We sailed from Rum Cay to Georgetown on Sunday. We thought we were up early as we were pulling the anchor around 7:15 am but the other three boats were already underway. The winds were higher this morning so as soon as we were on course, we rolled out the jib and sailed the length of Rum Cay on a nice broad reach. As we rounded the corner at the west end of Rum, we turned about 15 degrees to starboard which put the wind directly behind us and the jib wasn’t happy. So, we tightened in the jib sheet and turned the boat into the wind so we could roll out the mainsail. 10 minutes later we were back on course with the mainsheet all the way out on the port side with a preventer tied off to the bow cleat. We sailed at 4.5 – 5.5 knots for the next 20 miles to the north end of Long Island.
As we were approaching the north end of Long Island, I was sitting on the back deck just daydreaming and looking out over the ocean. All of a sudden a small whale surfaced 20 feet away from me and exhaled through its spout. It scared the heck out of me to see something BIG in the water that close. The whale seemed to like the boat and we could see white spots on its head and a white belly. It was a Killer Whale which is very unusual in these waters. It was about 15 feet long and passed under the boat, swam along side and flipped over several times. The water was so clear we could see the black whale swimming a couple hundred feet off boat, just under the surface, before coming back for another look at us. A few minutes later we were visited by a second Killer Whale (they travel in pods) which was much bigger – maybe 20+ feet long – who also swam near the boat a few times. I was pretty excited while Laura wanted me to start the engine to scare them away. A short time later they were gone but left us some great memories of their visit.
The other boats we were traveling with didn’t think we were going fast enough so they all started their engines and left us in the dust. By time we sailed past North Channel Rock into Elizabeth Harbor we were about 1 ½ hours behind Panacea and Rassi. Merlin had already been anchored about an hour. I felt pretty good about sailing the whole way and not using any diesel. I felt even better the next day when Merlin talked about needing to visit the fuel dock. We still have ¾ of a tank (about 110 gallons) since we sailed almost all of the 650 miles from Puerto Rico. I don’t believe we are better sailor – we just have a little more patience with slower sailing speeds than most of our friends. (I may be using “we†incorrectly. Laura is always unhappy when the boat slows down under sail. I take it as a challenge to keep the boat going as fast as I can with the lighter winds.)
The weather in Georgetown has been rain and wind for the past two days and it’s not supposed to end for another 3 days. We’re glad we are anchored in a very protected harbor near the lee shore of Stocking Island. The only problem was the 2 mile dinghy ride to Georgetown yesterday for check-in with Customs and Immigration. We had a downwind ride to town which was rolly but ok. We went to Customs, Immigration and the grocery store. On the way to Immigration we stopped by the Mom’s Bread van for a loaf of her great bread. I had fond memories of her from when I was here in 1995 and, 12 years later, she’s still selling homemade breads out of her van. I wasn’t disappointed when she handed me the bread then gave me a hug while saying, “God bless you!â€. A loaf of bread, a hug and a blessing for $3.50. What a deal!
I prepared for the windward ride back to the boat by stripping down to my shorts. Laura had brought her raincoat so she bundled up. The ride back was very rough with 2-3 foot waves right in our face (literally). We both had sore hands from holding on so tight. I jumped right in the shower with my clothes on to rinse the saltwater out of them. Laura made pizza for dinner which we washed down with a bottle of Australian red wind. We watched a movie (Jeremiah Johnson) and hit the sack early.
The weather is supposed to break a little by this weekend with calm winds on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday should be a good sailing day with the winds picking back up from the east and pretty calm seas. We’ll probably head north up the Exumas and hopefully we’ll have at least 3 days of good weather so we can reach Marsh Harbor in the Abacos before the next cold front comes through.
We may take the dinghy into Volleyball Beach today for some much needed exercise and maybe lunch at the Chat ‘n Chill. We’re only been off the boat about 6 hours in the past 10 days so we’re getting a little anxious to have a walk-a-bout.
It’s now Wednesday morning and Laura is making breakfast – sausage and pancakes. We eat very well on Second Wind (if you haven’t already figured that out!). The weather was so windy yesterday we couldn’t even lower the dinghy without taking the chance of getting injured by the big waves bashing it around in back of the boat. We spent the day on the boat working on odd jobs and playing dominos. Laura wanted to swim into the beach which was about ¼ mile away but I vetoed that for the high waves. Even with our snorkel gear on it would be a very rough swim.
I worked on our BBQ grill which had burned a fairly large hole in the side of the burner. It really needs a new burner but that will have to wait until we are back in the States. For the meantime I took the grill apart, sanded around the hole and filled it in with “JB Weld†– a epoxy that hardens like metal. I’m not sure it will seal good enough to keep the propane from leaking around the patch but it was worth a try. I’ll let you know how it works the next time I try the BBQ. I can’t run it now because the wind would blow it out.
Last night we had our first thunderstorm in many moons. You don’t get thunderstorms in the Caribbean except for maybe around a hurricane. We had a good lightening show and heavy rains. The squalls and storms are supposed to let up today and gradually calm down over the next few days. We might be able to leave here on Friday or Saturday if the winds cooperate. I’m looking forward to seeing some new islands and navigating different routes once we get north of Nassau. I really enjoy the planning part of cruising. That is when you first learn about where you are going in detail and, obviously, it is very important to navigate the boat safely in new waters.
It’s a weird feeling being back in Georgetown. We left here almost exactly 1 year ago to sail southeast into the Caribbean. Now, over 3,000 miles later, we have closed the loop and are back in “friendly†waters. By the way, our odometer passed 5,000 miles since leaving Deltaville, VA in Nov 2006. I only need about 200 more miles to pass my first 10,000 sailing miles (including 4,400 miles on my Pacific trip). It seems like just recently we’ve become comfortable sailing on just about every wind direction and speed. A couple days ago we changed sail plans from a broad-reach, jib sail to a downwind, prevented main in about 10 minutes without any problems. It felt pretty good knowing what we had to do in order to make everything work safely and without problems.
I feel like we are entering a new phase of our cruising being back in Georgetown and heading north. We’ve completed our Caribbean cruise (for now) and are entering the “Go home and make some money to build our cruising kitty again†phase. It’s a little emotional accepting this change but I’m looking forward to the new challenges and being around our families for the summer. Plus, I love boating on the Hudson River – especially from New York City to Catskill. It’s a beautiful trip and I hope we can sail at least part of it.
The picture is one we snapped of the Killer Whale swimming near the boat. I’ve outlined the whale that was swimming about 10 feet under the water. It is a little difficult to see the black whale in the dark blue water but, believe me, it is there.
We’ve been listening to boats calling each other on the marine radio in Georgetown. I don’t know if it’s because we were away in some isolated places or what, but the boat names seem to be somewhat unusual (what do these have to do with sailboats?) – Sam the Skull (he has an Irish accent), One Eyed Parrott, Hot Chocolate, Wild Horses, Hi-Lo, Fantasy Island, Jab-a-roo, Sir Lancelot and Camelot II (I wonder if these are friends), etc….
