A Wonderful Sail and a Terrible Anchorage

One of Riggs's favorite places to hang out is on the side deck where he can push his nose through the safety netting to get a better sniff.

Leaving Warderick Wells we had a delightful sail south toward Sampson Cay. This was our most enjoyable sail of the season so far. The winds were pleasant and steady, the sun was shining, the boat moved well on a broad reach, and the seas had just enough texture so you knew we were sailing. And it was quiet except for the gentle slap on the hull and the peaceful sound of the wind across the sails.

However, this wonderful sail led us to the anchorage from Hell! Based on the weather forecast, (“Based on the weather forecast” has become my least favorite way to start a sentence), we picked Sampson Cay (now named Hells Cay forevermore for me) to weather the coming blow. Can you see where this is going now? (Insert verbal rant here: Billions of dollars in research and testing with teams of programmers and weather forecasters developing weather models, and they still can’t predict the weather two days out worth a ****. The only profession I know of where being right half the time is considered exemplary performance. Weather Bug, when we can get it on our phones, seems as good as the specialists, and it is free. Unfortunately we need cell service to use it.) Deep breath David, relax...)

Anyway, we picked Sampson (aka Hells) Cay knowing that it would be a bit rough for the first few hours we were there, but the 30-35 knot wind from the expected cold front was predicted to “clock” around and we had good protection here once that happened (once it came out of the NW to NE). Sadly, the clocking/change of direction happened a day + later than we expected so we were pounded by wind and waves for many, many hours. Sigh.

Once we arrived in Sampson Cay mid-afternoon, knowing we might be boat bound by an approaching cold front for a few days, we took our dinghy over to Staniel Cay, about 3 -1/2 miles from Hells (Sampson) Cay, to get groceries, stretch our legs, dump our smelly bag of trash from the previous week, and do some laundry. This is a trip we would never have attempted in our previous dinghy as it is exposed to open water in several places on the transit to Staniel Cay, but we felt like our new one is up to the challenge. I guess we were right because we did make it back eventually. The trip over was a little rough in spots, but not too bad and we stayed mostly dry. We were able to get some provisions and do a large load of laundry (for an exorbitant cost of $15 for a load of wash only!!!!) while there and saw some cruisers that we had met in some of our previous anchorages on this trip. The laundromat at Staniel Cay is actually also a small bar and liquor store (and also sells handmade straw bags) so we were able to at least get a cold drink while we waited. We do see some of the oddest combinations of stores in the Bahamas. The laundromat in another town has a grocery store and bakery attached.

When we finished our errands and arrived back at the dinghy to return to our boat, the world had turned into a much darker place. Not only was the sky ominous shades of gray and black, but the roiled seas had turned dark and menacing. They looked like they wanted to eat a few dinghies for supper. Our trip back was dicey. A ten foot boat seems very small when crossing waves 4 or more feet high. I (David) have a reasonable amount of experience in small boats and storms, so I was able to rely mostly on instinct as I picked our lines through the swells. We also tried to get in the lee of some islands for as much of the trip as possible, but most of it was open to the large swells, some now breaking. We did get back to the boat, surprisingly not as wet as we would have expected, and not much the worse for the trip.

We were disappointed that the wind had still not clocked around to the North where we would be in the lee of the land we anchored near. Our first night here was really bouncy and wild. The wind stayed mostly where it was (West) rather than clocking to the North so we had almost no protection from the seas. Our boat was making awful noises all night and we each went forward to check the anchor a few times. One of our safety rules is neither of us goes up to the foredeck in bad conditions without the other knowing about it and being awake and watching. Neither of us slept much that night, and David was feeling the Mal-de-mer. We decided we needed to make some adjustments to our anchor set up and snubbers. All of this wind was blowing in extra water to the anchorage and our depth was a few feet deeper than we had planned for, but it was too dangerous to try any changes in the dark. At first light we went back up and did manage to get some additional chain out and were able to adjust the snubbers which are 3-strand line that attach to the anchor chain and absorb the shock loads from the boat bouncing and thrashing. If you want to learn the theory of anchoring cruising boats, just ask me (David). I’m happy to bore you. It is, however, important for boaters and more do it wrong than right. We did ride a bit better after we made those adjustments.

At least we can still appreciate some amazing sunsets after the bad weather days.

The next day was a bouncy day, but we enjoyed being lazy and just reading and listening to audible books and music. By bedtime things were settling down nicely, the wind was behind the bluffs we are anchored near and even though it was still blowing hard at bed time we were able to get a good night’s sleep without needing to check on things through the night. Today the seas are calm and the sun is shining so things are looking up. We motored over to some nearby pretty beaches to give Riggs some exercise, and we all enjoyed getting off the boat for a bit.

We did hear from some other friend’s experiences later on that made us feel better about our mostly sleepless night. One of them had their anchor drag which is never a good thing in a crowded anchorage, but no damage done. Nights of 30-35 knot winds out of the west in the Bahamas are never good things! There are very few anchorages here with west protection unfortunately.

Cruising is a mix of lovely fun and sun-filled days with great sailing and exploring and meeting new friends and days and nights of stress and worry with just awful weather. Weather rules all of our activities. But the bad weather days and the trials and tribulations help us to appreciate the good days even more!

This is a picture of us trying to sew the mainsail on a friend's catamaran (from a previous post). It was dark by this point making it even more challenging!

Thanks for Reading!

David & Mary Beth