Page 50 - Yachter Autumn/Winter 2022

50 FEATURE
Bahamians coming onto the T dock, which looked pretty rickety, built of wood.We had no alternative but to make a straight approach as there was another boat tied up alongside and underwater obstacles made of coral.
The idea was to get a bow line ashore around a post, then using bow thruster and engines lay alongside the pump. Peter threw the line which was caught by a young lad of about 12 years old who insisted that he could pull us in by himself, I had visions of him hanging onto the end of the line, me thrusting away and him flying through the air into the water, Eventually we made our requirements understood, obtained the fuel and moved off the dock having decided to drop anchor and stay overnight.
The next morning at 6am I was awakened by the engines being started, as Peter thought it would be a good idea to have an early start. We made our way slowly through the coral heads and resumed our course.The morning started well but within half an hour we encountered more of the weather from the day before, torrential rain and low visibility.
Peter became glued to the GPS and Radar again and kept us running the boat at 22
knots as we rounded Crab Cay and entered the final stretch, the Sea of Abaco.
So far we had not sighted any of the islands that we had passed and were now well in
the Sea of Abaco, within 25 miles of our destination when the weather cleared just after we passed Green Turtle Cay, to leave us in brilliant sunshine which stayed with us through the Whale Cay Passage (inside route), Guana Cay, Man-O-War Cay and into our destination, Hopetown.
We Made it...Almost?
The first port of call there was the fuel dock which just after the harbour entrance, we slid alongside and tied up. Plenty of fuel available so we took on 370 gallons.All was well for us to proceed the last half mile to the marina where we had booked a slip.
Oh No! All was not well, the starboard engine would not fire. Frantic telephone calls to the broker JJ to see if he had any ideas; he did, based on our explanation he suspected the Engine Management Computer on that engine had failed. No alternative but to go into the marina on one engine and the bow thrusters. It was not that simple, as we had an
inside slip and had to miss the other boats, poles etc.The marina manager and dock master were on hand to take our lines and we tied up safely.
Thursday morning.We were contacted by JJ who had been in touch with the people who had carried out the work on the boat, they informed us that they had asked an engineer from one of the other islands to come over and inspect the problem and
that he would be with us the next morning, Friday.
The engineer arrived and confirmed the problem, reporting back to JJ.
On Monday morning JJ informed us that another computer having been programmed would be on its way on Tuesday to the local engineer who they anticipated would have it and fit it on Thursday.
Thursday 8.00. Fitting commenced, checkout ok and by 9.30 we were back in business.
The next two weeks were spent in enjoying our new ‘home’ and planning our next visit.
We have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of living aboard and cruising through the clear waters of the Bahamas, dropping anchor off deserted island beaches, swimming, snorkelling and diving on the various reefs, relaxing in the sunshine and being able to explore places that would otherwise be inaccessible, even at night
just being on the water looking up to the stars twinkling in the black backdrop of the heavens.
However, it was with regret that we sold the boat about two years ago due to issues with insurance, especially with regards to how best and where to lay up the boat during ‘Hurricane Season’.We have now purchased a smaller power boat back in UK waters, which we berth in Buckler’s Hard.
John Michie