29 October 2016 | Georgia, USA
29 October 2016 | Georgia, USA
08 October 2016 | Brunswick, Georgia, USA
07 October 2016 | Hotel on West Side of Hwy I-95, Brunswick, GA, USA
07 October 2016 | Brunswick, Georgia, USA
06 October 2016 | Brunswick, Georgia, USA
05 October 2016 | Brunswick, Georgia, USA
04 October 2016 | Photo off Outer Banks near Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
27 September 2016 | Piankatank River, Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, USA
22 September 2016 | Current Position - Sassafras River, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA
16 September 2016 | Orient, Long Island, New York, USA
11 September 2016 | Ebenecook Harbor near Boothbay Harbor, Maine, USA
07 September 2016 | Penobscot Bay, Maine, USA
05 September 2016 | Penobscot Bay, Maine, USA
04 September 2016 | North Haven, Vinalhaven, Maine, USA
28 August 2016 | Castine, Maine, USA
27 August 2016 | Belfast, Maine, USA
12 August 2016 | Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA
06 August 2016 | Canada/USA Border Crossing
04 August 2016 | La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada
Milk Water
03 November 2012 | Little Grand Cay, Bahamas
Vicki - Sunny 24 deg, 10 kn N
A week has passed since Hurricane Sandy and if you’ve checked the webcam site on wunderground.com you’ll see that we’ve now left Freeport, Grand Bahama. The wind has been too strong to venture out but we’ve covered nearly 150 miles in search of good snorkelling sites and picture perfect island getaways. The sea temperature has changed from 27.5 deg to a cool 22 deg, a wee bit disappointing as it’s borderline cold for my liking and in a month’s time we’ll need head protection and wetsuits due to the cold water. The hurricane has salt burned all the leaves on the north side of all plants on these islands and the water is a milky colour in places making it difficult to do any watermaking.
All the cruising guides mention the shallow depths in the Bahamas and we can confirm that it’s true as we’ve had a few heart pounding moments in depths of 2.1 metres (our keel is 1.9 metres) as we inch our way towards anchorages near cays and islands. Maynard’s middle name should be “Shortcut” as we’ve taken some beauties in our lives both on land and on the water. He found one yesterday at the western end of Grand Bahama as we headed over to Great Sail Cay which shaved 20 miles off our 100 mile day ensuring we arrived before sunset although I probably have a few more grey hairs. Actually, it wasn’t as bad as we thought but one needed to stay extremely vigilant in the winding 3 mile unmarked channel.
It seems that this hurricane and those of the past have changed the depths as again we had very shallow water today on our approach to Little Grand Cay which is the farthest northern island in the Bahamas. As it lies adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, the water clarity has improved somewhat but it is still very cool for swimming. We have only seen 2 vessels in 2 days of travelling and expected to see dozens. We are constantly amazed at how few yachts are on the water wherever we go. The above photo was taken at Double Breasted Cay which is near Little Grand Cay.
If we find that the Bahamas are just too cool for snorkelling or the anchorages too distant for our intended journey, we may have to make some drastic changes to our plans.