Crossing Little Bahama Bank … Thursday 3rd Jan 2013
We awoke to the sound of clanging halyards and rain falling on the deck. We hadn't expected bad weather and this turned out just to be a passing shower. After a fine breakfast of muesli and bananas we left the dock at Old Bahama Marina and motored back out to the ocean. We headed north for about a mile and then eastwards through the Indian Cay channel onto the Little Bahama Bank. The geography of the Bahamas is interesting. They are essentially a set of sand covered plateaus rising abruptly from the vast depths of the Atlantic ocean. These saucers of land are fringed with reefs, and some of the land is above water in the form of low lying islands, but the majority is actually under water - but not by much. Grand Bahama and the Abacos are the larger islands on one of these large plateaus, separated by a large body of water, the Litte Bahama Bank, that ranges from about 0 to ~20 feet in depth. Old Bahama Marina is a man made Harbor cut into the deep water side of West End - easily accessible from the ocean. The indian Cay channel is one of only a few points of access with enough depth for boats to enter the Little Bahama Bank through the fringing reefs. We were careful to avoid low tide and follow the waypoints through the channel very carefully. Even so we saw deaths of just over 7 ft ... little more than 18 inches of water below our keel! Having covered the 1 - 2 miles of the channel, the water gets deeper and we were able to motor sail the next 45 miles east to Great Sale Cay in water that was 10 - 16 feet deep and an intense color of turquoise. The wind was very light and the water as flat as a millpond - we could see the bottom the entire way. We saw a few fish "walking on their tails" and a couple of dolphins played in the bow wave. We arrived at our destination at about 3.30pm and anchored. The anchorage is incredibly dark and the stars are amazing. Tomorrow we plan another 40 mile journey to finish the crossing of Little Bahama Bank and position ourselves to enter the Sea of Abaco.
Mike
26 58 41.6 N, 78 13 08.2 W
On Little Bahama Bank
On Little Bahama Bank
Sunny and Windless … Friday 4th Jan 2013
Our trek from Great Sale Cay to Crab Cay, a distance of forty miles, started at 8:30 am. We found they day hot already as the sun was well above the mangroves and almost no breeze rippled the water. Our route took us around the northwest side of Great Sale Cay and along eastward passing Little Sale Cay and Sale Cay Rocks. We hoisted the mainsail in a fit of enthusiasm early on. After the first couple hours the wind seemed to die altogether. Possibly there was wind from astern that was completely counter balanced by our forward motion. Either way, it was hot and airless in a way I had never imagined would occur in the Bahamas. We had heard that it was always windy here. A second day of no breeze seemed hard to believe. The color and clarity of the water were every bit as amazing as people say. It just would have been great to sail and not have to listen to the engine.
Again today we tried to fish. The plastic fish that we had used yesterday was replaced with a spoon lure. This turned out to be a substantial error. Dragging a “spinner“ behind the boat for about an hour led to an amazing knotted up mass of line when Mike tried to reel the lure in. Unwinding this looked like some hot and tedious work. I stayed in the shade and watched. Changing to a “metal fish” lure seemed to help with the over-wound line but didn’t result in any bites. Over the course of these uneventful hours, many minutes were spent by each of us staring down into the water. Not much was seen in the way of fish. Paul saw one pencil shaped fish and Mike saw one flying (or is it walking) fish. That was it! Once we arrived at our anchorage, we tried more casting all around the boat to no avail. Mike and I got in and swam a bit to cool off. Later when I leaned over the side to pull up the swim ladder, I saw a two-foot barracuda just below the boat. I’m pretty sure he didn’t get to that size eating peanut butter sandwiches. Maybe the problem is that Mr. Barracuda has eaten all the fish on the Little Bahama Bank.
We will move on to Marsh Harbor tomorrow, weather permitting.
Gloria
26 55 07.9 N, 77 35 54.1 W
Calm conditions on the Little Bahama Bank
The anchor chain with snubbers at Crab Cay - illustrates how clear the water is
Sunset at Crab Cay
The final leg to Marsh Harbor ... Saturday 5th Jan 2013
The Northern Bahamas in the winter have a reputation for being windy, so it was amazing to wake up to another day of glassy seas and windless airs. We finished breakfast and headed out from Crab Cay at about 8.30 am. We were excited to be heading down the Sea of Abaco, with the "mainland" go Great Abaco to the east and a string of barrier Island to the west. The Sea of Abaco itself runs about 40 miles north south down the central / southern part of the Abacos and is about 3-5 miles across. About half way down there is a large sand bar that blocks access to all but the shallowest draft boats and forces the rest out into the Atlantic Ocean via the Whale Cay passage. This can be very rough and at times impassable when wind, tide and swell combine to creat "rage" conditions in the changes. Today it could not have been calmer. We found ourselves once again motoring to cover the distance - but shortly after completing this brief passage outside of Whale cay the wind picked up and we were alb ego sail the remaining 10 miles or so to Marsh Harbor. We arrived at about 3.30pm and anchored. We feel good for having completed this part of the journey. Over the last 6 days we have covered about 250 miles - mostly under motor because of the lack of wind. We haven't yet been to shore in the Abacos but its obvious that there are many beautiful places to explore within a relatively small area.
Mike
26 32 48.6 N, 77 03 25.6 W
Sunrise at Crab Cay
Sailing on the Sea of Abaco ... yes actually with the sails and wind!
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