Sailing Log for trip to the Abacos

A web log of the sailing vessel "Gyatso"

Home
Up
Photo Gallery
Refit
Recipes
Links
Updates
Publications
About Us
Contact

Sailing Log for trip to the Abacos, Bahamas

We departed from North Palm Beach and crossed the Straights of Florida on Saturday, May 27, 2006, arriving in West End, Grand Bahama Island, on the same day. After three weeks in the Bahamas, we headed north from Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, on Thursday, June 15, for our first multi-day offshore passage. We arrived safely in Beaufort, North Carolina four days later. Read below to learn more about our time in the Bahamas and our offshore passage back to Beaufort, NC.

Log Book Entries

Friday, 5/19/06--Lisa awoke in the morning, after arriving in the Lake Worth Inlet the evening before just after sunset, and went up on deck to make sure that we were securely anchored. To her amazement, the anchor and its chain were clearly visible in the tropical blue water 12 feet below, partially buried in the sandy bottom of Lake Worth. This was the first time since leaving Maine, having anchored in water with just a few inches under the keel, that we could see the anchor resting on the bottom! Wondering what all of the exclamations were about, David was soon on deck peering over the side and marveling at the anchor. At this moment, we both realized the simple pleasure of being safely anchored in beautiful water in a southern climate. It sure beat the cold, windy weather we experienced traveling from Maine to Maryland in November and from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida in January and February. After a slow morning, we moved five miles north to Old Port Cove Marina where we left the boat for a week while we attended meetings in Vermont. We flew out from West Palm Beach International Airport the following day, returning on May 25th.

Saturday, 5/27/06--Although a small weather window for crossing to the Bahamas opened up yesterday , superstitions got the best of us (or at least one of us), and we decided to wait one day to avoid another Friday departure. A trawler that crossed from West End to North Palm Beach on Friday reported that there was a fishing tournament in the Bahamas over the Memorial Day weekend and that the marina in West End was sold out. We took our chances and departed at o-dark-thirty. With the previous night's thunderstorms still lingering in the distance, we made our way towards the inlet along with dozens of sportfishing boats.

This was our first crossing of the Gulf Stream, and we both had a little bit of anxiety about what the experience would be like. We cleared the inlet at 7:00 a.m. and set our course to compensate for the strong northerly current in the Straights of Florida. We had hoped for calm and clear conditions, and that is exactly what we got. The water quickly transformed to a deep, ocean blue. Flying fish took flight alongside us throughout the day. We were rarely out-of-sight of another boat: Florida fisherman and vacationers appeared to be out in force this holiday weekend.

Ten hours after leaving Lake Worth, we arrived at the jetty in West End, Grand Bahama Island, to find that the reports were true: the marina was overflowing and there was a line to clear customs. We decided to take advantage of the daylight to find an anchorage. There we were, having to anchor out in not-so-great conditions after having crossed the Gulf Stream for the first time! We launched the dinghy, but flooded the engine so it wouldn't start. We gave up trying to clear customs that night and decided to try the next day. Lisa awoke in the night to the sound of the dinghy banging against the side. She discovered that the tidal current had changed, and what seemed like the entire Little Bahama Bank was draining through the channel where we anchored. An opposing wind from the southwest created standing waves, and the dinghy was getting tossed around behind the boat. Isolated thunderstorms were passing nearby, so it was a sleepless night in the cockpit on anchor and dinghy watch.

Monday, 5/29/06--We had two calm days crossing the Little Bahama Bank from Memory Rock to Fox Town with a stop at Mangrove Cay along the way. Today we unfurled the staysail and motor-sailed at a fine 7.3 knots! We were happy to be in the protected anchorage behind Hawksbill Cay after two nights in fairly exposed anchorages. We had an intense lightening storm last night at Mangrove Cay, making our first two nights in the Bahamas "way too exciting" for our tastes. The approach to the anchorage at Fox Town made Lisa a bit nervous at low tide, especially since the water was so clear that every detail of the bottom was visible! (We did have the advantage of following another boat in which helped confirm that we were on the right course.) Once the anchor was set, her nerves were calmed quickly by taking a dip in the 82 degree water. With mask and snorkel, she was able to get a closer look at the kinds of sea stars, sea cucumbers and queen conch we had seen while crossing the shallow waters of the Bahama Bank. After our first swim off Mangrove Cay, David exclaimed, "It's great to be in the Bahamas!"

Tuesday, 5/30/06--We had a wonderful day celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary, beginning with a bottle of Chandon Blanc de Noirs and blueberry-banana-buckwheat pancakes with Vermont maple syrup. This facilitated "forced relaxation" for the rest of the day. We read, relaxed and caught-up on sleep. We kept a close eye on "Hawk" the sea turtle, "Cuke" the sea cucumber and "Star" the sea star as Gyatso rested comfortably at anchor for a day. By late afternoon, the wind had kicked up too much for us to dinghy ashore to visit Fox Town without getting soaked on the way there or back. Maybe tomorrow.

Thursday, 6/1/06--Faced with running the engine for an hour to charge-up the batteries (can't wait until we go solar!), we decided to leave the protection of Hawksbill Cay yesterday. We ended up motoring through a fairly heavy chop with a 15-20 knot headwind and the threat of thunderstorms all around. The worst of these seemed to pass us by, and the brighter sky ahead beckoned us on to Powell Cay. As we made our way east, we also found more protection from the wind and waves. Our speed increased from 4.5 knots to 6 knots, and we anchored in 8.5 feet of water in the lee of Powell Cay with a half dozen other boats: three big cats and three monohauls. With the unsettled weather, David let out all 100 feet of chain just to be safe, or perhaps just to give it a try.

The next day, after downing freshly baked corn muffins with plump blueberries, we continued on to Turtle Cay, dodging squalls and experiencing rain showers on and off all day. At high tide, we made our way in through the shallow entrance of Black Sound and picked up a mooring. We then launched the dinghy and wandered ashore for a walk through town, happy hour at Pineapple's and fried grouper in the screened porch of a local restaurant. By now, the sun was shining bright, and with it, the temperatures soared into the high 80's.

Friday, 6/2/06--A few days ago, we finally lost reception of NOAA weather forecasts via the VHF radio, and since Lisa had still not figured out the single sideband (SSB) radio, we were much relieved to tune in to our first "Abaco Cruiser's Net" broadcast on VHF 68 at 8:15 a.m. Although we couldn't hear everything from our location in Black Sound, we heard enough to tune in almost every day while in the Abacos. The "Net" is run by volunteers out of Marsh Harbour and includes a daily run-down of weather, news and local events. The level of organization is impressive!

Our main navigational challenge today was to pass around Whale Cay, a place where you have to go out into the Atlantic through a narrow pass known for "rage seas" in order to avoid shallow shoals in the Sea of Abaco. They give a passage report on the net, and it was good in the morning. We waited for high tide and had a smooth ride "through the whale" with only 2' rollers.

Lisa gazed longingly at the many beautiful anchorages and swimming opportunities, however, at this point in our trip, David was quite anxious to take on water and fuel. We pushed on to Marsh Harbour, and when we arrived, the marina was full for the weekend for Bahamas Labor Day Holiday. We pulled up to the fuel dock just after 5:00 p.m. and were lucky to get water, fuel AND a slip at the fuel dock for the night. We walked ashore for dinner at Curley Tails and enjoyed sleeping with the Air Conditioning onboard, a luxury reserved for times when we can plug in to shore power.

Monday, 6/5/06--Gyatso and crew spent three days at anchor in Marsh Harbour. We took advantage of the conveniently located dinghy docks to run errands. It took Lisa about 15 minutes ashore to locate a bakery with delicious sweet breads and a yummy sandwich bread. We also found the Golden Grouper restaurant which was more reasonably priced than the waterfront establishments and served a more local clientele. With "Barometer Bob" out of the country, another cruiser gave the daily weather reports on the Net. He carefully gathered his information, and then reported this to everyone. A typical one went like this, "A weak high is moving toward us, followed by a weak cold front. Winds ESE 10-15 knots and waves 3' outside...same as yesterday....there may be a change in the weather on Sunday, but this depends somewhat on what the front does...we have unsettled weather with weak highs and weak lows, and so basically, just look outside and what you see is what you get!"

What we got was frequent rain and thunderstorm squalls, followed by beautiful patches of clear weather. We decided to stay in the protected anchorage for a few days. Lisa took this opportunity to learn how to use the SSB radio. With some helpful tips from Sam aboard Linnet, Lisa began tuning in to Caribbean Weather Center nets, NOAA weather reports, and Herb with the Southbound II weather routing service.

We also spent time learning more about our "energy budget" for the boat so that we can design a solar/wind power system. We carefully recorded information from our battery monitor, and also, the rate of recharging the batteries using the engine. We are so impressed with the efficiency of the new fridge/freezer system, especially the keel cooler we installed in St. Augustine.

Friday, 6/9/06--With a lovely 10 knot SW wind on Tuesday, we took the opportunity to day sail in the Sea of Abaco, running through several tacks with all three sails set before heading over to Hope Town on Elbow Cay. We picked up a mooring in the picturesque harbor with a view of the lighthouse. Small, quaint cottages line the shore, and boats of all kinds pack into the crowded mooring field. We spent four days enjoying the beautiful beaches, snorkeling in the nearby national park, walking through town, and sampling the local eateries. Coconut Cream and Key Lime pie at the Harbourside Restaurant were favorites, along with fresh bread from Vernon's grocery. Our mooring fee gave us access to the pool at Club Soleil. It was nice to have a chance to cool off at the end of the day. The weather was mostly sunny and hot, but we also had squalls and thunderstorms pass through on two of the days.

While Lisa was doing laundry one day at the Lighthouse Marina, she met a family on a summer cruise aboard their ketch, Rafiki. We saw them again a few days later in Marsh Harbour and learned that they were having trouble with their fuel supply to the engine. Having "been there and done that" on our trip south and learning that they needed a fuel pump, we offered them our spare which was a gift of our cousins Dan and Sharon from their previous boat, Pelican. Since they are regular visitors to Hope Town, and were on their way for a summer visit themselves, we thought Dan and Sharon would agree that it was a fitting outcome: Their spare part ended up helping fellow cruisers in the Abacos! I received an email from Cyndi on Rafiki, and learned that once installed, the fuel pump worked like a charm.

Sunday, 6/11/06--While in Hope Town, Lisa tuned in to the daily weather nets on SSB. Upon hearing the first indication of a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico, we were happy to return to the anchorage at Marsh Harbour yesterday so that we could get internet reception again. Lisa took it as an learning opportunity and tracked the storm from start to finish. Like a lot of others, we decided to wait out the weather at the anchorage and to look for the next available weather window to head north to Beaufort, NC. We spent today listening to weather reports, reading, relaxing, and in honor of the full moon, flying our Tibetan prayer flags.

Wednesday, 6/14/06--We spent another three days at anchor in Marsh Harbour and used the time to study charts, get provisions and prepare for our first multi-day, offshore passage. We also needed to get mentally prepared for the passage, since we had only just decided to give it a try if the right weather window opened up. Lisa was nervous about picking the right weather window, but after Tropical Storm Alberto passed to the north, the forecasts also became more favorable. Based on the weather report on the SSB today, it appeared that a good weather window would open up starting tomorrow, and so we planned to depart after taking on fuel and water at the Conch Inn when they opened in the morning.

We signed up with Chris Parker at the Caribbean Weather Center to help us with weather routing, and he gave us a good four day outlook: light winds the first day, winds will increase to 20 knots from the ENE by late on the second day and then moderate to 15-18 knots from the E on day 3. On day 4, we were expecting winds to moderate further to 10-12 knots, slowly clocking around to the SW. We also listened carefully to the advice he was giving to others traveling in our same direction. One of these instructions proved very useful on our first day underway: "If you encounter any of the trailing squalls from the trough associated with Alberto, head west to get away from them more quickly." More on that later (see 6/15). He assured all of us who might encounter 20 knots of wind in the Gulf Stream, "The wind WILL moderate."

Thursday, 6/15/06--We left the fuel dock around 8:30 AM and passed through the inlet at Whale Cay by 10:40 AM under sunny skies and light and variable winds. Very soon we left the Abacos and its turquoise blue waters behind for the deep blue waters of the North Atlantic. As we reached the northern extent of the Bahamas, we also experienced very rolly seas, probably the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto and associated squalls from only days before. We punched in a waypoint for Beaufort, NC on the GPS and learned that we had only 487 miles to go! Instead of heading due north, as we planned, we steered NW at 330 degrees to reduce the rolling motion somewhat. We motored and motor-sailed throughout the day and enjoyed seeing dolphins playing in our bow wake and even a sleeping whale in the distance! We recorded our last sighting of a boat for several days at 4:00 PM.

At sunset, we began closing in on an ominous line of squalls immediately to our north. We tried adjusting our course to see if we could put some distance between us and the line of clouds when Lisa noticed several water spouts associated with them. Having experienced similar conditions on Lake Ontario once, we tried to stay calm. Lisa remembered the advice Chris Parker gave another vessel during one of the weather nets, and we decided to head due west. This did the trick, and we steered around the clouds with visible water spouts. We continued to have squally clouds pass over us throughout the night, but other than a lot of lightning associated with some, there was no wind or rain. The moon rose at midnight and poked in and out of the low clouds throughout the night. We alternated watches every two to three hours as we adjusted to being at sea.

Friday, 6/16/06--By noon, the GPS indicated that we had only 363 nautical miles to Beaufort Inlet. An hour earlier, the breeze was beginning to pick up and so we set all three sails with the engine on. By 1:30 PM we had enough wind to turn the engine off. Two hours later, the wind was freshening further, and we decided to put a reef in the main and roll in the Yankee as early as possible. By nightfall the wind had really picked up, along with the waves. As predicted, winds were out of the ENE at a steady 20 knots with higher gusts. The seas increased along with the wind, but having the sails improved the motion considerably from the rolling we experienced yesterday. Gyatso was charging along, clearly in her element out here!

Before departing on the trip, Lisa was nervous about whether she would make it through the wall of exhaustion that usually hits her about 24-30 hours into an overnight passage. Having never been offshore for more than one night, she wondered how well she would make it on a multi-day blue water passage. She hit the "wall" about midnight on the second night out. Having tried unsuccessfully to get more than brief naps during her off-watch breaks, she retreated below, curled up in the quarter berth and tried to get a few hours of sleep. After this somewhat unsuccessful attempt, exhaustion eventually overrode nerves, and we were both able to sleep in two, three and sometimes four hour shifts. We maintained a somewhat flexible watch schedule to try to let each other get more frequent breaks while awake, changing watch ever two hours or so, with a few longer stretches for better sleeping.

This afternoon we were treated by a visit from a large school of dolphins. About 25 played around the boat with six or seven vying for the prime spot in the bow wake.

Saturday, 6/17/06--Steady winds continued through the day today as we ticked off the miles. The seas were lumpy enough and the boat was healing enough to make cooking and eating a challenge. We were finally getting sleep in our off-watches and Otto, the autopilot, was handling all of the steering which helped reduce fatigue. As predicted, the winds did begin to moderate somewhat to just less than 20 knots by late afternoon, but the seas remained quite large.

Sunday, 6/18/06--The wind remained a steady 12-15 knots with fairly lumpy and confused seas in the Gulf Stream throughout the night and early morning hours. Although a bit challenging, Lisa managed to shower at 3:30 a.m. and then sleep for several hours until relieving David on watch at 7:00 a.m. She was greeted by a dozen playful dolphins. David made coffee, served toasted bagels with cream cheese and downed a bowl of noodles before getting a hot shower of his own. The wind began dropping off at dawn and by noon we were motor sailing again. Our log entry reads, "Less than 100 miles to go!" At 4:00 p.m. we saw two sailboats in the distance, the first sign that we were closing in on land. Two hours later, we took the sails down. As night fell, we could see the loom of the North Carolina shore in the distance.

Monday, 6/19/06--We arrived at our waypoint off Beaufort Inlet at 4:00 a.m. and decided to wait for some daylight to make our entry. In the pre-dawn light, we picked up the outer mark at 5:25 a.m. and began making our way in. The wind had picked up out of the southwest and was blowing against the ebb current, creating choppy standing waves. We were glad to wait for day light because the shipping channel extended further out than our outdated charts showed, and to add to the confusion, an archeological excavation was underway just outside the channel. What looked like fishing boats or a dredge operation in the dark, turned out to be this "underwater dig" of a pirate ship. We arrived at Beaufort Docks at 6:58 a.m., and although we just wanted a good meal and some sleep, we decided to wash down the boat while waiting for the dockmaster's office to open at 9:00 a.m. We were instructed to call Dora, the customs agent, and she came shortly thereafter to clear us back into the U.S. She informed us that she had already processed 200 pleasure craft entering the U.S. at Beaufort this year. After moving the boat to an assigned slip, we went for an early lunch, and after a short walk through town, returned to Gyatso for some much needed rest.

While waiting off Beaufort Inlet, we discussed continuing on around Cape Hatteras to the Chesapeake Bay, rather than putting in to port. We decided to stick with our original plan, but made note in the log about an important lesson learned: We really liked the offshore sailing experience and wanted to do more.