We made our crossing on Thursday (Jan. 17, almost a week ago!), and for anxiety and misery it would be hard to beat. Mind you, this is coming from someone who dislikes wind and truly hates waves. Saltier souls than I would call it uncomfortable…. in fact, they did. But I found it downright miserable, even though my saner self realizes it could have been a lot worse….. a lot worse.
As we exited the Ft. Lauderdale inlet into the Atlantic the seas were quite confused and choppy, and the wind was well beyond a zephyr. When we got to the far side of the Gulf Stream the seas had flattened out, but the sky was completely covered in low dark clouds with only a small clearing right above the horizon. It was dark and dreary, which felt quite ominous, and there was only a brief blaze of light as the sun sank below that heavy cloud cover on its way beneath the horizon. I was never so sorry to see the sun go down….
Enter the darkest night ever. It was quite traumatic for me. We were sailing across the Bahamas Bank without benefit of moonlight or stars due to the heavy cloud cover. I could have done with a lot less wind. In the afternoon a fierce but fast moving squall came over us and I have never before experienced both salt water and fresh water pouring through every zipper on our cockpit enclosure! I was thoroughly drenched and not sure how salty I was so I didn’t dare go down below. In daylight you can see a squall coming and prepare for it, so I was quite distraught when another squall got us after dark. We could not see it coming, and it was a bit much for my frail state of mind…
Going through the shallow and very narrow Northwest Channel Light passage (where, in fact, there is no light because that lighthouse has been out of order for years) in the dark with two ships approaching from opposite directions also added to my anxiety. Yet, on the whole, I have to admit that I mostly slept. I had taken a half dose of Stugeron (an over the counter drug for motion sickness available in the UK and Canada) the night before our departure, a highly recommended procedure for those inclined to sea sickness. I took another half dose when we left on Thursday morning. While Stugeron has never made me noticeably drowsy in the past, this time it worked like general anesthesia, and maybe that was for the best. Out of our 24-hour crossing I must have slept almost 20 hours…. Of course that means poor Bob never got much more than a catnap during the entire crossing.
And so we arrived in Nassau about 27 hours after leaving Florida. We had not intended to stop in Nassau at all, but the weather conditions were more favorable to checking in with customs and immigration here more than other harbors. What an amazing contrast in sights! We spent most of Friday walking about, so I saw everything from the incredibly high end jewelry stores of Bay Street that cater to the cruise ship crowd to the shanty town called Potter’s Cay that sprawls under the bridge that spans the harbor. I had my first Bahamian beer, a Kilik (prounounced “Click”) in Potter’s Cay while sitting on a small deck made from recycled (and somewhat rotted) wood planks nailed together in a most casual fashion. No one seems worried about liability, and for once my exhausted brain didn’t think too much about it either. Luckily there was no loss of life! The view was worth the risk!
We left Nassau first thing on Saturday morning, and since then have been experiencing island hopping at its best. By checking in at Nassau we were able to avoid the northern most islands in the Bahamas chain and get ourselves right into the Exumas. As I write this we are sitting in Norman’s Cay which is famous for it’s drug running in the 70s (if I had access to the internet right now I’d be able to check on the name of that famous drug lord who used to live here…. I’m wondering if it’s the man who was portrayed by Johnny Depp in a movie not too long ago…. But I’m probably wrong about that….). Now there is nothing on this island, although there are plans to renovate a restaurant that used to be called McDuff’s. Yesterday, shortly before sunset, a large freighter came into this little anchorage and rode right up onto the beach where forklifts deposited a pile of cinder blocks and other building materials. I wonder if there will be some human activity next year if we come back.
This is the great view from our location! If the wind would only cut down I’d ask Bob to take a photo of me spinning with one of my drop spindles on this tiny island! Sort of a “what would you take if you were going to be stranded on a desert island” type of shot.
Before we reached Norman’s Cay, we spent a day and night at Allan’s Cay, which is very famous for its iguanas. Lots of people stop here as they enter the Exuma chain of islands just to see these iguanas. We thought we were so lucky to be only one of four boats anchored in early afternoon, but as the day wore on more and more boats arrived. Still, we went iguana watching well before the crowds arrived. By the time the beach was overrun with tourists we were off on our own swimming on the far side of the harbor and doing a little snorkeling on the reefs. Bob got some amazing underwater photos and videos of fish in the reef. I got this great photo of Bob with the iguanas! This will be his new Facebook photo if we ever get internet coverage again.
I sorely miss having access to email. I knew this bit would be hard for me….but it’s even harder than I imagined. I miss my morning talks with Christopher and fleeting airport calls from Rob….not to mention emails from all my friends. Sigh…. On the other hand, in spite of the wind, the weather is glorious here. The water ranges between stunning aquamarine and stunning emerald. We’ve had three good experiences now of navigating by sight, where Bob stands on the bow and directs my steering by hand signals in order to avoid coral heads. In a few more days we’ll probably feel quite comfortable with this. There are no buoys or other aids to navigation down here, but the water is very clear, easy to read after a little experience, when standing right on the bow looking down.
This is Wardrick Wells, in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. See how easy it is to see the change in water depth? The sandbar on the left is not even deep enough for dinghy travel!
The view from the top of BooBoo Hill where other sailors have left mementos of the visit to the summit.
Emerald Rock
Look who came to visit when we got out our picnic lunch!
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