George Town, Exumas

We arrived in George Town a week ago and have spent most of the time getting organized to make our next jump to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, as soon as the weather allows.

Despite a long list of To Do's, we are enjoying all the activities associated with the cruising community here. We'll fill you in later.

No pics with this post. Wifi connections are a challenge and so we have not been able to keep up our blog as much as we have further north in the Bahamas. Later.........

Exumas Shimmer Under the Sun

Looking over our shoulders at Ship Channel Cut

From Davis Harbour in Eleuthera our cruising route takes us south down the Exumas chain of islands in the Bahamas. A chance meeting with Judy and Buck who were preparing to leave Davis aboard their sport fishing boat Addiction, changed our minds about the cut we’d take to enter the chain from Exuma Sound. We’ve had winds over 20 knots over the past couple of weeks and as a result the sea states will be high. We decided against Highborne Cut in favour of Ship Channel Cut because it is wider and should be easier to navigate.

We timed our crossing well and managed just fine with the wind behind us and waves six to ten feet. When we looked back at the line of breaking waves from the relative calm waters at Ship Channel Cay, we were glad we weren’t having to attempt a crossing in the opposite direction.

First stop, the northern end of the chain, Allan’s Cay, to check out the iguanas on the beach.

Highborne Cay, Exumas

Daisie tries to do her duty at Highborne

Norman's Cay was once lorded over by a drug baron. Only wrecked planes and bullet-ridden ruins remain of those days.

Daisie loves a game of running back and forth between us on the beach at Norman's.

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

The view is ample reward at the end of a long dinghy ride through the mangroves and a climb up the hill on the Sound side of Shroud Cay.

A barracuda swims lazily past us and the mangroves in the Land and Sea Park.

All on land and in the sea are protected here.

Look, no barnacles! Our bottom paint is doing it's job.

Can the water possibly get any more beautiful? When the water is still you could see a starfish twenty feet below! The further south we go the more amazed we become by the clarity and hue; to describe the sight of the water in varied hues as blue, cobalt or tourquoise just does not do any justice to the experience. There’s a shimmering irridesence to the water against the sand and sky that can’t be captured in words or pictures.

At anchor, Bristol Rose and our dinghy (center) in Warderick Wells, the park headquarters.

The mooring field in Warderick Wells is a narrow channel and reservations are taken on VHF channel 09 at 9.00am each day. A stop here is full of wonderful surprises including sweet little birds that feed right out of your hand.

This curly-tailed lizard is a real poser. It was a pleasure to take his picture.

Bristol Rose and Starshine (l-r)

Two Shannons in one anchorage! That's a beautiful sight. At Norman’s Cay we finally catch up with Dave aboard his gorgeous Shannon 38, Starshine. At 26 years or thereabouts, she’s still a stunner. These Shannons are semi-custom, built to last and hold up well over the years. We met Dave in Maryland at the marina where we had found Bristol Rose for sale. We’ve kept in contact and celebrated Memorial Day 2008 with Starshine on the Chesapeake Bay. Dave left the Bay about a week before us and we've finally caught up with him. He's headed to George Town so we'll see him along the way.

Dave

Here we are reflecting upon the water. No apologies for the pun.

How do the Cruising Thorn Birds Sail The Thorny Path South?

We've spent winter in North America reading cruising books. Cruising the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean sure sounds like a dream come true.  So it might come as a surprise to hear that to reach paradise, cruisers heading south from the beautiful Bahamas must leave George Town (commonly known as Chicken Harbor) and sail the Thorny Path well beyond where the Snow Birds fly. Thorn Birds are no chickens. They pluck up the courage to leave safe harbour and push through the Thorny Path despite tales told by fellow cruisers, of certain seasickness and fright. 

What's there to be afraid of? Well.... there's the notourous Mona and Anegada Passages, more than 1000 miles to the Leeward Islands via the Bahamas. It's a battle all the way against the prevailing tradewinds and ocean currents, so popular folklore goes.

 

Unless the cruising Thorn Birds carefully plan a route and time departure when weather and sea conditions are optimal, they may wish they'd never left the safety of George Town. Bruce Van Sant, in his guide A Gentleman's Guide to Passages South, advises cruisers leaving George Town to head northeast to Conception Island via Long Island, then to Rum Cay and south-east to the Turks and Caicos. We've never sailed these waters. How can we be best prepared when we do? I've plotted wind and sea conditions according to NOAA bouys in the Bahamas and Caribbean, over the 45 day period from January 10 to February 24, 2008. There are some interesting observations for leaving the Bahamas:

• Wind blows ENE to SSE 58% of the time and averaged 12.8 kts, see chart above.
• Periodically the wind shifts South, around to the West then to the North before settling back East.
• If your course is SE to get to Mayaguana you will only get favourable wind condition for sailing 40% of the time.
• Factor in wind strength of less than 20 kts and height of waves of less than 8ft and swell direction, you find favourable conditions are now down to less than 1 day in 4.
• If I plan to motor east and look for less than 10 kts I will only find this 27% of the time.
• That trip NE to Conception Island - favourable conditions only 32% of the time.

The good news is that favourable conditions do exist for departing Chicken Harbor, George Town; the bad news is you have to wait and know when to leave. "Depart only when favorable conditions prevail and shall be sustained for a day longer than you need to make safe harbor"

More thorns along the coast of Hispaniola! "sailing to windward on this coast during full trades is flat out suicidal ".

By the time cruisers get to the Dominican Republic and have to head east, favourable conditions are now down to only 5% of the time. The trades are due East most of the time. "If you press on in 20 knt Trades and 5 to 8 foot seas in a 40 foot boat ... you are pleading for disaster to overtake you".

Van Sant and others use to advantage a night-time phenomenon when it is calm, up to 30 miles offshore (note the NOAA data is taken well off shore). This calm coupled with Katabatic Winds from the cooling mountains enable a boat to sail east by night, along the coast of the Dominican Republic.