We left Highborne Cay Marina around 4pm. The marina allowed us to stay beyond the noon checkout so that we could exit the narrow channel entrance at slack tide (due to the strong current) ... which is something we are taking seriously since we passed a sailboat hard aground at the inlet as we were coming in two days ago. The other nerve-wrecking part of our exit involved just getting out of the slip because we were tucked into the very corner of two piers, with a huge, 157ft mega yacht right behind us. Hated the thought of leaving paint on their white hull! Fortunately, our neighbors were there to hold onto our stern line as Dan backed Maja out of the slip, guaranteeing that we’d go to port rather than starboard (towards the yacht!). Captn Dan did a masterful job at the helm and all went as planned ... we didn’t even need help with our lines … but I still thanked everyone who came out to protect their stern during our exit!
Short day today as we are only going 10 miltes to Roberts Cay, where we will stage for our 50 mile crossing to Royal Island tomorrow. Being on the water again proved our belief that it’s definitely cooler outside of the marina. We had a pleasant sail and a wonderful night in the cockpit as the full moon brightened up the starlight sky.
Friday, May 20th
Anchor up at 8:30 and time to say goodbye to the Exumas as we passed thru Ships Channel Cay. The weather is great … all squalls appear to have passed us, and we have blue skies and puffy white clouds … this is Michelle’s kind of sky! We hope to sail most of the day on a beam reach with 10-15knots of south-easterly wind.
During this 50-mile trip, there will be 20 miles thru some heavily reefed water that is marked on the map with the ominous note: Visual Pilot Route -- Meaning that one of us will be perched on the bow sprit, watching for dark coral heads in the turquoise blue water.
Our timing was perfect for crossing thru the reef area (or I should really day “Dan’s timing was perfect b/c he set the course). We arrived at high noon with the sun directly overhead making it easy to read the black blobs in the 12-feet of aqua-green water. There’s no way to capture on film what the seascape looks like … it is like passing through a mine field … on all sides of us there are big and small dark reefs lurking under the water for as far as we can see. Fortunately, all the matters is the path directly in front of us, and with the motor on, it was easy to slalom through the field.
After about an hour of this, I went back to making bread in the cabin and Dan went back to reading the study guide for taking the test for his Captains License (ye gads ... I suppose he’ll want to wear one of those hats with the gold braid on the brim ...) Around 3pm, we crossed thru Fleming Channel – the point where we went from the shallow banks to the deep water of the Tongue of the Ocean.
From 12 feet to over 200 feet!
Again, Dan has timed our route so that we will hit the channel at slack tide, helping us avoid the strong current that tends to want to stop a boat in its tracks while trying to clear the cut! Today, we will have passed through 3 bodies of water … the Exuma banks (lovely turquoise blue), the Exuma Sound (deep emerald green), and the Tongue of the Ocean (sapphire blue) … I shall sooooo miss these waters when we cross back to the USA.
what a thunderhead!!
We reached Royal Island, back in the Eleuthera at 6:30. 5 boats in the anchorage, but both the moorings were open, so we picked up one for the evening. We listened to MSNBC tonight on Sirius Radio and learned that the world will be ending tomorrow (FYI … there are definite advantages of being isolated from the news …) so maybe we should try and make it to “Hopetown Harbor” tomorrow!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Up at 6:00 am for the 60-mile passage today. By 6:30, we were clearing the mouth of the anchorage, leaving only one boat still at anchor.
By 8:30, we were out of sight of land and out in the deep blue ocean, with 13,000 feet of water under our keel! If the world ends today, we are at least going out on a beautiful one …. 10-15 knot north/east wind, beam reach, 3 foot swells …. Lovely conditions for a long day’s cruise. We are motor-sailing because of the distance; if we drop below 5 knots, then we risk getting into the Abacos/Lynyard Cay at Little Harbor after sunset.
Alas, the delightful sailing only lasted until noon. Then the wind died and the swells increased to 4-6 feet, making the last 4.5 hours of the passage hot and rolling. It is quite a sight, though, watching the long lines of swells come across the ocean off our beam, then lift us up, rock starboard to port and back again, and then continue off on their steady roll towards distant shores on the opposite side of our boat. Fortunately, the swells were spaced a good 10-seconds apart, so it wasn’t the rough ride we’ve had before, when the swells hit us at 2-second intervals.
Bummer – no fish though. Not even a nibble. And here we sit with an empty freezer.
Breaking waves on the reefs bordering the entrance to Little Harbor.
We arrived back in the Abacos around 4:30, with a smooth entry thru the cut at Little Harbor. We could see the swells breaking against the shore, and there was a steady line of breakers over the reef as we entered the harbor. Back to familiar territory now … and exhausted from the long day on the water. After 2 days of travel, we’ll hang here for a restful day at anchor on Sunday.
We are now done with two of our Bahama map books!
Sunday, May 22
Well, the world's still here, and we're hankful to have a beautiful world still around us. The forecast is for light winds today, so we plan to stay at Lynyard Cay for another day. The temp is 78deg, the seas are calm, so the conditions are perfect for snorkeling over at Sandy Cay. And today may be a good day a start varnishing teak and a few other projects we want to get done before returning to the states where it will be too hot to think about boat work … decisions decisions!
The snorkling at Sandy Cay was fantastic! The reef was well over 200feet long and quite deep in spots. When the sun shone thru the clouds, it was like turning on an underwater light -- all the colorful fish and reefs were visible in bright glory! We saw some elkhorn coral that must have been 30feet long! Simply amazing.
lovely lovely lovely water
Back on the boat, we nixed the idea of varnish work because there is such a coating of salt on the boat. So, after lunch, we decided to move on to Marsh Harbor. We need to renew our tourist permit by Tuesday, and we're out of mix for our rum drinks so time to find a grocery store! Since the wind was down, we took the inside route to Marsh Harbor ... 20 miles of twists and turns that reminded us of the ICW except that we were meandering thru islands instead of towns.
Anchor down at 7:00 pm, and it feels good to be back in familiar territory. And back to where we can subscribe to internet service (definitely one of the few things we miss from USA living!).
Two or three weeks longer in paradise and then we'll start looking for a weather window to cross back to the states.....
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