Moving through the Islands

 Sunrise Wednesday and three depart. Reviewing the morning weather showed conditions had improved for the northern route. Lighter winds smaller waves up north and for us the winds were almost too light as we worked our way down to the northwest channel and out by Chub Cay. The last six hours we motor sailed just off the wind and seas. We made good time but it was not as comfortable as either of us wanted. 

 Lots of  yachts towing 30 foot+ dinghies with multiple outboard engines

As we approached West Bay we saw that Betula was about a half hour ahead. I almost had taken the northern route when I saw the improved conditions which provided a wind angle for sailing and always better/faster than our day. The big plus of the morning was a couple of hours under just the Asymmetrical spinnaker where we had a time going above 8kts. 

We spent 2 nights in West Bay. Thursday a trip to see the underwater statues was put off because of water conditions but the seasons first snorkel on the shore of Clifton Point was a fine second option. 

Pearl Island Light between Athol and Rose Islands 

Not wanting to repeat the trip down from the Berry’s I decided to move to the north east corner of New Providence where I could have a better wind angle for the trip down to Allen Cay. Leaving West Bay we sailed for a couple of miles then slogged our way along the N shore. It was calmer when we came inside the reef near Sandals resort and our old abandoned Guanahani time share property. So many memories of the vacations flood back as we weaved through the shallows towards Nassau. Past the busy downtown with five ships in was good to see after last year’s total shutdown. We anchored in the lee of Athol Island where the lights of the ships and resorts filled the sky.

By 9am Saturday we cleared Porgee Rocks we got on the lay line to Allen and sailed. Just sailing is nice. We pulled in the sails 1 mile outside the anchorage between Allens and Leaf and after a few anchor settings we found a comfortable spot. The colors were beautiful and the water calm.

Sunday morning and off to the beach to visit the iguanas. After a half hour we went back to the boat and at nine the high-speed tour boats began to arrive from Nassau.

A steady stream of boat bringing hundreds of people through the course of the day. We packed up the dinghy and headed for a small beach and had a late PM wood fired bbq. Normally I just stay away from large power boats and yachts that run their generators all night long but I need to add charter boats to the list. They anchor to close, are to loud and even the sail boats run their generators too much. What a curmudgeon😁

Before we left Allan and we went back to the beach to try a trick I saw one of the tour operators do

It was fun

Our next stop was in the lee of Normans Cay to walk the mile Long Beach and explore. They have built a great new private marina at the southern tip that we dinghy toured and we almost got a beer at McDuffs but no mask no service. The walking and swimming exercise was necessary! 

I always think of my friend Laurie G when I see images in clouds and rocks… What do you see in the big cloud

Look for the birds little tongue and slow the film down and watch the move one bird puts on the other after he tries to come in

Crossing and clearing

Several times in the gulf stream we saw these

They are called Blue Bottles. A bunch of floating parasites 

getting through the shipping channel during the day

 We were up and away by 8am Saturday 2/18. The weather window was good and we rode the Gulf Stream northeast to South Riding Rock and then across the banks to great Harbor in the Berry islands. We motor sailed and averaged around 8 kts all day. Around 9am we were leading a couple of other boats down the channel by giving depth readings up to the stone cut entrance of Great Harbor. 

The marina said they had dock space for us to tie up as we cleared customs and immigrations. As we made the final turn toward the dock I heard Sheri call out Hi Carl and taking our bow line was our old friend from White Stone Virginia. He was assisting the new owners of his catamaran as they traveled from Virginia to the Bahamas. He and his wife Deb were the people who  guided us to the Bahamas the first year and we also traveled up to Nova Scotia with them. Once cleared in we got our SIM card for WiFi. 

We were able to find out that Lindsey was in labor and admitted to the hospital. We joined Carls group in a walk across the island to the beach club for an afternoon of beach, beverages and barbecue.

Overnight Lindsey gave birth to Sophia Deignan Huang @12:30 2/20/22. This little hummingbird weighed in at 6lbs 5ozs. A very special day for the arrival of Sophia grandchild number 4. 

Steadfast at rest in Bay of the Five Pirates 

Time to make English muffins

With winds picking up we stayed in our safe anchorage and I spent a couple of hours kayaking around the inlets of the harbor. We joined Carl, the new owners and Bob a friend and sailing buddy on Ino (formally River Rat) for hours of story telling. These gatherings are always nice.

See you later River Rat/Ino

Monday was laundry, our final Covid test and saying goodbye to Ino as they staged for a crossing to Nassau. I also loaded up on diesel by using our 5 gallon containers to fill the tank and give us 3 extra containers strapped to the port rail. 

Bridget Bardot beach at great Harbor

Stingray included

On our last full day we purchased 10 gallons of water, tried to buy milk, went to the beach and had drinks with Warren and Karen on sv Betula. They were also going to west end New Providence Tuesday but headed N around the Berry’s. We decided to take the Southern route over the bank to the NW channel near Chub Cay. 

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