pan.
I added oil to the engine and attempted to tap the starter. All I got was a huge draw on our batteries, suggesting that the engine was not turning as the starter engaged. I attempted to turn the main shaft pulley by hand. On engines this small, it should turn easily by hand, even with the belts tensioned. Nothing. I couldn't budge it. My fears were confirmed. The engine was seized.
What did this mean for us? Aside from paying about $4000 in parts, labor and shipping, this was going to be a challenge for us moving forward (literally). Our engines are placed in the rear of each hull, about sixteen feet apart, and are each only sixteen horse-power. Our potential power and speed moving in a forward direction was now cut in half, and moving in reverse was now almost impossible. Because of the spread of the engines, putting the port engine in reverse would essentially put us in a counter-clockwise spin.
I have to admit I was angry. In fact, I can't remember the last time I was this angry. I didn't want to pay island prices for another engine rebuild, and I was unsure about trying to make it through all of the Bahamas on only one engine. I began to wonder if this whole thing was a mistake.
Had I gotten my family into something that was not going to be enjoyable from this point forward, or potentially dangerous for us? All of but one of our big open water crossings were done, but what if we got jammed up in a squall and one engine couldn't power us through? How was I going to set our anchor without being able to back up straight? Questions shot through my mind and my frustration grew. However, I knew that this wasn't the time for moping, as we still had about four hours of sailing ahead of us.
I put on my big-boy pants and went back out to the cockpit to tell Lisa what I found. We had a quick chat about the situation and settled in for the rest of our sail.
Just before sunset, we approached the Attwood Harbor inlet. Attwood Harbor is not a harbor in the modern literal sense. There were no boats, no docks, no mooring balls. There was just a beautiful small bay with one residential structure overlooking the water. I monitored the chart plotter as we entered the bay and positioned us to drop anchor.
Once we were lined up on target and headed into the wind Lisa took the wheel and guided us to our anchor spot. I tossed the anchor in, Lisa put us in neutral, and we drifted with the wind as I let our anchor chain. Once we had the scope out, Lisa put our one engine in reverse and hammered the throttle. We started to spin a bit, but our anchor bridle straightened us out, and we set the anchor successfully. I was pleased that anchoring wasn't an issue, but it didn't outweigh my current disgust in our situation.
As the sun went down, I asked Lisa to come out on deck and sit with me for a few minutes. I explained to her how angry I was. I talked through my concerns and frustrations. I told her that right there, in that moment, I was done with the boat. I had had enough. It wasn't turning out how we dreamed it would. We weren't doing the things we told the girls we'd do because of all the time we had spent working on the boat. I was just done.
I could see the overwhelming sadness is Lisa's expression as I spoke. I knew how much this meant to her. I could see her concern over my frustration and anger. She wanted me to be happy and enjoy this time as much as she was.
After many prayers and conversations, I came around to the idea that we could do this and enjoy it, even with only one functional engine. We no longer had the luxury of two engines, but neither do any of the sailors in a monohull. We would be a bit challenged if we needed to dock somewhere, or didn't have sufficient wind to help us anchor, but those were obstacles we'd look at when they came. Right now, it was time to enjoy this adventure, love my family, and now really sail by faith.
