After a few windy days hunkered down in a marina on the south side of Providenciales, we headed out for a run back up around to the north side of the island. Between the south side, and the north side, we were able to make a nice stop on the west side. Last time through here we just grabbed a dive mooring, but this time we snuggled up tighter to shore and dropped anchor. We spent a couple nice nights there, with the winds howling out of the east, but no swell managing to wrap itself around to mess with us.
The kids have these watches that have some sort of game on them that measure their movements. They think it’s great fun to run around the boat 20, 50, 100 times, in order to win some sort of “award”, and we’re not about to dissuade them.
Turks and Caicos are absolutely littered with wrecks. And it’s easy to see why. There is virtually nothing on these islands to provide protection from any sort of weather. Even the moderate twenty to twenty-five knot winds we have had leave us scrambling to find any sort of safe refuge.
Not exactly a sailing dinghy, but sort of.
More wrecks.
From the west side, we moved to Grace Bay on the north side. This is where all the resorts are at. Bumfuzzle was on full display.
We didn’t care for that anchorage much, so we moved further around the island in an effort to get away from the tourist hoards. This was much more our style, but we were still bombarded by day-tour-boats, and the swell was wrapping around the island and giving us a good whack, too. A back anchor put most of that to rest, but it still wasn’t an ideal spot, though the kids found a fun place to set up house in the rocks.
Burying the back anchor. With this boat, for some reason, I find myself doing this all the time. Maybe not so much because of the boat, as because of my unwillingness to put up with any sort of unnecessary rocking. It’s amazing what this little anchor and five minutes of my time can do.
As if to prove that despite all these years on boats, I could still be an idiot, I went and ran over our dinghy line. When we pulled away from our anchorage Lowe said, “Papa, the dinghy is floating away.” Gotta give the kid credit for noticing, because I most likely would have been miles away before I looked back and though, “Huh, where’s the dinghy?”
9 Comments on “From Wreck to Wreck”
Compared to the Spindthrift (or whatever it was called) you guys seem to be doing really well mechanically with the GB. The Transmission has been the only big one. That must feel really nice. Love the pics! Cheers
When we bought the Spindrift we were taking a chance (and a great deal!) that it was a good boat, as the engine hadn’t been started in years and the compartment was filled with water. She was/is a great boat and just needed some attention. The people that bought her from us, still have her and I still think she is running great without engine replacement. Owen, have you had many engine issues on Poobah (or Bumfuzzle II to us)??
And oh yeah, that tranny on the GB cost us more than we ever spent on the Spindrift engine…
with a family of four….that is one “tidy” galley!! goodonyas.
blessings to you and yours,
scott
That is a galley underway. When at anchor/dock it does have more on the counters including hand soap (yuck kids!), snacks and family of four mess.
Yes! I’ve used the “shirt on a stick” sail in the Keys a few times while kakaying. Perfect for a leisurely downwind sail. 🙂
Lowe is excited about hurricane season just because we said we would find him a cool sailing dinghy all his own. I think an umbrella would have worked better.
Hows the weather down there? Looks like it could be getting sporty to say the least. Hope all is well and stay safe
Blustery. We were planning on a week stay, it turned into 5 weeks as winds were 20+ the entire time. It changed our entire hurricane/off-season plans.
Heh . . . really nice conflation of “spindrift” and “spendthrift” there, Edan. It conjures up several ideas that relate to the carefree lifestyle associated with island cruising as well as the commonly held notion among the non-boating public that you have to be a spoiled trust fund brat to be a “yachtie.”
As far as the good fortune Pat and Ali are enjoying with their Grand Banks mechanically, its initial meticulous building and subsequent close attention to maintenance have everything to do with it. The Spindrift had suffered from years of neglect before Ali and Pat rescued it, and it would have taken a long time and great expense to get it anywhere near the level the GB was already in when they found it.
TJ