The Bahamas

Today is a laundry day, so I am catching up on blog posts and other things. We decided to spend some time in the the Bahamas and when a short weather window appeared for crossing the Gulf Stream, we jumped on it. This was the sunset in Miami on our last evening there, and a photo of the lighthouse at Key Biscayne as we sailed out the channel into the Atlantic. We picked a calm day to cross to the Abacos (the northern-most islands in the Bahamas) and because that meant a run of about 150 miles, we had to sail through the night to reach the Bahamas Banks.

The sunset out at sea was beautiful.

 

But at around 11 pm we got caught in an unexpected squall and the wind and rain picked up from the north, making for a thoroughly unpleasant 4 hours in the dark as we slammed through building seas in about 17 knots of wind. Because the Gulf Stream pushes water north at a speed of about 3 knots, if you have an opposing wind coming at you from the north, things quickly become nasty. This was not what we had expected to happen. But fortunately, as we approached the Bahama Banks and turned straight east where the water abruptly shallows up from hundreds of feet to only 10-15 feet deep, the conditions improved. Within 24 hours we had reached the uninhabited island of Great Sale and anchored there for the second night.These were the other boats anchored with us at Great Sale, everyone making the passage from the mainland to the Bahamas.

From that point on we've had beautiful conditions for sailing. Yay!!! Here is me at the helm in the Sea of Abaco as we made our way to the next anchorage at Allans-Pensicola, and then on to Green Turtle Cay.

In Green Turtle we picked up a mooring ball from Donny in Black Sound and spend a couple of quiet days there after we checked in with Bahamian Customs.  The next photo is of a couple of little houses as the sun set.
 
We took a walk around the little village of New Plymouth the next day, which happened to be the day the delivery boat brings goods from the US.

Again, a good weather window appeared and we quickly decided to move on, since our next destination required us to sail around what in known as "The Whale", a cay on the Atlantic side of the Abacos that is so exposed to east and northeast wind and waves that it can be quite rough, if not impassable. The day we rounded the Whale it was pretty calm and quite uneventful. We sailed in lovely conditions again that day and eventually arrived in Hopetown, where we are now on a mooring ball for a month. We don't normally stay in one place for very long, but we do not plan to sail further south and Hopetown has many things to offer that we find helpful. Like reverse osmosis water, which costs 38 cents a gallon, but which is clean and drinkable. A very well-protected harbor where not only water, but diesel and gas can be purchased. Ferries to other island destinations with better provisioning and marine supplies, if needed (and if the weather is too bad to sail Neverland to Marsh Harbor or elsewhere). And a friendly community of mostly retired cruisers and ex-cruisers now living on land who welcome new cruisers to get involved in all kinds of volunteer and social activities.    Here are some photos of Hopetown, its harbor,  and its beautiful beaches:

 There was a clothespin exhibit of local artwork one rainy afternoon...

 And this is the lighthouse, which is due for a good paint job.

These little Abacos sailing dingoes will be racing tomorrow just outside the harbor.

Yesterday on a beach walk I took lots of photos of waves,  clouds, cottages, and beach umbrellas.

I'm going to finish this up quickly and send it off before I lose wifi. Cheers!