January 2012 - Crossing to the Bahamas

January 6.

After a flurry of boat projects during our last week in the marina (why a flurry of activity when we were here for a whole month, I cannot quite figure), we are ready to shove off early Saturday morning and head out.  After watching forecasts with good wind (15-20 knots) but seas of 8-12 feet, we've been waiting for milder conditions for the 120 mile trip.  It now looks like it will be a motor trip across the Gulf Stream and Bahama Banks as only 5-knots of wind is predicted, but along with that goes flat seas.  You pick your poison ... and we hope the trade off is worth it. 

The refrigerator is stocked, the fuel and water tanks are full, and we've made every repair we could think of ... so I guess this is the right time to go!

January 7

That's us ... leaving Ft Pierce towards our first way point on the Bahama banks.

8:30 a.m. and we are off on trip #2 to the Bahamas!  A beautiful day to start a cruise … blue skies, puffy clouds, but absolutely no wind.  It seems that to get a calm Gulf Stream crossing, you have to forsake good wind for sailing in order to get a mellow sea state.  Since the crossing is so long, you really don’t want the seas kicking the shit out of you.

Lovely day to start a passage!

Our crossing this year will be a longer route than last year (when we left from Lake Worth) even though our destination is the same – Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos.  Since the weather is predicted to remain calm thru the weekend, we are considering not stopping in Great Sale Cay (like we did last year) but going all the way to GTC.  This will bring the trip to around 36 hours.

 

 

 

The hardest part about getting to the Bahamas is the Gulf Stream … that river-within-the-ocean that runs south-to-north along the east coast, pushing a hefty 2.5-3.0 knots.  Today, the GS crossing was uneventful … except for the fact that the boat was incredibly rolly, even on a calm sea.  Not very comfortable; no sleeping.   The GS current brought our speed down from 6 knots to 4.5knots … But, we had a full moon all night!  Clear skies meant a brightly lit, beautiful night at sea.

Sunset - Day #1

A beautiful night for sailing

Sunrise Day #2

We reached the Bahama Banks at 10pm … too dark to see the turquoise water, but you could certainly tell we weren’t in Kansas anymore as the water was incredibly clear in the moonlight.  I had the 2am-6am shift, so I got to see the moon set and the sun begin to brighten the horizon … but Dan got the first peek at that famous water!  The water on the Bahama bank was like glass … you hardly felt the movement of the boat as we motored thru the water (which was a welcome relief). 

We arrived at Great Sale Cay at 7:30am, and decided to take advantage of the good weather and continue on to Green Turtle Cay.   Fortunately for us, the wind picked up and we enjoyed a wonderful sail with all 4 sails up for the last 4 hr stretch of the trip.   It was a nirvana when we could finally turn the engine off after 30+ hours ... the diesel vibrates to the bone.

This part made the whole trip worth it!

Anchor down at Green Turtle Cay at 5pm.

 

After several shots of Pussers Rum to celebrate our safe arrival, we were asleep by 9 p.m.

Monday, January 9^th.

After a thoroughly restful night’s sleep on a quiet sea, we put the dinghy in the water and went in to clear Customs.  After a few other errands, we were back on the boat by noon and sailing off to Great Guana Cay.  Last year, we were stuck in Green Turtle Cay for a week b/c high winds made the passage thru the reefs too hazardous, so we found it amazing that this year we did our business in GTC, cleared “The Whale” and anchored at Great Guana … all in one day … (sorry Mikel!).

We treated ourselves to dinner at Pirates Cove where they have free Internet, and spent the evening being sorely disappointed over the BCS championship game (forget the fact that I had money on LSU; the team didn’t even show up to give Alabama a decent game for the trophy).

Last year, there was a 100yr pier in front of Grabbers Bar, but it was destroyed last summer by Hurrican Irene.  That was the first sign of extensive damage that we've seen ... besides the two sailboats washed up on the shore....

 

With no pier, we dinghy to shore and bury the anchor in the sand.











Home Sweet Home!

 

Quiet night in the anchorage.

 

 Tuesday, January 10

Now for the unsettling part about cruising … a cold front is predicted to hit the Abacos overnight and have high winds (30 knots) and rain on Wednesday… with another 50% chance of rain on Thursday.  So where do you go to hide from the weather? Especially when the predictions vary re: the amount of wind and rain and thunder to expect. 

Basically you do the best you can with what you've got -- you listen to the reports; you study the maps; you look at possible anchorages; you consult the tide tables b/c some of the safest anchorages can only be entered at high tide; you talk to other cruisers; and then you point to the map and say ‘let’s go there’ …. and immediately start second-guessing that decision!   Probably one of the most frustrating decisions we have to make at times like this is whether to go into a marina or ride the storm out at anchor.  We prefer to anchor b/c it’s free (duh!), and it's really no treat to try and navigate our boat into a small marina with fixed pilings to mark the slip.  However, once there, you sure feel secure.  At anchor, the worry never lets up that the weather may be worse than predicted, our anchor may drag, another boat’s anchors may drag…. Basically, it can be an all-around drag!

 

Since we had a lovely, warm day for sailing in hand, we decided to leave Great Guana Cay and go to  to Marsh Harbor, on Grand Bahama Island.  Marsh Harbor has the biggest, securest anchorage in the Abacos and several marinas to pick from if the anchorage is full.  We need fuel, and we are also going to join the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club (membership comes with many discounts at marinas and services throughout the Bahamas) which will require a short bike ride to the other side of the island.  Plus, we’ll just have to stop at Maxwells Grocery b/c it’s such a freaking delight to find such a well-stocked grocery store in the Bahamas. 

ahhhhhhhhh.

After getting fuel in MH, we sat at the end of the fuel dock for 30 minutes trying to decide what to do next.  When the sky is clear blue and the wind non-existent, it’s hard to imagine that stormy conditions are lurking around the corner.  Since it was dead low tide, we decided to stay at the Marsh Harbor marina for the night, and delay the decision about anchoring until tomorrow, when we have a better idea of the weather.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

OK ... waiting a day did not help our situation at all.  We awoke to another beautiful day in paradise,  wondering where in the hell all the rain and high winds were .... and irritated that we spent money on a marina that we really did not need  (well.... I guess Internet and showers are some consolation!).   To make matters worse, the weather report only pushed the prediction for "really nasty weather in the Abacos" from Wednesday to Thursday.  #$%^&#%.  So, what now?  Do you believe the Marine Weather Center and change plans again?? (which now impacts our intent to leave the Abacos on Friday and head to the Exumas).  Does that mean our one night in the marina could easily stretch to 3 nites?   What do you do?  For us, it ended up meaning one more night in the marina. And we find ourselves seriously wishing for a big blow with LOTS of rain!

This is the reason cruising sailors talk non-stop about the weather ...
It is what it is. 

Whether we are are here one day or 5, we'll take the first weather window and head south.  First, a    30- mile passage on the ocean (yah! we can try fishing) to Lynyard Cay at Little Harbor, and then a long 60-mile crossing to Royal Island in Eleuthera.  There, depending on weather, we may island hop down the Eleuthera chain to the Exumas, or take the more direct route (which we did last year and know that it involves piloting though a mine field of coral reefs). 


P.S.
Internet service is going to be much more sketchy this year than 2011. We can only subscribe to Internet in the Abacos, and we don't plan to be in this area long enough to make a short-term contract worthwhile.  When we are in the central and southern Bahamas, we will only have access to Internet cafes, so we'll update our travels whenever we get the opportunity.