Spring has Sprung!
21 March 2008 | Water Cay, Jumentos, Bahamas.
Jim Lea
This morning we listened to Chris forecast and flipped a coin about whether or not to head down to the Jumentos. The next few days sound great, but then it starts to blow stink. And the Jumentos are not noted for their snug anchorages. In fact, just the opposite. There is virtually no protection from westerlies, and where there is protection from easterlies, the holding for the anchor can be poor. Its a location where you are wise to dive on your anchor daily. But we decided to head down and take our chances. So we headed out of Thompson Bay at about 0830 hrs in light easterlies. Since the first part of our course was due west, we motor-sailed. The first part of the trip is through what is called the Comer Channel, but its not a channel in the normal sense. It is really just an (as usual) unmarked route across the banks where the water tends to be a it deeper than usual. At its lowest, it has about 6' at low tide, so most boats can make it through at half tide or better. Safely through the Comer Channel, we turned south, and the wind freshened so we enjoyed a beautiful sail. On the way down we met Trumpeter, a Bristol 45.5, with George and Nancy Marvin aboard. We have met them on a number of occasions, so we had a chat on the VHF as we passed. Just as we passed Trumpeter, the largest sea turtle we have seen, about 4' long, surfaced beside us. It gave us a casual look, showing no alarm, then slowly dove out of sight. Approaching Water Cay, we dropped our sails and motored in to find 4 cruising boats and one Bahamian fisherman anchored in the cay's lee. We could see two more sails behind us, so were unsure about how crowded we would find the anchorage. But it is a large (3 miles long) cay, so we headed further down and tucked into a cove we found last spring. Safely anchored (and anchor checked) we headed ashore to the tiny pink sand beach at the head of the cove where we hiked up to the highest point on the cay. Back on the beach, we went for a swim to cool off in the clear warm waters and I took a stab at cleaning the growth off the dinghy bottom, but without much success. I will have to beach it and turn it over some day soon. Tomorrow we'll listen to the weather to decide exactly what we will do from here on.