The biggest challenge leaving Nassau Harbor is dodging cruise ships which do arrive fairly in the morning. Last night we agreed with Wyvern to hoist anchor at 8:00 am. This morning, we were all ready to go at the appointed hour, so I called Nassau Harbor Control. It took 3 time hailing them before he finally answered. I told him my intentions and my nest destination and he cleared me for departure and wished me a good day. I replied the same pleasantries and out we went.
There were several other boats leaving with us so we tried to keep up but there is plenty of room for all as long as there are no cruise ships. The best indication is when you see the Harbor Pilot Boat. His job is to guide large boats into the harbor. I try to pay attention to radio chatter to know what vessels are approaching, but it can be difficult to understand. As we rounded the bend to leave the harbor the Pilot Boat was approaching, followed by a huge boat of some sort, not a cruise ship but BIG. It took all my nerve to judge their speed and sail between them. We escaped with our lives and no one was the wiser. The big ship was probably going slower than we were (if that’s possible), so I was able to maneuver around him. That task complete, I handed the helm to Jack and the rest of the day was pretty ordinary. We had light winds and although Jack trimmed the sails to their best performance the wind was not as predicted (southwest) but nearly off our nose (northwest). Not a big difference except to a small sailboat on a big sea with 30 miles to travel at 5 knots. If you did the math that’s a 6 hour trip.
Regardless of the wind, the weather was beautiful, the seas were easy, and we had a good trip.
Tonight we are anchored behind Frazer’s Hog Cay in the Berry Islands with Wyvern and another nice Trawler from Islamorada, Florida. We never thought we’d say it this trip, but mostly due to lack of wind we will stay here tomorrow and do some exploring around these islands. We have explored them before but we never know when we might beachcomb up some new treasures.