svbeachhouse

Author: kerri

  • Position Report – Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island – Bahamas

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2015/01/21 18:29
    LATITUDE: 26-32.85N
    LONGITUDE: 077-03.38W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 5
    WIND_DIR: NNW
    CLOUDS: 50%
    VISIBILITY: 12
    BARO: 1015.5
    AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island – Bahamas

    With Mike Lonnes\’ help kicking my brain, we found that we had blown a fuse which fed the main battery bank alternators to
    our \”house\” battery bank. We changed the 160 amp! fuse and we\’re back in the battery charging business again.

    We had a lovely motor boat ride in flat calm seas inside the reef except where we had to go outside at Whale Cay (and it was still calm).
    As Marsh is closer than Hope Town by a few miles, we decided to stop here as it\’s the Capitol City of this part of the Bahamas.

    Almost all our teething issues are resolved. A few left including a small oil cooler/sea water leak (port engine) and a small coolant leak (starboard engine).
    Both very resolvable issues.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Position Report – Great Sale Cay, Little Bahamas Bank…..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2015/01/19 21:43
    LATITUDE: 26-58.87N
    LONGITUDE: 078-12.86W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 9
    WIND_DIR: NNE
    CLOUDS: 20%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1017
    AIR_TEMP: 28.9C
    COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Great Sale Cay, Little Bahamas Bank

    Oh what a day!…
    We\’ve had the following issues:
    Our \”Navigate Mode\” on our auto pilot stopped working. With Mike\’s help, I think? I\’ve hacked and fixed it.
    Our 24 Volt Alternators (which were just rebuilt) do not appear to be charging the batteries….ummmm
    Our water maker seems to have over flowed into the bilge when the tanks were full instead of coming out the air vent as it usually does….investigating
    Good news is that our generator with battery chargers and the solar is picking up the slack….\”as designed\”.
    Other minor misc. stuff.

    Last night, I was brushing my teeth and Nikki (who was asleep), screamed! We\’ve a RAT! The only open port was our stateroom hatch. Fortunately, (story in the blog to come), I was able to capture him/her in a bucket and out the port light he/she went. About 8\” long plus tail!…. As they can swim, I\’m sure it self rescued and climbed up the dock poles awaiting the next unsuspecting \”yachtie\”. Yet another in a long line of \”sea stories\”….:-)

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki
    Either Spanish Cay or Green Turtle Cay tomorrow….then Hope Town where we should have some internet.

    PS: These are being sent in a group of 4….We\’re working on some web issues.

  • POSITION REPORT – West End Grand Bahama, Old Bahama Bay Marina…..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2015/01/19 01:19
    LATITUDE: 26-42.05N
    LONGITUDE: 078-59.51W
    COMMENT: Beach House – DOCKED – Old Bahama Bay Marina, West End Grand Bahama

    It was a long day. 72 miles from Ft. Lauderdale to the West End here at Grand Bahama.
    We made the 7:30 a.m. bridge opening and passed a record 8 cruise ships in Port Everglades.
    We got to sail for an hour and overall the conditions were nice. A few bugs, but we\’ll get them worked out.

    We are using a new satellite email system this season called Iridium GO.
    Winlink may not take our position reporting as I cannot do it through their system via Iridium GO. We will still show up on YOTREPS and ShipTrak however.

    This is the SAME GROUP of interested parties I put on the position report emails in the past. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ON THE DIRECT LIST.
    Just let us know and I\’ll delete you. Please do not think we will be offended. We want what YOU want….:-)

    Feel free to drop a note. PLEASE USE OUR REGULAR EMAILS.
    Nikki\’s gmails will forward to the boat. For me use WDB5638 \”at\” sailmail.com. My beachhouse51 \”at\” gmail.com will forward to the boat as well!
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki (en route Hope Town in Grand Abaco (a couple of days away). Tomorrow we hope to make Sale Cay.

  • Beach House getting ready to start the 2015 sailing season…..FINALLY!

    January 17th, 2015 (UTC -5)

    Ahoy Friends and Family,

    We\’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and will head toward The Abacos in the Bahamas, Eleuthra, Andros and then may go exotic!…Stay tuned.
    We should be in Panama on the East side of the Canal in April with lots of stops in Central America along the way.
    We\’ve done a tremendous amount of work on board this past summer and Beach House is in great shape.

    This is just a reminder that we\’re here and getting ready to blog away again this season.
    It\’s also a test of our new email satellite service to see if it works and posts this correctly.

    Please feel free to keep in touch at any email address you may have for us!
    Welcome back to the Voyages of s/v Beach House
    Scott and Nikki (who just had a new grandbaby!)

     

  • POSITION REPORT – North Bimini, Bahamas to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – USA

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/06/08 15:23
    LATITUDE: 25-54.30N
    LONGITUDE: 079-41.95W
    COURSE: 298T
    SPEED: 8.2
    MARINE: YES
    WIND_SPEED: 3
    WIND_DIR: NNW
    WAVE_HT: 0.1M
    SWELL_DIR: N
    SWELL_HT: 0.2M
    SWELL_PER: 8
    CLOUDS: 70%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1015.3
    TREND: 3
    AIR_TEMP: 32.2C
    SEA_TEMP: 26.7C
    COMMENT: Beach House – EN ROUTE- North Bimini, Bahamas to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – USA

    We\’re motoring across the Straits of Florida in flat conditions. It\’s like a highway out here with all the traffic going
    to and from Bimini to Florida. We\’re getting 2.4 knots of current from the south which is the classic \”Gulf Stream\” condition.
    The current charts predict up to 3.5 knots within the next 4 miles. It\’s giving us a bit of a push only; as we\’re crossing it.

    We\’ll be staying in the Ft. Lauderdale area for a month – initially at the New River City Marina in downtown Ft. Lauderdale.
    We\’ll move as soon as a private marina has an opening. The season\’s almost done.
    Stand By!
    Scott and Nikki

  • POSITION REPORT- Chubb Cay to North Bimini – Bahamas

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/06/06 15:01
    LATITUDE: 25-41.05N
    LONGITUDE: 078-39.42W
    COURSE: 294T
    SPEED: 7.7
    MARINE: YES
    WIND_SPEED: 2
    WIND_DIR: ESE
    WAVE_HT: 0.1M
    SWELL_DIR: ESE
    SWELL_HT: 0.3M
    CLOUDS: 40%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1014.5
    AIR_TEMP: 33.3C
    SEA_TEMP: 25.6C
    COMMENT: Beach House – EN ROUTE – Chubb Cay to North Bimini – Bahamas

    We\’re 5 hours East of North Bimini (which is about 55 miles off the Ft. Lauderdale coast).

    Another interesting shallow bank passage, this one about 80 miles overall from Chubb Cay.
    It\’s a motor boat ride today as there is absolutely no wind. Seas calm.
    We had a little boo boo in the dark and touched a navigation mark…no harm, no foul, just a slightly bruised ego.
    Be in Florida in 1-3 days.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • POSITION REPORT- Nassau Harbour Club Marina, Nassau – Bahamas

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/05/31 17:21
    LATITUDE: 25-04.49N
    LONGITUDE: 077-18.79W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 15
    WIND_DIR: E
    CLOUDS: 40%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1015.4
    AIR_TEMP: 32.8C
    COMMENT: Beach House- – DOCKED – Nassau Harbour Club Marina, Nassau – Bahamas

    We had a nice few days at the decadence of Atlantis; a bit overwhelming. We moved back around to the east side of
    Nassau Harbour – now on New Providence Island (main island). We had to go all the way round as we are just too close a fit for the two
    bridges. We also had to stand by for a cruise ship, \”Enchantment of the Sea\”.

    The digs aren\’t anywhere near as plush, but less than 1/2 the price! Starbux, wifi and a nice supermarket are right across the street.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • POSITION REPORT- Atlantis Marina, Nassau – Bahamas

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/05/29 19:43
    LATITUDE: 25-04.94N
    LONGITUDE: 077-19.33W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 12
    WIND_DIR: ESE
    CLOUDS: 70%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1015.7
    AIR_TEMP: 32.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House- DOCKED – Atlantis Marina, Nassau – Bahamas

    Upon recommendation from Mike Lonnes, we\’re now docked at Disneyland – Bahamas!…:-)

    We\’ll stay two nights as it\’s expensive as a modest hotel and then move to another anchorage/marina.
    We haven\’t been at a nice dock in several weeks, so it\’s a treat.

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • POSITION REPORT- Allan\’s & Leaf Cays, Exumas – Bahamas

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/05/28 14:38
    LATITUDE: 24-44.97N
    LONGITUDE: 076-50.25W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 15
    WIND_DIR: ESE
    CLOUDS: 30%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1017.8
    AIR_TEMP: 31.1C
    COMMENT: Beach House- ANCHORED – Allan\’s & Leaf Cays, Exumas – Bahamas

    We motored around the Highbourne Rocks reef and into the anchorage between Allan\’s & Leaf Cays.
    We immediately saw the local Iguana\’s come out to great us. Yes…they are very used to being fed.
    Right after we arrived a huge \”cigarette boat\” (right out of Miami Vice) arrived with 20 tourists who fed them
    grapes on a stick!

    Apparently they were on all the islands at one time, but may have become food for the local folks.
    \”Iwan\” comes from the Lucayan language for lizard – hence the Spanish-ized \”Iguana\”. Very fun, lots of photos.

    Now back at Highbourne Cay anchorage. Dinner ashore tonight with \”Icaros\” and off to Nassau tomorrow.
    It will be culture shock…:-)
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • POSITION REPORT – Hawksbill Cay, Exumas – Bahamas

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/05/27 16:33
    LATITUDE: 24-27.99N
    LONGITUDE: 076-46.13W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 12
    WIND_DIR: E
    CLOUDS: 15%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1019.2
    AIR_TEMP: 31.1C
    COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Hawksbill Cay, Exumas-Bahamas

    I dove on the port engine after the 3 knots of current subsided late yesterday. Removing the saildrive zinc to get the line off the port propeller.
    All is well!..We decided to come inside the Exuma Bank side of the island to get up to our jump off point to Nassau. We\’re likely to be in this area 2-3 more days before heading across to Nassau. The water is crystal clear and warm. It is a gorgeous place…

    May only lunch here ….. or not?..:-)
    Scott and Nikki