Just a few thoughts for anyone intended to follow our path. Hi, Bob and Robin.
Anchors: the most important item. Rocna or Manson is the way to go, with a CQR or Danforth as a second anchor, though two Rocna's would be ideal. At least a 120 feet of chain. A really good snubber set up (thank you John, your system is brilliant).
Dinghy: 4 to 9hp motor is ideal. A small Danforth or similar anchor with lots of rode is essential. Being swept through a cut at 4 to 6 knots is exciting but only when you want to. It's really important to carry the following: hand held GPS with anchor point of the boat as a way point, really good oars, handheld radio, flares, water, basic first aid kit, sun cream, spare hat and glasses, survival blanket, some food, a mirror (to check your hair), handheld compass, a container for all this securely tied to the dinghy. Having a long painter for tying up at dinghy dock is really useful. Tie the dinghy to the side of the boat at anchor with two lines, not at the back as dinghies can drift or be 'borrowed' more easily that way.
Fuel: carry lots of spare Racor filters and filter all fuel with a Bahia filter. This drives the marina operator crazy but ignore it, as we did on one occasion and your motor stops in big seas off the coast, not fun. Be careful about using Biocide, that stuff is really, really toxic, a little is all you need. Carry spare engine oil and do all the regular maintenance changes. We have met so many people with basic engine problems.
Water: a really good rain collection system. With Bounty we have been able to fill our tanks two or three times with lovely fresh tasting rainwater. It doesn't rain much in the Bahamas, so any rain water is a bonus.
Navigation: a Depth sounder is really important. Also using Visual Piloting Rules as even the most up to date charts are wrong in places. In open water avoid plotting your course exactly on the line between way points. We have nearly run over twice by large vessels on auto pilot. There is a tendency to follow the waypoints like lemmings. AIS is fantastic, better than radar.
Explorer charts are the best and we have found Stephen J Pavlidis' guide to the Exuma Guide invaluable for finding out of the way places.
Anchoring: other boats can be a real problem as they like anchor really close to you and don't seem to do an anchor watch in poor conditions. The squalls tend to come through at two or three in the morning and this can cause some sleepless moments. Don't be afraid to ask people to move if they anchor too close, even if they get stroppy about it.
Weather Forecasts: everyone follows Chris Parker and this tends to lead to everyone leaving and arriving all at the same time. He is good but it is better to build your own idea using the barometer, the clocking of the wind, which follows a regular pattern here, the type of cloud, as well as modern aids.
Sailing: lots of on the wind sailing which is great here. Have good sails for windward work.
Food: stock up on cans, dried milk powder (Nandos, Nestle are good brands), paper towels, meat, chocolate, biscuits, toilet paper, batteries, cereals. We have found it easy to get canned juice, most veggies, sodas and spirits are really cheap, especially the rum and gin but wine is generally expensive and uncommon. The basics are there in most of the small stores and they sell lovely Irish butter. Cheese is often hard to come by and avocados are a treat if you can find them.
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