Bahama Prep
January 3, 2023
Excited to be home on Bistari after four weeks of holiday cheer with family and friends, we arrived knowing a busy week was ahead.
Our plan was to keep Bistari on the canal dock for a few more days to provision, clean and prep her for passage, and then move to Sunrise Bay anchorage and wait for a favorable weather window to sail to the Bahamas. Ft Lauderdale does not allow overnight stays on canal boats, so we checked into a hotel each night, returned each morning to clean, do laundry, grocery shop, replace hull zincs and problem solve.
Yep, problem solving was again on our list. Bistari was hooked up to shore power, but we were not getting 110 in our outlets. Ken worked down the list of probable causes and determined it was the inverter, which converts DC 12 volt to AC 110 volt. It is also the conduit to charge the battery. With a faulty inverter we had no way to charge our battery while offshore or at anchor.
Fortunately, Dave, the diver replacing our zincs under the boat had an electrician friend, Connor Green who worked on all size boats including super yachts. We were grateful he was able to come that evening to confirm we needed a new inverter. He was able to source an inverter, but it was in Ft. Meyer - across the state. The next morning, I rented a car, drove to Ft Meyer and back as a proud owner of a brand new inverter. Ken was able to install it that evening. Thankfully with just one lost day and a lighter pocketbook we were now back to our boat prep list.
Taking advantage of rental car mobility we made a three cart Costco run and a two cart Whole Foods run.
Jan 7
With preparations complete we once again travelled the New River through seven bridges to anchor in Sunset Bay. Our Chicago friends, Mary and Bill Witkewicz were arriving on Tuesday to join us for the cruise to the Bahamas.
We had two last provision runs - Publix Grocery and Pineapple Scuba for snorkel, fin, mask and fishing reel run. Publix was a two cart and one wagon haul. Provisioning for three months is tricky. We’ve heard prices in the Bahamas are double or more than State prices I know we’ve missed certain items, we’re just not sure what!
Our friend Steve Lee and his son Colin own Pineapple Scuba in Ft. Lauderdale and were able to help us select a mask, snorkel and fins. Steve graciously offered to recertify Ken’s diving license but unfortunately with the day lost to invertor replacement he was unable to do it on this trip.
Thank you, Colin and Steve - Pineapple Scuba in Ft. Lauderdale.
I bet Paprika3 our receipe, grocery app has never seen these pantry locations!
Port cabinet
Frig lower
Frig upper
Freezer lower
Freezer upper
Center cabinet
Dining pedestal
Garage
Forward cabin drawer
Starboard bench aft
Starboard fore cabinet
Starboard bench forward
Checking off the list
Laundry
Defrost Frig
Defrost Freezer
It took a full year to buy a reel.
Guess what we did first day of passage!
Boat prep complete and ready to go.