3/2/16 25 27.787N 78 22.453W West of Russell Light on
the Great Bahama Bank 107.0NM
Leonard had set the alarm for 0030, and we had the anchor up and
were underway by 0042. Other than anchor lights, there was no sign
of life on any of the vessels we passed as we motored past Cape
Florida, so it didn't look like we'd have company on our trip east.
There are 2 channels out of Biscayne Bay here, the one we took that
hugs the shore and then skirts a number of shoals, the second,
further S, by Stiltsville (homes built on stilts as fishing camps),
and more direct.
It's difficult to judge distance in the dark, and relative distance
between marks. Both channels had a number of lit buoys, most with
unlit bouys on the other side of the channel that we needed to
avoid. I'm not sure why, but 1green looked closer than the red on
our track, making it appear we'd take red to port, and I know that's
not correct. The chart plotter and radar sorted it out - we had to
go around the red, take a dog leg and head toward the greens to
dodge a wreck and several 3' spots. At half tide, the shallowest we
saw was just under 9', fairly straight forward, especially in the
calm conditions. The wind forecast was correct, L&V it was!
Even under the relatively calm conditions, the N swell left from the
past week was still 1-2', fairly closely spaced, making it feel like
we were on a pogo stick as we crossed the gulf stream. No breaking
waves splashing on the hull, just bobbing up and down in the poorly
(for us) spaced swell.
The track to Bimini was anything but a straight line. Knowing we'd
have strong current pushing us N in the gulf stream, our original
heading was 15 degrees S of our destination so we wouldn't miss our
way point. When the current got stronger, reaching 4kts, we added
another 10 degrees to compensate. It's a bit frustrating to be
doing 6 kts through the water, but 5 toward our waypoint, Leonard
was wishing we'd started earlier, but agreed his original 2000 would
have been too early.
Around 0300, I eavesdropped on a medical emergency. A 21 year old
man aboard 'Ducky Dive', a dive boat S of us, collapsed with
symptoms of a heart attack. I couldn't hear the vessel on the VHF,
but the gal at the CG (one of the best I've heard) came in loud and
clear. She must have had a symptom appropriate list of questions to
gather medical information, and repeated the relevant information to
make sure she'd heard correctly. Articulate and impressive.
While she did inquire about vessel length, color and POB, it was
interspersed with medical questions and she never asked if everyone
was wearing a PFD, if the anchor was down, or if they had a number
they'd like to have the CG to call to relay a message for assistance
(usually the questions we hear at home). After getting the vessel
coordinates and ascertaining the crew was Bahamian, she apparently
alerted the hospital in Nassau (also closest) to alert them of the
problem and set in motion a helicopter evacuation after asking if
helicopter retrieval would be possible from the vessel.
She kept in contact with the vessel, calling frequently to check on
the patient and get updated medical info (pulse, breathing, eyes,
skin condition, ability to move or speak) and vessel location. I
missed the end when I went off watch, and as we got further from
Miami and out of range for our VHF. I was impressed with how well
the situation was handled and hope the rescue was successful.
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| Dawn as we cross the gulf stream |
We entered the Great Bahama Bank at 1007, between Gun Cay and N Cat
Cay, dodged the reef by the entrance, some shoals inside, and
started across. It's as far across the bank as it was from Cape
Florida to the entrance of the bank - it's a big, shallow bank,
probably averaging 10'-12' deep. While it would have been great to
be under sail on a beam reach, the dead calm conditions made for
easy motoring, and we weren't complaining. Twice we've encountered
E winds 10-20kts when we've crossed, making for a long miserable
slog, leaving the boat salt encrusted, and us weary. Calm is fine
with us! Areas of water were glassy, not even a ripple, it's was
like looking through a glass bottom boat, allowing us to count star
fish and see a few fish. Most of the bank has a sand bottom, so
there aren't a lot of places for fish to hide, and the few we've saw
tended to be by the grassy (dark appearing) areas.
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| Light house on Gun Cay where we entered the bank |
Several times during the day, cat paws appeared
on the water, but the wind remained light and variable until
late in the afternoon. When a NW zephyr did fill in, we ran out
the jib netting a .2 - .4kts increase in speed. It was a
welcome boost since we hoped to anchor past Russell Light to
reduce the distance to Nassau Thursday. While a 60NM day isn't
unusual for us, it would make it late in the day before we'd
arrive and we need to arrive at a yet to be determined marina
during 'working hours' to clear customs. The old anchorage we
used in the past had been taken over by a new, expensive marina
on our last trip, which has severely limited the anchorage area
in the harbor (holding is notoriously poor).
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| Sundown on the banks - as you can see, not a lot to see, no land in sight |
We called it a day at 1830. While it had been an easy passage
it had been a long day. It felt good to rinse off in the water
- refreshing after the hot sun (we're in the tropics, and it can
be hot when the wind doesn't blow to cool things down). While
we'd seen numerous jelly fish in the gulf stream, the bank
appeared free of them. It will be another early start in the
morning.
3/32016 To 25 3.308N, 7730.241W Old Fort Bay, Providence
Island 64.5NM
Even with an early start, it took the whole day to get to
Providence Island. We had a bit more wind and an overcast sky
keeping it a bit cooler. According to the GRIB and Chris
Parker, the wind should have been S going to the SW in the
afternoon, but where we were it was SE, pretty much the
direction we were headed. The seas were choppy enough once we
cleared the banks at the NW Channel the we decided to raise the
main to help steady the boat. Sheeted in tight, it gave us a
bit of a boost if we headed 20 degrees off wind and helped
smooth the way.
The problem with long distances and fluky winds is it adds time
and miles to the trip and the ETA at Nassau seemed to be locked
in at 7 hours at every hourly log entry. We were traveling 5NM
at the log readings, just not toward out way point and an ETA of
well after dark, so we dropped the main and motored. Even then,
we wouldn't arrive at Nassau until after dark, so we headed for
an anchorage on the NW side that was about 10NM closer. We even
managed to run the jib out and sail a few miles thanks to the
wind going a bit more to the E. We had the hook set at 1715 in
Old Fort Bay. Another long day.
3/4/2016 To 25 04.551N, 77 19.007W Nassau Yacht Haven
Marina, Nassau 12.9NM
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| Entrance into Nassau harbor |
We slipped into Nassau harbor between a cruise ship (2 were
already docked) and a freighter about 0845, having cleared in
with Harbor Control. I'd been concerned about getting a slip in
Nassau, necessary to clear Customs, since the marinas be full
when folks are trying to tuck in when fronts come through. Not
to worry, Nassau Yacht Haven had more empty slips than full.
Looks like the stretch of light winds worked both for those
coming and going. We wanted to take on fuel before we went into
our slip, but like many of the marinas, they no longer have
fuel, and we were directed to a fuel dock next door.. We asked
if we would be allowed to take on fuel with our "Q" flag up, and
the Yacht Haven dock master didn't think it would be a problem.
Unfortunately that dock master at the fuel dock refused to sell
us fuel until we'd cleared customs. Drats - the wind is
forecast to be stronger when we plan to depart, and docking is
always easier when it's not windy (the current in the harbor can
be significant).
 |
| Harbor control tower |
By 0930 we were tied up in slip 4A at the marina. After filling
out all the forms, Leonard took them to the marina office to try
to clear into the Bahamas. He was sent back to the boat and
told we'd get a call on channel 72 when the officials arrived,
and it might take a while since a cruise ship had just arrived.
Guess we're on island time. The dock master said he doubted the
officials would come down to the boat - we're too small -
although they actually had on our last trip. Much to our
surprise, 2 women, 1 from Customs, the other from Immigration,
appeared on the dock shortly after 1100. After going through
paperwork, our passports were stamped and they reminded us to
swap the 'Q' flag for the Bahamian flag, to show we'd officially
arrived. Now we could run errands, go for a walk, and enjoy
Nassau.
 |
View of the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island
|
First on the agenda was to obtain a cell phone SIM card to use
in the Bahamas. While pulling everything for the trip together
several days before we left Vermont, Leonard ran into a snag.
We had a prepay international SIM card with $35 credit that we
used on our last Bahamas trip 3 years ago. When he checked to
make sure it still worked, he learned they'd cancelled the card
since we hadn't used it frequently enough. Great! Not enough
time to get a new one before we left. They did finally credit
the $35, but our best bet would be to buy a new SIM card once we
got to the Bahamas. The nearest Batelco office was just up the
street from the marina in the shopping center. It took less
than 15 minutes to get a new SIM card installed in our smart
phone for $60 and, voila, we have a working phone with a 2 gig
data plan. Even our 'hot spot' works (albeit slower), almost
like being at home (provided we're with in range of a Batelco
tower).
We stopped back at the boat before walking into town and met one
of the crew of 3 guys on the boat next to us. They'd arrived
just ahead of us and heard us taking to Harbor Control. It's
their first trip and he had questions about the Yellow Bank, a
shallow area dotted with coral heads that is on the shortest
track to the Exumas from Nassau. It's never been a problem for
us, if the sun's out, the coral heads are obvious, and we've
never seen depths that have been worrisome. We find the coral
heads interesting and have been tempted to stop to snorkel. He
came over with the owner and their charts to pick or brains.
Being a cautious first timer, the captain decided he'd play it
safe, make the recommended dog leg (extra miles) as advised by
the Waterway Guide, avoiding the coral heads. The captain also
took our picture (the happy old cruisers) to send to his wife
who was at home in NJ and doesn't sail. They plan to depart in
the morning, so maybe we'll see them further down the line,
they're only going as far as Staniel Cay (famous for James Bond
and Thunderbolt movie).
We walked into town looking for cheap, light colored tee shirts
that I knew we'd find by the cruise ship docks, the other item
on my 'to do' list in Nassau. On our way, we saw a church and
cemetery we'd not explored on past trips. It As expected, with
3 cruise ships in town, the down town streets were jammed with
tourists. I've always found it interesting that the Bahamians
are nicely dressed, no matter how hot it is, and how many
tourists don't seem to realize that their attire may be a bit
too casual.
 |
| St Mathews Church and graveyard |
A quick pass by the straw market was more
than enough, the vendors tend to be very aggressive, a sure
turn off for me. A new to us, native artisans and craft are
was set up at Pompey Square that was more interesting since
we could actually look before being accosted. On the way
back, we walked past the Bahamian Government House, the
equivalent of the White House, and were told to stay behind
the yellow line (with threats of calling the American
Embassy to summon marines should we stray over the line).
Then we walked up to Fort Fincastle and down the Queen's
Steps. By then we were both tired, and we still wanted to
rinse the salt off the boat (rinse, not spray, since the
water pressure at the end of the docks was more a trickle
than a flow).
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| Properly dressed police and tourists on Bay St |
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| Looking up the Queens Stairs, 66 steps carved out of limestone and bricked up by slaves |
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| Panorama of previous anchorage in front of the Green Parrot Bar - Now Bay Street Marina |
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| Atlantis at Night from the Antares |
Our current plan is to depart Nassau on Sunday and head to
Allans Cays ahead of the next batch of NE winds. The winds
which have been uncommonly light, are forecast to switch to the
W today and blow fairly hard Saturday from the E, before
shifting into the N and NE Sunday, and fill in Monday with 15-25
with gusts and blow most of the week. We want to be down in the
Exuma chain when they start, with a number of anchorages and
protection. It's another long day heading SE from Nassau to
Allans.
Lynnea
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