We spoke to our weather router this morning and he was still predicting snotty weather for later in the week; so we decided to leave tonite for the Berry Islands.
First things first, Lucaya was nice....the people could not have been nicer or more helpful. We would definitely recommend using Lucaya as a point of entry into the Bahamas. (Although, the "officials" that did our paperwork granted Persephone one year to remain in the Bahamas, but THE CREW was given only 100 days !! Go figure....that is just the way it is in the islands !!) The main attraction in Lucaya is the Market Place. Sort of an assortment of tourist-type duty free shops catering to the cruise ships which frequent Freeport. We saw lots of "condo commandos" today complete with matching belts and shoes. Just made you proud to be from the states !! So, 36 hours was enough for us in Lucaya.
Again, we are doing a night passage...guess we don't sail during the daytime anymore. We didn't want to get stuck for days in Lucaya waiting for weather to continue our trek south, so that also factored into our decision to leave tonite. In addition, if we left in the morning we would arrive at our destination in the evening...or after dark; not good in the islands.
Tonite is even nicer than our passage on Sunday nite. The weather is almost identical, but the sea is table top flat. There is very little wind, so we are again motorsailing. We are bypassing most of the Berry Islands tonight as we don't want to get caught out if the weather is as nasty as predicted. The Berry's are sparsely populated, and there are very few deep, protected anchorages. Most of the anchorages are just tucking up behind a cay out of the prevailing easterly winds. However, it is no place to be in a gale or heavy squalls. So we have opted to go to the bottom of the Berry's to Frazier's Hog Cay. (Gotta love the name) We can snug up to the island, perhaps get a mooring and have relative protection. Frazier's Hog is just short of 100 miles south of Lucaya, so we won't be arriving till around noon tomorrow.....perfect time to "read the water" going up the channel next to the island. (The charts of the Bahamas are sketchy at best, lacking the detail that we are used to in the states....so you have to learn to read the depth of the water by its color.....it is all on the job training...a passing grade is not hitting a reef, or coral head. You can guess a failing grade :(
So, I have to go take a look around....I'm looking at the radar as I'm typing and all is clear 6 miles around us.....but it never hurts to take a look-see (or is that sea ??) Later...........
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