4/26/16 To 26 21.457N, 76 39.144W Lynyard Cay
58.1NM
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Predawn Departure from Royal Harbor |
The weather forecast hadn't changed, so we were up before dawn and
underway by 0630 to tick off another ocean segment on our way N.
Once through the Eggs, a couple of small cays with a short channel
through the reef, we raised full sail and were on our way, the first
boat out of the harbor. We saw several more sails behind us once we
were clear of the reefs on N side of the cays, taking advantage of
good weather and wind angle too.
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Sunrise over Spanish Wells as we head N
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If you ever wondered if we get exercise on board (beside walking
when we're ashore), we do. Leonard has been weighing anchor by hand
with some assistance from the manual feature of our windlass since
the gears broke at Allens Cays the first morning we were in the
Exumas. Fortunately it's come up relatively easily, but it is work
retrieving 60' of chain and 35# of anchor. Then there's reefing the
main, which happens when conditions are less than ideal. With more
weather helm than we wanted, we put in a single reef right after the
0700 log entry. Then a 2nd reef after the 0800 log reading,
providing chance to stretch and use core muscles. The wind is
rarely consistent, so it wasn't long before we shook out the 2nd
reef, got things settled, and decided to undo the 1st reef 5
minutes later, working more muscle groups. With a 6' swell we
worked on balance for the rest of the trip. Maybe not quite the
same as a workout in the gym, but not couch potatoes either.
It was a beautiful day, no squalls or thunderstorms around to spoil
the day. Other than about 5 minutes of motoring when our speed
dropped below 2 kts around 1300, we sailed with our speed varying
between 3.1 - 5.8. We entered the Sea of Abaco by Little Harbor at
1720, having rolled in the jib and motor sailing through the cut and
up to the anchorage off Lynyard Cay where we joined a fleet of boats
for the night. Other than a Bahamian freighter in the distance and
a few boats behind us there was little to see once we were out of
sight of land, and equally little chatter on the VHF. After an 11
hour day, we were happy to relax and have an early night.
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Fleet off Lynyard Cay
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4/27/16 To 26 32.325N, 76 57.585W Hopetown Mooring
#186 12.7NM
Wednesday we took the back way to Hopetown. With a rising tide and
a watchful eye, going behind Lubber's Cay cuts 2/3's the distance
than if you take the deeper (slightly) water around the shoal on the
other side of Lubber's. We arrived early and had a choice of
moorings, which now fill the little harbor, and a gentleman came in
a boat out to collect his $20 fee. It's amazing how many moorings
have been packed into the harbor, most holding much larger yachts
than Antares. We had a couple of 50' charter cats near us, with
just enough room to swing clear (our mooring had a max of 45' posted
on the ball).
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Looking at the town from the mooring |
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The S half of the mooring field |
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The N half of the mooring field, including the iconic red and white stripped light house |
We walked through the town after lunch, equally small and tightly
packed with motorized vehicle restrictions (golf carts are the way
to get around). The town, as well as other parts of the Abacos,
was settled by Loyalists around the time of the Revolutionary War.
With grocery stores closed for the lunch hour, we walked the streets
and looked at the beach until they opened at 1400. Once again, we
found fresh homemade bread at Vernon's, and I couldn't resist a loaf
of coconut bread, a real steal for $4.50 since bread in the Exumas
was $6. There was an interesting sign in town by a breadfruit tree
- the tree photo wasn't as interesting as the sign.
|
Historical sign by the breadfruit tree |
We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the goings on in the
harbor. Between the arriving boats, ferries and dinghies there was
plenty to see. A supply boat had arrived while we'd been ashore,
and we were glad we hadn't met him when we arrived since the harbor
entrance is both narrow and shallow. It took him a while of backing
and filling and dropping his boom before he headed out.
4/28/16 To 26 40.036N, 77 07.291W Fisher's Bay, Great
Guano Cay 15.2NM
What had looked to be a good weather window early next week (depart
the Bahamas Sun/Mon) catching the gulf stream and heading to the St.
Mary's River, had shrunk when Leonard pulled down the GRIB files
Thursday morning and the forecast extended to Wednesday. A front
crossing the N part of Florida had appeared on the horizon, likely
bringing squalls and N wind along our route. Rather than spend
another 'white knuckle' night offshore dodging thunderstorms and
fighting head winds, we may head to Cape Canaveral and let the
weather blow past. We'd still get a significant boost from the gulf
stream, and the winds should be favorable.
Rethinking our options, we motored over to Marsh Harbor to replenish
the larder (I don't remember it ever being quite this empty in the
past - a single port tenderloin in the freezer and a handful of
veggies), pick up a supply of 'Fire in de Hole" rum, and top off
the fuel tank (9.9 gallons and 294NM since Georgetown). We'd planned
to spend a night in the harbor, but decided to get our errands done
and continue N, and were underway by 1430, with everything
accomplished. We chatted briefly with a young Canadian couple at
the fuel dock who're also heading N to Nova Scotia and thinking
about tucking in at the Cape Canaveral as well, although he didn't
think the storms would be bad. We'll see - last trip we were past
the Cape when the weather went south.
We stopped at Settlement Point Harbor on Great Guana Cay, and when
we couldn't get the anchor to set (grassy bottom, small harbor) we
picked up a mooring. The moorings are, once again, closely spaced
and in shallow water. While there's enough water to float the boat
at low tide, it's unclear if we'd clear the big cement mooring
blocks, hopefully the light wind would keep us from passing over
one. It's an interesting little harbor with a marina in one corner,
a ferry dock and a small community on the other side, and lots of
turtles. After trying unsuccessfully to locate and pay Dive Guana,
who manages the moorings, we rowed ashore and walked over to
Nipper's, an ocean front bar with expensive drinks and beach
access. We skipped the drinks and went for a short beach walk.
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Walking the beach by Nipper's on Great Guana Cay |
Rather than use a mooring we hadn't paid for, we moved to the
Fisher Bay anchorage, just to the N, joining a number of other
boats. While we could have just anchored here originally, we would
have needed the outboard to get to shore, and we were too lazy to
put it back on the dinghy. We could hear the music from bar at
Grabber's, the resort just S of us, but we were far enough out that
it wouldn't be an issue if it continued until the wee hours.
Another long day.
We'll do the Whale, the shortest ocean hop of the trip, in the
morning and continue on our way. It's always amazing how far it is
to the edge of the Bahama Bank. It will take us 2 days to reach the
anchorage off Great Sale Cay, and the best part of another day to
reach deep water and the gulf stream beyond that. I'd hoped to have
a few days to explore some of these more remote cays, but it doesn't
look like the weather will cooperate. We could wait, but there is
no guarantee that if we do, there will be another weather window
soon. This spring, most windows have been for a few days at a time,
with a week between them (we didn't get that many provisions).
|
Sundown from Fisher's Bay on Great Guano Cay |
Lynnea
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