Monday 23 February 2015
We'll be leaving Green Turtle Cay to cross the Whale into the Sea of Abaco in a few hours. We've waited a long time for this as the weather has not been calm enough to cross any earlier. We've had a good time here - lots of exploration and beach walks - but it has been very cool and extremely windy. For a couple of days the day time highs hovered around 58F, with a wind chill!!! Brrrr. Hard to believe in the sunny Bahamas.
Our next stop will be at Great Guana Cay - home of the famous (infamous) 'Nipper's Bar', and the Barefoot Man concerts. We'll anchor for the night in Fisher's Bay and then sail to Treasure Cay for two nights. Then we'll head to Marsh Harbour for a few days, and, finally, we'll end up at the end of the rainbow - beautiful Hope Town. We have booked a dock at the Hope Town Marina for the month of March.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Drama on the Banks - our buddy boats save the day.
February 17, 2015
The docks at Old Bahama Bay Marina were empty by mid-day on Thursday12th February. That morning twenty-five boats of all shapes and sizes had left for the next leg of their trip over the Little Bahama Banks to Green Turtle Cay, and then onwards to the Sea of Abaco. Many of the sailboats had to wait for the tide to come up so that they could be assured of enough depth in the Indian Rock channel - the short cut which saves the extra three hours it would take to go through the deeper Memory Rock channel. Southern Vectis draws 5 feet, and the lowest water depth we saw was 6 feet 4 inches. We all made it, but held our breath in some places!
Now we felt we could relax. There was no wind to sail, and the weather forecast was good for our eight hour motoring trip to Great Sale Cay. But is was not to be that easy. We had just reached Mangrove Cay - our half-way point - when our engine suddenly stopped dead! We looked at each other, and then looked out at our two buddy boats, `Camp David`and `Kris Deke`. It just took one call on our VHF radio and David and Deke were soon on board ``Southern Vectis` complete with tool boxes and fuel filters. They methodically went through the various scenarios causing the engine to fail, new fuel filters and new fuel appeared, and, after two false starts, we were off again! Phew! Thank you, thank you, David & Deke.
Unfortunately the two hours taken to get the engine going, meant two hours less daylight. Now we would have to enter the Great Sale anchorage in the dark. Not something we relished. It was 8 p.m. when we nervously cruised through into what should have been a sheltered anchorage. We were confused, not only because it was pitch dark, but also because there was a strange person on the VHF radio giving us what seemed to be instructions about the direction we should be steering. (We never discovered who it was, and now think it could have been a modern-day version of a wrecker, luring us onto the rocks!) We ended up anchoring not too far inside the bay, in order to avoid the other boats but unfortunately we were not far enough in, and did not avoid the heavy swells that rocked us awake all night!
The next day - Friday 13th - went more smoothly. We motor-sailed most of the nine hours to Green Turtle Cay, and arrived in broad daylight at our dock at the lovely Green Turtle Club. To move on from here, we will have to wait for the weather to be calm enough for us to cross over the Whale - an inlet from the Atlantic, which can be wild in the wrong conditions. We may have to wait for another week, but it will be no hardship!
The docks at Old Bahama Bay Marina were empty by mid-day on Thursday12th February. That morning twenty-five boats of all shapes and sizes had left for the next leg of their trip over the Little Bahama Banks to Green Turtle Cay, and then onwards to the Sea of Abaco. Many of the sailboats had to wait for the tide to come up so that they could be assured of enough depth in the Indian Rock channel - the short cut which saves the extra three hours it would take to go through the deeper Memory Rock channel. Southern Vectis draws 5 feet, and the lowest water depth we saw was 6 feet 4 inches. We all made it, but held our breath in some places!
Now we felt we could relax. There was no wind to sail, and the weather forecast was good for our eight hour motoring trip to Great Sale Cay. But is was not to be that easy. We had just reached Mangrove Cay - our half-way point - when our engine suddenly stopped dead! We looked at each other, and then looked out at our two buddy boats, `Camp David`and `Kris Deke`. It just took one call on our VHF radio and David and Deke were soon on board ``Southern Vectis` complete with tool boxes and fuel filters. They methodically went through the various scenarios causing the engine to fail, new fuel filters and new fuel appeared, and, after two false starts, we were off again! Phew! Thank you, thank you, David & Deke.
Unfortunately the two hours taken to get the engine going, meant two hours less daylight. Now we would have to enter the Great Sale anchorage in the dark. Not something we relished. It was 8 p.m. when we nervously cruised through into what should have been a sheltered anchorage. We were confused, not only because it was pitch dark, but also because there was a strange person on the VHF radio giving us what seemed to be instructions about the direction we should be steering. (We never discovered who it was, and now think it could have been a modern-day version of a wrecker, luring us onto the rocks!) We ended up anchoring not too far inside the bay, in order to avoid the other boats but unfortunately we were not far enough in, and did not avoid the heavy swells that rocked us awake all night!
The next day - Friday 13th - went more smoothly. We motor-sailed most of the nine hours to Green Turtle Cay, and arrived in broad daylight at our dock at the lovely Green Turtle Club. To move on from here, we will have to wait for the weather to be calm enough for us to cross over the Whale - an inlet from the Atlantic, which can be wild in the wrong conditions. We may have to wait for another week, but it will be no hardship!
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
The Armada sets off ......A smooth crossing but a 'weather window' that closes with a bang!
February 10, 2015
Southern Vectis and Camp David slipped out of Harbortown Marina into the calm and sparkling waters of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW) on Saturday 7th February heading for an overnight anchorage at Lake Worth, Palm Beach. As we moved south, we were joined by a little armada of boats all heading in the same direction with, we guessed, the same aim in mind - to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas on Monday. Our overnight anchorage was peaceful.
The next morning we dinghied to shore to go for a walk, and to pick up some last minute groceries.In the afternoon we motored the five miles south to out 'staging area' for the crossing, just south of Lake Worth Inlet. We were to be joined on our crossing by Paul and Helen on 'Intuition', and Deke and Chris on 'Chris Deke'. The weather window for Monday appeared to be holding, but with a dire warning from the forecasters that all boats should be at their destination by sunset Monday.
We christened our group the 'Harbortown Group' for ease of communicating on the VHF radio as we crossed, and we planned to weigh anchor at 4 a.m. Monday. All went smoothly, as did our crossing, despite the weather forecasts which, when we were about half way across, started changing their tune and talking of thunderstorms, water spouts and damaging winds! Dark clouds built up in the south-east' but kept their distance for our 11 hour crossing. At 3 p.m. we were at our docks at the Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End Grand Bahama Island. Phew!
It was while we were enjoying a well-earned drinks party on 'Intuition' that the first heavy drops of rain fell. We scuttled back to our boats, which were now lit up by brilliant lightning flashes, and tugging on their dock lines in what has turned into a 30 knot blow, with gusts of 50 knots. Even now, 24 hours later, it is still blowing just as strongly, and the skies are filled with angry rushing clouds. The palm trees are doing their best against heavy odds!
But not everyone got off so easily. A 34 foot sailboat didn't quite make it in time, and was wrecked on the rocks just at the mouth of the harbour. The couple on board, who were on their way to the Virgin Islands to get married, managed to get to shore, but the boat, with all their possessions, is now floating on its side and rapidly being broken up by the surf pounding against the rocks. What's left of the boat looks so fragile, like a piece of driftwood. A very sobering sight for us all.
On the bright side, we are enjoying what will probably be an extended stay at this lovely resort. We'll make the most of being stranded on a desert island with lots of good company, fresh fish, and good local 'Kalik' beer. Our next destination will be Green Turtle Cay....some day soon! We are now officially on 'island time'!
Southern Vectis and Camp David slipped out of Harbortown Marina into the calm and sparkling waters of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW) on Saturday 7th February heading for an overnight anchorage at Lake Worth, Palm Beach. As we moved south, we were joined by a little armada of boats all heading in the same direction with, we guessed, the same aim in mind - to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas on Monday. Our overnight anchorage was peaceful.
The next morning we dinghied to shore to go for a walk, and to pick up some last minute groceries.In the afternoon we motored the five miles south to out 'staging area' for the crossing, just south of Lake Worth Inlet. We were to be joined on our crossing by Paul and Helen on 'Intuition', and Deke and Chris on 'Chris Deke'. The weather window for Monday appeared to be holding, but with a dire warning from the forecasters that all boats should be at their destination by sunset Monday.
We christened our group the 'Harbortown Group' for ease of communicating on the VHF radio as we crossed, and we planned to weigh anchor at 4 a.m. Monday. All went smoothly, as did our crossing, despite the weather forecasts which, when we were about half way across, started changing their tune and talking of thunderstorms, water spouts and damaging winds! Dark clouds built up in the south-east' but kept their distance for our 11 hour crossing. At 3 p.m. we were at our docks at the Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End Grand Bahama Island. Phew!
It was while we were enjoying a well-earned drinks party on 'Intuition' that the first heavy drops of rain fell. We scuttled back to our boats, which were now lit up by brilliant lightning flashes, and tugging on their dock lines in what has turned into a 30 knot blow, with gusts of 50 knots. Even now, 24 hours later, it is still blowing just as strongly, and the skies are filled with angry rushing clouds. The palm trees are doing their best against heavy odds!
But not everyone got off so easily. A 34 foot sailboat didn't quite make it in time, and was wrecked on the rocks just at the mouth of the harbour. The couple on board, who were on their way to the Virgin Islands to get married, managed to get to shore, but the boat, with all their possessions, is now floating on its side and rapidly being broken up by the surf pounding against the rocks. What's left of the boat looks so fragile, like a piece of driftwood. A very sobering sight for us all.
On the bright side, we are enjoying what will probably be an extended stay at this lovely resort. We'll make the most of being stranded on a desert island with lots of good company, fresh fish, and good local 'Kalik' beer. Our next destination will be Green Turtle Cay....some day soon! We are now officially on 'island time'!
Thursday, February 5, 2015
We get the green light for a Gulf Stream crossing....maybe!
February 5, 2015
We think we have a plan! A group of Bahamas bound-sailors gathered beside the fire pit at the Harbor Cove bar last night and talked about weather....among many other things! The outcome of our discussion was that we would try for a Gulf Stream crossing on either Sunday or Monday - 8th or 9th February. It will mean that probably we shall be stuck for a few days at the pricey 'Old Bahama Bay' marina before we can carry on for the two day passage that will take us to Green Turtle Cay and the Sea of Abaco. But as the crossing opportunities are so infrequent this year, we have to take what we can get! At the moment a powerful cold front has blown in with very heavy rain overnight, and strong winds in the 30-plus knot range to come. However, the forecasters promise us 36 - 48 hours of respite over the weekend, with more calm weather to come at the end of next week after the passing of yet another front. It is winter, after all!
In the meantime, we have enjoyed some good times with our dock mates. We also had a very enjoyable lunch with Bill, Trish and Kelly of 'Irish Mist II', who were to have been our third 'buddy boat' to the Bahamas this year. Their boat is still docked at a marina in Miami as Trish has broken her ankle and is not too mobile - no jumping on and off boats for a while! Unfortunately they'll be abandoning ship next week to fly back to Ontario until Trish's ankle heals.
We also made the most of our crossing delay to visit Mary's Isle of Wight school friend, Sue, in Coconut Grove, Miami. We had a lovely day just enjoying the sights and sounds of Coconut Grove. We were interested to see that Dinner Key Marina, where we have spent time in past years, is undergoing a large expansion. The office block is being re-built into a large, two-storey building, and the whole marina and dock area is to undergo some changes. We had a drink at 'Scotty's Bar' on Biscayne Bay for old times sake, as it will be demolished in the new dock design plan.
The next time I write may be from the Bahamas......maybe!
We think we have a plan! A group of Bahamas bound-sailors gathered beside the fire pit at the Harbor Cove bar last night and talked about weather....among many other things! The outcome of our discussion was that we would try for a Gulf Stream crossing on either Sunday or Monday - 8th or 9th February. It will mean that probably we shall be stuck for a few days at the pricey 'Old Bahama Bay' marina before we can carry on for the two day passage that will take us to Green Turtle Cay and the Sea of Abaco. But as the crossing opportunities are so infrequent this year, we have to take what we can get! At the moment a powerful cold front has blown in with very heavy rain overnight, and strong winds in the 30-plus knot range to come. However, the forecasters promise us 36 - 48 hours of respite over the weekend, with more calm weather to come at the end of next week after the passing of yet another front. It is winter, after all!
In the meantime, we have enjoyed some good times with our dock mates. We also had a very enjoyable lunch with Bill, Trish and Kelly of 'Irish Mist II', who were to have been our third 'buddy boat' to the Bahamas this year. Their boat is still docked at a marina in Miami as Trish has broken her ankle and is not too mobile - no jumping on and off boats for a while! Unfortunately they'll be abandoning ship next week to fly back to Ontario until Trish's ankle heals.
We also made the most of our crossing delay to visit Mary's Isle of Wight school friend, Sue, in Coconut Grove, Miami. We had a lovely day just enjoying the sights and sounds of Coconut Grove. We were interested to see that Dinner Key Marina, where we have spent time in past years, is undergoing a large expansion. The office block is being re-built into a large, two-storey building, and the whole marina and dock area is to undergo some changes. We had a drink at 'Scotty's Bar' on Biscayne Bay for old times sake, as it will be demolished in the new dock design plan.
The next time I write may be from the Bahamas......maybe!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
