Rock Sound Harbour - Weather Day
The wind
increased through the night and we decided to hole up for a day waiting for
calmer conditions before venturing out into the Exuma Sound. It appeared as though all of the boats
anchored with us felt the same as we saw no one leave the anchorage. The forecast for tomorrow is much
better. Winds less than 15 knots and waves
less than 2 feet.
Alabaster Bay to Rock Sound Harbour
We raised
the anchor at 0945 to begin making our way to Rock Sound Harbour which was
about 30 miles further south. The wind
forced us to take a close hauled tack for about an hour and a half before we
could tack again to head further south beating our way to Rock Sound. The winds initially were in the mid-teens and
we were sailing along nicely at about 5 ½ knots. We put our poles out to see if we could catch
a few fish along the way. It wasn’t long
before we landed our first mackerel. In
less than an hour, we had three mackerel aboard.
Glass Window Bridge to Alabaster Bay
It was
another beautiful morning. We had a
leisurely breakfast. Hakuna Matata was underway at 0900. We weighed anchor an hour later. There was a
breeze from the south strong enough to move us along at 4 knots. We set out our fishing lines and had one good
strike just before noon. Dwayne worked
the fish for a good five minutes before it was able to throw the hook. It was exciting while it lasted.
Royal Island to Glass Window Bridge
We weighed
anchor at 0900 so as to arrive at Current Cut at slack tide. All but 5 boats had already left the
anchorage which was surprising. They all
must be heading someplace other than south or they’d have to pass through Current
Cut at other than slack tide. Water
flows through the cut at high speeds during tidal flows. At times, the currents have been reported to
have been as much as 6 knots which is about as fast as Foreign Affair can go under power.
One’s experience in passing through the cut is directly related to the
tidal state and weather. Timing passage through the cut is very important for a
smooth ride just as it is for New York City’s East River or Long Island Sound’s
“The Race” or “Plum Gut”. We went
through the cut without any difficulty as the weather was perfect and as was
our timing.
Spanish Wells to Royal Island
We made
final preparation for moving to Royal Island for the night. Dwayne and Frank borrowed a couple of wagons
and headed off to get diesel since the marina had no fuel dock. Carla and Carol went to buy groceries since
this might be the last “super market” we see until we get to Nassau in three or
four weeks. Carla also filled our water
tanks with 50 gallons of water at 50 cents a gallon. We cast off at 1100 with the help of Frank
and Carol.
Spanish Wells Day 4 - On The Beach
Today was a
beach day. Spanish Wells has a wonderful
beach on the northern and western shores of St. Georges Cay. The wind was still blowing 10 – 15 miles per
hour; however, it was warm enough to enjoy time in the sun on the beach. Dwayne read for about an hour while Carla
strolled the sands looking for shells, sand dollars and other objects of
interest. She found a live star fish
along the edge of the water as the tide was ebbing. Carol joined us later in the afternoon and
Dwayne began making his way back to the marina by following the beach around
the western end of the island.
Spanish Wells Day 3
Carla made
us a wonderful breakfast of blueberry pancakes and glazed ham caramelized with
butter, apple juice and maple syrup. After breakfast, we went to the
local museum and had a very informative presentation by the
volunteer docent. She is a Canadian who
has been wintering here for over 15 years.
Spanish Wells
Waves
slapped Foreign Affair’s stern all
night long and the wind sang through the rigging. The winds did not let up and constantly blew
in the 20s with gusts in the 30s. When
you hear the ferry service to Nassau and Harbour Island are cancelled, you know
it is not a good day to venture out of the safety of the marina. There was a
slight but still possible chance that this front was going to generate a named
tropical storm. We got some more
neighbors during the day. Cedar Island pulled in behind us and
took up the remaining 100+ feet on our face dock.
Royal Island to Spanish Wells
It was very
calm in the Royal Island anchorage when we woke. The sun was shining bright and we leisurely
drank our morning coffee in the cockpit.
A couple of sea turtles appeared and circled Foreign Affair. It was a
fabulous morning. It was also the calm
before the storm.
Lynyard Cay to Royal Island
Hakuna Matata was
underway by 0650 and headed toward the first waypoint. Others in the anchorage were beginning to
prepare to get underway. The journey
south was beginning. Conditions for
negotiating the Little Harbour Cut could not have been much better as there was
a breeze of at best 5 knots, the tide was changing from ebb to flood and the
long period swells were perhaps 5 feet with no waves. It was a no stress passage through the narrow
gap between the rocks and reefs with the sun rising on the horizon. It was a beautiful morning.
Little Harbour to Lynyard Cay
We woke in
time for the Abaco Cruisers’ Net which is broadcast at 0815 each morning. It is a primary source for a weather report
and information of interest to cruisers in the Abacos. We could hear the weather report loud and
clear but missed most of the announcements from stations further north than
Hope Town. We were very pleased to hear
the forecast was for relatively mild sea conditions for those heading south to
Eleuthera or the Exumas.
Marsh Harbouir to Little Harbour
It was still
breezy when we woke in the morning; however, the forecast was for a decrease in
wind speed and wave height as the day progressed. We weighed anchor at 1000 which would give us
plenty of time to get to Little Harbour on a rising tide which we would need to
get over the sandbar at the harbor’s entrance.
Tahiti Beach to Marsh Harbour
The weather
was turning on us again. Winds clocked
to the west and eventually north. We
decided to seek refuge behind Marsh Harbour just off Boat Harbour Marina which
is where we weathered out the last cold front.
Hakuna Matata headed to the
Conch Inn Marina in Marsh Harbour.
Marsh Harbour (Conch Inn Marina) to Tahiti Beach
We departed
Marsh Harbour at about 11 headed to Tahiti Beach which is a run of about 12
miles. We were able to sail half the way
and then motored the remaining distance through shallow water averaging about 7
feet deep. Numerous sandbars made our
journey much longer than as-the-seagull-flies.
There were over a dozen boats already at anchor off the beach when we
arrived. We found a good spot among them
and the anchor grabbed right away. Hakuna Matata arrived shortly after we
anchored and took up a spot near us. We
launched our dingy and picked up Frank and Carol so we could explore the area.
Saint Patrick's Day - Marsh Harbour
In the
morning, Carla took in the laundry, washed down the boat and started working on
our stainless which is looking pretty sad.
Dwayne and Carol went over the charts planning for the crossing over to
Spanish Wells. It is another 60 mile open
ocean journey with no place to hide if the weather turns bad. We all went to Wally’s for lunch. The conch chowder was excellent and grouper
nanatu became a new favorite. Lime pie
served as dessert along with a tasty treat – a Gully Wash (Coconut Water,
Condensed Milk and Gin).
Marsh Harbour (Boat Harbour Anchorage) to Marsh Harbour Conch Inn Marina
We got a
break in the weather and went to Witch Point to try our hand at fishing. Frank and Carol anchored near us and brought
the bait. The location is listed as a
good spot for fishing as it is rocky and shallow. Frank fished off his boat. We took our dinghy to a spot very near the
rocks and anchored in 3 feet of water.
We used little minnow sized yellow fish for bait and a small gold
colored spoon without success. Frank
caught one small fish and returned it to the sea rather than use if for
bait. We all headed to the Marsh Harbour
Conch Inn Marina for the night. Tomorrow
we will participate in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.
Hope Town to Marsh Harbour (Boat Harbour Anchorage)
March 14
Another cold front is moving in from the north. The anchorage off Hope Town is being deserted due to the increasing size of the waves because of the long fetch created by the wind shift. We weighed anchor at 1030 when the waves grew to 2 - 3 feet. Several other boats were also beginning to move and by the time we got underway, there was only one boat left at anchor.
Another cold front is moving in from the north. The anchorage off Hope Town is being deserted due to the increasing size of the waves because of the long fetch created by the wind shift. We weighed anchor at 1030 when the waves grew to 2 - 3 feet. Several other boats were also beginning to move and by the time we got underway, there was only one boat left at anchor.
Hope Town
Frank and
Carol came over from Marsh Harbour and took a slip at the Lighthouse Marina. They got lucky as someone decided to vacate a
slip in the marina sooner than planned.
We remained anchored outside the harbor and brought our dinghy in once
they were settled. We were soon headed
up the stair of the lighthouse for an elevated view of the surrounding
area. It is amazing how far you can see even
when you are only 110 feet above the low lying cays and flat ocean. We took a number of pictures to include one
of Foreign Affair at anchor.
Man O War Cay to Hope Town
We departed
Man O’ War Cay on the ebb tide. We
entered Hope Town Harbour about 90 minutes later. The approach is well-marked and we had no
difficulty getting into the harbor. The
challenge was trying to find a vacant mooring.
We meandered our way through the very tight mooring field several times
without success. Claus on Silver Girl saw us and said we could
have his mooring as he was soon leaving.
We rafted along-side and moments later Truman, who manages the mooring
field arrived to tell us we couldn’t raft.
He also advised us the mooring was already assigned to a boat coming later
in the day and the captain had already paid for a month on the mooring. We then cast off and took a place at anchor
outside the harbor with about a dozen other boats. Hakuna
Matata headed over to Marsh Harbor to get a slip as all the slips were full
at Hope Town. Like Marathon in the
Florida Keys, people come here and stay for months at a time thus keeping the
marinas and moorings full..
Great Guana Cay to Man O War Cay
It is less
than 10 miles from Great Guana to Man O War.
We needed a little tidal help at both as the entrances are shallow. Fortunately, we didn’t have to leave too
early. We cast off our mooring at
0745. We were able to motor sail and
raced to stay ahead of a sqawl which caught us shortly after we tied to the fuel
dock at Man O’ War at 1000.
Marsh Harbour - Dentist
Carla’s
tooth was bothering her as the crown was moving some and irritating the
gum. We got up early to catch the 0800
ferry to Marsh Harbour to see the dentist again. On the ferry were people commuting to Marsh
Harbour for work, kids heading to school, vacationers needing to get to the
airport to fly home and others, like us, who had to tend to some other
matter. The school kids were all in
their uniforms. They were all well-behaved. Some were busy doing homework. Most were engaged in conversation. One girl nearly missed the ferry; however,
someone yelled to the ferry captain as he was pulling away from the dock and he
returned to pick up the tardy young lady.
She was very grateful to the captain and looked relieved to be
aboard. The ride to Marsh Harbour was
about 30 minutes long.
Great Guana Cay
We had
breakfast and took care of a few chores before heading off to join Frank and Carol
for a day on the beach. It was a short
walk to the Atlantic side of the island.
We found a great spot to plant ourselves not far from Nippers (another
well-known bar). We walked for miles in
the soft tan sand before and after lunch.
Carla and Carol collected sea shells.
The water colors were amazingly beautiful. The water was warmer than expected but not so
warm that you wanted to stay in it very long.
Also, the air temperature was not very hot and there was a good sea breeze
to keep us cool.
Treasure Cay to Great Guana Cay
We departed
Treasure Cay on a rising tide and had no difficulty in negotiating the
channel. We set our genoa as soon as we
reached deep water. There were still two
to three foot waves on the Sea of Abaco but they were hitting us at a 45 degree
angle as we sailed close hauled and tacked to Great Guana Cay. We decided not to put up the main as the
distance we had to travel was less than 10 miles as the seagull flies. The genoa was moving us along at 5 knots or
more. We hit 5.4 knots during one good
sustained gust of wind.
Weather Layover
Dwayne went
ashore right after the Abaco Cruisers’ Net broadcast. The rental car did not have to be turned in
until 11 AM and there was still some of Treasure Cay to explore. The tour lasted less than an hour as the road
was not very long and there wasn’t much to see but the up-scale houses built
along the waterfront. Dwayne headed back
to the boat after returning the rental car.
He worked on the blog some and ate lunch.
Marsh Harbor
We rented a
car to head off to Marsh Harbor so Carla could have a dentist examine her
damaged crown and afterward tour the settlement. The rental car was a Honda with the steering
wheel on the right side. It also had a
GPS system to help with navigation. The
challenge was all the controls were in Japanese and the female voice directing
our route was also fluent in Japanese but not bi-lingual. We did have a map; however, as we are
discovering, most roads have no name signs.
Asking for directions was also ineffective as people use landmarks as
reference points which we often missed resulting in our having to frequently
backtrack and consult with another local.
We eventually arrived at our destination albeit in a round-about manner.
Weather Layover
March 3
We were up
in time to hear the 0815 broadcast of the Abaco Cruisers’ Net and get the
weather report. At least three more days of winds in the high 20’s with gusts
in the 30’s were forecast. The Whale Cay
Cut had breaking waves of over 8 feet
and was impassable. Seas on the Atlantic
were 10 to 12 feet. No one was going
anywhere. Even the Sea of Abaco had
outsized waves. We were happy to be in a
small, well-protected harbor securely attached to a mooring. There was a light chop in the harbor which
made you go slow in the dinghy to avoid getting sprayed wet. Foreign
Affair was slewing from side to side on her mooring but not rocking and
rolling. We had been through much worse
conditions than this in the past. It was
more of a minor annoyance than matter of great concern.
Manjack Cay to Treasure Cay
We spent a peaceful
night at anchor and woke to a partly cloudy sky with a temperature of 68 and
wind less than 5 knots. Carla sat in the
cockpit drinking her coffee and wishing we could stay here another few days. This is a wonderful anchorage as it has a
lengthy beach which runs for miles and boats here are well protected from all
but winds from the west. The water is
gin clear. We’d be swimming today if we
didn’t have to leave so soon.
Green Turtle Cay to Manjack Cay
We left our
slip at The Turtle Cay Marina and Resort at 0930 near high tide. We had no difficulty in finding our way out
of White Sound as we followed the track of our entering which was recorded on
our chart plotter. Also, we had almost 3 additional feet of water under our
keel than during our entering the harbor.
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