We got a weather break, so Sunday afternoon we left Marsh Harbor. Part of the reason to leave was that a boat next to us drug in high winds, and when they got it re-anchored, we were worried it would drag into us with the upcoming wind shift. Felt bad for the two guys trying to re-anchor the boat, as the engine did not work, so they spent 3 hours working on moving it, during the rain and high winds.
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| Miserable weather to be pulling an anchor by hand and trying to move the boat with a dinghy |
So not planned but Sunday afternoon we moved and anchored just outside the busy bay of Marsh Harbor. As usual our timing was impeccable, and as we were moving we were caught in the largest rainstorm we had the entire week, with 20 to 25 knot winds.
Poor Dean got soaked at the helm, and Kris not as bad as she hid out of the rain until time to drop anchor.
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| Stormy skies, dumping rain on us. |
After a mostly peaceful night sleep, we headed south on Monday in preparation to leave the Abaco's and head south to Eleuthera Island. Nice sail south, and pleasant anchorage with a view of the cut we needed to traverse the next day. We watched two boats traverse the cut while anchored, and it looked bad, 6' breaking seas knocked the boats about quite severely.
Tuesday morning the cut looked better, and with a group of about 8 boats all had the same thought to leave. We let several leave before us, then we left followed by our friends on Breathe, and Turnerbout. The cut was a bit of a challenge, with 4' to 6' swells, with some breaking, but Dean did an excellent job avoiding the breaking waves, and we ended up with a pleasant sail from the south Abaco's to Spanish Wells in Eleuthera.
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| Breaking waves in the cut. Photos never do it justice |
Wednesday we went ashore at Spanish Wells, had a nice lunch out, and got some much needed exercise in.
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| Dean by a Christmas tree at the point in Spanish Wells |
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| Kris in her three layers of jackets in Spanish Wells |
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Christmas décor in Spanish Wells
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We at lunch at Buddas, a new place for us. They had quite the décor inside, with funny signs, and a couple of parrots in a cage as well. Kris like the parrots as they gave her some wolf whistles when she said hello. |
| Inside Budda's. Not busy when we got there, but was filling up by the time we left |
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| The talkative parrot |
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| Kris got a kick out of this sign. One of many funny signs. |
After lunch we hoisted anchor, and headed to the fuel dock to top off with diesel fuel. The fuel dock caters to larger boats, and the dock is quite high. There are 60 steps to the top of the hill, and a short ride via golf cart to the office to pay.
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| The dock is quite high. Kris needed a boost from the boat to climb up and onto it. |
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| Looking down on Charm from the top of the steps |
Thursday we headed further south along with Breathe and Turnerbout, for a somewhat choppy sail. Winds were NE around 18 to 25 knots. Breathe and Turnerbout stopped at Hatchett Bay, while we continued on. We wanted to be further south, as a possible weather window to head to the Caribbean would be occurring, and we wanted to be further south to take advantage of it.
After one night at anchor at Alabaster Bay, we headed south again on Friday. Had a pleasant sail in 8 to 20 knot of ENE wind. Then we got to the south end of Eleuthera, and no longer on the bank sailing, but exposed to ocean swell. Not just ocean swell, but confused choppy steep swell. The next 6 hours were not pleasant. Sailing at 45 to 50 to the apparent wind in up to 25 knots with 2 to 4 foot seas that were short period. We took water over the bows many times, and even took a couple up and over the cabin onto the dodger. We did 94 miles in 14 hours, for an average of 6.71 knots, which is pretty darn good for going into the wind. Needless to say, a very salty boat and crew were quite happy to drop anchor in New Bight on Cat island finally at 9:00 that night.
Saturday was a recovery day, as now we are positioned for a run to the Caribbean. Kris did some engine maintenance to make sure they were all ready to go for the long run. Dean washed down the deck, and polished some stainless. A load of laundry finished the day. It was finally a sunny day, which we have had too few of, but winds still high, but at least below 18 knots.
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| View of New Bight on Cat Island. You can actually see some sun |
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| End to one of the most pleasant days we have had in the last month. |
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