About Face! 03/13/13

 We’ve done it!  We are now anchored just below Black Point which was our “at home” anchorage before heading to Georgetown.  We decided to leave a day earlier than the crowd and are traveling with Deiter (German) and Karin (Swiss) aboard Panta Rhei.

Weather, of course, completely drives everything in the life of a cruiser but most especially timing when planning a passage.  Every day – no, make that about 10 times a day – we check the weather for trends and changes.  This is a much easier task if internet is available but, if it’s not, that becomes the main challenge.  There’s an SSB channel that gives Bahamian weather every morning at 6:30am.  Chris Parker is known as the weather guru for cruising sailors.  He seems to have a better eye for weather events that have a more direct effect on the sailing community and he provides the broadcast for that purpose. 

After listening to Chris and checking passageweather.com closely for several days, it was clearly understood that there was a short window open for making the trip out of Georgetown to the north.  We’ve learned more about weather this trip than just about anything.  I can now identify low and high fronts and their behavior.  I am more in tune with the sky and the wind than I ever imagined possible.

Anyway, we changed our minds about a dozen times about leaving Monday morning and ended up pulling out late after hearing reports of boats having made it through the Conch Cay Cut and into the ocean-like Exuma Sound.  The weather had an interesting additional element to consider.  Along with 15 – 20 knot winds from the east and 5 – 7 foot waves, there was also a 13 foot northeasterly swell.  All in all, this means that entering and exiting cuts can be harrowing, not to mention dangerous.

With the next front approaching on Wednesday eve, the weather window wasn’t big enough to take our time.  We wanted to stop in a couple of nice anchorages and enjoy the Exumas a bit more on our way north before arriving back in Black Point to weather this next storm.   So we headed out and had an exhilarating sail for the 40 or so miles we had to go.  Panta Rhei was about an hour ahead of us but we made good time, managed to sail the whole way (saving FUEL!) and maneuvered both cuts without incident.

When we arrived at the gorgeous anchorage at Rudder Cut Cay we had chosen, Deiter called inviting us over for a nice meal and we put the rising, falling, rocking and rolling behind us.  Something about a day offshore manages to do an amazing job of draining your energy, so we shared our meal and nice sunset and had a welcome early bedtime.

The goal today was to sail on the banks to our current location and we up-anchored at 9 to make the shallow passage while the tide was high.  The winds all but died while we made our way but we kept the sails up and moved at an average 2.9 knot speed.  Now, anyone that knows Rob and I should understand exactly how slow less than 3 miles an hour must seem to us!  But, surprisingly, with the sun shining, a gentle breeze and forward motion, we relaxed into the day and enjoyed the ride.

Our anchorage tonight is another little paradise with long beaches and sand dollars to find.  With a pasta dish and fresh bread for dinner and an unimpeded view of the sunset, it’s another cruiser’s perfect day!