South Side Marina, TCI to Clarence Town, Bahamas.

January 27, 2015

We departed South Side Marina at 1515 with a high tide. Last time we left South Side, heading south, we left on a low tide and bumped a couple of times getting out. This time all was good, no bumping! It took us 3 hours to get to the west side of the Caicos Banks - Sandbore Channel. We anchored about 2 miles from the mouth of the banks, just north of the channel, in the safety of a reef. There was little swell and the winds were calm. It was a bit eerie though, like anchoring on the Bahama Banks. Other than a few lights of Providenciales there was nothing but 360 degrees of water.

January 28, 2015

We weighed anchor at Sandbore and were underway at 0615. Destination - Mayaguana, Bahamas, some 50+ miles away. We motored all day, winds were on the nose 10-15 kts and seas 2' to 3'. An uneventful day. At 1640 the anchor was set in Start Bay (aka Deans Bay), just to the west of Abraham's Bay. We had decided not to go behind the reefs into Abraham's Bay as the charts advise getting in and out of the bay in good light. As it was late in the day and we were hoping to leave early in the morning, we decided the lighting was not good enough for our purposes. The anchorage was not too bad, a tad rolly but that was to be expected.

January 29, 2015

We left the anchorage at Start Bay at 0700. The winds were good, around 15 kts. We sailed for the first hour with full genoa (150) and a reef in the main. After rounding the SW side of Mayaguana, the winds increased, as predicted, gusting to 27 kts with seas to 6'. Ahhh, sailing in the North Atlantic! The genoa came down fast and we sailed with the reefed main only the rest of the day. We had decided to stop on the west side of West Plana, making it about an 8 hour day. At 1425 we set anchor in the lee of West Plana, an uninhabited island. The anchorage was very rolly, the rigging banging and clanging all night long with the wind and the swells but it was better than continuing in the winds and waves as they were!

January 30, 2015

We got underway from West Plana at 0645. We had a great sail to the top end of Acklins Island. The winds had calmed since yesterday to 10 - 14 kts from a very favourable angle and seas were about 3'. By the time we reached the NE side of Acklins Island the winds had really calmed and because we changed direction to head to Crooked Island, well CS'ta Time was almost bobbing in the water. We fired up the iron sail and motored to Landrail, Crooked Island. We saw the first boat since leaving the TCI today, a sport fishing boat just north of Acklins. As we rounded Bird Rock on Crooked Island we saw a second boat, a sailboat heading south. We set anchor in Landrail at 1515. I remember this anchorage all too well from our trip south. This is where we got caught by weather and had to wait 5 days in extremely rolly conditions! I was really hoping it was not going to be a repeat. There were gentle swells during the night but nothing like last year, thank heavens.

January 31, 2015

The winds were supposed to be quite strong by mid afternoon. At 0400 both Jorge and I were awake with the sound of the wind increasing. Oh boy, were the weathermen that far off? Upon checking with our weather system, the winds were blowing as predicted, they just sounded a lot more than 15 kts. After contemplating the situation, we decided that since we were already awake, we might as well leave. By this time it was after 0500. We were underway by 0555. The keel of the boat hit the water doing 7 kts (like our feet hitting the pavement running!) The winds were 20+ kts but we had a good angle and made excellent time during the first couple of hours. The winds moderated and the seas were good. the sun was shining and live was good. We saw two more boats today, two cargo ships. About an hour before the entrance to Clarence Town bay, we hit a lull and had to motor to the bay and into the anchorage. I think that lull was the calm before the storm. We anchored at 1330 and at 1400 the winds started picking up and did they ever pick up, 20 to 25 kts the rest of the day, the night and all the next day, unrelenting. We decided to sit tight, not even venturing to go ashore even though we had been on the boat for 4 days.

The stretch of water from TCI to Clarence Town was very long and very lonely, referred to as the Far Bahamas. We saw only 4 boats in 4 days.

February 1, 2015

Okay so it was time to get off the boat wind or no wind, waves or no waves! Before heading into town, we introduced ourselves to the only other boat in the bay, anchored in front of us, a very friendly American couple. We agreed to meet them on their boat for happy hour that afternoon at 1700. Jorge and I went to shore and I must admit it was great being on terra firma! We had lunch at the marina restaurant and then wandered around town a bit. Everything was closed as it was Sunday afternoon but it was good to stretch the legs! Unfortunately we were anchored quite a distance from shore and the dinghy ride back was a wet one, lol. Oh well. We stopped at CS'ta Time, picked up a few things for happy hour and then proceeded to Jim and Sue's boat where happy hour lasted until 2130. We agreed to rent a car the next day and "do the island" together.

"Doing the island" will be my next post but just an update on our location. We are in George Town, Bahamas now, and have enjoyed a restful few days.