We have a weather window to make tracks north before a cold front comes through so we are headed north at a fairly good clip. It took us almost a month to make it down to GT (Georgetown) but 3 days to make it back to Nassau. We had 3 spectacular days of sailing. Our first day was in the Atlantic with strong winds pushing us up the Exuma Chain. The seas were 6-8 feet with an occaisonal 10 foot wind driven swell. It was not like that sea state in the Gulf of Mexico since the period between the waves was much longer. It was exhilerating to learn to time the waves and ride them while maintaining control of the boat. The wind and waves combined were too stiff for the poor autohelm to keep up so we had to hand steer. Since we had steady winds and daylight it was fun instead of terrifying. We managed to dodge several rain squalls so overall the day was great. The harriest part of the trip was coming back into the Exuma Bank side of the chain. The cuts are narrow and have to be timed to make the tide and the waves agree. A strong wind in opposition to a strong current can create standing waves that no boat can survive called The Rage. We had timed it right but it was still a white knuckle few minutes. David was shooting pictures of the white horses at the end of Great Guana Cay for me while I paid strict attention to not crashing into the rocks. With the wind pushing us along with the current we rushed in at over 9 kts!!!! No roller coaster ride could match the thrill. Once inside the cut the water immediately settled down and we spent a blissful night tucked into a safe harbor. The next morning we were off early for another long day of knocking back the miles. The Banks were so much calmer, maybe 2-3 foot waves with a strong, steady wind pushing us so again a marvelous day of sailing. We anchored a bit north of our previous spot off Norman's Cay. We arrived in plenty of time to settle in and enjoy a glorious sunset followed by an amazing moonrise. Crusing has never been better. In the morning, the weather still looked good so off we went for Nassau. The seas were a bit larger 3-4 feet but again, the wind was pushing us and we had another great day. In three days we covered over 130 miles but never had a lot of discomfort due to adverse heeling or rocking. These kind of days keep you going through the beating to weather days.
We are in Nassau to resupply with fuel, food and clean laundry. The weather window is starting to close so we are carefully considering our options. We'd like to make it up the Berry Island Chain and then wait on good weather to make either West End on Great Bahama Island or straight to Stuart, FL. We plan to take the Okeechobee Waterway across. This will be a learning opportunity for us since we have never negotiated locks before. It will be a bit of a nostalgia trip too since we have ridden our bicycles around the entire lake and know what it looks like from shore. Now we'll be in the lake looking to shore.
 |
The sky was overcast so the White Horses didn't look so white but they were a sight to see none the less.
|
 |
The other side of Dotham Cut. Those rocks looked jagged and deadly from my viewpoint!
|
 |
Farewell Exumas, Hello Nassau.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment