Finally the Exumas!!!

Day 74 (Tues,  Jan 24, 2012): We left Rose Key in the morning… timed it so that we would cross the Yellow Banks and the coral heads at high tide and with the sun as high as possible (to see any of the unmarked coral). All good on the crossing and our Garmin Charts are back in center stage. They are remarkably accurate for the Bahamas. Actually, they will be our main source for Nav as they are the only really detailed charts (other than our Explorer paper charts). Nice sail across to the Exumas! Perfect blue sky and the water!!! How could it be that color? You have to see it at least once in a lifetime. Hopefully more, but you simply have to see this color in person. We pulled up alongside a very large yacht (Imagine) at Highborne Cay. Other sailboats quickly filled in behind us. We had quite a community by evening. We took the dingy into the marina. It was very nice. We were told 3 men owned the resort. The store and cottages were meticulous. They had a restaurant but we decided to stay on Gaia for dinner. A bit of exploring showed us where the biggest nurse sharks hung out. Wondering how the pecking order works in Shark communities? Biggest sharks get the first goodies tossed off of the fish cleaning stations. Pretty anchorage, beautiful resort and an incredible sunset.

Details

Day 73 (Mon ,  Jan 23, 2012): 2^nd day in Nassau. We had a restful sleep. Patrick was out early to get the fabricated stripper. Rough neighborhood outside of the marina. A Chinese man was shot the previous night. Patrick took the handheld radio with him for safety and set out.  I took his regulator into the scuba shop. It was a very nice dive shop… big and they had everything. The technician quickly fixed Patrick’s reg. I also talked Patrick into getting a new mask. He needed one. His was pretty old. We finished some cleaning tasks, organizing, filling water tanks and got some diesel. Then, headed out of Nassau harbor to Rose Key. Loved it. It was a perfect place to hang out until we headed across for the Exumas. There were several other boats tucked in near the shore and one very large sloop. I dove on the anchor and discovered a great little reef nearby. Would have liked to have had more time to dive on it but needed to get dinner started.

He was right again...

Day 72 (Sun,  Jan 22, 2012): We were tossed around quite a bit last night. Would not recommend the anchorage at Bold Cay. Far too much surge for a restful sleep. The 3 of us got up early and did some chores before setting out to Nassau. I was the timid one again as the sky looked pretty ominous. Patrick was right. We headed out and observed the clouds with radar. I hate it when he is SO right. Only light rain, not even any wind. We motored most of the way to Nassau but the current helped us most of the way. We made very good time. We arrived in Nassau about 12 noon. Headed down the harbor and to the Nassau Yacht Haven Marina. Not a perfect marina but a good place to stop for the night. I did laundry and we have some connections with a guy down the road who should be able to fabricate the last needed piece for the winlass. Hoping we can get it early tomorrow morning. Also, there is a very nice dive shop adjacent to the marina. Patrick’s regulator problem can be looked at in the morning before we head out. Now the only tricky part… can we get this done and still make it out tomorrow. Patrick is looking at options/anchorages now. Yawn… time for bed.

Who weaves perfect days?

Day 71 (Sat,  Jan 21, 2012): What an amazing day. Perfectly placid ocean, only 5 hrs to the next stop in the Berrys (Bold Cay). And a nice 10 knot beam reach. As we approached the cut to our anchorage, Patrick caught his first fish. Think it was a Jack. Nice size and just big enough for a filling dinner. We pulled into our anchorage, tucked Gaia in, dove on the anchor site and Patrick made dinner. As we looked at an amazing sunset and rainbow, we thought about all of our friends and loved ones that have moved on. You know, it seems like the things they get to do for us, is make amazing tapestries of beautiful days. What else would you do for those you leave behind but to give them the gift of spectacular days. I think several folks were responsible for making this day. It was magical!

“Otter Hound, get your sorry arse off my blue line”

Day 69 - 70 (Thurs,  Jan 19 – Friday, Jan 20, 2012): Out the Berrys. We left the marina at Lacaya just before dawn and carefully followed our breadcrumbs out of the harbor. Piece of pie. We headed Gaia toward the deep blue ocean and our next stop in the Berrys.  Beautiful day and the wind was perfect. About 15kts, broad reach the whole trip. AIS proved to be very helpful again with quite a bit of large tanker traffic. Otter Hound would simply not get out of our way. Patrick pulled several Al’s grabbing the vhf mic (unkeyed of course) and demanding that he get out of our way. We checked our hydraulic drip and it seems to be fixed. After 8 hrs of great sailing we pulled into Little Stirrup Cay (Slaughter Harbor). It was a nice anchorage and I jumped in soon  after anchoring. Pools Open!!! A bit chilly but the water was crystal clear. The Rocna anchor set perfectly. Very nice sail and a perfect sunset.

Across the Gulf Stream!

Day 68 - 70 (Wed,  Jan 18 – Thurs, Jan 19): We actually left Wed evening at 9pm. Kind of last minute decision again about when to depart. Our saying goes, as we get “southerer and southerer we seem to  be getting smarterer and smarterer.” That could be argued but we have learned some important lessons. Arriving early to avoid the anxiety of “will we make it before sunset” has made an indelible mark on the three of us. Remember Dobbie knows exactly when to cry and pushing sunset is one of those times. The departure from WPB was for the most part uneventful but we did encounter a large tanker coming in that we had to hold for when exiting the harbor. We headed out just after dark. We decided to go south along the coast for a bit to bank some extra “south time.” We are freshmen at this and not knowing how fast or far north the gulf stream would push us, going south seemed like a good idea. We traveled for about an extra hour south, then headed east. Dobbie and I stayed below and Patrick was at the helm. It was not too bad. Some tossing about but nothing like the trip to Charleston. Then, about 3:30, he knocked on the back window and asked me to come up. There were strings of xenon flashing lights as far as you could see. Two discernable boats but all of those white flashing lights were everywhere and they were blocking our path eastward. We were in the strongest part of the gulf stream, so we couldn’t mess around much. Patrick had already tried to hail the vessels he could see on AIS. Nothing heard or responded to. When I came up, we had to decide what to do. Go through the lights, around them (if we could even see an end) or ??? And then there was the question of what were they… small fishing vessels being towed (as Jim explained the Bahamians would do sometimes), nets, or aliens??? As we got close to one, I shined the large spot light on it. We could see the main xenon spot but also two other smaller buoys floating nearby. About the same time, Patrick was able to hail one of the vessels. They reported they were fishing beacons. We could pass through. Relief! We headed close to one (but not too close) and then threaded our way through the others. That was unexpected, drama inducing and definitely something we would have liked to have known about previously. (Note, Patrick Googled the episode the next day. We could not find a description of what was being done or what we saw.)

 Dawn came and I took the helm. Dobbie came top side with me and curled up in his “kitty upside down chair spot.”   We decided to put more sails up before Patrick hit the bed. We had Genoa, Main and Mizzen. Beautiful!

I noticed a small line of brownish fluid dripping down on the binnacle. I inquired if Patrick had spilled a cup of coffee. “No,” and he was quite concerned about the drip. Hydraulic fluid… that could be bad. Always something to ratchet up the drama. I turned Genevieve off (our auto pilot… named after one of Patrick’s old girlfriends. And, by the way, she is most definitely French and she quite often takes longer than needed for her smoke breaks and to get her nails done). I would hand steer the remainder of the way to Lacaya Bahamas, about  7 hours. I also religiously monitored the area where I discovered the small drip. The remainder of the trip was uneventful. Beautiful day and the sailing was perfect. Once again, intuition paid off. The AIS was a most definite needed. Especially at night, being able to identify vessels and their direction really lets us concentrate on other important things and not worry as much about what is out there (but yes, we still rely on what we see… there are none AIS vessels and other hazards).

We pulled into Lacaya about 1pm. We made great time on the crossing. The harbor was easy to navigate and clearly marked. It is continually dredged to ensure large yachts can enter. Good decision to pick this spot! Thanks Al. We only made a minor modification from your original path. At the dock, Patrick headed to immigration and customs. I got Gaia tucked into her stall and bedded down. We took a nap and then headed out for a bite to eat.

We decided to stay an extra day. We were both beat. And, we wanted to investigate the fluid we saw coming from the binnacle. It gave me time to talk Patrick into doing a dive, to test out our gear. We climbed aboard a dive boat about 2 in the afternoon and headed out with a small group of divers. Patrick’s regulator (actually his octopus) was free flowing so some repairs would be needed. He used a rental reg instead for this trip. We did use our new BCs though. Good dive, visibility was not great but didn’t want to bust the dive staffs’ bubble. We played along with how pristine the water conditions were. We did see some very nice, big groupers and about 6 very inquisitive sharks. Good dive and it got us both in the water again. It's been a while for both of us.

After the dive, we headed back to Gaia and did some planning for our early morning crossing to the Berrys. We went out for a very nice dinner and headed back to bed.

Time for the "crossing"

Day 65 - 67 (Sun,  Jan 15 – Tues, Jan 17, 2012): A few more details and we are officially ready. We have talked to folks and shared our “float plan.” Stowed things and verified with Chris Parker the weather conditions one last time. All looks good. Should be a southerly wind at about 10 knots. The sea state should be 1 to 2 feet and no discernable period. Will see…sounds like it should be a smooth crossing. We also called the marina at Lacaya where we will check in. All good on that end. Our float plan is as follows:

Leave Lake Worth INLET at Midnight Tues 17^th    to arrive in Bahamas (Lacaya) on WEDNESDAY  18 JAN around 4pm in afternoon or earlier.

Cross Gulf Stream at about 116 deg True heading targeting slightly south ( 17 nm) of our Goal (Lacaya)

Seas are very calm and winds very light. Actually some south wind may help us.  We will have a Broad Reach and some stability if not some forward propulsion?

This will give us a “S” shaped curved course towards Lacaya.  The Gulf Stream is about 40 nm wide with velocity of 2.5 knots avg.

So the 6.7 hours that it takes for Gaia to cross at 6 knots creates a North Drift of 6.7 hours x 2.5 knts = 16.8 nautical miles DRIFT towards north.

We will not execute the Rhumb Line straight course because that would be wasteful.   Only very fast boats could do this efficiently.

Worst case: 97 nautical miles at 6 knots takes 16 hours.  So if we leave at Midnight on Tues 17th Jan   We will arrive on Wed by 4 pm.