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David

Rough Passage to Cat Island


We left Thompson Bay in central Long Island to sail north toward Cat Island with a stop in northern Long Island and Conception Island on the way. Our plan was to work our way up Cat Island, then back to Eleuthera which we sailed through on our way south. We need to head to Marsh Harbor in the Abaco chain (the area where we first entered the Bahamas) where we will rendezvous with Mary Beth’s parents in mid-April for their visit.

Well the muses of the sea intervened again. Our sail from northern Long Island to Conception Island was a rough sail with big seas. The mainsail on one of our friend's boats actually ripped during the sail. We all made it safely, but unfortunately the anchorage was open to surges, rolling seas from the ocean, so we rocked and rolled all night long. It was too rough for snorkeling or landing the dinghy on Conception Island or exploring the mangrove creek. We were able to get onto nearby Booby Cay, but not much there to see. Disappointing, but we vowed to come back some time. We did make the most of it by having a pot luck on S/V Agandau enjoying freshly grilled mahi that our friends on S/V Juniper had caught on the way over.

Rolling at anchorage in Conception Island. Notice the angle of the mast on the right.:

Weird shells embedded in coral on Booby Cay:

To get to the closest tenable anchorage on Cat Island the next day required that we sail from our Conception Island anchorage as close to the wind as possible. This means the sails are sheeted in as tight as possible which allows us to sail about 50 degrees off the wind. If the desired destination is directly upwind, the boat zigzags toward it as we tack (go from one side of the wind to the other) periodically to get there. This is called “beating” into the wind for good reason. The boat and the crew take a beating when the seas and winds are as strong as they were. Since the seas were steep and close together and also coming from the direction of the wind, the boat is constantly being pushed away from the desired direction by the waves which also makes the ride very rough and uncomfortable. The boat is heeled and straining to make headway, the waves are doing their best to keep us from getting there, and the crew (me) is feeling pretty puny. It is simply not a fun way to sail.

When it became clear that while we could eventually get there, it would be late that night, we diverted back to Thompson Bay on Long Island. Our anchorage destination on Cat Island involved going through a narrow cut in a coral reef to get to our anchorage. Trying to do this without an engine, in the dark, when we had never been there before didn’t seem like a good idea. Our new course was a much more comfortable and efficient sail, but we still didn’t drop our anchor until 11:00 pm. The wind and seas calmed down in the evening and it was actually a pleasant sail. We covered 60+ miles, much of it back and forth and in the wrong direction, and it felt good to be in calm water safely anchored.

We had been sailing with friends on two other Caliber boats for the last few days. Our friend Holt on S/V Agandau was the one whose main sail ripped at the clew (the part that pulls the sail out tight at the bottom) on the way over to Conception Island and MB was going to fix it with her sewing machine when we all got to Cat Island. It was too rough to get the sewing machine to his boat or the sail to our boat at the anchorage in Conception Island. The plan was to do it at Cat Island when we got anchored there. He can’t sail without his mainsail being fixed, so we really did not want to change course, but we simply were not going to get there in any reasonable time and he motored.

The quote of the day, from our friend Chris on S/V Juniper was shouted across the water as we were leaving Conception Island and he was helping Holt get his mainsail off.

He shouted: “I’ve figured it out, Holt is just clewless” (the clew is the corner of the sail that had ripped free). It’s funny to sailors – we got a good laugh out of it.

So a long, rough, wet day with whiny crew (me) had us giving up 2 days progress in one, but we are back in a good anchorage for the next “blow” which is upon us as I write. This weather pattern continues: a few good sailing days followed by a “blow” lasting a few days to a week. That part is getting old, but we continue to be amazed by the beauty of the islands, the water and the sunsets. Nothing is perfect I guess.


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