Day 17 - Bahama Cruising (Hatchet Bay - Eleuthera Island)

Magic Friday
Phil, Di and Annelise
Fri 17 Apr 2015 17:31
25:20.8N 76:29.4W
 

The morning dawns with the local fisherman (singular) paddling his "boat" to the bay shorelines ....perhaps fishing(?) ... not really sure! So, to the next job on the list - replace the intermittently faulty GPS for the AIS (so that Magic Friday can transmit its position and status to other vessels) - should be a simple task of removing the old antenna and wiring and installing the new. But of course, all work on a boat are in accessible places...and the number of cable ties to cut (I counted 21 in the 5ft of cable I I could see (really...so many : research shows that sailors are one of the most prodigious users of top tight (“Ziploc”) plastic bags AND cable ties!!). Eventually we get to the pulling of the old cable through a 12ft conduit - all behind the head and aft locker - hoping and praying the string so carefully attached does not part company with the old cable as Di feeds it in and I pull it out at opposite ends of the boat ... success! Enough for the day - we make ready to dinghy across to the gazebo dinghy dock and explore the town / find the Post Office. Fish abound the local dock. What a sleepy town it is, baked under the afternoon's heat...but friendly folks sitting on their porches, no more than 2 or 3 sand streets and one tarmac "main road", painted houses, numerous churches, plentiful fruit on trees - mangos, bread fruit and other (unidentified), the village fire truck, a bar/restaurant, a grocery store (actually quite well stocked) and a shopping "mall" (well 2 or 3 smalls huts). Finally, we find the Post Office alongside the Government Office, the Police Station and Customs offices - all in the same building - none very busy at all!!  True Bahamian lifestyle. Back to the boat - we investigated the narrow entrance from the safety of our dinghy and then to the boat. The Island Link ferry makes an appearance - almost swamping the tiny bay as it turns to dock and unload. Evening bbq, more unusual clouds (what do they eman?)...and then again the sermon(s) start up, eventually singing drifts over the bay as the sun sets on a another day in the Bahamas.

 
Phil and Di

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