Wayward Sun Sailing

Well, Sunday (Feb 17th) we parted ways with WSC they are heading back to Gtown to try to purchase a new dinghy motor, if there are any available now. WS has decided to head to Flamingo Cay for a day or so. Had a very nice sail to Flamingo, got there around 2 pm, did some exploring by the dinghy after and the winds picked up a bit. The boats were now rolling in the anchorage and WS being a monohull was rolling more than the cats. Anchorage notes on the charts said "surge" - no kidding, with the higher winds the surge had kicked in making it a bit uncomfortable for sleeping.

Monday (Feb 18th) had enough of the surge and decided to head further south to Buenavista Cay in the Ragged Island chain. It has a nice long beach, longest in the chain and no mention of surge. With the higher winds forecast until Thursday, it should be a nice place to hang out. Sail down to Buenavista was a little rough/salty, we were hard on the wind most of the time and since we decided to stay "inside" there were a number of spots that we had to get WS through that we slightly nerve racking with reefs and scattered coral heads. We took the outside (of the inside route) going around Man of War, the other route is closer to the island made sense, but has numerous reefs and shallow spots with one area only 6'. Capt'n wasn't happy about taking the long way, but it is what it is. Needless to say, a catamaran followed our same route, so even with their shallow draft they wouldn't go that way either. Sail down there was a lot of 4-6 rollers when there was no island protecting the inside track, but we were able to sail relatively comfortably. Forecast was for 10-15, we got 15-20 gusting 23-25 little rough being hard on the wind, but decent sail. Anchored along a beautiful stretch of beach at Buenavista Cay, four other boats already anchored and 2 arrived after us.

Tuesday, the winds picked up more and will stay that way for a couple days, but there is no surge and very nicely protected from the winds. Capt'n decided he wanted to go out and look for lobster around the outside, which is protected pretty much by another island, but still a bit of a challenge in the dinghy. So we headed out early and found a spot that had a little reef, behind another island. Capt'n was able to snag a lobster while I was able to snorkel a tiny bit. Water is warm now, much warmer than in Gtown, but we are a bit further south, about 50 or 60 miles from Cuba right now I'm guessing. So, next Capt'n brings up a big conch and asks if I want it, YES - conch and lobster for dinner sounds great. Finally decided to get in and snorkel and on the way back to the dinghy I spotted another conch on the bottom, I don't dive down deep so waited until the Capt'n got back and told him about it. So, we now have two big conchs and one very nice size lobster for dinner, life is good. By the time we got back from hunting we notice the rest of the boats left, except the one catamaran that came in after us yesterday. Seems odd to have this huge beautiful beach almost all to ourselves. We'll stay another day and head back to Flamingo on Thursday and Water Cay after that, hoping the winds will settle a bit and the seas won't be too bad on the way back up. After that we'll try to do the Comer channel either Saturday or Sunday, depends on how comfortable Water Cay is with the higher winds. For now, once through the Comer channel our plans are to head over to Long Island for a few days before heading back to Gtown.

Correction - Capt'n went out on a reef right in front of the boat and got another lobster. So Conch salad for lunch and lobsters with cracked conch for dinner.

The catamaran ended up leaving Wednesday instead of Thursday, as they had mentioned, so it's just WS in this huge anchorage by herself. Seems everyone headed over to Raccoon Cay, radio buzzing this morning with all sorts of boats over there, sounds a bit too crowded to be honest. We are as far south as we'll be going and it's very comfortable with the high winds here. Another boat did come in and anchor late Wednesday just around dusk. As nice as it is to be the only one in an anchorage it was a bit odd so it was nice to have someone else there, for whatever reason.

We upped anchor around 8 am Thursday and looked over and the other boat was doing the same. Oh good, we are not the only crazy people to go out sailing today. Explorer charts say people end up being stuck here for long unexpected periods, since this passage can get very rough (glad I read that after we got back to Flamingo!). I knew it was going to be a brisk sail and with the high winds lately, seas would be up also. We are on the inside of the islands, but numerous places there are no islands blocking the seas for miles on end and it is just the same as being on the outside. So, pretty salty sail to Flamingo Cay - instead of the forecast 14-20 gusting to 25, we had 25-30 gusting to 34 (like Dennis always says, add 5, but think right here it might be more like 10). Although I was skeptic at first Capt'n made the right sail choice with a full main and the staysail and we were not too overpowered. Seas were very choppy and up over 8' at times, and not far apart, which really made WS a handful since, of course, the autopilot refuses to work in anything more than a 2' mini swell, if that. This is the first time the Capt'n has ever hesitated giving me time at the helm, thinking it might be too much for me. It wasn't a problem, but can't say I didn't mind him taking over the helm again, sooner than later. Either way, we flew up to Flamingo doing 7-8+ knots most of the way. Got anchored around 1:30 and winds have seemed to relax and hoping they continue to do so. Will stay a day or two here then head to Water Cay, I'm guessing on Saturday. Did hear from WSC via SSB/Winlink, they purchased a new dinghy motor - last one, and think they have their water maker issue resolved. Also, heard from All In - they are stuck in Emerald Bay until these high east winds subside, but have fixed their problems too. Hope to meet up with both of them eventually, maybe Long Island, who knows. Looking forward to having cell and wifi again - for now it's just relying on the SSB/Winlink for emails. Oh, not to mention - a meal out! This cooking stuff is getting pretty old...

Flamingo Cay stay turned out to be pretty nice, besides the high winds and some rolling in the anchorage. Mahi who we met in Blackpoint is here along with two other boats. There is a nice hike on a marked trail at the north end of the beach so did that Friday (Feb 22) morning. Then we ended up going conch hunting with Carla from Mahi - Capt'n got 4, Carla 3 and me - 0, oh well. Cleaned the conch on the beach and a friendly little ray was hanging around waiting for scraps. Smart little guy as he definitely got his fill. Later we had a bonfire on the beach with Mahi, Dolphin and Arcadia until sunset and it was a great time. Arcadia has been sailing for years and was out in the Atlantic during the Perfect Storm, but a little further south. They saw a 70' wave - I'm awestruck to say the least. They were very modest and said it was just very big, they are my hero's - unbelievable. Biggest I've ever seen is 15' while sailing and that's big enough.

We are heading for Water Cay today (Sat, Feb 23) to get ready to leave on Sunday for Long Island. Had a really good time and a little sad after meeting such great people on the boats here. So cool to be in such a beautiful place with only 4 other boats and all of them super nice people. Oh, did hurt my one knee (not the one I just had surgery on, but old injury on the other one) a bit. Capt'n had tied the dinghy anchor to the bottom front, instead of the top, while trying to untie in in 3' of water got hit with a big wave that knocked me down only to ricochet off the beach and knock me down again from behind while I was trying to get up. I found myself lying down face first in the sandy water and not a very happy camper to say the least. I'm sure it had to look pretty comical, but don't think I was laughing right then, I was soaked from head to toe. Think the knee will be okay, but might take a week or so to get a bit better. For now, it's wrapped and will stay that way for a few days.

Saturday we headed out for Water Cay around 11 am thinking it would be a nice sail - NOT. We ended up beating into it the entire time and had to motor sail for 3 hours in nice size rollers, but nothing like the trip up to Flamingo the other day. Got there and it seemed relatively calmer once anchored so had our anchor beers then the rest of the conch - Capt'n had to give up one of his eggs (only 4 left after 11 days of deserted islands) so he could have Cracked conch again.

It's Sunday, Feb 24th and we are finally heading back to civilization for a bit. It'll be nice to get back, but we'll definitely miss these islands. Headed out around 6:30 am with winds forecast for 17-20, gusting to 22 well, you guessed it; they were definitely a bit higher, more like 22 gusting to 26. We had the main up with a reef in the headsail and we were flying (not very comfortably either) doing 7-8 knots. Cooking is always a challenge when heeled way over, but managed to get some breakfast sandwiches cooked. Then while trying to bring up the Captn's second mug of coffee, while heeled way over, got hit with a nice size wave and I went flying, swinging from the companion way and landing on the counter by the sink and literally being stuck there still holding the Captn's coffee in one hand and the other hand still grasping the companion way ladder holding on for dear life. Captn finally pried the coffee mug out of my one hand so I could manage to work myself back up off the counter. Good thing is I didn't spill a drop of his coffee, bad thing is they'll be some bruises from that one. Right after that little episode we realized, oh crap - were going to be at the Comer channel too early, which I was thrilled since that meant bringing in the head sail and putting out the staysail. That reduced our speed to 6 knots and also greatly reduced the heeling to a comfortable sail. Tide was up 1.5 when we go to the channel and would be right on high tide at the end where we saw the shallowest water going in. We now had to head ESE and needed to motor sail the rest of the way so Capt'n went to start the motor again and nothing. This time took numerous tries and again I heard clicking like I heard when it wouldn't start in the Berries. So we think it could be the solenoid going bad on the starter. Capt'n says we have a spare starter, but we'll see if he decides to change it in Long Island or maybe wait until Gtown - I'm hoping one or the other at least.

Almost at the end of the channel as I type - so it's Long Island here we come!