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We bought another bag of ice and mailed out last minute letters. The phone was in almost continuous use but after waiting outside the phone booth for 15 minutes I finally got a call to my parents. They were not home but the system let me record a message as my name and I think it got on the answering machine. We left at noon in a fairly brisk SE wind and had a good sail across the bank to Little Stirrup Cay and then to Bertram Cove on Great Stirrup. The bay was filled with buoys marking the channel for the cruise ship boats and swimming areas so we anchored on the edge and did not go in very far. There was some swell but I used the extra line from the anchor rode to the back of the boat to point into the swell. After dark the wind dropped and we had a pleasant evening.
It is cloudy this AM. We ate at the Pool for lunch yesterday and supper was at the Warf. Rich had the Conch - real good! I sent a post card to Sally. Rich has sent another disc (log) to his parents. I'm washing a last load of cloths. Rich went in the water to scrape the propeller. Not to bad with a barnacles (few worms) yuck! We loaded up with ice. Rich is surveying the chart. About noon we'll leave :). Probably Little Stirrup Cay? Yesterday we read at the pool and played a new dice game - Yacht! It was fun. We've been playing Quartro and Set Back and Cribbage and 10K (dice) and Spite and Malice. We need to practice Backgammon. Oh, yes, we've been playing lots of RummyCub! :)
1 PM (about) Rich finally got to use the phone - left a message for his folks. I took a picture as we left the cut :).
2:45 PM Nice sail to Little Stirrup. The wind is about 15 mph. We are about to arrive at a beautiful anchorage spot.
We woke up early and pulled up the anchor at 7. The wind was still light and I was not sure where we would go today but we started sailing E in a SE breeze. As we left the bay and looked E we saw a cruise liner headed our way and it eventually stopped and anchored. We got out just in time. A number of sailboats were out and all seemed to be headed W. We saw several freighters and a tug pulling a barge heaped with sand. The wind increased and the direction varied from SSE to SE and around noon I decided it was too rough to go around the S tip of Abaco and also if we did we would be too early at the entrance and would have to wait a long time for daybreak so we eased off and went ENE to Sandy Point. I was not sure this anchorage would be very comfortable in the SSE wind we seemed to have but I hoped the wind would fall again tonight and we could rest for a while and have milder conditions for rounding the S tip of Abaco. While I was below looking at the chart Jill said she saw something directly ahead and I jumped up to look. We saw a large area of splashing caused by fish chasing a school of bait fish. Quite a sight. We anchored at 3 PM after a fast beam reach after traveling 40 NM. We almost went across a shallow area but turned around in time and found fairly deep water off a long sandy beach. I noticed that the refrigeration was not working properly, looks like warm beer from now on. After a late lunch we rested as much as possible. The anchorage was in fact well protected by a small reef S of us and there was no surge. After the sun set the wind did go down considerably and we pulled up the anchor at 10 PM and motored S.
We anchored at Bit Stirrup Cay - right between huge rocks sticking up out of the water and at the sandy beach, of what looks like a cruise ship tropical landing site. Beautiful palm trees - multi colored buildings - a huge pool. Lots of sandy beach. Rich rigged a 2nd anchor line again so that we would not roll so much - it worked. Just to the ort side there is a low rock that is covered with water at high tide. Spooky! :) We played Backgammon - I'm still always loosing that one :(. Need to practice that one :). We had Chez Mac ant tuna for supper. The moon is up and beautiful. We awoke at 7 to see a spectacular sun rise and be off! It's now 8:30 AM. A huge cruising ship was arriving at Stirrup Cay as we were leaving. We just finished running the engine (frig and battery charge) and are sailing into the sunrise - east. Go' in to Abaco!
The trip started well and we were doing 4 Kt in light swells but the wind
increased as we went and by 1 AM we were pounding into some large swells. We
made the turn E at 1:30 and finally at 3 AM we turned NE and set the jib. The
wind was fairly strong and we were going 4.5-5 Kt. Around dawn the wind went
further E and increased but we were still on a close reach and moving fast,
sometimes over 6 Kt. Later the wind switched SE and the waves increased with
occasional 8’ swells but we only occasionally felt a little spray. We watched
flying fish jumping and gulls swooping down the valleys between waves and
disappearing for 5-10 seconds at a time. At 10 AM we went thru North Bar
Channel. A 24’ open sport fishing boat was going out just before us and we could
see several boats anchored behind Lynyard Cay and others sailing inside. I was a
little worried about the swells and the entrance but it was no problem although
we could see impressive breakers on the rocks on both sides. Inside we found the
wind was very strong from due S about 20-25 Kt. We motored S towards Little
Harbor and could see a mass of boats in the harbor and another entering before
us. Would there be room for us? Besides the boats anchored behind Lynyard Cay
there was another anchored in the Bight of Robinson just W of Little Harbor
where we could anchor if there was no other space. As we entered the channel we
noticed a number of new houses and the beginnings of a few more. The channel now
had radar reflecting entrance stakes as well as the buoys. The harbor was
crowded but there was still room. We ended up taking a mooring and finally
arrived in the Abacos at noon. After drinks to celebrate and lunch we read and
slept until 3 and then put the dingy together. There are 2 white ducks in the
harbor which swim from one boat to the next begging for food. They came by
several times and we tossed them some bread. The wind is howling outside but we
are safe and calm at anchor. We talked to the boat next to us, a Roberts steel
ketch. They also complained about the high winds. I saw 2 white ducks swimming
around the harbor and later they swam over to each boat in turn to beg food. We
feed them pieces of bread.
Happy Birthday to Me !! We sailed on rough waters past all the beautiful little Berry Isles and from Little Stirrup Cay to a tiny tip of Abaco called Sandy Point. We stayed there for a rest and to eat lunch. Going in we got in some shallows. There was sea weed floating on top of the water! Rich did a neat 180 and we got out of there! :) It was so clear that Rich saw a star fish on the bottom! We waited there until night when we figured the winds would calm. Rich navigated the route and we read and slept till 9:30 PM. We took turns steering and later just watches and let our auto pilot steer. After midnight - which was the start of my birthday :) we didn't see ANY other boats. A couple of freighters before that. I listened to Dr. Laura during the night and near dawn found one Bahamian radio station. Part of the night I listened to "Cuba Liberty" - all Spanish- ??? Well I had to stay awake and alert. I ate several of my coffee beans (chocolate covered).
Abaco ! We were here by noon. Lots of other boats. We caught mooring buoy #5. A few buildings are being built. We celebrated our arrival with lunch and rum drinks! :). The frig cooler isn't working. We napped a while and then put the dingy together (on the fore deck). I pumped it up and we tossed it over the side. Rich reminded me to hold on to the painter... Here we are ... back to our favorite piece of paradise. The wind is blowing pretty good but the harbor is smooth as glass. Rich just took a picture (movie) of me feeding a couple of domestic ducks who came over to greet us. Birthday supper is mashed potatoes and beef tips with peppers and onions and garlic. Desert will be chocolate pudding...
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