Half way through the Abacos, Chapter 6

We prepared for sailing to the Bahamas on Thursday March 9, 2017 from Lake Worth.  We topped off all of our fuel and water at the Riviera Beach Marina in Lake Worth.  We took a quick cruise out of the Inlet so we could have the route marked on our chart plotter in the event it was still dark when we left.  We anchored just inside the Palm Beach inlet.  We got the sails uncovered and the boat ready for sailing.  We woke up at 5:00 AM on Friday the 10^th and were leaving the Inlet at 5:45 AM.  It was still pretty dark but all was lit up and it went well.  The winds were light and variable but managed to fill our sails to assist the diesel engine in propelling us to our destination at West End, Grand Bahamas.  We arrived at West End at approximately 1500 hours which was about 1 hour sooner than expected.  We had heard varied experiences with Customs and Immigration.  It was very simple.  We did take a firearm and of course reported it.  They never asked us about alcohol or other ship stores.  We did not offer any information that they did not ask about.  For the most part they just wanted their $300 dollars.  We did decide to spend our first night in the slip at West End because we had arrived in the afternoon and secure anchorages we had read about were several hours away.  Because of the hurricane last year in the Bahamas, the slip only charged $1.00 per foot per night.  They did not have electricity or other amenities yet because of the hurricane. This was very reasonable.  We met 3 boats of people that had left Palm Beach that morning as well.   During the night Steve heard a strange noise and went out to find that the tide had dropped so low that the boat was almost suspended from it’s mooring lines, fortunately no damage was done and he was able to retie all ropes. 

The wind had picked up during the night.  The winds were much stronger than forecasted.  Many of those in the slips had decided to stay rather than leave.  We decided to push off and continue with our journey at 9:30 AM.  We were very happy that we did this.  We had about 12 knots of wind and were able to sail and fish off the stern.  We were in anywhere from 1500 to 5000 feet of water.  We were able to sail at about 6 knots. We had a very large fish that broke our line before we got it in.   We didn’t get to see what it was but it would have been too big for us to keep!  At home when we catch a fish we hope it is a big one, here we hope it is a small one that we can justify killing as there is just the two of us and limited freezer space. We did catch a large barracuda but did not keep it.  We sailed for about 4 hours before entering the Little Bahama bank through the Memory Rock passage, to get to our next anchorage.  Our boat drafts deep enough that this is the first safe passage north of West End.  Because of water depth and wind we had to motor into the Little Bahama Bank.  The depth was for the most part between 10 and 14 feet.  We decided to anchor off of the south side of Mangrove Cay.  It was incredible.  We had a clear sky and a beautiful Full Moon.  We watched the sun disappear into the ocean and then the full moon rise and keep the sky lit up during the night.  It was probably the most beautiful sky we have ever seen. 

We left Mangrove Cay at about 8:30 AM.  At this point we were in the Sea of Abaco.  The beautiful turquoise waters are like none I have ever seen.  Again we had fair winds but we needed to make some miles.  We put up full sail and sailed for about 4 hours.  We then had to begin motoring to get to a safe anchorage.  We fished the entire day but did not produce any fish for dinner.  I think my optimism for 5-7 times per week will have to be adjusted.  We found a beautiful anchorage on the North West side of Great Sale Cay.  Again there were Dolphins that greeted us and again I missed my Photo opportunity.  It will happen I promise!  As we came into the bay there was a small rain storm that is probably part of the cold front coming in. The bay was a beautiful one.  We assembled the Dinghy for the first time of the trip.  We took the dinghy to shore and walked the beach.  The beach had some sand and some iron shore.  There were hoofed prints on the beach.  Some of the Islands in the Abaco’s have pigs ashore.  We did not see any animals just hoofprints.  It was another beautiful, peaceful night on the anchor.  Steve and I are getting pretty good at setting the anchor.

On March 13^th we left Great Sale Cay at about 8:30.  Steve listens to weather reports every morning  before we depart and monitors the tide charts daily.   We get free reports every morning at 6:30 am on our SSB radio (the marine equivalent of HAM). We had winds out of the South East at about 10-15 knots.  Again we did a mixture of sails and motoring.  Steve was looking for an anchorage that would protect us from the SE during the night and the NW in the early morning.  He found Crab Cay and according to the charts you typically anchor on the SE side.  Because of the winds we anchored on the NW side in about 10-15 feet of water.  There were 3 boats anchored in the anchoring  spot marked on the charts in a harbor on the SE side.  True to the forecast the 3 boats got blown into the harbor by morning.  They were not damaged but I am certain they had a scary night on anchor. The wind went from south at 15 to 30 plus from the west during the night as a cold front passed. Our anchor held firm.

March 14, 2017, according to Chris Parker the weather forecaster that Steve tunes into on the SSB, the next 2 days will be a windy, potentially uncomfortable time with 35 knot gust winds from many directions.  We really want to get to the Whale cut ASAP.  We decided to motor down the Sea of Abaco and get out of the wind.  However, once we got moving with the strong tail wind, we were able to sail at over 7 knots with only a scrap of sail out.  We had a wonderful sail for about 4 hours before pulling into White Sound on Green turtle Cay.  We decided to get a slip at the Green turtle Club marina.  We could take advantage of the amenities like showers, pools and top off water and fuel and it is relatively inexpensive.   Turtle Cay is about a 3 mile long Island.  All of the people we have met here are very nice.  We took about a 5 mile walk on the beaches.  All of the buildings are painted in very bright colors. There are stray cats, chickens and roosters all over the Island.  We took the dinghy for a couple mile trip over to Black sound to shop and see more of the Island.  The beaches are beautiful.   We will spend a another day here, snorkeling, hiking and beach combing  before heading on.

                                                            The Beaches of Green Turtle Cay