Provisioning

Supposedly our new tank will be ready for us to pick up tomorrow.  If that is the case we will be leaving Grand Bahama and heading over the Little Bahama Bank toward the Abaco Islands early Wednesday morning.  Today we are finishing up some boat projects that we have been working on the last few days, doing all the laundry, and cleaning the boat.  The past few days have been spent taking apart the power windlass and looking for a new gear, patching small cosmetic scratches on the boat, getting the auto starter on the stove/oven working, replacing the propane bracket that was rusted through, and a few other misc. jobs that have been on our "to do" list.  We did manage to pull the chain out of the water that the massive anchor was attached to.  Why we did this I have no idea?  It was rusted solid and covered in shells and stinky mud.  Once out of the water and taken back to the boat it was thrown right back into the water.  I'm sure one day I will laugh about it, but in the moment I did not want to have anything to do with it.  The shells were sharp and I was worried about putting a hole in our dingy, of course I was the one having to pull it in the dingy getting covered in the stinky mud and scratched by the rusty chain.  Good thing I got my tetanus shot before we left.  We also managed to make it out to the beach a few times, once at night to have a good sized fire in the sand and stare at the stars.  We have been lucky the past few days and had a nice breeze all day and night which seems to keep the temperature between 75-80 F all day and night.
I don't think I have explained exactly where our marina is.  We pull out of the Atlantic and go down a dredged canal that looks about 4 feet, but is actually 9 feet deep.  Turn a few corners and we are the last bay on the left.  It is protected from the elements on all sides and makes for a very safe place to tie the boat.  We sleep sound even when the seas are 10 feet and 25-30 knots of wind.  The tides are very drastic.  We start the day by having to step off the boat and drop down 2.4 feet to get to the dock, by mid day we have to step up 3 feet to get to the dock.  Every 6-7 hours it changes from high to low tide. Will keep you posted on if we get the tank tomorrow.

 High Tide

 Low Tide

 Preston Waiting at the Bus Stop