We stuck it out at anchor in Bullocks Harbour for 2 windy nights although our riding sail kept movement to a minimum. At 0500 we weighed anchor and headed out to Grand Bahama Island. A 63 NM track, and pretty much a
straight line. The weather forecast was for winds diminishing
from NE 20 and clocking to east… “Rubbish”, of the complete and
utter kind! The winds were a steady NE 17-20, with gusts to the
mid 20’s. Waves were up to 7′ and on the beam, although it did clock about 10 degrees for a while. But not before we took a wave into the cockpit and all over Bob! Every sailboat likes a reach and FL2.0 is no exception. While it was very rolly, when it was all done, we averaged 7 kn from anchor up to harbour mouth.
We’ll hang out here for a couple of nights and hit the stream Thursday for 2 or 3 days — weather permitting, hope to make southern Georgia. There was no opportunity today for pictures given the topsy-turvy of our voyage. Getting around the boat today would challenge a mountain goat. The Grand Bahama “Yacht Club” is quite nice, but like most places around here, is more of a marina but with condos.
There are many boats here waiting for weather windows to get further into the Bahamas. Several of the expedience cruisers are saying this has been an exceptional year both here and Florida for persistent high winds (and waves!) Some of those sailors are Bob and Tarja’s friends, Joy and David Swann. They introduced themselves at their home port St Simon’s Island GA back in 2017 as they also owned a Catalina 355. They were at the same marina later in April 2018 in Marsh Harbour and Bob and Tarja had several delightful dinners out there. They have moved up now to a 425 which Bob saw today — lottsa comfort and room on it!
