CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored on west side of Lynyard Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
26 22.254' N, 076 59.013' W (CLICK HERE for Google Maps)

Green Turtle Cay and Hope Town were both nice places to visit. Green Turtle provided us an opportunity to clear in, refuel, and gain our first experience with a small Bahamian community. Hope Town afforded a wonderful beach, snorkeling opportunity, and a very nice coffee shop. Both had provided protected harbors; however, there were some drawbacks. Our confidence in our anchor holding in White Sound at Green Turtle left a little to be desired, especially with the number of boats anchored there. The mooring at Hope Town left us feeling more secure; however, the $20/day price tag on that security bit into our precious kitty. In addition, both locations simply found us too close to other boats. A little privacy was in order.

We had thought about, and prepared for, our departure from Hope Town as early as Sunday morning. Water tanks were full, laundry was done, but the weather wasn't exactly cooperating with us. Two days later, the weather remained the same, strong winds from the east, with a forecast for even more of the same. We cried uncle and got together the fortitude to slip the mooring and depart.

Navigating a 10-ton boat between very closely packed neighbors, with a 20-knot wind, starting with zero momentum is a really good way to get your blood flowing in the morning. Once we were safely out of the harbor, we could finally use that wind to our advantage. With all three sails reefed, we made our way southward. The sailing was good, until we had to turn east, into the wind. We motored over to the east side of the Sea of Abaco and then turned south to motorsail just inside the reefs which surround the North Bar Channel.

Three solid days of 20-25 knot easterlies had piled up the seas offshore, and (to our left) we watched the waves crash upon the reefs which fringed the channel. Eventually, we would be heading out this same channel, but not today. Conditions today were what the Bahamians refer to as a 'rage,' and no sane person would head out through the channel on a day like this. On our lee side (to our right), the swells which made it through the channel crashed upon Channel Cay and Sandy Cay. With white-water activity all around us, we pushed onward, hoping to make the 'Distance to Next' waypoint value on our GPS go down as quickly as possible.

Once we got into the lee of Lynyard Cay, the seas settled down, and we motored around to tuck up into an area with protection from the east and the north. The depth is about 7 feet, and (best of all) the holding is very good. Our CQR set very well; however, since we are expecting to see at least two more days of strong easterlies, I decided to employ just a little more holding power. As you can see from the lead photo, I swam out our small danforth-style lunch hook on a short length of chain. I attached it to the crown of the CQR and then pushed the flukes of the lunch hook deep into the sand. If the CQR drags at all, the danforth should at least slow it down.

Through afternoon into evening, the anchorage remained our own. There are no other boats in sight. We baked some bread, some sweet, some savory (sweet potato bread and garlic & olive loaf, respectively). We swam in the clear, cool water (spotting conch with eye stalks sticking out and expired sand dollar shells). We listened to the BBC on the HF radio and enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the cockpit. Overall, it looks like this will be a great place to call home while we wait for our weather window to the Exumas.