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| Bahamian Defense Force cutter at sunset the night before we depart near Duncan Town, Ragged Island |
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| BDF cutter still anchored the next morning as we depart Ragged Island We sail off the anchor and do not motor the entire journey |
I hesitate. I want to make sure the weather is uninterrupted
perfect window which is supposed to start tomorrow. I do not want to be lulled
in a lack of wind. We do not want to motor. Once I am convinced this freshening
wind is the end of the front, I am happy and excited to go. D is ecstatic, too. We sail off the anchor
and leave the Ragged Islands by 9 am.
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| Captain D and Otto sail in perfect conditions The sail will take 3 days and 2 nights |
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| Barracuda caught on handline D caught 5 in one day, lost one lure We will get edible fish in Cay Sal |
The first 15 miles are on the banks in less than 35 feet.
Then the depths drop to 600+ - - - 3,000 feet!
The water in 35 feet is so clear you can see bottom white sand and black
coral rocks speed by as we go 5+ knots. The color deepens as the depths. We
have water 360 degrees and no other boats or land. The seas are calm, wind
freshens north 10-15 and we carry jib and full main at 6+ knots. We will cross another bank in about 15 nm.
The total distance is about 230 nm. It
will take us 3 days and 2 nights non stop to cross to Cay Sal Banks and the
first island, Anguilla. By lunch time we have come about 20 miles.
All sailing perfection – the right wind, the right
direction, the right current, the right seas.
D and I take turns at the helm. With the steady winds and calm seas,
there is little adjusting of sails. We had one incident hoisting the main, D
looped the deck light on the mast and ripped it off. D stabilized it so it
didn’t bang the mast. I fix turkey and cheese on Maxine’s bread for lunch after
we snacked on banana moon pies. We are sailing 272 degrees or due west with the
wind north and ahead of the beam, apparent wind. The sun is at our back in the
mornings so we have our sunshade up behind us. The dinghy is silent in its
davits, probably relieved not to be drug behind. We have wind, shade and nice
temperatures – perfection. Autohelm
(Otto) does a great job.
We discuss reefing main at night for comfort. The solar
panels are productive as the sun rises. The wind gen is generating 3-5 amperes.
The voltage runs 13.3V maintaining refrigerator, electronics, autohelm. We need
to maintain 12.6V after dark. At 2:15 pm I spot a boat behind us and as it
nears I take a zoom picture – we think it’s the Bahamian Defense Force
cutter! Oh no, we may get boarded, oh
well, it will be interesting. At 2:30 pm it turns around and heads away. All
that angst or “harshing my mellow” (Kansas and Will novel) gone. We see another
vessel about 4 pm and as we get closer we see it’s at anchor. It has all kinds
of fancy equipment. It’s about 100 feet long.
We determine it is probably a salvage or research boat. A dinghy leaves
it and runs around. You never know what you’ll find.
D get the fishing gear out and trolls 3 hand lines. He
catches 5! Huge barracuda and releases them all – lost one lure. Seas are 3
feet and I decide to cook – noodle pasta, pre-made alfredo sauce, and canned
chicken in one pot. I gimble the stove
by removing the stabilizer pin, and when boiling water underway I stand in the
salon and cook over the seats – it goes well.
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| Research or salvage vessel You never know what you are going to see underway |
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| Day 1 is done, mainsail is reefed for night sailing, we maintain 5 knots |
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| Early morning day 2 brings us Cayos Lobos The USCG ship left just before dawn |
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| Sunrise and Cayos Lobos lighthouse We sailed 125 nm in 24 hours, over 5 knot average |
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| Day 3 we are about 15 nm from Anguilla |
We watch sun set in the clouds and it gets very dark but we
are in deep water, not to worry. The clouds obscure the stars as I take first
watch 9-12 midnight. The moon rises behind the clouds and sets a glow
everywhere. I watch the phosphorescence behind and beside the boat. I see no
other boats and its black out. D gets up at 11 pm and starts the watch
early. Before sunset we reefed the main
and once again reefed it to double reef. We still maintain 5 knots. The wind is
shifting east behind us and waves are rocking us. In 40 miles we’ll turn
northwest and this will be fine. Meanwhile we sail to the jib trim and go fast.
We don’t go under 5 knots!
I lay down below in D’s bed that made up, but don’t sleep. I
don’t want to miss anything! I hear everything – D adjusting sails, waves
slapping side of the boat, autohelm squeaking. But it’s restful and I hop up at
4 am ready to as D calls me. There is one boat in a channel about 3-5 miles
away on our port stern. It slowly passes us. At 4:55 am I see bright white
lights ahead. Then a high/low light of a freighter as we approach the white
light, I can see it is not moving and
there is a dark mass behind it – It’s Cayos Lobos! lighthouse with a USCG
cutter anchored nearby with all its lights on. Day breaks and I get a picture
of Cayos Lobos and its light house that doesn’t work. The cutter motors away
starting its day, too. We text everyone
our location – so close to Cuba, so isolated!
It’s hard to tell when day ends and when it begins on a
nonstop sailboat cruise. We sailed 125 nm in 24 hours! 5.2 knots average.
Glorious! We start to see several boats
– a ketch headed north in front of us, maybe going up west coast Andros. Two
matching cruise ships pass closely in the designated shipping lanes of the Old
Bahama Channel or Canal Viego de Bahama. Its two-way channel on the charts. We
never see land of Cuba nor big city lights. So close yet … not this time. The
wind, seas, and current continue to work in our favor and at this rate, we
should anchor some time tomorrow. We have not motored at all! We follow the
bank line for calmer seas. The wind is east 10-15 knots and our direction is
west northwest 300 degrees. So the wind
is 30 degrees off stern which is hard to sail with a fin keel. The boat wants to wallow. The waves lift the stern and turn us on the
keel and we roll, or wallow. We maintain
4-5 knots and Otto does a good job in the calmer seas. Our double reefed main
is not helping; it is blocking air from the jib so we take the main down. It’s
good to plow though waves, but when waves are behind, no plowing needed! We go
from 600+ feet deep to 25 feet. The water changes back and forth deep cobalt to
azure blue. Our depth reader reads up to 417 feet and then goes blank.
D runs hand lines all day – some bites, one barracuda. We’ll
get eating fish in the Cay Sal Bank. We
had fruit for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and before sunset
I’II make angel hair pasta and tomato sauce mixing leftover spaghetti sauce
with olives and mushrooms. We settle in
– I watch till 12:30 am, D to 4:30 am, then me again. My watches were
beautiful, solitary, and uneventful. I watched phosphorescence and the glow of
cities in Cuba. I see an airport light radiating but no planes landing or
taking off that I could see. It’s cool so I bundle in a sweatshirt and cover
with a blanket. I lay in all parts of the boat to watch stars – Orion in the
west setting, Big Dipper to the northeast, and the glorious Great Arc of
Sirius, which holds 5 of the brightest stars, magnitude 1, Sirius, Procyon,
Pollux, Castor, and Capella. These bright stars form the constellations Big Dog
(Sirius), Little Dog (Procyon), Gemini Twins (Pollux and Castor), and
Charioteer (Capella). D, on the other
hand, goes between 2 cruise ships in the Santaren Channel. He has to call the
second on the VHF radio. The big ship acknowledges and diverts course around
us!! We check the Automated
Identification System (AIS) at 30 minute intervals but I see no boat activity.
I sleep really well, putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, and everything, so
rested at 4:30 am to take over watch – the sun rises … 15 nm to go.
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| One of the many mini coves of Anguilla Anguilla is 7 miles long and narrow, with 3 main cays and lots of rocks |
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| One of the rocky points of Anguilla |
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| Two turtles mating and swimming, it's that time of year |
Another beautiful day, day 3, underway. Jib is pulling, wind
is east 10-15 knots. Blue skies and sunny with a few puffy white clouds. I get
text from Jean at 11 pm last night and 6:30 am this morning. I think she is
enjoying arm chair sailing! I make
coffee ad journal some. It’s sad our perfect crossing is almost over. It’s sad
all new areas to explore on this cruise is over. It’s still fabulous that we
have many more fabulous days – Anguilla, Cay Sal, Elbow Cay, and on to
Marathon. We sail and sail and sail –
Land is 8 nm out about 9 am. It’s exciting to see land.
We sail past the south island it many mini-coves and beaches
and coral rock jetties Anguilla is about 7 miles long and just ¼ mile
across. It has 3 main cays and lots of
little islands and rocks. We come to the first gap where Jeff and D sailed Fly
Away in 2006. They had west winds and anchored on the east side with long
beautiful beaches. We sail past the middle cay and start up the north Anguilla
Cay. We look for a lunch anchorage. We see a turtle, no 2 turtles, in the
water, mating, swimming, and splashing at the surface. We anchor in 24 feet and
sand in a little rocky cove. I cook brunch – Fried eggs, grits, toast and corn
beef – a hot feast!
We head through the gap and up north to circumnavigate and
check out any little anchorages. At the north tip we see skiffs – sunlight
reflecting off windshield and then a big boat anchored and a skiff headed our
way with 2 fishermen. We prepare to
protect ourselves, just in the unlikely event they mean to do us harm, but they
are 2 jovial Bahamian fishermen, Delroy and Jaden. Wanted to know if we had
epoxy – a part on their compressor broke. D said no, but he gave them some gorilla
glue. We circle the north tip and sail down past their boat. They brought us a bag
of conch – 29! I later count and am able to return all but a dozen for conch
salad and fried conch.
We sail beyond and find a sexy little cove on north
Anguilla. We anchored, D adjusted for swell and it was so calm and cool – a real
treat. We shower really well. Change linens – oh, yeah, big deal! What a
treat! We are going to sleep well
tonight. I heat leftovers – potato soup,
spaghetti and have egg salad on crackers. We enjoy dark evening in the cockpit
but we are ever so tired we go to bed.
Things that go bump in the night. D gets up a couple of times
– to go on deck to check for whatever.
Then I heard a bump on the hull of the boat?! I go up in cockpit with
flashlight and D goes on deck with flashlight. I see the wheel turn – something
is hitting the rudder! D shines his light – it’s a huge turtle, a loggerhead.
It comes up for air, a big gulp, and submerges. We can see it clearly in the
clear water with our flashlights. We chase it off but it returns throughout the
night, and nights after that, and I see its marks on the bottom the next
day. D thinks it loves our boat and is
being amorous.
What a great night’s sleep. I don’t get up till 8! We are in
calm anchorage in Northern Cay of Anguilla. Winds are steady east 10-15 nots,
cool temperatures, sunny, hot in sun. There is a swell from the south so D has
put a bridle on the anchor line so the boat faces into the swell minimizing the
rolling motion.
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| We sail up the coast of Anguilla |
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| Lunch is a feast after our crossing - fried eggs and gritss |
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| Oh, no! we see skiffs and a Bahamian fisher boat They leave the next day and the island is ours! Distant anchorages and deserted islands |
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| We carefully pick our harbor and anchor |
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| The view south of our anchorage |
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| The fisherman give us conch and snapper |
Another great adventure!
