Carnival

And so, my education in marine diesel mechanics continues.  When the engine died on the way to Little San Salvador island I would have bet money on the problem being with the #1 twin fuel filter.  We were in pretty rough seas sailing windward and getting tossed around quite a bit.  It made sense that any algal gunk left in the fuel tank after our "scrubbing" job may have become suspended and sucked into the filter, thus clogging it.  No problem, we'd just flip the lever to run the fuel through the #2 twin and be up and running again.  No such luck.  Meanwhile, we were getting pretty hammered, pounding into boat-stopping waves. We really needed the engine to help cut through the swells to maintain any kind of momentum.  To make matters worse, Wren was seasick.  Actually, we were all feeling quite green around the gills.  We sailed on without the diesel, tacking our way across Exuma Sound in 6 foot swells at an average speed of 3.8kn.  After a grueling 11 hour day, we finally arrived at our anchorage well after dark, and dropped anchor under sail.  The ocean swells continued, even on the hook.  Kiawah rocked, sometimes violently, side to side all night long. Setting a stern anchor to orient the boat perpendicular to the swells would have fixed the problem but the outboard for the dinghy was up on deck and lowering it in such swells in the dark was not an option.  We needed the dinghy to set the anchor out away from the boat.  Luckily, the girls were oblivious to the chaos and were sleeping soundly in the v-berth.  Scott and I, however, were awake pretty much the entire night, jumping up periodically to stow things that were rattling or keep pots and pans from crashing to the floor.  The morning offered little relief.    Our spirits were lifted by the view of a gorgeous crescent shaped beach, with shade trees and... what?  Were those hammocks and lounge chairs?!   Clearly we must have been hallucinating.  We couldn't wait to get our feet on solid ground and recover from a crazy 24 hours.  Maybe then we could think clearly and troubleshoot the engine problem.

Turns out, not all that long ago, Little San Salvador was purchased by the Holland America Cruise Line  Company and renamed Half Moon Cay.  After which, they proceeded to turn the remote island paradise into a "daytime delight" of activities for their guests (and also Carnival Cruise Line guests), complete with jet skis, parasail boats, banana rides,  jacuzzis, horseback rides, "swim with the rays" tank, and netted swim areas.  We read aloud from our cruiser's guide, "individuals from private yachts are welcome to anchor in Half Moon Cove but are asked not to come ashore until the cruise ship has departed".  Just then, as if on cue, a cruise ship lumbered into view on the horizon.  A huge, 2,000 passenger cruise ship.  We watched in disbelief as it got closer and closer and an army of ferry boats screamed out of the tiny inner harbor to transport guests to their tropical paradise for a day of fun.  Our hearts sank.  We watched the ship grow larger and larger and finally drop its Kiawah-sized anchor.   The ocean swells were only ripples on a pond to this giant.  However,  the smaller ferry boats were getting tossed around quite a bit and after several attempts trying to tie up to the mother ship they decided to abort the mission, deeming it unsafe for their customers to disembark. 

Now, we are not mean or evil people.  And we certainly would never want to intentionally deny anyone the pleasure of spending the day at beautiful Half Moon Cay, but the joyous cheers that erupted from Kiawah's foredeck at the moment the cruise ship pulled her anchor to leave could certainly could have been interpreted as such.

We had the island paradise all to ourselves! After spending the morning on the beach, recuperating, we returned to Kiawah to work on the engine.  After checking the filters for clogs using the process of elimination (and lots of paper towels) it became clear that the problem stemmed from air being trapped in the fuel line.  Of course!  When the engine kicked out we were heeled up quite high to port with only a half tank of diesel.  The fuel intake is on the starboard side.  You know what they say about hindsight.  Scott bled the line and the engine started right up. 

We headed back to the beach and spent the afternoon hanging out with a great family from a boat named Fata Morgana.  Mira and Evo were live aboard cruisers who had a 10 year old girl, Maya, and a 16 year old boy, Vicktor.  Of course the girls hit it off instantly.  This family had quite an interesting story.  After selling their home in Canada, they purchased and outfitted a modest sized catamaran.  The Bulgarian born couple had no prior sailing experience.  They'd spent the last 6 months cruising Central America and Cuba and had more stories than most people accrue in a lifetime.  I can't possibly begin to do their story justice here.  Their blog is well worth a read (and our family makes an appearance in the post entitled "burger paradise: part two".  Check it  out at: TheLifeNomadik.com.  We are looking forward to following their travels.

As luck would have it, Fata Morgana had spent several days at the Half Moon anchorage and had befriended several of the local Bahamians that worked on the island.  They knew the ropes.  They informed us that the island staff welcomed cruisers ashore, even when the ship was in, to use the beach and even partake in the afternoon buffet!  We were happy to oblige.  We spent three days on the island, hanging out with our new fascinating friends, and eating buffet every day at noon.  

Maya and Evo join us for buffet

Before

After

Wild chickens enjoying the freshly raked beach

Scott contemplates selling Kiawah and returning to Maine on a cruise ship

Kiawah and Carnival

Scott and Evo went fishing with one of the island workers one afternoon and came back with a veritable smorgasbord of marine edibles.  We gathered on Fata that evening for a feast of lobster and fish. 

   

After three days at Half Moon Cay, feasting and relaxing, we decided to take advantage of a good weather window to move south to Cat Island.  We were excited when Fata Morgana decided to join us in this adventure.

By the way, we all agreed.  Carnival Cruise Lines has much better food than Holland America.