FEBRUARY 20, 2009 “MACERATOR MALFUNCTION”

PICS
*Shroud Cay creek shallow area for dragging dink
*Shroud Cay creek, dink tied to a mangrove at low tide
*Exumas Sound view after creek hike
*Nancy on Exuma Sound beach at end of creek hike
*Nancy on coral head watch on the bow on Yellow Banks
Cruising in a sailboat for us liveaboards is often defined as “boat maintenance is exotic places.” We’ve been fortunate to have such a forgiving vessel as Summer Breeze. She’s a 31 foot Hunter with a simple 18-hp Yanmar diesel engine. She’s smallish, but quite capable, when compared to most liveaboards in the Bahamas which are normally in the 37-45 foot range. The learning curve while living on a sailboat is huge! If you had any idea how huge before you got into this lifestyle, you’d seriously reconsider. It’s funny, however, once you get a taste of it, the challenge of it all is what really keeps you interested. We came to cruising with twenty-plus years of sailing experience from my racing days, but none of that prepared me for mechanical, diesel, solar, electrical, and navigational equipment challenges aboard a larger vessel. Summer Breeze has been an outstandingly gentle, patient teacher.
Thursday, Feb 19, while escaping Georgetown, we discovered one of those rare malfunctions that can really bring the fun to a screeching halt. This one can’t be ignored . . . our holding tank macerator took a dump, so to speak . . . errr, it broke. We found ourselves 130 miles from a decent marine supply store in Nassau, and we can’t dump the holding tank; there’s no manual option. That stinks . . . literally! So, Friday morning, after a restful night on the hook off Little Farmers Cay, we headed north at sunrise on a mission; it’s still a hundred miles to Nassau from Farmers. If we push it, we can do it in two days, 50 miles plus 50 miles. The bummer is, we’ll have to scream by mile after mile of the whole Exuma chain, leaving some of the most beautiful beaches and coves in the world in our wake unvisited. What a shame. From 6:30am to 4:30pm we knocked off 49 miles, clear up to Shroud Cay, almost totally bypassing the entire 20-mile long Exuma Land & Sea Park portion of the chain. We just skipped a third of the 365 islands in the Exumas. Ouch!
Saturday, we decided to stay put at Shroud Cay all day so we could sail on the remaining 50 miles to Nassau on Sunday. The winds would be more favorable, the stores would be closed anyway, friends came to join us from nearby Leaf Cay, and it was an excuse to explore some of the mangrove creeks that cut through Shroud Cay from the Banks to the Sound. The attached photos don’t come close to adequately capturing our dinghy explorations up these tidal creeks. What fun! We’d end up motoring a hundred yards then walking and pulling the dink in 6-inch water for a hundred yards. This went on for approximately 3 miles in & out. On the far east end, we were rewarded with an awesome view of the Exuma Sound and gorgeous untouched beaches. We definitely want more time here, like a month.
Sunday, we regrettably left Shroud for Nassau and a return trip over the dreaded “Yellow Banks” for a second time in a month. This time I did manage to get a few pics of Nancy on the bow in her “coral head avoidance mode.” It only lasts for a little over an hour, but we’ve heard tales from other sailors of nervous crewmembers bailing out of their responsibility halfway across the Banks because the pressure was just too intense. My Admiral Nancy is a tough ol’ salt . . . and it’s not really that nerve racking if you’re shallow draft like Summer Breeze. Sometimes it’s an advantage having a smaller boat.
By noon Monday I had a new $169 macerator purchased for only $245 due to import fees, etc. I had it installed and we were free to hike and shop around Nassau. We made a beeline to Senor Frogs for Mexican food.
I understand another norther is coming Sunday. Where, oh where, should we go hide this time?