January 27th and 28th- Manatee Pocket FL to Great Sale Cay Bahamas

The weather window for the Bahamas crossing seems to be getting shorter by the minute. We decided to change our check in location from the customs office at West End to the office at Green Turtle Cay. We radically changed our plans to make one long run to Great Sale Cay. It took us around 21 hours.

Before departure I conferred with the captain of Andante about the plan. Unfortunately, a large wake and our dinghy conspired to knock his boarding ladder into Manatee Pocket’s very murky water. He flew off to a store to get wood for a new platform. We were then back on track for departure. The Pocket was calm in the morning. By this time the wind seemed to pick up.

At 12:15pm we dropped the mooring line to head out for our over night passage. We pointed Evergreen down the St Lucie River to head out the inlet. The entrance had big swells but no braking waves today.

After exiting the inlet, we set our course south to make up for the Gulf Stream current which would set us north. This was very difficult work as we needed to motor up wind into a heavy sea. Finally off the coast of Jupiter Island we couldn’t take it anymore and turned east towards the Bahamas. I tied the 2nd reef in the mainsl’ and rolled out some of the Genoa. The engine was also used to help keep up speed. We had expected the wind to have changed to a more favorable direction and to lessen but it didn’t. Some discussion was had on Evergreen about turning back. Mutiny is always a concern.

Andante down in a wave.

We sailed Evergreen on a Starboard tack so were healed over to port. Our head (bathroom) is on the port side. Evergreen would punch through waves driving a ton of green water down the deck. Unknown to us, for some unspecified amount of time, a geyser of water would shoot out of the head sink every time we plunged down a wave. By the time the Admiral discovered the problem the head was full of water as was the bilge. Seeing that much sea water inside the boat is very disturbing. Our dual bilge pumps and a garbage can were employed to reduce the amount of sea water. The sink thuhull (valve) was closed to stop the deluge. It was very encouraging to see the water start to go down.

Finally sailing.

I further changed our course in an attempt to have an easier motion over the waves. According to the forecast, by night time, the wind was supposed to be mostly behind us but it wasn’t. Fortunately the speed dropped some as did the waves. Our course wasn’t great, but we could make up the mileage later.

Sunset on the Gulf Stream.

Andante sailing into the night.

Finally after getting through the Gulf Stream and approaching the Bahamas bank the wind direction improved. The moon was out. The sea flattened out. The diesel engine was shut off. We had a beautiful night-time sail onto the bank. This was probably somewhere around midnight. We then made a straight line course for Great Sale Cay. The sun rose and we were in THE BAHAMAS! Maybe it would have been better if the captain picked a calmer day but we made it. Half the trip was lousy and the other half was really nice. 50/50

We continued on and anchored in Northwest Harbour at, the deserted, Great Sale Cay. Great Sale is a little wind swept island with a few spots to get Ollie to shore. Nothing here but nature (and protection from the wind). We made it.

January 29th- Great Sale Cay, Bahamas

The wind.

As I type this up, it’s howling through the rigging. We knew it was going to pick up today, hence the long run to get here. The harbor is protected so while the wind is blowing through the anchorage, the seas don’t get too big. It’s still a salty ride to shore for Ollie’s commando raid. Let me retract that last statement. We’re not checked in yet and are flying the yellow quarantine flag so we were never on shore! A real commando raid!

We’re getting a little T Mobile coverage so I’m able to download my Chris Parker weather forecasts and a few texts. We don’t have enough bandwidth to upload these posts so I’m just writing this up and will upload it sometime in the future.

Some scenes from Great Sale Cay.

View off the back porch.

January 30th- Great Sale Cay to Great Abaco Island Bahamas

The wind calmed down enough that we could make our way down the island chain a little further. Our next anchorage was going to be a nice spot we were at last season. Eventually I had enough cell coverage that I could take a look at the weather for the next day. The wind speed at 20+ knots and westerly wind direction would make the anchorage difficult. Change of plans. We sailed down the side of Great Abaco Island until we spotted a beach. This was a much better location and the island would block the morning wind. Ollie had a good time at the beach. We had sundowners on Andante and had a fun evening.

Ollie lovingly gazes at Mom while she cooks dinner.

Evergreen anchored off of Great Abaco Island.