So we’re told this is abnormal weather by residents and long-time cruisers. Even the weather experts seem a little confounded by this long stretch of high winds. What is abnormal you are probably thinking. Abnormal is continuous high winds with occasional lashing rain squalls. We had a boat arrive at the mooring next to us a few days ago with one of their sails completely shredded. From the way they handled the boat, I would say they are pretty experienced sailors so I doubt they did anything stupid or unusual, but their headsail (aka: jib, genoa) was literally in pieces-no repair possible. This is not a trivial thing. They apparently do not have a spare, so they are basically done with their sailing until they can get another. Sails are made to order, so they have to find a sailmaker, get in their queue, get measurements taken, make sure appropriate fabric is available and wait for the sail to be made before the can really continue their journey. It is probably 3 to 5 thousand dollars to replace the sail- a major hit to their cruising kitty.
I mention this to emphasize that the Bahamas are seeing some abnormally high winds for this time of year. We have been “pinned down” several times in our few months of cruising staying in one place longer than planned because it is too rough and too windy to leave. Once in Marsh Harbour near the beginning, once in New Providence (where Nassau is), and most recently in Warderick Wells National Park. We’re now in Sampson Cay and will spend another unplanned non-sailing day because of unexpected heavy weather. It’s blowing steady in the mid 20’s with gusts over 30 kts. Before you feel too sorry for us though, with the exception of the marina near Nassau, we are “stuck” in beautiful places and we do enjoy the chance to read, do maintenance and explore onshore (when we can get the dinghy through the seas).
We sailed here from Warderick Wells yesterday and the winds were around 20-25 kts, but steady and in a pretty good direction. We had two sails up, both reefed (made smaller) to make the boat more manageable, avoid turning over and lowering the risk of ripping our sails (we do not have a spare headsail either).
We are trying to figure out how to post video to give you a little feel of what the weather has been like outside of these protected anchorages, but unsuccessful so far.
