Thank you Abacos for an incredible adventure! We had a great day anchored with about 7 other boats in the lee of Lynyard Cay right next to Little Harbor Cut, the southernmost pass out to sea. Flat calm southeasterlies swung south during the night and gave us a little roll. I rarely sleep soundly at anchor. Especially in a wild somewhat exposed setting. Our anchor alarm seems to work perfectly since every time we weigh anchor in the morning and forget its on we are greeted with a siren. Regardless of the fact that we have never dragged anchor, even in a few gales, I still wake up frequently to go on deck and check things out. I’m pretty sure I saw every single star there is! Unbelieveable clarity, milky way, satellites, planets all shining in the sky and mirrored in the turquoise water. If you’re going to suffer a fitful sleep this was the way to do it.
Yesterday morning I prepped for offshore by closing throughhulls, lashing the dinghy and kayaks to the deck, checking the engine intake filters, liferaft on deck, etc. while Kelly tightened up below decks. We planned to set off at 8 calculating the timing of the crossing to hit (figure of speech) Ridley Head Cut, Spanish Wells an hour before high tide. Roughly 350 feet wide, strewn with rocks underwater, strong current pulling you in and max depths 2-3 feet deeper than our keel at high tide. No worries. We’re getting rather used to sailing with inches under the boat to spare since we’ve been on the Bahamas banks.
Again as Great Abaco Island and its southern point “Hole in the Wall” faded from view astern our depth sounder went blank signaling the real deep blue. Looking at the charts we all struggled to grasp the reality of what we were reading. The bottom of the East Providence Channel at the shelf drops from 300 feet to over 14,000 feet! This must be where the fish make their own bioluminescent light, some of them have no eyes at all and are know to explode if brought to the surface lacking the immense pressure of the sea floor. So many words we use regularly are derived from old maritime terms. Unfathomable is the one these depths bring to mind.
A beautiful day crossing with the sighting of North Eleuthra Island around 2 pm. Inside the Ridley Head Cut we glided just over idle speed with a heavy following current. Kelly stood at the beam sighting rocks and coral heads and calling out positions while I steered a swerving course – got it.
Inside the cut it looked to me like the South Carolina lowcountry in the most exaggerated Caribbean pastels. Low lying scrub islands with a gracefully curving wide river, well used spiny lobster (locally called crawfish) fishing boats and pilings here and there perhaps for navigation, perhaps part of something wrecked long ago.
We tied up at Yacht Haven Marina, walked through the neatly kept neighborhood to the Buddha Bus Restaurant. Literally a couple school buses with a covered patio, large parrot cage home of Spooky the African Grey whom the children quickly befriended. A 4 o’clock lunch/dinner hybrid and swim in the marina pool. Great day.
Now we begin to examine, explore, and expatriate to the Exumas! We’ve hired a pilot to lead us through the “Devils Backbone” reef across the top of Eleuthra Island at high tide to Harbour Island and pink sand beaches, New England architecture and who knows what else. All we know is the reef passage and Harbor Island are not to be missed. Really excited to get moving. Just need to wait for the water to rise so we can once again sail our beloved Madame through the reef with a few inches under her keel.
Much love. Stay tuned
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Great cloud pic!