A Mainship came in ahead of us and onboard was Ruby...from MissTickle, a boat we met at the waterfall on the TN and again in Marathon last February. He was helping move a boat back to the mainland and then back to MN for some snow melt flooding at his marina.
We waited at West End for 3 days and enjoyed their pool and beach. Gave the boat a good wash (we had free water due to our membership at Marsh Harbor and also got a 20% discount off the $2 rate) and waited for the A Team to come, a flotilla of 8 boats. The first night we were there a sunken sailboat was towed in.
They had hit the rocks/reef the night before and took on water. There was very little of the boat out of the water as it was towed into the turning basin. Liveaboards who lost everything. They had apparently lost propulsion and were sailing with the jib at 3AM. What a sight....sunken boat, full jib sail still flapping and the American flag still blowing at the surface of the water at the stern. That same night another boat had apparently lost their anchor when their line rode was cut by the coral.
So, then two days later our friends come into the harbor with a story of a trawler on the rocks at Sale Cay. A 46' boat had miscalculated and was grounded, now on it's side in the low tide and taking on water (one engine submurged). He needed a pump to pump out his boat and try and float it at high tide, but nothing was available. Boats anchored nearby could not help. A dingy even grounded trying to get close. Up and down goes the tide. A terrible sight for any boater and a very distressed owner. Now a couple of days later the vessel had been towed into West End and is listing at the dock. Owner talking about towing it back to the US for repairs.
Welcome to the Bahamas! It's incidents like these that certainly make you think!
Mint Julep and company arrived ahead of a storm. We had dinner for about 20 in the Restaurant. The next day they pulled lines and headed back to FL....for about 10 minutes. Wave reports of 8-12 footers were taken from a returning boat....so the boats came back and waited for the storm....which came with a fury! It kept us in the marina for another night too. So I think we had 5 nights at West End.
We then anchored at Sale Cay for a night north of the Big Bahama Island, then detoured to a Marina for the next night due to big winds. Expensive and rocky, so we moved to anchor at Manjack. Nice spot protected by rocks, big sand crescent beach and crystal clear water. I checked out the boat and found a 4-5 foot barracuda under our keel! But that night the big thunder storms came in and put on a vicious light show and kicked our ass with the wind and waves...anchor dragged us almost to the beach. We reset anchor and kept an eye on the storms and our holding until the storms passed.
Now we are at anchor in Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay. Nice place. Lots of boats at moorings and various marinas. We have walked New Plymouth, caught a bite at Leeward Marina and found an internet access point (yeah!). We also went out into the big water (some swell but now wind) and went skin diving around some rocky reef. We need to go out further next time and will should the winds/waves cooperate!
Generally sunny and warm. Lots of boats to see. Incredible clear waters.
We like the Bahamas so far!
No comments:
Post a Comment