Wednesday December 16
The Bahamas is made up of about 700 islands and 2400 cays and rocks. We've got a lot of ground to cover!
We left the dock at Old Bahama Bay marina in the West End of Grand Bahama Island at 7:15 a.m. The winds were favorable for the head sail as we left the marina. When we rounded Memory Rock, the wind was on our nose, so we furled the sail. The winds were 10-15 and the seas were calm. Sounds like the forcast for yesterday. Land was soon out of site. We covered 53 miles. It was a long, beautiful ten hour passage to Great Sale Cay. Davido saw the green flash as the sun set behind us as we entered our anchorage. I've never seen that. There were 6 boats anchored already. We dropped the anchor at Great Sale Cay at 5:45 p.m.. We had bbq sandwiches and salad for dinner. After dinner we watched a DVD movie. It was after 10:30 when we said good night.
Thursday, December 17
We had bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches and coffee before pulling the anchor at 7:45 a.m.. The winds are 20+kts. out of the south east and the waves are 2-4 ft. We will cover 48 miles across the Little Bahama Banks to Green Turtle Cay. It is a beautiful day but the winds are not in the right direction for optimal sail. So, after having the head sail out for a while, we take it in and just motor. I can't wait to cut the engine off and sail! The water is a beautiful, blue and clear. There is only an average depth of 15 feet of water across the banks. The temperatures are warm during the day. Just before the sun sets the breeze cools a bit. Just delightful. I walk up to the bow as we turn up into the channel at Green Turtle. It is so shallow here that our depth alarm keeps sounding and I can see the bottom. We are learning to "read" the water here. I see a big spotted ray swim across in front of us. There are two dock hands to meet us at Green Turtle Club marina. It is 5:15 p.m. and they were nice enough to wait for us and another boat to get in. We checked in, talked to our neighbors that we met in Vero Beach, tested our wifi connection and had a drink. Then we went in search of dinner. We found an outdoor covered patio at the club restaurant. We enjoyed cracked conch, coleslaw and fries and ceasar salad. Their rum punch, the tipsy turtle, was good too! Back to the boat to plan our day tomorrow. We are watching a weather system coming in at the end of the week. We want to be sure that we are set in a protected spot for a few days. Our destination is Treasure Cay.