Chapter Three.....

Good morning….


We have begun Chapter Three of our “interlude”. Chapter One was our travels down the eastcoast of the US at five miles per hour; fun, beautiful, and sometimes tortorus. Our crossing to and our wintering in the Bahamas was Chapter Two of the adventure. We throughly enjoyed the Bahamas, especially the people.  But it is time to move on, so, Chapter Three will be our journey south leaving the Bahamas and sailing on to the countries of the Caribbean.

We left mid-morning yesterday for what we thought was going to be an easy, quick hop from Conception Island to Rum Cay. (Gotta love a cay called Rum….got its name when a merchant ship piled up on the surrounding reefs and spilled it cargo of rum on to the beaches…maybe the crew was sampling the cargo !?) On October 13, 1492, Columbus “discovered” Rum Cay; the second island he stopped at in the New World.

Anyway, the trip was NOT quick or easy !! The sail started off beautifully as we left Conception. The wind was blowing from the low to mid-teens from the northeast…perfect for the fifteen mile sail south to Rum. As we rounded the bottom of Conception, the winds clocked to the east and then southeast and increased to 20-23 knots. We were beating into the wind as close as possible and pounding into 8-10 foot seas. Wave after wave broke over the bow dumping solid green water on us back in the cockpit….we were soaked !! Quickly the realization set in, we were no longer sailing on the protected banks of the Bahamas, we were in the open Atlantic. We called this our “shakedown” cruise….shakedown being the operative word. Items were shaken off the shelves, and locker doors were shaken open spilling their contents. The main hatch leaked slightly from the seas literally rolling over the deck, permitting water to soak one of the settee cushions. To make matters worse, we had to motorsail along the south coast of Rum Cay for about 6 miles straight into the wind and seas, pounding all the way; so much for quick and easy. We opted to go into the marina as there is no harbor at Rum (at $32/nite it is the best bargain in the Bahamas !!). We settled our nerves with (and I am sure you can guess…) a couple of rum drinks.

Up early this morning, listening to our weather guru, Chris Parker, who had good news for us. The cold front we need was arriving tomorrow; guess we paid our dues yesterday to Poseidon for this good fortune of a favorible wind direction the very next day !! (Cruisers often have to wait days or weeks for favorable weather) So, we are leaving Rum at first light tomorrow for an overnight sail to the Turks and Caicos. Chris said we must arrive by Wednesday afternoon/early evening to avoid an adverse shift (and increase) in the winds. So, we will be pushing hard all the way.

Today is a great day for boat cleanup, washing the salt off, doing navigation for the trip and getting food prepared; oh yes, and reloading the lockers whose contents fell out yesterday.  With luck, we will be in Provo (Caicos Islands) by Wednesday night. Think NORTHerly winds !!!!!!!!…THE CREW