TARDIS holding to cross the Atlantic Gulf Stream | More Fronts - winds SE to NE with squalls
Yesterday we moved to the southwest side of Cat Cay and anchored off the beach.
Here's a few more as the sunset developed.
LEG THREE -
setting up to cross the Gulf Stream
Leg Three of our return passage is the longest on our return trip. 76nm and would take over 15 hours. We did not want to arrive in the dark at Cat Cay. There's a shoal a few miles east of the island that visual piloting is recommended for. And we did not want to go 15 hours straight overnight for a daytime arrival. So we decided we would anchor on the south end of Mackie Bank when we got there about 2/3'rds of the way across. This is in the middle of the Great Bahama Bank. There is no land to block wind and waves. But there is also nothing to run into if the anchor drags.
It would take 10 hours for the first portion and 5 for the second. We decided to leave at 1pm from Chub Cay. Both portions of the banks crossing turned out to be spectacular sails, no motor needed! Double reef in the main, 50% of the jib furled, broad reach 5-6 knots. Very comfortable in 3-5 waves healed 10 degrees maybe. Eileen has her happy face on!
The first part of the trip is in the NorthWest Passage. At times the water is over 3,500 ft deep. You enter the Great Bahama Bank at the Northwest Channel. This is the NW Channel light.
It does not work. The channel is about 1/2 mile wide here, and we're about 500' from the pole. It's surprisingly easy to see from a distance in these conditions.
Everybody has to pass here and there was quite a bit of traffic.
Lucky for us we were already thru when this tug and barge arrived.
This guy passed close.
A few hours later it was time for the sunset.
There's plenty of time to read, head lamps help.
Once we passed Mackie Bank we pulled over, literally. Anchor was dropped 1/2 mile north of the magenta line (the track printed on the charts that misses shallow water and coral heads) in 13' of water. So the great sailing conditions are not so great anchoring conditions. Wind 130-150 degrees, 10-16 knots, gusting 22. Seas 3 foot. When the anchor grabbed and Charlie was putting on the snubber a wave came over the bow!
Best part, if there is one, for anchoring in these conditions is that the boat only hobby horses, for-aft movement. No rolling side to side. Which means dishes stay put and you can sleep on your side. We actually got some sleep!
Up at dawn, coffee and egg sandwiches made, we were underway a little past 7am.
It was a picture perfect day to sail the remaining 30nm.
TARDIS arrived to the east side of Cat Cay near the airport (every island has one!) and we dropped anchor at yet another jetset private island not particularly cruiser friendly.
Cat Cay Yacht Club is a 'Port of Entry' and a popular customs destination for arrivals from foreign countries (USA) if you don't mind paying $100 to go ashore. They do allow cruisers to visit the Convenience Store for free but not the bar or restaurants. You also are not allowed to leave the marina at any time.
We went to shore Wednesday and we found the people are just as friendly here as in all the islands we've visited.
It's a tidy island and there's allot of work going on all the time. You can hear the yard equipment from the boat.
The convenience store was one of the nicest in all the islands and we were able to get what we needed to finish out the trip.
One thing that is different about North Cat Cay is the palm trees everywhere.
We spent two nights on the east side of the island for the next prefrontal wind clocking S to N overnight. Thursday morning we had no protection left so we needed to move to the other side of the island at the south end. This meant going through the Gun Cay Cut at slack tide. It looked ok till we got in the cut but it turned out fine and TARDIS did great in the big seas of the Atlantic. All we had to do was follow this guy.
The anchorage turned out great. A bit of a swell from the ocean, and we rock some, but good for the crossing that looks like it will be Monday the 2nd.
The bay is lined with homes like this one.
Next stop Fort Lauderdale and our final blog entry sometime after for the season. The crossing is just 47nm, about 10 hours to the outer marker of Port Everglades. Chris Parker says Monday is a great day for a west bound sail. Can't wait!