April 22 - Leave N. Cat Cay in light easterly winds at 6:30 a.m. Wind is supposed to be N/NW, which would be good for our course. East is "death". We’re heading directly into the sun as it rises, and it’s quite a sight. We put up jib to give it a try but our course is too close to the wind and we take it in almost immediately. We’re motoring at about 5.5 knts. and will not make Chub Cay in daylight at this rate. Just have to wait and see what develops. The water along our course over the Great Bahama Bank is generally about 10-15 deep over a generally sand bottom and is a beautiful light turquoise when the sun rises over it. There’s nothing around except the occasional other boat and all is well except that along one shallow spot at low tide that the plotter says we are avoiding as we are passing by our depth drops at one point to 6.6 ft. (we need 6 feet) and it’s a little dicey for about 10/15 minutes. I would not transit that spot again at low tide. Anyway, it was partially cloudy as we left N. Cat Cay but it’s sunny now, there is only the slightest of chop in light winds and it’s very nice except that we’re motoring rather than sailing and not likely to make Chub Cay in daylight. The "bailout" if we can’t make Chub Cay is to anchor on the Bank just before we exit the Bank onto the Tongue of the Ocean for the last 14 miles to Chub Cay. The Tongue of the Ocean is a stretch of the Atlantic that reaches depths of 3,500 ft. and comes into the Bahamas between Chub Cay and Andros Island in the shape of a tongue. I really do not want to enter a strange anchorage at night if I can help it, even though the plotter generally makes that not as difficult as it might seem, and I’m trying to determine exactly where on the Bank we will anchor. We’ve been motoring all day, and alternately putting up the jib and main when we think we can sail and them taking them down/in when it appears that we can’t. Towards the end of the day we’ve picked up a little speed and the wind has finally become more favorable, and because we left so early and it doesn’t get dark until late, we determine that we can make Chub Cay in daylight and push on into Northwest Providence Channel (the Tongue of the Ocean) to Chub. We arrive in ample daylight and have an easy passage into the anchorage where we drop the hook (anchor) in about 12 ft. of water. It’s sunny, calm, and very nice as the sun sets after an hour or so. There are lots of other boats at anchor, but most are in the more shallow anchorage, so we’ve got lots of room.
April 23 - Wind and waves are up a bit and finally out of the Northwest, which was what was predicted for yesterday. It’s sunny and warm but the anchorage is exposed to the NW so we’re rockin’ and rollin’ a bit. Launch the dinghy and put the engine on it intending to go to "Mama Rhoda Rock" to do some snorkeling and the darned engine won’t stay running at idle and then conked out repeatedly when I put it into gear. That was the same problem we experienced in Chestertown Maryland where I spent a bunch of money to fix it. Anyway, I’ve had it with the dinghy engine. It’s a ‘98, has archaic controls and corroded lifting mechanism and I should have replaced it before we left. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Make arrangements to go tomorrow to Nassau (not originally on our agenda) and arrange to buy a new engine from a Nassau Yamaha dealer. Spend rest of the day puttering around the boat, fixing a wrongly wired DC outlet and generally chillin’. Wind is letting up as it gets later and by the time we’re ready for bed it’s a lot calmer. As always when it is sunny, the sunset it gorgeous.
April 24 - Wake up to a sunny, totally calm day for our trip to Nassau. The ocean is glassy calm the whole 30 miles or so to Nasau and so naturally we motored. The ocean is a beautiful royal blue, a shade or too lighter than further up North and I’m surprised that we don’t see any evidence of sea life on the surface as you usually do when it’s this calm, except for the always present flying fish and a dolphin sunny itself on the surface just as we get ready to enter Nassau Harbor. Couldn’t get a place at Atlantis, so we pull into Hurricane Harbor Marina, which is next to it and has the benefit of our being totally out of the strong Nassau Harbor current after we get inside. Have a little "scare" going under one of the two bridges between Paradise Island and New Providence Island. Books say it 21 meters, but doesn’t look it as we pass under. Anyway, there’s a strong current running between the two Islands that makes getting into the marina with all of the boat traffic something that required some skill (God forbid that a small fast power boat would cede the right of way to a large sailboat entering a narrow channel), but once in it was easy to tie up, although the slip for of just marginal size for us. Guide book marina is beautiful and the author of the review must have either been blind or have lived in a cave all his/her life, but it’s adequate and it is right in the middle of everything. Kryss and I walk across the bridge connecting Paradise Island to New Providence Island and go to Harborside Marine to buy new engine. Am surprised and pleased to find that they have 2 cycle engines here. In fact salesman explains that many people from the States come here to buy 2 cycle engines because they cannot be purchased in the States. (2 cycle engines are lighter and far simpler in design to 4 cycle engines, but they no longer meet US EPA standards). We buy the engine and the salesman drives us and the engine to the boat where we exchange it for the old one that I am sure he will salvage at a profit, but which is just a nuisance for me to dispose of. Am dismayed to find that despite his assurances, mounting assembly will not fit on our rail mount and so we need to either replace or modify our existing rail mount to be able to carry the engine. It’s a major pain in the neck, but we’ll just have to solve the problem. We’ll be bringing the old mount to Harborside to be modified or replaced tomorrow and have our fingers crossed. I’m so exhausted and that I don’t want to go out to eat, even though I haven’t prepared anything for us for dinner, but I did take a pork loin out of the freezer the day before, so I change hats, pour a tall scotch and prepare a simple dinner for us on the boat. "Fall" into bed at about 10:00 p.m. Tomorrow’s another day.
April 25 - Decide to exchange new 8 hp engine for a 15 hp engine when we realize when we got the 8 hp engine to the boat that it wouldn’t fit easily onto either the dinghy or the rail "storage" mount due to a narrow mounting bracket. In addition, we have to have new motor mount "built" for storing engine on aft rail as even new engine would not fit on old. Place that sold engine (Habourside Marine) recommends gentleman (Dexter) that works in metals to make new mount as sufficient size starboard is not readily available and I did not want wood, and Dexter comes to the boat to measure and says he will have it constructed and installed by tomorrow, so big sigh of relief. I install lifting harness on new engine and we test lifting the the new heavier engine from the rail and putting it on the dinghy using my motor hoist and it works fine. We also have issues with our bilge pumps that I will have to address tomorrow, but having walked back and forth over bridge between New Providence Island and Paradise Island 4 times going to and from Harbourside Marine in connection with the engine switch, it’s time for a rest. We go to dinner at Olive’s, a high-end Todd English restaurant at the Atlantis resort, and then we walk around the grounds after dinner. Food was extremely expensive and only OK.
April 26 - Another day in paradise, except that I have set aside a good part of the day to replace one of the bilge pumps and it’s accompanying float switch, which is a messy, time consuming, hot and frustrating job, but needs to be done, and since I’ve never worked on our bilge pump assemblies, it’s also a necessary thing to make sure I can do since it’s in an awkward place. Project goes more or less smoothly and the ladies go into town to stock up on fresh vegetables. Day goes by quickly and uneventfully.
April 27 - We wake to sun and a nice breeze and we make ready for departure from Nassau. Fill the water tanks, do the laundry, put the new engine on the dinghy and run it inside the marina to test it, and on schedule, leave in the middle of the day for West Bay (far West tip of New Providence Island) to use it as a jumping off point for going to the Exumas tomorrow. Only a 17 nm trip to West Bay and we’re finally sailing without the engine after all these days. As we’re going towards West Bay we see a large dark cloud/rain system seemingly stuck over the western part of New Providence Island, just where we’re headed, but we luck out. We arrive at West Bay around 3:30 after the system has finally moved out, just skirting a squall that dumps a lot of rain on us but not much wind. After the anchor is set we go for a swim. Water is slightly cool ("refreshing" Steve says), but easy to become accustomed to. Rest of the evening is uneventful except that it pours around 4:00 a.m. and we have to get up to close the hatches. Ah the sailing life.
April 28 - Leave West Bay for Allen’s Cay in the Northern Exumas at 8:00 a.m. Wind is moderate but seemingly as always, it’s very much E/SE on our nose and it’s hard to make headway sailing. We motor sail with only the main up and again, as it seemingly always does, the wind starts to shift more southerly in the afternoon and we’re able to make better headway with the main. We arrive at Allen’s Cay at around 5:30 p.m. and investigate the anchorage between Allen’s Cay and Leaf Cay. There are already four boats lined up in the center of the very narrow tunnel-like anchorage which is bounded on the long sides by the two Cays and on the short sides by a sand bar at one end and rocks at the other. It’s a beautiful anchorage but very "snug" with four boats in it already. I "squeeze" in between the sand bar and a small sailboat and we drop the hook (the anchor for the non-sailors), but it’s middle tide and I’m concerned that at low tide we will only have marginal water (there are no low water sounding on the chart for the anchorage). I’m also concerned that if we swing in the opposite direction from that in which we’re lined up that we will wind up on the sandbar, and I’m loath to put out short scope (marginal anchor chain for the non-sailors) because I don’t know what the night will bring and if our anchor doesn’t hold in this anchorage we’re "toast". We hoist the anchor and proceed back to the West side of Allen’s Cay where there is protection from the E/SE winds and plenty of water. The only problem if there is one with the West side is that there is really more depth than you would ideally like to anchor in (20/25 ft.) but we have lots of chain and done that before, so that’s the better choice. We finally settle in and take pleasure in finally having gotten to the Exumas.
Pix to follow.
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