The SaltyMare got through Derby day without a hitch (pun intended). And what a race! Susie scored an imaginary $1300 “betting” on the long shot. Woo hoo!

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We’d been told the plane carrying the parts for the generator would arrive Saturday. Not knowing what time or how long the unpacking and customs process would take, we rented a cart for the day. Since we had it, we took a joy ride along the waterfront.

No visit to Spanish Wells can go without a mention of the lobster (crawfish) fishing fleet. It’s currently off season for lobster (it closed at the end of March), so all the boats are in port. We’ve been told last season was very good, as prices for lobster were up. They’re main buyer is Red Lobster, and the catch is huge, in the millions of pounds. They (crews of a dozen or so) travel mostly to a huge bank way down off the Jumentos and Ragged Islands, stay for 3-4 weeks to fill their refrigerated holds with nothing but lobster tails. Thousands of pounds a trip! A lot of the boats are now “co-ops,” with each crewman owning a share of the boat and its catch. They are an impressive lot and quite well kept. Here is a special article from CNN/RedLobster about the fleet and its efforts to maintain the fishery: Fishing for the Future

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Although we’ve most likely passed it a dozen times, we just noticed this fun dolphin-themed home.

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We also found a pop-up arts and crafts fair at the end of the island, where we picked up a few things – crafty fish for the front of the no-longer-working refrigerator (say what? that’s another story), some beaded earrings to go with the new summery dress purchased last week. This retail therapy is getting costly.

The most exciting news of the day? As 4:30 rolled around, we’d all but given up on the package and thought we’d wasted the cart rental, when we got a call from Greta at Pinder’s Supermarket that she had our package. We got the parts for the generator!! All we need now is Herbie again.

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Great, but “Groundhog Day,” you may ask? That’s in February. Right. Our friend Peggy uses that term for being stuck somewhere, waiting for something that’s out of your control. Every day is the same. You get up, smile, and go through the same motions, just waiting for something – the winds to decrease, a package to be delivered, or, in this case, a technician or two… So, Happy Groundhog Day, everyone!

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More importantly the SaltyMare is “decked out” for this year’s Triple Crown! Alright, alright, we live on a boat, so “decked out” may be a stretch due to the limited storage space allotted to trinkets, but given our history and living on a boat affectionately known as “the Mare,” you know we’re going to celebrate the season!

Okay, this is funny. The gooey-looking stuff under each decorative item is Museum Putty. We use it to prevent stuff from being tossed about as we cruise. Umm, Susie, we’re stuck at a marina. So.
Think of it as “Optimism Putty!” After all, we will get to move e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y…

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Given last year’s Derby Day ordeal, – what, you don’t remember? It’s most certainly a day we’ll never forget. The events are captured on the posts, Derby Day 2021! and Nightmare.

At any rate, as we were saying, given last year’s Derby Day ordeal, we are very much looking forward to a calm day this year, except for the two minutes of racing, of course. Given our luck of late, however, we’ve covered the boat with prayers and will keep our fingers crossed (and toes for good measure) that all goes, well, without a hitch. Just to be sure, though, Susie will NOT ask to go for a dinghy ride. In fact, she says we cannot even get the dinghy down until Sunday. 🙂

Everyone we talked to said the same thing, “Herbie is the guy,” as he has apparently been “the guy” for more than 20 years before taking over the co-op power plant. Well… on Monday, one of the local tugs had a problem, hence Herbie got to us on Tuesday. He immediately determined one problem and quickly bypassed the “run solenoid.” Man, it’s fun to learn. We, along with Herbie’s brother Gregg, spent a couple of hours trying this and that, to no avail. Susie was in the pilothouse repeatedly trying the gen while the guys were in the engine room. Stumped, the boys went off to research and later advised we need “a run solenoid and injectors.” Great, we have a direction! And of course, have to do the whole “ship to the freight company in Ft Lauderdale, they’ll fly it over hopefully on Saturday” thing. Different island, different freight company.

In the meantime, both Herbie and Justin at On-Site said, “you might do oil changes because sometimes that works unexplained wonders!” Hey, we just got extra supplies, and Todd can do that!

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There’s been a fair amount of rain and cloud cover, and this waterway is lined on one side with mangroves, so the sunsets have been a bit muted. Still pretty though.

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So, the next day or so was spent online finding the needed parts, getting them overnighted to “Lauderdale,” and arranging with Sheldon (Twinex Freight forwarders), the Eleuthera rep. Nerve racking process.
Other than that? And thumb twiddling? Well, basic housekeeping (always, it’s a tiny house!), Susie whooped Todd in games, we read a couple of books, and we watched a lot of boats come and go. All day, all sizes. They come. And they go. We finally started taking pictures. Hey, is that the tug that bumped us off Monday’s schedule? Good to see it working!

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An awful lot of them just flat out “went,” because the marina went from this…

to this!

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Hey, wait! We want to go toooooo!!

We are in a marina in Spanish Wells for one reason and one reason only (heck its been nearly 120 days since we docked), and that is to find a “diesel guy” to look at the generator. Unfortunately, the folks at On-Site Service Station are booked out for two weeks.

We were told we need to call Herbie, who now works at the electric company. Unfortunately, Herbie couldn’t get away Friday but might be able to make it Monday. Shucks. Well, since Susie, although on the mend, isn’t quite back up to snuff for the shoe leather express, we rented a golf cart for a couple of days to bring supplies back to the boat and explore. So, after dropping off the oil, we went back out for a bite.

When in Spanish Wells, you have to eat at Budda’s, which is something of a local institution.

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It had been such a push to get here that we decided Saturday would be a “play day” with the cart. We’d get back to oil changes, laundry catch-up, and general boat chores on Sunday.

The Sandbar was a “must do” once Justin said, “they have a good Philly”! Right up Susie’s current not-fish alley, and they didn’t disappoint. Nice place, variety on the menu, and the fastest moving waitstaff you’ve ever seen. Sitting there we looked out right at Meeks Patch! Heck, had we known when we were there two months ago, we would have dinghied over for a bite!

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After lunch, we decided to check out the rest of Russell Island. We saw all the way down to the cul-de-sac at the end of the road when the rental cart stalled.

Call to the marina – they send someone out – we pass him on the road because Todd (the in-house mechanic) got it started – stop to meet their guy – stalled again – he left for a battery – got started again! – he passed us on the way and followed us s-l-o-w-l-y all the way back – he installed the new battery, and Wow! This cart is downright zippy! Not really, it now goes about as fast as our boat! Ha!

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It may be a tropical day (sun then rain and repeat), but it’s springtime and there are pretty flowering shrubs everywhere.

The lavender and white home with the lovely yard includes an extra surprise – check out the stained glass windows.

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And the flowering plumeria beside “Hutch’s House” is taller than the house!

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As we cruised through the town, we thought it again – folks in Spanish Wells take pride in their homes, large and small!

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Of all the houses we saw, Todd definitely had a favorite. If the owner had been out and about, he might have stopped to make an offer. 😉

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Some fun shots from around town:

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This wonderful community is, after all, on an island, so there’s also the view:

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We can’t just cruise around town and not stop in for some shopping! We hit a fun shop where Susie picked up a summery dress (girlie retail therapy), and, as always, we have to get some grub. Fortunately, Spanish Wells has a really large grocery store.

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In a marina, with its close proximity, the whole experience is much less “expansive,” so between the neighbors, cloudy days, and muted sunsets, the conch horn is getting lonely.

Meanwhile, we are keeping our fingers crossed that Herbie can make it tomorrow. We are also listening to the crazy Laughing Gulls. I mean, it is springtime…. And love is in the air!

Two months ago, when we passed this way heading south, we’d planned to anchor at Glass Window (rectangle in the center of the photo) on our way north. Alas, not to be. Gotta keep moving! Put it on the list for the next trip.

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With the weather this nice, it becomes impossible to describe the colors. Maybe a really, really good camera could capture it, but heck, we don’t even own a house. With the wind almost calm, the water smooths out, and the clarity is striking. The blue and turquoise hues are breathtaking, and the variety of shades is astonishing. Throw in the brightness and shadows caused by a partly cloudy (big puffy ones) sky, and one really experiences the grandeur of the “Big Man’s” creation. Just Wow.

What is neat about these pictures are the “dark” water is 15-40 feet deep, the “lighter” water is not… After drinking in the joy of the water (pun intended), it’s time to traverse Current Cut again. We’ve been through this one before when we headed south. Timing is everything. The idea is be moving with the current (tide coming or going?), BUT! not too much. We think we did better this time. We were pushed through with enough current to make 11.5 knots. Last time, it was closer to 13!

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After Current Cut, the cruising is easy again for another hour or so, until our approach to the channel that leads into Russell Island/Spanish Wells. Timing Current Cut put us coming into this next channel at low tide. Unfortunately, these guys were all anchored in the route labeled “Deeper Draft Route” on the charts, so, it’s super slow, serpentine time.

After the “dodge the boats” run, we hung a hard left, between two poles marking the channel, and then another hard left into the longish, but very narrow (especially at LOW tide) “harbor” of Spanish Wells. Who knows if we lightly scraped the bottom as we eased into our (thank the Lord!) face dock for an easy tie-up.