Meandering Magees: West End and Back to Florida

Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Day 381
71 miles to North Palm Beach Florida

Before going to West End we knew we would be there 3 or 4 days because of high winds, which was exactly the case. I know I keep saying it was a windy day, but then the next would be even more so. For example: Knowing a storm was coming, we put extra lines on the boat Sunday night to keep the boat from hitting the dock. Monday morning, early riser Mike saw the wind direction had changed. The wind was now blowing us away from the dock and it was so strong he could not pull the boat over to get off to readjust the lines. He had to wake up Greg and I to help do so.

But those conditions did not stop us from enjoying the Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina. With pastel colored condos, manicured lawns, pool and beach, this resort is an attractive destination.

I made use of the complimentary bikes and rode into the settlement of West End three times – about 1 ½ miles each way. That distance could have been a thousand miles with the stark difference in the landscape. Hurricane Matthew devastated West End and it really has not recovered. There is a small grocery store and I was looking to buy more lettuce. (no luck).

I had to make two trips to the post office as it was closed the first time I biked to town. (only open on Tuesdays and Fridays).

The Health Clinic, police station, small grocery store and Government offices were

about the only buildings that were functional

Greg and I walked to the rocky beach on the south side of the island on Monday in search of sea glass. That is broken bottles that get tumbled by waves and rocks until the edges are smooth. At low tide, the pieces are easy to pick up off the sand.

This was a subdivision that was next to Old Bahama Bay that we walked through on our

way to sea glass beach.

To me, it looked a street in Florida!

We may have to dub our Loop journey the “Poop Loop”. In 2016 the problem was we couldn’t get one of the holding tanks to pump out. This time, there was only one Bahamian marina that had pump out services. That was back in Hope Town. We found what we thought were the valves to open to do an overboard discharge. We tried it on the run from Green Turtle Cay to West End. (That meant me down in the engine room, while the boat was running, with cotton in my ears, opening the valve handles while Mike stood in the back of the boat to see if anything was flowing out into the water, and Greg up top driving.) That was all for naught, as it didn’t work.

Steve and Debbie from Gypsies Palace were also at Old Bahama Bay and Steve spent most of Sunday with Mike and Greg getting into hatches and exposing the plumbing to try to figure out if indeed, True North did have overboard discharge capability. The short answer is no. At one time, we believe it did, but the system was disabled by the previous owner (Canadian). That is our best theory.

All that to say, for our last 3 days in the Bahamas, the men had to squeak up and join the mouse as we knew the tanks were close to full so we couldn’t use the toilets on the boat. We were now all using the marina bathroom facilities.

To thank Steve for his help, we had he and Debbie over for dinner Sunday night. Mike grilled brats as Debbie and I took on Steve and Greg in a game of euchre and I introduced Debbie to Shut The Box. Monday night we all dined on Gypsies Palace, with Debbie making Skyline Chili from Ohio over spaghetti. Tuesday night we were back on True North. Mike grilled pork wings and the euchre game resumed, with the guys winning the rubber match.

Also on Tuesday, I declared an end to training camp and lined up all my sea shells to see which ones were going to make the cut. Which ones were going to find good homes back in the United States. (residing with children and grandchildren).

All the weather reports indicated Wednesday would be a good day to cross back over the Gulf Stream to Florida. The guys wanted to add 100 gallons of fuel to be on the safe side and we planned on being at the fuel dock when it opened at 8 am. Others had the same idea, mainly smaller fishing boats and the dock was tied up until almost 9. True North left her last Bahamian port at 9:15.

It was a relatively smooth trip and we reached the Lake Worth inlet to enter the Florida intercoastal waterway at 12:15. We did have 5 to 6 foot rollers that were about 4 seconds apart, but they were coming on our starboard (right) side and True North handled them great.

Another hour at less than 10 mph on the ICW meant that we got tied up at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach at 1:30. And immediately asked for a pumpout!! You have to be thankful for the big things, too . . .