Splash 001

What a difference another passage makes! Those who remember the details of our first 9 day passage from Beaufort NC to the Dominican Republic in October will recall it was a challenge! Our passage from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Georgetown, Exumas Bahamas was textbook easy!! Colin joined us and we left on Sunday morning at dawn. 650 miles…. It just kept getting easier and easier. Over four and a half days, we travelled 149, 158, 152, 160 and 30 miles to arrive in Georgetown at noon on Thursday. Our first day we had a few squalls and a little rain, nothing over 20 kn. And then the weather kept getting better and better. Less than 1 m wave height (yes honestly!) and lighter winds made for easy meal prep and clean up, fishing and catching 2 Barracudas and lots of sleep! Starry nights and a bright half moon made our two hour solo watches a delight. Our motor was used more than we expected to keep us on track to arrive on Thursday. Colin won the bet of when we were going to arrive; and he generously purchased several beverages over the next few days!
Diane, Colin’s wife flew down to join us for four days. Jim and I parked Splash at the Exuma Yacht Club in Georgetown while we relished staying with Colin and Diane at the Hideaway; a lovely cabin/condo resort with a sand beach, pool and restaurant/ bar called SPLASH! What a treat for Jim and I to sleep in a bed that wasn’t rocking, have TV, on demand internet and as many hot showers as I wanted!! Over the next four days, we toured the island, watched the Georgetown family regatta wooden boats compete, visited the beautiful and untouched Tropic of Cancer Beach, fixed our dinghy motor (again!) and visited the Chill and Chat on Stocking Island where we touched large rays and watched conch being transformed from shell to salad.
Monday we said our goodbyes, did laundry, groceries, gas and water and motored over to Stocking Island to anchor. Tuesday we sailed north 42 nm to stay tucked in at Little Farmer’s Cay. The town dock located in a small bay boasts of incredible sea life! With the very shallow sandy and coral bottom we could clearly see the rays, sand sharks and turtles swimming about our dinghy! Yesterday, we walked into town where Rosevelt greeted us at the Yacht Club for lunch and wifi; and Tasha at the small grocery store welcomed us as now friends of hers. This island has 55 residents on the ¾ mile long strip. They are warm, friendly and helpful. We purchased fish from Jeffry and Stanley who live in the house directly in front of our anchor spot. Limestone rock is the foundation of the Exumas. The water colours, clear sighting under the boat, low lying land and shallow waters are so different from the islands we visited down south. The beauty of the sky and flat waters with their various and changing hues of blues and greens are spectacular. While we are in the Bahamas for a short time this trip, we plan to come back next season to explore.
May the fifth finds us waiting out the low pressure system. Tremendous winds, (36kn) sheet and fork lightening and a changing current and tide have made the last few hours quite memorable!! Knowing that poor weather was imminent, we wisely chose a site with land on all sides of us. 90 ft. of chain in 11ft of water may seem like overkill in some situations, but we were very happy to have every inch holding Splash.
Over the next few days we plan to visit Staniel Cay to see the swimming pigs, the Thunder Ball Grotto and Norman Cay where the crashed airplane is just below the surface of the water. Nassau will be next where we will reprovision and maybe meet up with Sue and Al; Jim’s sister and brother in law who are staying on a large motor yacht travelling from Key West.
From there, we will sail to the Berry’s, West End and over to Florida entering at Palm Beach cut.
It is somewhat surreal to us that we are entering the final stages of our adventure.