Dorian - Update....

Do you know the story of.....

Well, it looks like this is going to be a tough weekend and a Labor Day to remember...
As it stands right now (early afternoon on Friday 8/30), we will going to be directly hit by a category 4 hurricane.
We did all that we could. we remove everything we could of the decks and cockpit of the boat, tie and double tie every sails, solar panel and helm. Closed  every window, and did a complete spiderweb of lines around the boat. Distanced the boat from the docks and used every piling, and ties we could. We got great help from very experienced




 marina staff and the only thing we can do now is pray and wait.

And waiting it is. Some predictions gives an early hit as soon as tomorrow afternoon, and some as late as early morning on Monday... So, we can only wait.
I flew the drone over the boat and took some photos - see them attached.
Have a great and a happy weekend - for all of us.

Dorian....

One of the most stressful weeks in our life...

Is it coming?, Is going to be a hurricane?, What strength? Wind? Surge?
will it pass from the north, south, or directly on us?
As we wrote before we move to Treasure Cay, a very well protected marina.

We got the boat ready as we can. We tied all the sails, and added lined to the boom and Jib to prevent movement. put a spiderweb of lines around the bot and placed it in a very wide slip fur from docks and pilings.
Tomorrow morning (Friday) we will move from the boat to a friends condo next to the marina for the next two nights. Once we are off the boat we will readjust the boat to be even further from the docks.

I have attached photos from the last two days of work and changing storm (from weak tropical storm predictions to a full major hurricane predictions).



 And it keep on changing. This early morning prediction from today predicts only Sunday morning time of arrival.

And as you can see below, we removed everything that is removable from the boat - so now we just wait.

And last but not least - BIG thank you to all of you that sends us your best wishes and priers.
We hope that it will help and we will be on Monday morning on the other side of our first BIG storm well and in good sailing conditions.

Busy week and Dorian is on the horizon

This week started with our fridge been fixed, I added the link to our InReach Garmin tracker that will allow you to track us when we move. (the link is on the right hand-side of the page). We walked town, gone to the boat yard to work on getting a list for the spare parts I need for the engines, and...

So lets start from the beginning. On Monday the fridge technician with a new fridge arrived, installed the unit, recharge it, and after coming again, to release the over charging he left. The fridge is work OK now. Win number 1.

On Tuesday, we had another technician to work on adding a cooling fan to the area where the fridge and the charger/inverter is sitting, and adding an inlet to the A/C water system to allow flashing and clearing an air lock when cleaning the strainer. Win number 2.

We talked to the yard and we got a quote for the list of spare part we gave them. Next is to schedule the purchase as it is EXPENSIVE!!

On Wednesday evening we where invited to our friend boat for sushi night. It was amazing, as the ingredients where made ready and than we each (read Hani did the rolling for me too) rolled the sushi we wanted. Dinner was great and the company was great too.

And than came i99L now Dorian.
We are following closely the weather. From the west / northwest we still fill the impact of i98L that brings daily rain, thunderstorms and some heavy winds from time to time, and now watching Dorian developing and moving northwest.
We working on preparing the boat, tying down all the sails, and preparing to move to Treasure Cay in the weather will be such that we can't stay here.
For us it is quite stressful as we never had to actually plan for a storm that may become a hurricane.
So we started the prep early and we hope for the best.

Between all of that I mixed a coconut drink, watch the sunset, gave Cocoa a new hair cut and had some fun
Stay tuned

Our fridge is dead - back in Marsh Harbour

We left Treasure Cay on Monday morning.

Our fridge stopped working, we had a technician that looked at that, but it was clear after a call to the company, that we need to go back to a place where service can be provided.
So, we left Treasure Cay at about 1000 and as usual couldn't fully sail. we motored sail for part of the way, until some nasty squall showed on the radar, I had to change course, lower our sail, and motored the rest  of the way back to Marsh Harbour.

We called a technician he came immediately (read - two days later e.g. island time). after checking, testing, etc. a new complete fridge unit has been ordered. And as we are on island time - it may arrive early next week....

In the mean time, we converted our SnoMaster fridge/freezer to two freezer unit, and using ice in the fridge box, to keep things cold.

Aside from that, we completed some more projects - sawing/modifying the dinghy cover to be used while the dinghy is on the davits, sawing covers for all the external tanks, fixing canvas for new friend we made here (they have a 40' catamaran which you can find for details on https://www.facebook.com/sailingtejas/ and Instagram @sailingtejas. They offer charters for the next several months, fall and winter around the Abacos. You can also find them on Airbnb and VRBO).

We also went snorkeling again in the reef and took on of the most amazing photos ever, where a fish is actually kissing (read biting) Hani's hand.

And we had Cocoa serf (on a life jackets :-)) for the first time. I am not sure if he had fun or not, but we sure did.

This coming Friday (8/16) we are going to have friends for dinner on the boat, and Hani baked Challa again and cookies. This Challa is even better than the one

 Below some (nice photos of the harbour and nice sunset.

and below that a video our friends from Sailing Tejas took at Mermaid reef when Hani and I showed them the place

In Treasure Cay

We are in Treasure Cay.  (26°40'22.88" N  77°16'55.34" W )
https://www.google.com/maps/@26.6734044,-77.2798979,1120m/data=!3m1!1e3

Part of our hurricane season plan is to be in a safe (as possible) marina. Treasure Cay marina is such. .

It is well protected, and is only 3 hours sail from Marsh Harbour. We have reserve a space in the marina until the end of the season, so we will have a place to secure our boat and our-self in case something critical happens with the weather

Star fish 

Even coco has it's own place

Amazing tree's fruit/flower

So, on Wednesday 7/31, we left Marsh Harbour intending to sail to Treasure cay, and as usual, predicted winds, and actual winds did agree. The winds were light and behind us. We motored for less than 3 hours in an OK weather and reach our marina.

We are staying here for a few days, letting the first tropical wave pass, looking at the potential second tropical development in the Atlantic.

The next coconut tree

As I am writing those lines, the next tropical wave is seams to be less troubling than initially predicted. If stay that way, we will be returning to Marsh Harbour on Tuesday.

In the meantime, we have been touring the area, learning where the shops are, and walking the beach and swimming in the sea.

One of the reasons we also need to go back to Marsh Harbour is due to the fact that our boat fridge has broke down. We are using it as a cold box with ice we buy and we are using our second fridge/freezer (our SnoMaster - now our freezer saver) as a two freezer unit to save our frozen food (and as a Jewish boat - we have a lot of it)

We took some dinghy rides around the harbour, and even got out in a major rain storm, and as you can see above the beach is on of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world.

Stay tune for updates.