Mike
04/10/2008, Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas

You are welcome to all the relatives whom Sam apparently treated at one of our favorite restaurants in East Lansing, Michigan. Did Betsy get to eat too? We were happy to oblige...

April 6...Linyard Cay

We heard over the VHF that at significant squall line was approaching from the northwest so we decided to move from our anchorage behind Linyard Cay, where we had no protection from the west, directly to the west to Abaco. It was a move of about a mile but afforded us some safety. I took a shower and used up the water in our tank leaving only the 2 six gallon cans on deck. With a storm on the way I decided to catch some water. First I scrubbed the decks and rinsed with saltwater. Then I cut a screen to fit in our water fill cap. When the storm hit...and it did about 10am, I let the down pour rinse off the decks for about ten minutes and then plugged up the deck scupper. In no time the level of trapped water reached the fill cap. I removed the cap and inserted the screen.

It continued raining hard for about 30 minutes and we collected water during that time but had no idea how much actually ended up in the tank.

We spent the day reading. Barry and Susan stopped by a couple of times and we ended up going over to "Restless" at about 5 for social hour.

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Mike
04/08/2008, Linyard Cay, Abacos

April 5th...Current Cut to Linyard Cay

After listening to the weather, which called for 20 knot winds from the south east and 6 foot swells from the east, we left our anchorage in the company Tilt and Restless. We knew that it was going to be a long day. The first leg was down wind so we poled out the headsail and spent an hour or so wing on wing at about 5.5 knots. Once through the Egg Island Cut we turned north put out the fishing lines and sailed on a beam reach for about two hours.

When we were out of the protection of Eleuthera and associated islands, the swells which averaged about 6 feet (some as high as 10) began to pick up. Their size was not all that bad but the frequency was not the advertised 9 seconds but closer to 5. So we had 6 foot swells from the east every 5 or 6 seconds from the east and 6 foot wave chop from the south. Although not dangerous, it was not a pleasant day.

Steve on "Restless" and "Susan" on Night Hawk each caught Mahi-mahi. We had a hit that set the drag screaming, but came up empty for the day except for a 3 inch flying fish that landed on our decks.

Now that we're back in the Abacos we should be able to have better communication.

Comments [2]

Mike
04/08/2008, Current Cut, Eleuthera

April 4th...Alabaster Bay to Current Cut.

At the northern end of Eleuthera there is long peninsula and even at the western end the water is too shallow for boats to pass. There is a Cut in the peninsula that is about 75 yards wide where we can get through but the current caused by the tides are a challenge. The goal is to go through at slack tide. However, calculating tide here is not an exact science. Our best guess was to use the tide data for Nassau and then add 2 hours.

For one of the few times in the Bahamas we did not have a good sail. The wind was directly behind us and the waves were on our quarter. We tried to sail but could only manage about 4 knots and we had a dead line....a rarity these days, so the engine was on most of the day.

The approach to Current Cut is a little tricky because the area directly in front of the cut is filled with shifting sand. The recommended path calls for going all the way to shore about a mile south of the cut and hug the rocks as you motor up to the cut. The channel here is very narrow with rock on the port and shoals on the starboard. One of the boats ahead of us went aground, but no one in our group had any problems. Once in the Cut we were flushed through riding about a 5 knot current.

Once we were through the cut we motored about a half mile east, pulled up to the beach and dropped anchor for the night.

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