Location: Green Turtle part 2
Today Dad and I left Hopetown in an attempt to go snorkeling off of Sandy Cay, which is known as a great snorkeling spot. Dad has been there before. He went sailing in the Bahamas multiple times when he was my age. The island is very, very small and there is no way to go ashore unless you can navigate the rock filled beach. We tried to take the dingy out to the other side of the island, where the reef is but the waves were just too big. By the time we made it back to the boat I was soaked and we haven't even gone in yet. The water on the reef side of the island is deep making it hard to anchor, especially in this chop. The charter boats do have some moorings set up just off the reef but our boat is too big for them. We had planned to stay the night at Sandy Cay but the waves made it so uncomfortable that we left and went to a different deserted island with more protection for the night . In the morning we tried to go back to Sandy Cay and anchor. We brought the dingy out again but the waves were still to big to get to the other side of the island safely. Dad and I threw out the dingy hook just off the lee side of the island. We jumped ship and started to swim around to the other side. Turning the corner of the island the full force of the waves hit us. It was impossible to snorkel through them. As the waves crashed over our heads the force of the crests pushed us closer and closer to the boulders that edged off of the end of the island, looming out of the sea like giant icebergs of black rock. We turned back and with that final letdown Dad and I decided to leave the Bahamas, right now. We returned to Hope Town, paid the mooring fee, got ice, food, fuel, and left again. We got to Green Turtle just after sunset. It was still pretty light out but we didn't go in the harbor. We anchored outside with around seven other boats. Dad and I felt pretty accomplished to have made it all the way from Sandy Cay to Green Turtle without so much as a days preparation. The route to Green Turtle forces sailors out of the usually calm Sea of Abaco and out into the ocean through a small cut in the islands and reefs called Whale Passage, or just "the whale." It can take days to get a weather window through this small opening, and still it can be dangerous. We heard on the cruisers net (the radio morning talk show) that a boat got pushed into the reef by the swells, lost their rudder and punched a hole in the hull. It can be tricky but we got lucky. That is we were feeling lucky until we anchored, shut off the engine and heard a bubbling of boiling water. Our fan belt had broken right when we anchored, overheating the engine, but causing no damage. Dad assured me that any season sailor doesn't go far from home without bringing an extra fan belt along, we just needed to find where ours was. We searched around for a little with flashlights but no luck and we were so tired that we decided that we would just find it in the morning. We plan to sail to Spanish Cay or Great Sail at sunrise, either island will be our last stop before hitting the beach in Florida.
In the morning we began our search anew. Dad and I tore the boat apart in the process, looking in the most unlikely places. We both knew that we had seen the belt, we just couldn't remember where. We were on the point of despair when we found the receipt from when the belt was purchased, a good sign but as they say no cigar. It was almost eleven when we finally found the actual belt hidden inside a cupboard above the nav station. I did the happy dance as Dad held the belt aloft, but there was doubt written all over his face. He said to me "this doesn't look like the right belt." I knew what he meant, the belt in his hand was small, very small but we had the receipt with the part number it had to be the right belt. As it turns out the part store had given Dad a 24' belt instead of a 42' although the receipt said that we had the 41'. It was a big blow. I was sort of numb in disbelief. This would most certainly delay our departure. One of the other anchored boats outside Green Turtle offered to take Dad into the hardware store/marine store to see if they had a belt that would fit. Dad came back empty handed but had arranged a tow into Black sound harbor, staying on the anchor without engine power would be too risky. We came up with two plans. The couple that had taken Dad into the hardware store had a friend flying into Marsh Harbour from Miami - they sent him a text asking him to pick up a fan belt in Marsh at the local NAPA. There wasn't much hope for this though, the flying friend in question would have to receive the text before takeoff, while he still had service. The second plan was for the owner of the tow company to pick up a fan belt while he was in Marsh Harbour tomorrow. This second plan had a higher chance of success but it would put off our departure for at least two more days and by then our weather window to cross the gulf might be closed. Dad and I began calling every marina and every hardware store on every island we have been to in the Bahamas. No one could help us, no one had the right fan belt. Most disheartening was when we called the NAPA in Marsh Harbour and they didn't have the belt either. That was the worst news. We began thinking that we would have to get a belt shipped over from the states which would take at least a week. I know, I know, we got ourselves stuck in the Bahamas boo hoo, we are so unlucky but once you have your heart set on leaving you get this fever that nothing but the road can cure. Trying to make the best of it I took out the paddle board, got on, and barely began to paddle away when a voice came over the radio calling "Second Wind." It was the boaters we had met this morning with the friend flying in from Miami. He had found a auto store with the fan belt we needed. Things could not have turned out better.
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