Island Hopping

It’s hard to believe that it has been a week since we left Ocean Reef Marina. We were very lucky to get a good weather wind to head south from Grand Bahamas to the Berries. We had north wind and all sails up which got us into Great Habour Cay by about 5 pm Saturday, Feb. 15.

It’s an interesting anchorage that is very wide open but also quite weedy. We had a difficult time setting our anchor and as it got dark, we were still fighting to get a good hold. It was a windy night but eventually our anchor grabbed and we were good for the night.

Since that crossing, the winds have gone back to the prevailing direction, mostly east, but with relatively low speed. We took advantage of this to travel east and south around the islands of the Berries. We spent one night at Soldier Cay. This was a very interesting spot. It had a nice beach and lots of marine life. We saw turtles, sharks, a stingray and lots of fish. Mark also went up the mast to install the pulleys for our new Mack Pack sail covers. While up at the top, Mark took some awesome photos!

Unfortunately Soldier Cay was quite rolly so we left Monday after lunch and headed further south the Bonds Cay. Bonds Cay had a large anchorage that looked shallow on the charts but in reality had lots of depth. This spot was perfect for us to spend a few days and wait for a good north (ish) wind to sail down to New Providence (the island that Nassau is on).

So here we are in West Bay at New Providence. We had an awesome sail yesterday with good wind in a nice direction. We arrived here just ahead of a cold front that has now moved into the area. It’s windy and terribly rolly. We are getting strong wind from the north/north east but the swell is coming from west/north west. Sometimes we roll so aggressively that we have to hold on and stuff goes flying. It was very difficult to sleep last night but the good news is that our anchor is holding well!!

The exciting news is that Caroline arrives in Nassau tomorrow!!! We’re super excited to have her on the boat for the 3rd time. We’ll probably spend a day here and then travel a little further east to Rose Island. We can’t go too far because our friend Jim arrives on Thursday. Once Jim is onboard, we’ll head up to Spanish Wells on Eleuthera. Very excited to have guests onboard!