There was a cool component in the air the morning we left the Exumas. That was Sunday, January 3rd. Al and I bundled up in sweats and jeans against the chill. We have yet to take them off. We weighed anchor at 9AM, and sailed straight through to Rose Island, next to Paradise/Nassau Islands.
We sailed on into the night on the banks. It was quiet, no boat traffic, just the wind and us as we ghosted along towards our goal. I felt our way into the anchorage by instrument alone, it was pitch dark, and Al set the hook in what we hoped was sand. It set well and we collapsed into our bunks at midnight. We knew we would spend some time here; the wind was forecasted to be from the NW for 2-3 days. Rose island gives good protection from NW or N winds. What we didn't plan on was W wind for 3 days, but that's what we got. Lots of W wind, and Rose Island runs E-W, so we had little to no protection. Oh well.
Finally on Thursday AM we had our break to run to Bimini. We left Nassau harbor at 11AM and set our sails for a beat to Northwest channel some 50miles distant. This was the Tongue of the Ocean, some 4000 feet deep in places. We didn't worry about bumping our bottom here. We were flying along at 6.8-7.2 MPH. We rounded Northwest passage at 8.10PM. Full dark. Now we were onto the banks again. Depths here range from 16 feet to a skimpy 5.6 or so along this route. We draw 5 feet, so it's more important to stay on our route and not stray.
Al and I took the night in 2HR shifts. I wish I could capture what it is like to sail the banks at night. I tried, I really did, but the dark swallows up the filming and nothing comes out. It is the most incredible feeling on earth. Just you and the boat, nothing else exists on the planet. I truly felt like I was the center of the universe. After the moon rose, I could look down into the water and see the coral heads as they rushed past and under the hull. Fisherman were out on the banks, sitting still in the water, showing their white over red lights as we passed. I had my MP3 player cranked in my ears, and it was nirvana.
The banks lost their wind around 1:30, so down went the sails and we motored along. The water's surface was glass. Then the most perfect sunrise a person could ask for, and we could see Bimini in the distance, right where it was supposed to be That always amazes me, the fact that I can actually navigate TO things. Who would have thought?
We passed the wreck of the Saponah and into Bimini harbor. Here was another waiting spot. We need wind from any direction but N to cross the gulf stream. We're going to be here a while and we know it. We stopped first for fuel. After fueling, we left to take a slip at the marina. I felt we would ride better over a 4-7 day period in a slip, where we could actually LEAVE the boat, if we wanted. (We had been stuck on the boat since the third. It was now the Eighth.)
There was a large catamaran in front of us at the fuel dock. There was lots of room between his stern and our stem as we took on our fuel. He had in fact, helped us with our lines as we came in, since there was a ripping current flowing in the same direction as our travel. I had been revving in reverse for most of the channel and dock approach, just to slow us down.
As we left, I can only claim fatigue from the all-nighter. I left the dock and had NO STEERAGE! Reverse- no effect! Turn right to miss the cat, wishy-washy barely any response! I hollered to Al to fend, as I had NO CONTROL, and the cat owner came out to assist as well. Good thing, as Journey was sideways, heading for the cat's stern like a hour dourve weenie getting stuck by a cocktail fork. "I'm going to run into your boat now, and there's not a darned thing I can do about it." I remember saying about then to the boat owner, and how was I sounding that calm? Maybe because the die was cast, I knew there WAS nothing I could do- out of my control- this was now just a spectator sport for me. I still don't know how those two managed to fend off an entire BOAT, but they did, no harm, no foul. And when I went over later to apologize, we made new friends with the owners of the catamaran .