It’s finally time! Passage to the Bahamas!

From Day 1 with this catamaran (Nov 2020), my goal has been to hit the Bahamas.  And the first of this year (2023) brought about the time to finally sail this baby West!!

We spent New Year’s 2022/2023 waiting for a weather window.  And it popped up right around January 6th.  While we wanted to make a trip down to St. Croix for some pier SCUBA diving in F’sted – we of course took the window and bailed on the USVI. Adios, friends!  See you next time.

Too much adventure?

Is it possible to have too much adventure?  I’m going to say yes.  Yes, it is.

The 4-5 day passage to the Bahamas started out nice and boring – just like we like it.  Then, on the north end of Puerto Rico we saw WHALES!!  I mean, we’ve seen whales before, right?  But they are still exciting.  And even more so when the boat was surfing on 6′ waves (the standard for this passage – thankfully from the stern, and a very comfortable ride) But at some point during one of the days (day 2? day 3?  They all run together on passages, don’t they?) I glanced back toward the oncoming waves and saw something in a wave.  It was a WHALE.  S/he was just cruising along, riding in the wave and watching us.  Both incredibly cool, and a little bit creepy, to be honest.

After a few seconds the whale swooped down the wave, beneath the boat and shot out to the far side – much like dolphins do when playing on the bow.  We’d never had whales playing on the waves/our bow like dolphins – and it was exciting!  And ok, a little bit terrifying – because who hasn’t heard about the Orca’s off of Portugal destroying rudders?   So every time we saw one (never did figure out how many there were – one very active whale that surfed for an hour?  A few just taking turns spying on us and riding the waves?) I politely asked it to continue playing, but please don’t eat my rudders…  Thankfully it/they complied.

A Different Kind of Excitement

As we passed north of the Mona Passage, between Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, we lost our charts.  Well, I mean, we didn’t LOSE them.  They were on the chart plotter.  Off and on.  But for the most part the chart plotter was showing our boat smack in the middle of Dominican Republic.  On land…  Curious.  I could’ve sworn we were still way out in the ocean.  Thankfully we were – and our phone charts agreed.  We never did figure out why the chart plotter went wonky – but I fully blame it on the Bermuda Triangle.  It eventually cleared up and hasn’t done it again.  Pretty sure it’s because we aren’t in the Bermuda Triangle anymore…

Regardless, we were beginning to be really tired (we do 4 hour shifts – so it doesn’t take long for even a boring passage to get exhausting). But we carried on.  Great conditions.  Following seas.  Easting is for the birds (or airplanes) – WEST is the way to go!

Ok. That’s just too much.

Day 4: I’m on the 2am-6am shift.  Because I like drama on my shifts, and the best way to achieve that is to be the one awake in the middle of the night.  And if a lightening storm is brewing to the starboard side…? Even better!

I watched the storm on the radar for quite a while.  (We LOVE having radar on the boat specifically for this reason) And it just seemed to be sitting there, churning.  I couldn’t really speed up and out run it.  But maybe I could heave to and ride it out?  Just sort of go as slow as possible and wait for it to pass from the north to the south…?  But no.  It didn’t seem to be moving.  I pretty much had to go straight and hope we missed the worst of it.

I finally woke Mark up around 4am, when it was clear that I couldn’t avoid it.  And the terror was setting in.  He assessed the situation and came to the same conclusion – the storm just wasn’t to be avoided.  

We unplugged all of our electronics and watched as the cloud to cloud strikes began to turn into water strikes.  And then the rain began.  Of course it was already pitch black, so what’s a little pouring rain on top of things?  At least we had countless lightening strikes to light up the night every so often, right?

I’m going to just go ahead and say it:  there were tears.  It takes a lot to make me visibly scared.  Apparently I found my threshold: we KNEW the boat was going to be struck.  I mean, how could it not be?  We were the only thing out there with a 63′ mast bobbing around in the air. Not another boat to be found.  And we were completely surrounded by what felt like endless water strikes. 

An End in Sight

Our original plan was to travel from St Thomas, USVI to Great Inagua, Bahamas.  It’s the first island you can check into from the south – and was expected to take 5 days to reach.  We were right on track the morning of our 4th day.  But after surviving the lightening storm (and thankfully not being struck) we were emotionally and physically exhausted.  I suggested around sunrise that we hang a right and chug on up to Turks and Caicos.  And we have never been so excited to spend an unexpected $150 (for check in).  Ever.  

Turks and Caicos

We ended up spending our full week in T&C.  That’s all you can get just passing through.  Otherwise it’s $300 for a cruising permit – but you can stay for quite a while then.  We opted to carry on to the Bahamas.  But not before fixing a few things that broke on the passage.  And sleeping like zombies after 4 days of “adventure”. 

We had some good meals, rode out some high winds, and refueled before setting our sights on finally checking into the Bahamas!  

Welcome to the Bahamas! Just kidding. Go away.

When the weather allowed, we made a glorious overnight sail to Mayaguana, Bahamas.  We’d heard that they closed to entry during the pandemic – but people were checking in again.  And so off we went.  Sailing overnight, dinghying to shore, then walking into town to check in.  We’d checked out here before and knew it to be a gorgeous anchorage and very friendly town.

Unfortunately, the normal man that could check us in wasn’t in the office. And the woman that helped us refused entry.  We’ve never been turned away before.  I had already checked us in online – and Mayaguana was listed as an option.  Unfortunately, she told us, the website is wrong and we must leave.   

Checking into the Bahamas, Take 2!

We spent the night – we were exhausted and in no condition to raise anchor and plot an immediate course for Long Island.  So we got some rest and then headed out first thing.  We originally planned to go to Clarence Town – an excellent, friendly port.  But then opted to circle around the north end of the island to check into Stella Maris.  We had friends headed to Cape Santa Maria, and it had been far too long since we’d played with other cruisers.

The check in was a challenge.  Online it said we could check in at the marina (the online check in process is new for the Bahamas – and clearly there are some kinks to be worked out.  But YAY for moving to online check ins!) But we finally made it after a friendly taxi ride to the airport… And then a short motor back up to Cape Santa Maria for sundowners with our friends on Leap of Faith.

We hung out for a few days. A week even?  Not sure.  But I do know it was great to have a buddy boat again!  We went scuba diving on some nearby reefs, and then also a shipwreck. Can I just say that adding the dive compressor was one of our favorite upgrades ever?

We had happy hour at the resort – including the previously elusive free conch fritters. (We missed out on previous passages to the Bahamas) We rented a car and the four of us explored alllll of Long Island.  Friendly bartenders were met.  Cocktails were had.  Blue Hole’s were frolicked.  It was an all around great visit.  And just exactly what we needed as a reminder of why we do this crazy cruising thing we do.

Look out Georgetown!

Next up, we made our way to Georgetown. This is our fourth season in the Bahamas.  So we know the drill.  Volleyball? Check.  Beach yoga? Check.  Hiking up Monument? Check.  Twice.  

Our friend, Lyon, flew in for his third visit to the boat.  He was able to see what all the hype is about when everyone raves about these Bahamian blue waters.

When we had enough of all of the people, we headed south to Man O’ War sandbar and hung out for a few days of wind surfing and kite boarding.  Ahhhh.  This.  This is why we do what we do.  

Time to Head North

Alas, it was too quickly time to head north.  After a successful passage to the Bahamas, it was time to plot our passage to the USA.  Word quickly got out that we were headed back to the States – and someone got an offer he couldn’t refuse.  And now here I sit, in a marina in Savannah, Georgia.  And it’s like we never left.  But let’s save those details for next time.

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