Location: Black Point, Exumas, Bahamas
Position: N24 05.248 W076 23.850
Today was a glorious day!
We left Lee Stocking Island at 7am, about an hour before low tide. By timing our departure for when the current was less, we had no problems getting through the cut to the sound, even though the wind was against the tide, not a good combination. All sails up, we were on a beam reach with maybe a 6 foot swell. A little bumpy but fun, we sailed the 12 miles to the next cut, Cave Cay Cut, which we planned to traverse an hour after low tide. We were running about 30 minutes late but this also went very smoothly, especially since the wind (from the east) and tide (incoming, also from the east) were running in the same direction.
We were now back on the banks side of the Exuma chain - shallow but much smaller waves and the same wonderful wind. The seas are that lovely azure that you usually only see in pictures. The wind was just strong enough to push us along at about 5 knots without the engine, but not so strong that we had to work at sailing. We had plenty of time to just sit back and relax. The sun was shining and all was right with the world.
On our way down the Exuma chain we skipped most of Great Guana Cay island due to time / weather constraints. We thought we would rectify this and stop for the night about half way up the island to check out some of the beautiful beaches. The winds were perfect; did we already mention that? We made such good time we dropped the anchor for lunch and had a nice walk at Hetty’s Land, near where we’d planned to anchor for the night.
In the afternoon we raised the sails again and slowly sailed up the west coast of the island, staying as close to shore as we could, checking out the beaches, rocks and an occasional cave. We would have stopped more often but Julie had an ear ache (swimmers ear?) so we by-passed the snorkeling spots she had wanted to check out.
We were having such a great time we ended up making it all the way to Black Point at the northern end of the island before we were finally ready to quit sailing. Remember Black Point and “the perfect launderette”? After dropping the anchor, we popped open a Kalik (Bahamian beer) and sat in the cockpit, each of us with a big smile and a twinkle in our eye.
THIS is why we came cruising!
Position: N24 05.248 W076 23.850
Today was a glorious day!
We left Lee Stocking Island at 7am, about an hour before low tide. By timing our departure for when the current was less, we had no problems getting through the cut to the sound, even though the wind was against the tide, not a good combination. All sails up, we were on a beam reach with maybe a 6 foot swell. A little bumpy but fun, we sailed the 12 miles to the next cut, Cave Cay Cut, which we planned to traverse an hour after low tide. We were running about 30 minutes late but this also went very smoothly, especially since the wind (from the east) and tide (incoming, also from the east) were running in the same direction.
We were now back on the banks side of the Exuma chain - shallow but much smaller waves and the same wonderful wind. The seas are that lovely azure that you usually only see in pictures. The wind was just strong enough to push us along at about 5 knots without the engine, but not so strong that we had to work at sailing. We had plenty of time to just sit back and relax. The sun was shining and all was right with the world.
On our way down the Exuma chain we skipped most of Great Guana Cay island due to time / weather constraints. We thought we would rectify this and stop for the night about half way up the island to check out some of the beautiful beaches. The winds were perfect; did we already mention that? We made such good time we dropped the anchor for lunch and had a nice walk at Hetty’s Land, near where we’d planned to anchor for the night.
In the afternoon we raised the sails again and slowly sailed up the west coast of the island, staying as close to shore as we could, checking out the beaches, rocks and an occasional cave. We would have stopped more often but Julie had an ear ache (swimmers ear?) so we by-passed the snorkeling spots she had wanted to check out.
We were having such a great time we ended up making it all the way to Black Point at the northern end of the island before we were finally ready to quit sailing. Remember Black Point and “the perfect launderette”? After dropping the anchor, we popped open a Kalik (Bahamian beer) and sat in the cockpit, each of us with a big smile and a twinkle in our eye.
THIS is why we came cruising!
