Heading North
23 April 2007 | Fernandez Bay, Cat Island
Dave
This is a picture of the Hermitage in New Bight, see if you can spot DJ
We left Georgetown for the final time and have now turned north. It was tough saying goodbye again to all our friends and the kids had a particularly difficult time. Prior to our departure, I received some help from Jean on Blackberry Ramble in repairing our main sail. She put in a long day in the hot sun and her help was greatly appreciated. We had first met BR in Annapolis and then again in Beaufort for Halloween. We sailed to Cat Island, which is about 55 miles North East, and what a beautiful sail we had. One of those rare perfect sailing days that you hear about. The winds were from the West at about 15 knots, with the seas only 2-3 feet. We had expected the winds to switch to the north but they never did, which was good for sailing but not so good for anchoring. With very little protection from the west, we changed our anchoring plans and headed for Smith Cove. Smith Cove is a very tinny anchorage with room for only 1 boat. We needed to set two anchors because there was not even enough room to swing on 80' of chain. The following day, we moved over to New Bight where we caught up with our friends on Beach Magic who we hadn't seen since we left Mayaguana a couple weeks back. New Bight is well known for the Hermitage that was built by Father Jerome on top the highest point in the Bahamas(200 ft). The steps leading up to the hermitage depicted the Stations of the Cross and were truly amazing. The amount of work that was put into each one was inspiring. The view from the top was nothing but breathtaking. We could see why Father Jerome picked this spot as his final resting place. Lisa and I found a mango tree during one of our walks and luckily, they were in season. We took about a dozen for the ride. Lisa made a mango salsa. Yum. After spending a couple days in New Bight, we moved a couple miles north to Fernedez Bay where Beach Magic tells us there is some good snorkeling. After a couple days here we will move to the northern part of Cat Island than over to Little San Salvador.
Happy Birthday to Courtney, Jack, Dad, Laurie ann