Happy Easter! Well, today was a bit trying at times. It started last night when I managed to get on-line and check my e-mail. I had a message from Mom saying that Dad has been hospitalized with chronic Guillane-Barre syndrome. I can’t believe he is getting that again. I feel so bad for him. Mom thinks that it won’t be as severe this time. We are all hoping & praying that she is right. Well, there is nothing I can do about it now, so back to our story…
We got up early this morning so we could get breakfast and be ready to go fishing at 9am. Everything was running pretty smoothly and we were on the dock waiting on time, but our guide didn’t show. I didn’t get concerned until after 15 minutes (typical “island time” delay) had elapsed. Then we started asking around. Someone finally called him and discovered he was miles away on an island called Black Point and didn’t have a ride to Sampson. He didn’t say why, but we suspect he had a little too much fun last night at their Junkanoo festival.
We were all dressed up with nowhere to go, so we decided to be nice and go pick him up in Black Point. I had the portable GPS with us and I was sure I could find it. We launched out of the marina about 9:30 and headed south. It was a beautiful morning and I was having a good time motoring along as we passed the pig beach, Thunderball grotto. Just as we were passing Staniel Cay, the engine sputtered. We checked the fuel guage and, sure enough, it was sitting on “E”. Doh!
We turned toward the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and put-putted our way along, trying to conserve fuel. We were a couple hundred yards away from the fuel dock and I thought for sure we would make it, when the engine sputtered again and died. Double-Doh!
Luckily, I had the “ditch bag” with us that contains all sorts of emergency gear, including a handheld marine radio. We called the Yacht Club and sheepishly asked for help. They promised they would send someone out to us with some fuel. Santos arrived about 15 minutes later with a 5-gallon can of fuel. We were happy to see him! He even came aboard and put the fuel in for us and added some motor oil.
When he was all done, we tried to start it up and…nothing. It wouldn’t start. We suspected that there was air in the fuel line since it ran completely dry, but we couldn’t find the primer bulb anywhere to fix the problem. We tried a few more times with no luck and then he towed us into the Marina. The fuel guy knew right where to look (behind a small round access panel in the stern) and had it fired up in no time. We decided to fill the tank while we were there to make sure we wouldn’t run out again!
It was almost 11am when we finally pulled away from the dock. Picking up our no-show fishing guide in Black point seemed less and less attractive, so we decided to head back to Sampson and regroup. Once there, we told our sob story to “Rock” the dockmaster and he said he knew a guy, John, that would take us out fishing this afternoon if we still wanted to go. OK, we’ll give it one more try.
We relaxed at the house for a little while and then grabbed some lunch in the dining room. At 1pm, we found ourselves ready to go and waiting for our guide for the 2nd time today. This time, John did show up, but he had a few folks with him: Two kids that live on the island (worker’s kids?) and the ship store manager. And he had 1 fishing rod (and a few handline rigs). Well, how bad could it be?
One of the kids was about 5 and was very pleasant, nice kid. I enjoyed having him along. The other kid was about 8 and had some developmental problems. He was more of a nuisance. We started by going to a nearby flats area. John anchored the boat and then jumped overboard and came up with about ½ dozen conch’s to use for bait. Then we motored out to the reef to fish. It was very windy & wavy and it was an effort just to keep our balance on the rocking boat. We used the handlines and pulled in few fish. I think the boys had fun.
When the first spot slowed down, we moved to a second spot. When that spot slowed, we were going to hit a third spot, but the waves seem to be getting bigger. Roland was standing in the front holding on to a rope attached to the bow for balance. He was giving John a hard time saying “come on, go, etc.” for him to go faster. We hit a big wave and Roland fell to his knees, and then flat on his face –his nose to be more exact. Ouch! It wasn’t bleeding, but he was getting red & swollen pretty fast. After that, we asked John to take us back to Sampson.
After getting off the fishing boat, Michele, Brandon, & I got on our boat for one last excursion. We were going to go back to Rachel’s bubble bath on Compass Cay, but it was just too rough & wavy. We were getting soaked and beaten to death. Instead, we pulled into a secluded beach / cove and just hung out for a little while.
We were the only guests in the dining room tonight for dinner. It’s hard to believe our time here is over already. Although I am not looking forward to moving all our bags again tomorrow, I am excited to check out someplace I’ve never been: Harbour Island in Eluethera.
We got up early this morning so we could get breakfast and be ready to go fishing at 9am. Everything was running pretty smoothly and we were on the dock waiting on time, but our guide didn’t show. I didn’t get concerned until after 15 minutes (typical “island time” delay) had elapsed. Then we started asking around. Someone finally called him and discovered he was miles away on an island called Black Point and didn’t have a ride to Sampson. He didn’t say why, but we suspect he had a little too much fun last night at their Junkanoo festival.
We were all dressed up with nowhere to go, so we decided to be nice and go pick him up in Black Point. I had the portable GPS with us and I was sure I could find it. We launched out of the marina about 9:30 and headed south. It was a beautiful morning and I was having a good time motoring along as we passed the pig beach, Thunderball grotto. Just as we were passing Staniel Cay, the engine sputtered. We checked the fuel guage and, sure enough, it was sitting on “E”. Doh!
We turned toward the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and put-putted our way along, trying to conserve fuel. We were a couple hundred yards away from the fuel dock and I thought for sure we would make it, when the engine sputtered again and died. Double-Doh!
Luckily, I had the “ditch bag” with us that contains all sorts of emergency gear, including a handheld marine radio. We called the Yacht Club and sheepishly asked for help. They promised they would send someone out to us with some fuel. Santos arrived about 15 minutes later with a 5-gallon can of fuel. We were happy to see him! He even came aboard and put the fuel in for us and added some motor oil.
When he was all done, we tried to start it up and…nothing. It wouldn’t start. We suspected that there was air in the fuel line since it ran completely dry, but we couldn’t find the primer bulb anywhere to fix the problem. We tried a few more times with no luck and then he towed us into the Marina. The fuel guy knew right where to look (behind a small round access panel in the stern) and had it fired up in no time. We decided to fill the tank while we were there to make sure we wouldn’t run out again!
It was almost 11am when we finally pulled away from the dock. Picking up our no-show fishing guide in Black point seemed less and less attractive, so we decided to head back to Sampson and regroup. Once there, we told our sob story to “Rock” the dockmaster and he said he knew a guy, John, that would take us out fishing this afternoon if we still wanted to go. OK, we’ll give it one more try.
We relaxed at the house for a little while and then grabbed some lunch in the dining room. At 1pm, we found ourselves ready to go and waiting for our guide for the 2nd time today. This time, John did show up, but he had a few folks with him: Two kids that live on the island (worker’s kids?) and the ship store manager. And he had 1 fishing rod (and a few handline rigs). Well, how bad could it be?
One of the kids was about 5 and was very pleasant, nice kid. I enjoyed having him along. The other kid was about 8 and had some developmental problems. He was more of a nuisance. We started by going to a nearby flats area. John anchored the boat and then jumped overboard and came up with about ½ dozen conch’s to use for bait. Then we motored out to the reef to fish. It was very windy & wavy and it was an effort just to keep our balance on the rocking boat. We used the handlines and pulled in few fish. I think the boys had fun.
When the first spot slowed down, we moved to a second spot. When that spot slowed, we were going to hit a third spot, but the waves seem to be getting bigger. Roland was standing in the front holding on to a rope attached to the bow for balance. He was giving John a hard time saying “come on, go, etc.” for him to go faster. We hit a big wave and Roland fell to his knees, and then flat on his face –his nose to be more exact. Ouch! It wasn’t bleeding, but he was getting red & swollen pretty fast. After that, we asked John to take us back to Sampson.
After getting off the fishing boat, Michele, Brandon, & I got on our boat for one last excursion. We were going to go back to Rachel’s bubble bath on Compass Cay, but it was just too rough & wavy. We were getting soaked and beaten to death. Instead, we pulled into a secluded beach / cove and just hung out for a little while.
We were the only guests in the dining room tonight for dinner. It’s hard to believe our time here is over already. Although I am not looking forward to moving all our bags again tomorrow, I am excited to check out someplace I’ve never been: Harbour Island in Eluethera.
No comments:
Post a Comment