Krogens in the Exumas

We have run across a few other Krogens on our way south, Grand Adventure now in Rum Cay heading to T & C, 'Puffin' now in Georgetown, beginning to travel north, 'Muddy Waters' and 'Sea Fox' in Georgetown I believe. We saw them in Nassau a few weeks back.  We also spoke to Manatee 'Second Star', a very handsome restoration, last seen at Shroud Cay.  We saw a pair of 42's, 'Broulee' and 'Big Run', at Norman's Cay, north bound.  We also know 'Bodacious' has headed south and 'Cocoon II' is in the area but we have not seen or met them yet.  We are slowly moving south, really slowly, so anyone on their way over should easily catch us before Georgetown.  Ray & Bonnie on 'Crackerjack' are on their way this week; more Krogens & kayaks, bring 'em on!  It really is "Better in the Bahamas".

Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park

We have been at Warderick Wells in the North Mooring Field the last few days.  Great place! It's wonderful to see this area protected. Great snorkeling, (huge grouper swimming alongside us, cautious but also curious).  We saw snapper, grunts, parrot fish, angel fish, monstrous spiny obsters and more.  In the mooring field, which is really a narrow "cut", we have large jacks (horse eye?) and a 4' nurse shark under the boat just holding in the current.  The beaches arre beautiful. There are numerous hiking trails, blow holes (very cool). We're meeting people and having fun!  Plan to stop here for a few days if you are coming this way.

Maxwell Windlass Part II

We got an e-mail from Tom at Kadey Krogen, seems there was some confusion (likely on my part).  Even though Maxwell doesn't cover the R & R of the windlass Krogen says on a new boat they would have taken care of this. Maybe we just needed to be more proactive. These guys continue to impress us, the support from Krogen is real and ongoing. Kudos.  Once again we are happy we bought a boat from these people (we owned another boat previously that had all kinds of issues and neither the dealer nor manufacturer wanted to hear from us).

On to the windlass, OK, suffice it to say getting it apart was not too difficult except for the circlip inside the housing that must be removed so that you can pull the shaft to get the same housing off.  Confused??  Maxwell gives very specific instructions on maintenance but does not make routine maintenance an easy task. You have to go through this routine even if you just want to check the gear oil level!  I did talk to Maxwell and found out that my negligence may have contributed to the oil leak.  The clutches were starting to "stick" due to the grease drying up (my fault) and this causes a torque on the bolts that came loose.  Solution, clean and grease the clutches at least every 2-3 months and maybe every month.  Tear down the complete windlass once a year (requires the removal of the very awkward circlip), clean, grease and apply corrosion protection as per the Maxwell manual.  We used Lanacote, T-9 and CRC.  Lots of it. 

Good luck!