Kara in Connecticut and Carly on Hilton Head. I miss them both very much and vow to be with them next year for Christmas. Wonder where our boat will be in a year?!
Christmas was on Rum Cay and was as quiet as the island. We went to Kaye's bar
for a luncheon provided by mostly winter residents in the area. We ate ham, turkey and the local favorite rice and beans.
The bar was built by Delores Wilson who was born on Rum Cay and moved to Nassau when she was fourteen. She returned to Rum when she was in her thirties and lives there today with her two daughters who manage the bar for her now. Delores will turn 81 on January 24th, and she was truly a beautiful lady that touched my heart. She gave me an autographed copy of the book she wrote when she was in the hospital about 10 years ago. It is called Rum Cay, My Home tells about her early years on the island being raised by her grandmother, and her later years helping the island get a road and a dock!
We have been delighted to have a water maker on board since we left Jacksonville, and during our stay at Rum, Will discovered a small drip in one of the elbows. So he tightened it and....pop!....it broke off the membrane unit. We didn't lose any water, but until we get a new part there will be no water making. Of course, there is no where on Rum Cay to find any water or a kind of part like we need. We did meet Bobby who once owned the marina on the island, and he took Will to his machine shop to hunt for a part, but no luck. Bobby is a white man whose parents built a home here many years ago. He is a multi talented man who flies planes, carves statues out of brain coral and now that his marina is closed, he has taken up gardening with his girl friend Gro (unusual name but sweet lady originally from Norway). While on Rum Cay there were three other sailboats coming and going.
One sailboat was a single hander from Canada, Sylvio on Avanti. He was our neighbor in the anchorage and we enjoyed spending time with him before he departed on Christmas day. The other boat was crewed by Captain John and his crew mate John...that was easy to remember. And then we met a couple that just arrived on a catamaran named Twiga...which is South African for giraffe.
The day after Christmas is Junkanoo day. The Bahamians make their costumes themselves and use flour and water to paste paper mâché strips on tee shirts and jeans. We were lucky to be able to watch their performance. The Junkanoo starts at 5:00 am and they travel throughout the town going to different homes to collect money to through a party after the first of the year. We were able to watch them as they came down the road to the marina.
Junkanoo
We left for San Salvador on Friday, December 27th. It was a 35 mile trip and we had good winds to get us there. We were 1/2 mile from shore and the water depth is over 500 feet deep. We found a nice anchorage near the down town area south of a marina called Riding Rock. If the wind changes direction it will be too uncomfortable in surges from the ocean, and we may have to tuck into that marina.
We came to this island in hopes of finding our part for the water maker. We hope to be able to buy water until the water maker is fixed, and we need a bank.
San Salvador is the cleanest island we have found in the Bahamas. It has an extra long runway at the airport that brings many people from Canada, France and Italy to Club Med at the northern end of the island. The people here are as friendly as we have found throughout the Bahamas, and everyone is so willing to help us find that little replacement part for our water maker. Truly, everyone we stopped to ask tried so hard to help us. One man named Michael who owns the grocery store even spent a morning driving us to the bank, to Club Med's machinery shop, and the electrical plant...which is where we finally did find one!
So on New Year's Day Will worked on replacing the new elbow, and we now have a full tank of water. We were so surprised to see Twiga arrive on New Year's Eve and we spent our evening with them on their boat.
Happy New Year. I have a New Year's resolution and that is to write everyday on my blog. I may not be able to post pictures. I have been keeping a journal throughout our trip, and I am hoping this will become my new journal
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