Last of the Abacos

Nanjack Bay is beautiful and quiet, big enough for all the boats that are anchoring here

Breakfast chef

We went to look for the turtles that apparently are here, but we only saw two. They were very shy and swam away when we came near them. I don’t think I have ever seen a turtle swim that fast! It was low tide so we couldn't go very far down the river.

We beached the dinghy around the corner and went for a walk. There was an art walk of  flotsam made by other cruisers. It was a lovely walk but we got munched by mozzies. 

Mel and Caryn on Passages had just arrived so after our adventure ashore, we popped past their boat to say hello and ended up spending a while there chatting and getting good info about the US. They said that it was better to go up the river in the morning when the tide was high. 

Full moon pic for Matt

The following morning we dropped the dinghy and went to look. I am so glad we went. It was so peaceful up the river and we saw lots of turtles. I took the GoPro with us but stupidly didn't check the settings. I thought I was getting lots of footage and all I was doing was taking pictures! At least Andrew got a few shots of the turtles. We turned off our dinghy motor and paddled up the river so as not to scare them.

We left the following day and motor sailed to Powell Cay, passing Passages along the way. Mel was sailing with hardly any wind. We would have gone around in circles in 6 knots of wind so we motored with a sail out. 

SV Passages

SV Calypso

Powel Cay is so beautiful. There were a few boats but not near us.

We went ashore for a walk with Mel and Caryn. As the path to the other side wasn't far, we continued our walk around the point.

When we were about half way round the point Laura realized that she had lost an earring. It was a special one that I had bought her for her birthday in Bequia. So I told her to go on with Andrew and I went back, looking in the sand, hoping to find it. 

I looked back and saw Laura and Caryn walking back as well. I carried on searching and would you believe I found it quite near the start of our walk. We were lucky as the tide was coming in. A few hours later and it would have been lost.

I waited for Laura and Caryn to catch up with me and Laura was delighted and relieved that it was found. I knew she would have been incredibly upset it if was lost. 

Laura realising I had found it

By the time we got back to the dinghy, Andrew and Mel were only just arriving as well. It was much further than we thought. Thank goodness Laura turned back with Caryn. 

The following morning, Andrew and I dinghied approximately 2nm to Cooper Town to buy some eggs. The ride over was fine as the sea was quite flat. The dock was terrible and it was a miracle I got up there. There was no way Laura would have managed it. The ladder was rickety and there was no place to hold on to once you were half way up. Andrew had to push me up so that I could hoist myself onto the cement, bird-poop filled platform.

First shop

We walked through the quiet streets to the shop, which wasn’t far. I had forgotten to bring the rucksack, so we had to carry our purchases in paper bags. We managed to find most of what we needed in the first shop. The shopkeeper was incredibly friendly, asking where we were going and where we were from. She told us there was another shop around the corner, as she didn’t have tomatoes.

We walked towards the way she had indicated and eventually found the shop which wasn’t well signposted. It was a bit bigger and better stocked than the first one. 

Second shop looked more like a shop

All provisioned up we went back to the dock where the waves were making the dinghy buck around like a young horse! Andrew got into the dinghy and then I had to put my big girl panties on and make my way down. It wasn’t far, but without any handholds it was terrifying! 

The ride back was very bumpy with fetch on the water in the beginning. As we got closer to Powell Cay it calmed a bit. Only five eggs were broken in the process, which we used for breakfast.

We don't eat cereal or bread anymore, so eggs are our breakfast staple. Andrew and I worked out that we have eaten about 1 260 eggs and spent over R10 000 on eggs since Trinidad. We averaged the price at $5 for 12. That is a lot of money and a lot of eggs!! 

We have seen Mel and Caryn and few times. They have been so helpful with information about getting to the States and various places we will see. Mel also dived on our anchor to try and untwist the chain. It was lovely to spend time with like-minded people, chatting and passing the time.

When you ask someone who is far from home what they are missing the most, the most common answer will be family and friends. One also misses out on the big events like Christmas and birthdays. 

Matt’s best friend, Richard got married to Simone on Saturday 27th April. We would have loved to have been at the wedding but because we are going back in August for Matt and Kaylee’s wedding, it wasn’t possible. It was heart breaking not to be part of the festivities. We sat on the boat waiting for updates from Matt and Kay, who sent us pictures, video of speeches and voice notes from the bride and groom. It looked like a truly beautiful wedding and we wish Simoné and Richard many, many years of happiness. (Thank you, Richard, for allowing me to use the pictures below)

💕💕💕

Simoné and Richard Purcell

Best man, Matt and his fiancé, Kaylee

We left Powell Cay on Sunday 28 May and sailed 45nm to Great Sail Cay. It is a tiny island with nothing on it. There were about 20 other boats in the bay for the night. Passages arrived a few hours after us. 

Mel and Caryn phoned us on WhatsApp to say goodbye. Although they are also leaving in the morning, they are going further north than us to Brunswick, Georgia. Who knows when our paths will cross again, but you never know what might happen with this funny old sailing life.

We had a good nights’ sleep and woke the following morning, ready for the long passage to USA. Passages left a few hours before us. 

Passages

At first we thought we had made a huge mistake in our timing. We had to get to the edge of the Bahama bank before nightfall but not too early. If we were too early we would arrive in the US at night, which we definitely didn't want to do. The wind dropped to 9 knots when we left Sail Cay and we were worried that we would not go fast enough. But a bit later it picked up again to 15 to 20 knots and we started going a bit faster eventually doing 5 - 6 knots. 

The wind was coming from directly behind us which is a bit frustrating. Andrew and I spent the day moving sails from one side to the other as the wind shifted across the stern. We sailed most of the way wing on wing, Genoa out on the port side and main sail on the starboard, or vice versa. 

It was shallow, around 4m deep all the way across and the water was its beautiful aquamarine blue. I made a YouTube short, have a look if you haven't seen it. Isn't Starlink just wonderful that I could post something in the middle of the Bahama Bank!

We reached the edge of the bank at around 7:15. We were hoping to get there when the sun was a little higher, but it turned out that it didn’t really matter as there were so many clouds in the sky anyway.

Andrew followed Addison Chan’s line on his iPad and also the magenta line on the chart plotter. It was all fine.

Depth on top in meters. The lowest I saw was 2.9

Wing-on-wing

As we left the Bahama bank the water got darker and it got deep quickly. We settled down for the night, hoping to arrive in the US at daybreak. 

My brother asked me a while ago what precautions we take at night. We wear life jackets if we are in the cockpit which are hooked onto the boat by a safety line. Nobody goes out the cockpit without another person there as well. 

Depth and speed

We had a fairly pleasant night but the swell picked up in the early hours of the morning. I was watching the waves build at the back of the boat. I could see them over the top of the dinghy as they rose up and then broke under us, Calypso surfing over them. 

There were a few cruise ships who, mostly, passed well away from us. But there was one whom Andrew had to call on the VHF and ask what he was going to do. He was far too close. They both agreed to change course and we passed by with just enough water to spare. 

The Gulf Stream is amazing. We were doing 7 - 9 knots with the Genoa struggling to decide which side it wanted to be on. Our bow was pointing to the coast but we were getting pushed further north. At one stage Andrew had to change course because we would have landed too far north.

When I was on watch in the early hours, I noticed that we were following the course again, which meant we were out of the Gulf Stream. I had to wake Andrew up because we needed to move the Genoa on to the other side so that we could go north again. The wind was on our stern the whole trip which was very frustrating. I suppose I could have done it myself but I was a bit nervous as it was still blowing 20 knots. I didn't want anything to break.

We arrived at the entrance to Fort Pierce at 6:15, which is more or less what we planned. What we hadn’t factored in was the rain and huge swell which persisted after daybreak. 

It was light enough at about 6:40 to enter the inlet. The waves were huge but once we had committed to going we had to carry on. Andrew said it was worse than Knysna Heads! The space between the markers was quite narrow and the boat was being tossed from side to side. We realized later that we had mis-timed the tide and it was still going out when we were trying to get in. This together with the huge swell made it very difficult to manage. But Andrew did so well, and once we were inside it calmed down. He had been so stressed about the whole trip and hardly had any sleep, so his misjudgment was forgiven.

We motored though one anchorage and then had to go under a bridge. This was our first one, and all I can say is that my heart was in my throat! It is so hard to judge when you are looking up to see how much space there is between the bridge and the top of the mast. But it was fine.

A few blogs ago, I was moaning. Yes, I know I was. But all three of us agreed that the Abacos were amazing and beautiful. We found the more secluded places, met up with friends, and walked on pristine beaches. We didn't find the fish and quite frankly it got a bit too cold to swim often. Yes, it got cold in The Bahamas. Probably low 20s at night and a bit higher during the day, but we are used to scorching 30 plus degrees!! 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Abacos. There was good shopping where we could find what we needed. The dinghy docks were easy and the towns were lovely, neat and well cared for. Getting rid of rubbish was easy and the people were friendly and helpful.

We can see why a lot of Americans come here and don’t go much further south. There is no need.

I shall miss the blue water, as we have been told that the US water is not pleasant!

Once we had anchored, we went ashore to clear in at Customs and Border Control at the airport.

As this is quite a long post I will leave the joys of Customs for the next one.