According to our friend and fellow cruiser, John Dillion on Kindred Spirit, if you read the waterway guides regarding cruising the Far Bahamas “you’re gonna die!”. The books are full of dire warnings to scare boaters away.... you need to be totally self reliant, there are no fuel or supply stops, no one to rescue you in an emergency, few places to hide in a blow. Well, the good news is, it apparently works as we find pristine anchorages with few boats here in the Jumento and Ragged Islands.

But we did our homework and prepared for this trip by upgrading our solar panels, purchasing a watermaker, and investing in additional spare fuel jerry cans. With the strong Bahamian sunshine we can run all our appliances 24/7 and have spare energy to recharge accessories.... even make ice! We run the watermaker about every five days for an hour and a half to fill our tank and just about every container we can find, as well as wash the salt off the solar panels and dodger window panels. This gives is drinking water, wash water, and a nice spray shower on the aft deck when we get back from our daily swim. The trip from Long Island to our current location at the bottom third of the Raggeds took half a tank of diesel, so we have more than a full tank of full with our spares to get us back north.

Last nights dinner, day 12 of the trip, was grilled steak, rosemary potatoes, butternut squash, and lettuce and tomato salad, plus chocolate. There are still a few meals in the freezer plus the canned goods stashed away. Today I need to make bread. The big disappointment is we aren’t having any luck with fishing or lobstering. Bill hasn’t mastered the spear gun and I can’t seem to find pan fish that like conch-on-a-line. We keep trying.

We do keep an eye on the weather either on SSB for Chris Parker’s forecast or on our InReach satellite tracker. We’ve been lucky with nearly two weeks of sunny skies with only occasional nighttime showers. This far south we don’t experience the strong frontal passages with gusty north winds and squalls, but we are starting to feel the springtime easterly trade winds. We had a few rolley nights at anchor.

Twelve days ago we lost WiFi when we were out of range of Great Exuma... ten days later can pick up the signal from Duncantown, so we are back on the grid for the week. We read a lot of books on Kindle readers instead of Facebook posts.

We do like the Far Bahamas, Eleuthera, Cat and Long Islands. The people are friendly and welcoming, the waters are gorgeous as are the beaches, and anchorages are less crowded as fewer cruisers venture across Exuma Sound to explore them. Today we share Thompson Bay on Long Island with twenty boats, while there are probably three hundred + boats dodging one another at Elizabeth Harbor in George Town, Exuma. But we did have to plan another crossing of the Exuma Sound to get to our paradise.

This passage would be southeast from the Rat Cay Cut near Barraterre for 37 miles to the northwest corner of Long Island, then directly south for another 15 miles along shallow banks on the western shore. (By the way, an island here is called a Cay, which is supposed to be pronounced Key. It grates on me every time I hear it incorrectly on the radio) With good weather, we conservatively estimated a ten hour trip, meaning we needed to leave early to anchor at our destination before dark.

So weather wise, we hear Chris Parker assuring us the worst of the winter fronts would pass this week. We checked Windy, Windfinder, SailFlow and Maris Weather to pick our day. After the weekend squalls at Little Farmer, it appeared we would have several favorable traveling days. Sunday was a short hop to Rudder Cay, Tuesday a slightly longer three hour jaunt to Williams Bay. The tides were with us on each of the cut passages, so there was no repeat of our last experience.

We timed our early morning exit at Rat Cay Cut to slightly before high tide, but with light NE winds there was little surf through the passage. We were surprised through at how far out into the sound the choppy effects of the current could be felt. As soon as we moved out of the tidal current the waves were small and much smoother. Wind was light and more forward than we expected so we motor sailed with the mainsail. Skies were blue and sunny with a few fluffy clouds, nothing threatening. We were surprised at how little boat traffic we saw on such a gorgeous day. We like that we can identify the boats around us who are using AIS transponders. Hopefully, the cost of the transponders will come down so we can been “seen” as well. For now, we have AIS receive only through our VHF radio.

A few hours out from Long we put out our trolling lines, but apparently mahi-mahi were not hungry for cedar plugs. We turned the corner on to the shallow water mid afternoon, right on schedule. We pulled in the trolling lines as we’ve experienced you only catch barracuda in shallow water. We did have some dolphin chase along with us, but we don’t fish for them!

We rounded Indian Hole Point, the entrance to our anchorage well before sunset. No drama this trip!

The Exuma Sound is the large body of water between the popular Bahamas Family Islands known as the Exumas and the Far Bahamas islands to the east, Eleuthera, Cat and Long. Depths run from under a meter in the banks to over 6000 feet in the depths. Color changes from neon blue to rich Indigo blue. (In comparison, Lake Superior, the deepest Great Lake, tops out at 1333 feet). Crisscrossing from east to west or vice versa can be 35 to 50 miles depending upon endpoints, so it is a long day sail. We did two crossings so far this year and they were complete contrasting experiences.

Whenever we contemplate a crossing, we do extensive weather research daily before. At this time of year fronts, with wind and squalls, come through every 3 to 5 days so care needs to be taken to pick a good weather window. In our first run, we had been in Rock Sound, Eleuthera for a week with 20 other boats. Everyone compared notes from the various weather sources and agreed upon a day. Eleven boats left between 6 and 8 am under partly cloudy skies and minimal breeze. At the “corner”, Powell Point on the chart, four boats appeared to be on the same rum line for Warderick Wells in the Exuma Land and Sea Park, as Whisper and her buddy boat, Open Agenda. Clouds built to the north and within an hour we had heavy rain, but still not much wind. Not in the forecasts, except for the usual disclaimer from Chris Parker of potential scattered squalls. (Chris is the weather guru for the Bahamas).

Once we dried off, the wind filled in from the northeast, and of course, our course was southwest, so we were motor sailing (engine and main) directly downwind. We were halfway by then so we kept on sailing as the wind increased with more ominous clouds. Luckily Bill is very experienced in these conditions with all those Queens Cup, MAC and Hook races, but we could tell our companion boats were have a rough time.

As we approached our destination winds were gusting into the 30s...how did we know with no wind instruments? Mr Bill’s experience again. To get to the mooring field we had to go through a narrow passage between islands called a “cut”. The admonition in the Bahamas is don’t go through a cut with wind against current. Well, we had a NE wind and an outgoing west to eat flowing tide. No choice as anywhere else would have us going through in the dark. So we decided we needed to take a reef in the sail (make the sail smaller in nonsailing terms), which meant I had to go on deck to adjust the main sail. With my life jacket on, and securely tethered to the toe rail, I inched forward and wrapped my arms around the mast (remember Steve Martin doing so in a movie and yelling I’m sailing) as Bill lowered the sail. Once the reefpoint was secure I reversed my path back to the safety of the cockpit with the only casualty, lost my Whisper sailing cap.

Having lost our mid fleet position in the boat parade, we watched the five other boats transit the cut. All made it through, but we did see bottom paint on a couple off them. We later heard there was some equipment damage, but no one hurt. We flew through with me calling mainsail trim “dead down”, “by the lee” as Bill can’t see the wind indicator at the top of the mast from his helm seat.

Inside the mooring field, it was much calmer, but there was a lot of current. Thankfully, Howard and Katherine (aka Honey) from Hoda helped us secure the dancing mooring ball. They also assisted Open Agenda, whose roller furling main got stuck partway. Sailors helping sailors happens all over the cruising world.

I meant to blog a retrospective to start the new year, and missed that deadline. With Chinese New Year coming up I think I’ll take a second chance.

As we arrived back in the Bahamas in December we started planning the fourth year of our three year program. Yes, we are not ready to give it up yet. Our lifestyle here is somehow rejuvenating, and now that I have new knees to extend my beach combing, we look forward to at least a season or two more.

Whisper, however, needed some rejuvenating. She got many more hours under her keel since we’ve been south than she ever did in the Great Lakes. And we found it absolutely true that sun and salt are very hard on the boats. It seemed as soon as we completed one upgrade, something broke and required attention.... thirty year old boat syndrome. Batteries don’t last as long in the heat, so she has a complete new set. Our old solar panels were undersized and failing, so new ones now keep us in cold drinks and ice, as well as fully charged electronics. Whisper has a new bright blue bottom that should keep the grass off for a few years. We are still trying to figure out how to get our anchor light working again. Finally, after a bit of a struggle getting equipment to start, we are making our own fresh water though a process called reverse osmosis. The water maker makes fresh water out of salt water. Now if I could only find a similar machine for wine!

With most of the projects done, we can now enjoy sailing, snorkeling and exploring. We’ve been in Eleuthera for nearly a month. This is one of the far Bahamas, not as popular with tourists as the Exuma Islands. Our current anchorage in Rock Sound has 22 boats holed up from some strong winds. This is the most company we’ve seen, but we’ve also had anchorages with only one or two cruisers. We are not on a schedule, one of the best parts of our lifestyle, so we wait until the weather is right before moving on. Where to? Plan A is Cat Island and Plan B is Exuma Land and Sea Park. We need at least a week of calm for Plan A and we don’t see that in the near future. So we will hang out with friends and play a bit more Mexican Train dominoes.

So back to resolutions....

. Enjoy each day
. Make new friends and revisit old ones
. Explore new places
. Catch some fish
. Send hugs and love to family and friends

We are heading to Spanish Wells early tomorrow morning. We have spent the past two holiday season there and it just feels right to be going back. I called the Yacht Haven to reserve a slip and was warmly greeted by Leroy. I'm sure he or his brother Truman will be on the docks to catch our lines and welcome us back. We will probably have the pool to ourselves on Christmas Day, and we will be enjoying lobster tails from the fish market if we can get there before noon when it closes on Xmas Eve. Trying to remember if the steel drum band plays at Shipwreck bar on Xmas Eve.

Everyone in SW is so welcoming it is no wonder it feels like home. Any of you following our tracker have seen we have been doing a bit of wandering. From George Town to Key Largo, where we did boat upgrades and repairs, to our loop back to the Bahamas to wait out a storm front at Great Harbor Cay. It is time to get back to cruising mode, and there is no place like Spanish Wells to call home.

This year's cruise is different than previous ones. We are no longer the newbies, naive of winds, tides, currents and anchorages. We have more time to spend, we started in November, instead of January. We don't move unless we want to so weather is rarely an issue. For the first time we've been able to entertain guests aboard for a week's stay. And, just like the dirt dwellers home, stuff breaks and needs to be fixed. Bill, being Bill, has no problem striking up a conversation with anyone anywhere and we are reaping the benefits of renewing some of these acquaintances as we make new ones.

We seem to divide our time between revisiting favorite places and discovering new ones. Since we decided we are not going further south until the effects of the hurricanes are abated, we are concentrating on Eleuthera and the southern Bahamas. We again spent Christmas and New Years in Spanish Wells. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Lorraines in Black Point. We joined the crowds of boaters at the First Friday in February regatta at Little Farmers Cay. We are in Black Point today for the fourth time, and love that Ida and Lorraine greet us with hugs, Mr Adderly discusses his daughter and his grandchild with us, and the guys at Scorpios remember we are Packer fans. This is one place that truly does feel like we've come home.

Over time we have gained confidence in.our skills and in our boat. We don't need to anchor only at the prescribed spots on the charts or guidebooks, but we seek out the spots near what appear to offer swimming and snorkeling. We can read the water and watch the tides to get us into spots that other boats ignore.

We just spent a week in a Pipe Creek anchorage that we bypassed several times in the past. It was unbelievably lovely. Instead of crowding into Big Major Spot by Pig Beach with fifty boats, we were ten miles north in an anchorage with three. We used the anchorage as base camp for exploring by dinghy. We tend to hit the supply towns, Staniel and George Town for a day to provision, then get back on our watery highway to find more pristine spots for swimming, snorkeling and relaxing.

A friend gave us some cocktail napkins that say "home is where the anchor drops" and that sums it up precisely.