Bumpy Voyage to a Lovely Place

Saturday, February 7th: Staniel Cay

Two nights before we left Hatchet Bay, Bill, Mary, Bob and I hired a taxi to take us to the nearby town of Governor's Harbour in search of a restaurant for dinner. The homes we saw along the road were large and beautiful - most likely belonging to outsiders who winter there or have moved to the island to retire. (In Hatchet Bay we had met 2 Canadian couples who were building homes on the island. The people owning a well known restaurant nearby are from Newmarket and we met another family from Pickering who have rented a home in the area every winter for 20 years.) We ate at Nippy's just south of Governor's Harbour - a pretty little town - different again from others that we have seen. Nippy's sits on a hill overlooking the water - the view was gorgeous and we had a good meal and a good time. As it happened, this would be our last evening with the Mursells. The next day, they decided that they would stay put and perhaps head back to the Abacos Islands when weather allowed.

On Thursday morning, Sea Change and Trilogy left Hatchet Bay to sail south. With northeast winds pushing us along, we had a quick and easy motor sail to Powell Point at the tip of Eleuthera - but when we arrived at the Cape Eleuthera Marina where we would be staying, we were disappointed to see that there was only a low and narrow strip of land between marina docks and the winds and waters of Exuma Sound. We would have to dock in a pilings and fixed small dock slip while being pushed by stiff wind blowing off the Sound.

The hardest part of the day proved to be getting the boat safely secured. As we moved into the slip, I threw a line over one of 2 wooden brackets meant to hold a loop of line around the first piling we passed. That turned out to be a bad move. We soon discovered that the piling was too far back - our line wasn't long enough to loop back and tie off on the boat - and because the line was only around the bracket and not looped right around the piling, it got jammed. To get it out, the 2 men holding our bow lines eased off, and with the wind pushing us away, Bob had to somehow pull the boat closer so that we could yank up on the line to free it. Eventually, with much loud direction from the skipper (yelling) and running around of the first mate, we managed to get lines where they needed to be. We're beginning to know what to do- but the skill required to get lines over pilings as we slide by has yet to be developed! ( Apparently, I now find out, you're supposed to use a boat hook with the line hooked in it and then raised over the piling and dropped so to be caught by the brackets -- ah, ha!)

After getting settled, we had Mike, Darlene and their daughter, Tasha (from Trilogy) for drinks before dinner. They would be moving on the next day to San Salvador island  and would be anchoring in a protected bay in preparation for the promised bad weather weekend. We could either stay at the marina until better weather arrived - possibly by Tuesday or Wednesday - or make another run for it (so to speak). The prospect of staying for several days at a marina in the middle of nowhere while being continually bounced around by winds sweeping in from the Sound was not appealing. We had one more day of travel opportunity with NE winds of 20 knots winds that would push us south into the Exumas. (Never mind that on Lake Ontario it's unlikely that we would have set out in such winds.) We resolved to leave the next day.

I hit upon the idea of sailing directly to Staniel Cay. Our friends would be staying there next week, and we had intended to visit with them if we could safely arrive in time. When we consulted the chart, we found that the route to Staniel Cay was only slightly longer than to other Exumas destinations we had been considering. We decided to go for it. A side note - waves in open ocean waters were predicted to be from 6 - 9 feet. However, Mike reminded us that the 3-5 ft. closer together waves on the Bahamas Bank were harder to manage than 6-9 ft rolling ocean waves in the Sound where we would be sailing.

Friday morning, with the help of Mike and Darlene, we were able to extricate ourselves from the slip without mishap. Before we left - Mike and I had exchanged baking - he had made brownies the night before and brought us some while I had wrapped up the last of some home made banana bread for them. It was a surprise to both of us when we ended up doing a bake exchange.

The first part of the trip was easy - we had 20 knots of wind behind us and a following sea. We were lifted up by big waves (5 or 6 ft?) and then surfed down them and we were making good time. As the day wore on, wave height increased (the predicted 6-9 ft.? - probably); the waves came from behind but sometimes as the boat dipped and the wind pushed it to the side, a following wave would come at the boat on the beam so that the side of the boat would ride up the wave sideways and then back down - loose books and other objects went flying to the floor and dishes crashed against the cupboard doors. Periodically, a wave broke over the side of the boat showering crew and cockpit in salt water. We were grateful for our seaworthy boat -but also relieved when we eventually saw Staniel Cay ahead. The crossing took only 6 1/2 hours - and by the end - that seemed plenty long enough.

Now we would venture in through Big Rock Cut and find our way to the marina. Mike had helpfully written out for us the time of high tide and best times to travel through the Exuma cuts - i.e. before the tide begins to fall causing water to rush from the Bahama Bank back into the Sound and against a boat trying to move in through the cut. We were well within the time window and the knowledge had allowed us to put our worry about it aside. Once through the cut, we were looking at many hued water. This is where we would begin to navigate by reading water colour, especially watching for the lighter blues of shallow water, and the brown of coral heads and reefs.

We had decided to spend the weekend at the Staniel Cay Marina. We had no energy left to scout out anchorages with protection from the coming cold front and wanted to be tied up safe and sound until we studied possibilities around us. We were tired and just wanted to sit. Usually after docking, I want to go walking and exploring, or find WiFi to check email. I had no desire to go into the restaurant/bar to use the WiFi there or to get on my walking shoes. That could wait - I made tea and sat down with my book.

We ate at the little restaurant here last night - but today, I spent half the day in my PJs - and Bob did boat chores. We are out and about this aft. - the sun is out and the views are beautiful. I'll bring my camera next time and upload pictures of the awesome scenery here.

Our friends arrive next Thursday, so we'll be here to have a good visit with them. Hopefully, the weather will warm some before then. After that, we may go north to spend a few days in the Warderick Wells Land and Sea park but we'll time our stay carefully looking ahead to the weather so that we don't get stuck - unable to return in time to greet Krista, Sean and Michelle when they fly in to Staniel Cay at the end of the month. For the next few weeks, there will be no more pushing forward. We're going to chill and enjoy this beautiful place.