MAGIC BID’S THE BAHAMAS A FOND FAREWELL…

         When I last wrote we were basically trapped on Magic at the Bluff House Marina on Green Turtle Cay as we were experiencing torrential rain, wind and even some lightning. In the harbor, a couple boats dragged anchor but luckily no damage was done. 

My "arty" shot of an old house at Green
Turtle. I loved the weathered clapboards.
Very reminiscent of New England.

The marina was pretty much full since word of this latest frontal passage had spread quickly and we got to watch more boater antics…not just from charter boats this time! One very large powerboat, after unsuccessfully trying to back into a very protected slip was given a far easier (but slightly less protected) spot to put his boat. I think this guy was a fighter pilot in a past life since he knew just two speeds on his engines…full ahead and full astern! In the course of about 15 minutes while attempting to bring his boat alongside a dock he rammed two pilings, the dock itself, and just about snapped one of his (far too small) dock lines as the assembled boaters tried to help this idiot from taking out more of the dock. I don’t know what the deal is. During our time in the Exumas we saw nothing but superb displays of seamanship on boats of all sizes  by sailors with a wide range of experience. In the Abacos, it seemed as if a huge number of boat skippers were (paraphrasing the song from Grease) “…Power Squadron Dropouts.” I’m buying more fenders before we go back!

            In any case, after looking at the weather a zillion times, and listening to the inevitable wharf-rat discussions on crossing techniques, Diane and I decided to throw our hat into the ring and head toward the states. Word from just about all the forecasters was that conditions would not favor a crossing for at least another week to 10 days and while it was tempting to extend our stay, we knew we needed to start working our way home. We had a narrow window and decided to go for it.

Green Turtle monument to the Loyalists

            Before we left, Diane and I had an opportunity to visit the small Green Turtle Cay museum (there is one on just about every island as residents try hard to preserve their history). This particular one, the size of a small house, did a great job of showing the history of not just the Green Turtle Cay, but the Abacos as a whole. I knew, but never fully appreciated the sacrifices these reluctant settlers made when they arrived at the most remote parts of the Bahamas just prior and during the Revolutionary War. To these displaced people, still loyal to their mother country, the colonists who insisted on independence from England were truly the terrorists of their era. Maybe that is a bit strong, but the 100,000 or so people who remained loyal to the crown were terribly persecuted as the independence movement gained strength. Many were murdered, their houses burned, businesses/farm destroyed and children shunned…sound familiar? These “loyalists” (or Tories as they have also been called) received little help from the British government other than an offer for cheap/free land in the Bahamas where they once again had to start anew. The United States was formed and has flourished on the backs of the immigrants and stories of these people, some of whom were second generation Americans, deserved far better. They were forced to pick up the pieces of their lives and immigrate once again to an unknown, desolate place. Kind of sad that a country that has always embraced and even encouraged immigration to our shores actually has in its history a period where the reverse happened. Sound familiar? Bottom line, the history of the Bahamas is fascinating and next time we come here, I’m going to spend more time studying it. OK, class dismissed!

       

We bid adieu to our last Abaco layover, Green Turtle Cay.
Loved this place!

     Early in the morning of April 7^th, full of fuel and water, Magic shed her dock lines and headed out. As we left the harbor and turned north in the Sea of Abaco, it was obvious we were not alone in casting our fates to the weather Gods as we sighted at least a dozen sailboats all headed in the same general direction. 

Our approach to the small Great Sale Cay at the western
end of the Little Bahama Bank where hundreds of cruisers
every year wait for crossing weather.

In our case, we’d decided to break the 190 nautical mile (nm) trip up into two sections. The first leg was a 60-mile sail to Great Sale Cay, a “Y” shaped, uninhabited island that is used as a jumping off point for many sailors headed back to the states. Many boats love the place with its well-protected bay and stay for days or even weeks at a time. Our stay was somewhat shorter…about 6 hours, enough time to eat dinner and get some sleep before heading out again around 10 pm. Well, we had a nice dinner, but sleep, not so much! Both of us were pretty ramped up about the next leg and sleep just wasn’t in the picture. Interestingly enough, in the middle of nowhere we actually were getting good TV signals so we even tried to watch some of that to lull us to sleep but no such luck. It was going to be a long night!

           

This is about as much "rest" as either of us
got during our crossing!

Our next leg was an almost direct shot of 130 nm to Ft. Pierce and we’d planned our nighttime departure from Great Sale to get us the rest of the way across the “Little Bahama Bank” at night and then allow both a daylight passage across the Gulf Stream and arrival at the city’s channel entrance at slack (least) current. Both of these were important since I knew the Atlantic Ocean could be a bit rough when we hit the strong Gulf Stream current, (which could run at over 3 knots!) and it is a lot easier to steer when you can see the seas coming at you! A daylight crossing of the Florida Straits would also give us a better chance to spot the large cargo vessels that run north and south along this major shipping lane. In addition, the Ft. Pierce inlet can be very rough when the current and wind oppose each other. All those factors dictated a 10 pm departure from our anchorage. With no moon but under a brilliantly clear sky displaying more stars than I’d seen in years (no light pollution from near-by cities, cars, etc.), we brought up our anchor, wound our way around the dozen or so other boats in our anchorage and headed generally northwest toward the states. Although I raised our large mainsail to help propel us along, there was almost no wind so this sail was more for decoration than propulsion as we basically droned along all night under the power of our trusty diesel engine.

            The first 50 miles was on the “Little Bahama Bank” where water depths are never more than 12 feet and can be extremely choppy in the wrong wind. We were lucky. The wind was light and the “bank” was almost flat. Throughout the night Diane and I took turns at the helm (actually monitoring the autopilot) while the other napped either in the cockpit or down below. As dawn was breaking we left the shallow bank and entered the Atlantic Ocean, watching the depths rapidly go from 12 to 3000 feet in less time than it takes me to type this sentence!  Unfortunately, we also started seeing the effect of a sea swell of 5 or more feet that gave us a somewhat uncomfortable rolling motion. We’d both taken a very effective (and side effect free!) sea-sickness medications so we were fine…although neither of us planned to spend much time whipping up gourmet food in the galley! We still had no helpful wind and had no choice but to motor along toward our distant waypoint at the entrance to Ft. Pierce, sucking down that $6+/gal Bahamas diesel fuel. As we entered the grip of the strong northward 3 knot Gulf Stream current I found we were being pushed well north of our projected landfall and had to make a 30 degree course correction just to stay on our original course line! For you non-sailors this is a little like walking sideways to cross a room! This was the strongest Gulf Stream I’d ever seen and it was just a bit frustrating since this heading put the seas off our right stern and made the ride even a bit worse! Oh well, so much for the glorious cruising life!  

We were lucky. This was the only ship we encountered during our
crossing. Just a small adjustment in our course and we cleared
by lot!

At mid-day, both of us were kind of hungry so I volunteered to make sandwiches in the galley despite the seas. Although we don’t have any photographing evidence, I’m sure it was pretty funny watching me try to (literally) throw together bread, some sort of meat, cheese, lettuce and mayo as the boat lurched around under me. My job would have been a lot easier had God given me three arms!

            Right on schedule around 2pm we sighted the tallest buildings of Ft. Pierce and soon after was released from the clutches of the Gulf Stream. Our timing was just about right and 2 hours later we were on time for a slack current entry into the harbor. We cruised into Ft. Pierce and anchored in a very snug cove recommended by other cruising friends. Magic and her crew were back in the United States! Well, not so fast! For those of you used to international travel, you know of the formalities, paperwork and endless lines when your flight returns to the US. I steeled myself for the same with possibly an expensive taxicab ride to the airport to complete the entry customs and immigration paperwork. Luckily for us Diane had done some preliminary work even before we left for the Bahamas and, believe it or not, our entire re-entry into the US was done with a simple 5 minute phone call! I was stunned when the agent on the phone provided me with our entry “code” and wished me a good day. What, no drug test, no questions about activities abroad, no uniformed agents tearing apart the boat looking for an illegal apple? What has this country come to??!!! I wasn’t complaining and before the agent could change his mind, I hung up and we toasted our return with a glass of wine!

           

The Bahamas part of our trip complete, we lowered our
courtesy flag and celebrated a successful crossing. We obviously
had to leave...the flag was in tatters!

My next blog will detail our trip up the “Snowbird Highway,” the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), basically retracing our steps from last fall. This time we are hoping to do a bit more offshore sailing and I promise there will be some excitement to report!