Well it turned out that the answer to the question of our next port of call was actually neither (a) the Dominican Republic nor (b) the Turks and Caicos but (c) the Bahamas. Both Cameron and Alison did great on our first multiday passage in safe but at times very uncomfortable conditions. We left in the morning on Tuesday April 2nd and within short order were in rolly conditions crossing the Mona Passage. As evening arrived conditions improved and Austin, Cameron and Alison took the first night watch while Kathleen was down below “trying” to get some rest. Alison spent the night outside sleeping under the stars and Cameron crashed below at @10:30 and slept through the night, which was great as he was rested enough to take some turns at the helm the next day to relieve his tired parents. At that point we decided against the Dominican Republic.
The next day had the boat sailing downwind wing on wing and moving at a good clip. However, the wind built during the day and in the middle of the night Austin and Kathleen decided that it would be too uncomfortable to turn into any of the anchorages on the eastern Turks and Caicos Islands and we would be best suited heading directly to Clarence Town on Long Island in the Bahamas (at least another 250 miles from where we were at the decision making point!) That night was a broad reach in large confused seas as both wind driven swell and a wave pattern coming down from Caicos Passage met. As the sun rose we were close to turning northwest on the west side of the Caicos Bank with the hope that the swell would die down. It took a number of hours and by that point Kathleen, Cameron and Alison were ready for a chance to stop for the night. Austin researched our very limited options and it was decided that we would try to anchor on the west side of West Caicos. In the very late afternoon as we turned the corner both Kathleen and Austin knew that anchoring in the open roadstead would be out of the question given the conditions.
Fortunately there were dive boat moorings along the coast and we grabbed one for the night and all had a great sleep!
The next day we decided we would head to Mayaguana island (one of the “outer” Bahamian islands) as it was a 50 mile day sail. We arrived Friday April 5th in the late afternoon and unfortunately the Customs and Immigration office closed early as the power was out. It was a long weekend on the boat, although we did get off to do some snorkeling in the “pool” that surrounds our boat.
It is hard to capture in photos the incredibly beautiful colors of the water but we were able to capture just how shallow Bahamian waters will be.
On Monday we cleared into the Bahamas and enjoyed some time stretching our legs. We also scheduled a trip to go bone-fishing on Tuesday morning with Scully Cartwright, the local ambassador of all things Mayaguana.
We had a great day and got some great fly fishing lessons although the fish were in hiding!!
On Monday night our friends Jeff and Margaret from s/v Bear had arrived in Mayaguana so we had them over for a catchup on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday night they invited us over for dinner (with a Thanksgiving theme!) and to finish our game of Mexican Train! During the day Wednesday we went for a snorkel and the kids got to see a moray eel for the first time and then cleaned up for dinner. We had a great dinner and managed to play all but the last round of our Mexican Train game! We are both (as well as our friends on s/v Estelle) heading to Georgetown in the Exumas as our next planned stop and will be together to finish our game and have a date for ice cream!!! We are currently waiting in the harbor in Mayaguana for a front to pass and hope to head out tomorrow, April 12.
While it has been a rainy day sunset was spectacular and our friend John on Estelle sent us this great picture of our pot of gold.
FYI…The choice to go to West Caicos was actually a lot further down in the planning list then we said but there were just too many instances where we changed our minds.
A. Luperon, Anchorage, Dominican Republic
B. Ocean World, Marina, Dominican Republic
C. Grand Turk, Anchorage, Turks and Caicos
D. South Caicos, Anchorage, Turks and Caicos
E. Clarence Town, Marina, Bahamas (Long Island)
F. Atwood, Anchorage, Bahamas
G. West Caicos, Anchorage, Turks and Caicos.
Cameron and Alison sure are getting used to changing plans!!!
Comentários