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Onward to Little Harbour, January 16, 2001
No way I was getting my fingers anywhere near those barracuda teeth,
so a little more rum was sacrificed to the gods to stun it before we released it (hopefully it didn't get caught by the fish police in
that condition !).
Just then, an idea occurs to me. Winds are forecasted lighter tomorrow from the East. No
cold fronts in sight. The crossing to Little Harbour, Abaco, is about 50 miles, easy
distance in deep water with no obstacles. Why not just keep on going ? It would be sweet
to have my first night crossing experience, and Pierre would have another first to take
back as well !
The night was like a blur, thanks to a lack of sleep and too many Gravols for Pierre. As
darkness fell around us after our hurried langouste supper (broiled in beer, succulent),
we began to understand the challenges of night sailing. You have few visual cues to
judge wind speed, boat speed, and see the sail trim. For hours as the wind decreased we
struggled to maintain boat speed in the swell, with the mainsail sloshing back and forth.
The instruments only served to confirm our lack of speed and increase the nauseaness we
both felt while rolling in the dark ! We each took ad-hoc naps during the night while the
other kept watch. It's a peculiar emotion to wake up, half drowsy, realizing where you
are, then looking for your brother who could just as well have fallen off the boat miles
ago in the dark water ! Fortunately we had agreed we would not step out of the cockpit alone,
but still.
We had Hole in the Wall light (southern point of Great Abaco island) on our beam by
10:00 PM, and had Cherokee Sound light in sight around midnight, and that's when the
wind died completely. We were almost there, but had to wait until morning to enter through
the reef outside Little Harbour. We just sat there in the middle of the dark, about 5 miles
off the coast of Abaco, with no wind, in a small ocean swell for 5 hours, staring at that
Cherokee Sound red light which wasn't moving.
Excitement about being on the ocean on such
a beautiful night, frustation of not getting any boat speed, mixed in with some sleep
deprivation, and anxiety on the early morning approach through the reef, that's what
I remember of this first night crossing.
Lessons learned :
- make sure the crossing is long enough for a night crossing. We tried to slow the boat
down and still managed to show up 6 hours ahead of time ! On the other hand, on a long
crossing, you could arrive at the destination in the middle of the night and have to
hove-to until dawn, so we did practice that.
- prepare supper before sundown and prepare snacks ahead of time. Trying to prepare food
in the galley when it's dark outside is very nauseating even in a catamaran (don't know
how you would do it in a monohull !). I understand it's gets better after a few days at
sea, so we'll have to see.
- set up a watch system, even for a small crossing. Defined periods for sleeping and for
being awake would have helped.
- safety rules (which we had) : stay in the cockpit, harnesses and jackets, jack lines
outside the cockpit, all in case the weather surprised us. In this case, there was no wind
or waves, but we were both awed by the darkness of the water and the danger of falling
overboard with little chance of your partner finding you out there.
Where is that breaking reef ?, January 17, 2001
Finally the night ends and we can see something and go in. You can see the
reef because of the waves breaking over it and the way in from left to right where
the waves aren't breaking seems obvious, but so early in the morning, there isn't alot
of sunlight to help you judge water depth, and see the coral and rocks in the water.
I'm not comfortable going in until I understand how to line up the 2 rocky points which the
guide explains will line us up for the break in the reef. As we motored back and forth
in 80' of water, then 50' of water, getting closer to land, it became clear that what
we thought was the island, was actually the two rocky points we were looking for. With
that confirmation that we were in the right place, we snaked in through the break behind
the reef !
Because the entrance to Little Harbour had only 3' at lower tide, we motored north along
the reef to anchor in 10' of water in the lee of Lynyard Cay to take a nap and wait for
high tide.
By 11:30, we had made our way into Little Harbour (there was probably only 4' of water
in the channel, too close for comfort), and into Pete's Beach Bar, a classic beach bar that
looks like it just got bowled over by a tidal wave with old T-shirts and other clothing items
hanging from the rafters, and everything and anything that washed up on the beach to
provide general decor. Unfortunately for us, the night before was a big 40th anniversary
party and all the locals were walking around with dark sunglasses and a little under the
weather ! Well, at least the beer was cold !
By 1:00 PM, we were on our way out the channel before low tide and headed to Sandy Cay in
Pelican Harbour, where we could anchor for the night, and snorkel in the Pelican Cay
Land and Sea Park. The coral formations here in 25' of water are like no other I have
seen. Elk coral the size of buses rising to the surface are prominent.
The Sea of Abaco, January 18, 2001
Winds are from the south @ 15 knots, and we're going north across
the Sea of Abaco. There's alot of shallow sand banks in this Sea, which means we'll
have to jibe back and forth as we head north, and it should make for some great sailing
and sail trimming action.
The wind picked up to 20-25 knots by the end of day giving us some fantastic sailing on
a beautiful sunny day, in 8 to 12' of water. We hit 8-10 knots of speed on some tacks as
we made our way to Guana Cay, and the anchorage just outside Guana Cay Resort. Pierre
was at the helm when we hit those speeds with a big smile on his face.
First stop : Floyd's, the poolside bar at the Resort (named after Hurricane Floyd which
destroyed many areas in the Bahamas) for the standard Guana Cay Grabbers and Conch burgers.
(Isabelle and me had tried the Guana Grabbers in 93 - see the sailing log for that trip).
Shopping on the strip, January 19, 2001
The strip at Guana Cay settlement gives you a good
idea of the pace on these islands, relaxed and pleasant, a far cry from the rat races
back home. Going ashore and just strolling through the settlements and towns is one of
the great pleasures of cruising in these small islands. We continued passed the shopping
strip along the oceanside walkway, then turned inland up a small hill, past the island
school with one of its wall a large painting of the ocean and fishes and brightly
colored corals, to the local
telephone office, which is now closed and replaced by the one and only payphone on the
island. Gave us a chance to let Isabelle and Danielle know we had arrived in the Abacos
and everything was great.
Another 200 yards past the schoolhouse, and we were on the beach on the Atlantic ocean side,
walking on what I still believe is one of the finest sand beaches in the Caribbean (and I have
seen many of them). A little further down the beach, we spot this wildly colored bar
perched high on the sand dune overlooking the beach : Nipper's. Well, we have to try this !
And we did the next day. (Hey you can't do everything the same day).
Home at the Jib Room, January 21, 2001
With the winds shifting to the west
ahead of the approaching cold front, it was time to lift anchor from Guana Cay.
Marsh Harbour is only a few hours from Guana Cay, an easy sail using only the genoa in the
20-25 knot winds.
We anchored in Marsh Harbour and took the dinghy to the Marsh Harbour Marina where we
met Tom and Linda the owners and sat down for an excellent conch burger (and beer) while
we waited for the tide to rise.
With help from Jason, the dockmaster, and a few other helpers, I was able to bring in
Cinderella into the tight slip on the first try like a real pro. I, and the others, were
impressed when I told them it was my first time docking Cinderella !
The marina is great. Small, friendly and helpfull staff and owners, filled with other
sailors who continously stopped by to greet the new arrivals. Though I was dreading the
day I would have to leave Cinderella in a marina somewhere, I immediately felt at home
here.
Sunday nights, they organize a Steak and Chicken BBQ with the owners at the bar and
the BBQ, and the whole marina and many others show up for a party !
Closing the boat for the next couple of months was going to be alot of work. So just for
the fun of it, the cold front produced 20-25 knot winds and 1 1/2 days of torrential rain which made the
dinghy rides across the harbour for food and extra boat supplies just a pleasure !
With Cinderella all cleaned up (inside, the bilges, outside), tied with miles and miles
of rope (yes, maybe I overdid it a little) and many fenders alongside, it was time to
leave.
After 5 weeks on the boat, I had started feeling very comfortable on the boat, just
getting into the beat of being a full time sailor. One of these days ....
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