St Francis Resort Marina - Stocking Island, Bahamas

With hindsight it is clear that we picked the right day to sail Into the Exumas. It was a beautiful clear day with enough wind to keep the headsail full, and Don and I rode most of the 30 mile trip out front on the tramps, trying soak up what was likely to be our last open water passage of the trip.

Tom had been stressing about the entry through Conch Cay cut into the shallow and reef-strewn bay between Great Exuma and Stocking Island, location of St Francis Resort Marina, but with the sun overhead, all the reefs and shallows were clear to see and there was no issue.

The bay here is about a mile wide and stretches for many miles between the two islands, with Georgetown being the focus, in season, of a huge cruising community.  Hundreds of boats congregate here, anchoring from one side to the other, and many go no further.  For this reason it is sometimes nicknamed "Chicken Harbor"!

St Francis Resort, our end destination, is located directly across the bay from Georgetown.  It sits on a hill overlooking to the south not one but three idyllic hurricane holes, and to the north an equally idyllic white sand beach.  

For Quantum Leap this was a sort of home-coming, because she is a St Francis catamaran, and the St Francis resort is owned by the boatbuilder and his partners.  In fact, the resort's original reason for being was to be a base near the US for storing and showing the South African built boats.

As often happens, the original purpose has become more of a sideline, because this resort is very successful in its own right, and only a small percentage of the guests even know about the connection to the boat builder.  The success is due not merely to its awesome location, but to the creativity, hospitality and dogged can-do attitude of George and Jillian, the resourceful South African couple that built it and run it.

That Tom and. Bette are part of this family was clear as we pulled up and were welcomed straight onto the dock.  In actuality, there is no marina here in the sense of docks and slips.  Instead there are moorings placed in the super-protected holes.  This is where Quantum Leap will spend hurricane season after Tom and Bette leave at the end of the month.

For now however we were on the dock with the flexibility to come and go, eat and drink at the resort restaurant, and walk the gorgeous beach on the other side.

When we left Calabash Bay to sail here, Don and I still had over a week of our visit to go, and the plan was that we would touch base with George and Jillian and then head back out to explore the Exumas. Since Don and I have never been here in this famous cruising Mecca, we were quite looking forward to it.  However we weren't on the dock long when we could see Tom visibly relax...or more accurately relax to a different level...and begin talking about maybe just staying!  We realized that we could hardly whine because he and Bette have been moving constantly since they left South Africa in March!

But those first days on the dock were hot!  Really hot.  and buggy in the mornings and evenings.  And Don and I began to think about maybe making an early departure!

Fortunately, the airlines weren't having any of that idea.  I say fortunately, because the next two days saw the arrival of thunderstorms and heavy rain! So, (A)  it was a darned nice thing to have gotten in before the bad weather, and (B) the storms cooled everything off. So (C), everybody's attitude perked right up.

Probably the real turning point was the morning we four took a long walk down the beach to a sort of pool in the sea protected by a rock cliff where we ended up swimming in the rain, only getting out when the lightning started!  That was really special!

But then, just as we were making plans to head back out, Quantum started having some mechanical problems.  It seemed like as soon as they addressed one thing, another would crop up.  By this time we had all gotten comfortable with out routine right here.

So essentially, for this last week, we have been laid-back resort guests with a special floating waterfront room.  We've eaten and drunk about everything on the menu, and we've checked out all the nearby highlights: like the mini-blue hole snorkel cave cave with its swarm of ocean fish that come through a fissure that leads  through the island to some opening out to sea or the Chat n Chill Beach hangout on a nearby sandy spit where a cheeky young man makes you fresh conch salad to order!  And every day, we walk and swim in the Atlantic!  It's been grand.  

Thank you, Tom &Bette for having us.

Calabash Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

This has been a very hard trip on the two captains' electronics!  In addition to what was stolen in the. BVI, I broke my Kindle by pressing on the screen when the boat lurched, and now my trusty Canon camera is having a lens error and won't work.  

This means no pictures for the Blog.  Or no easy pictures for the Blog.  We do try to get some shots directly with the iPad and with Don's phone, but I'm unwilling to expose the iPad to much adventure and getting the pictures from Don's phone to my iPad is not easy.  Wish this iPad had the new Air Drop feature! 

So I have no photos to share of our lovely stop in Calabash Bay, Long Island.  All the way at the north end of Long Island and on the way to Georgetown, it was a logical stopover.  It turned out to be a beautiful bay!  A huge white sand beach curving in an arc of several miles had a very lovely resort - Cape Santa Maria Resort -- tucked into the north corner with casuarina pines softening the horizon.

The anchorage was huge.  An interesting formation of parallel rocks bedecked the bottom in 20-30 feet of water on our approach, and looking through the shallow clear water was like sailing in over some giant river bottom.  To the left of the resort, a huge, but shallow lagoon opened up, which we later explored by dinghy. It is so unusual to see such a body of water be crystal clear!

In the afternoon we did our dinghy exploration of the hidden lagoon, then dropped the hook in a little cove near the mouth of the main bay to snorkle.  This was a precious cove, with a battered house all closed up with a for sale sign on it, prompting a few fantasies. 

When we rolled into the water we discovered -- zowie --at rest on the bottom the largest stingray any of us had ever seen!  His body had to be a full four feet in diameter and his tail disappeared into the sand behind him.  Most eye catching were eye sockets that had to be the size of fists!  

When we tired of admiring the stingray, we snorkeled around the tip of the point, finding a nice assortment of fish and a rock formation with giant potholes scooped out of it!  The guidebook says all rock in the Bahamas is limestone.  If so, it sure takes some different forms!  

On this Atlantic side of the Bahamas at least, there is not much coral growth.  We are north of the Tropic of Cancer, now, generally considered the limit for coral (except where the Gulf Stream warms the water temps), but on this swim we did see scattered small but perfect coral formations, trying to make it in the shallows.

In the evening we dinghied ashore to dine at The Beach House, the resort's handsome restaurant.  We were surprised how small the restaurant was for the size of the resort, but then we saw lost of room service orders going out.  Our waitress explained that  the resort has villas many of which are privately owned, and many people dine at home!  Not us!  Tom and Bette had lobster, Don and I had ahi tuna in pineapple salsa.  

When we left in the dark, (after availing ourselves of their Internet), we were besieged by mozzies and no-see-ums by the zillions and we fled back to the boat, put in screens and lit mosquito coils.

In the morning, we decided to motor around to the west side of Long Island so that Tom and Bette could check out Stella Maris Marina.  by car, this would have been a very short drive, but by boat it was a several hour arc owing to various capes and shoals that had to be gotten around.  In the Chartkit, this marina boasts of being able to haul out multihulls up to 100' so it seemed worth the effort to check out, but it was a very stressful approach through water barely deep enough for our boat, with a stiff breeze complicating things by whipping up the surface making it hard to see the bottom. 

Well....once again, the guidebook was somewhat of a misrepresentation.   The approach channel was poorly marked with sticks only, so we dropped the hook while still a mile out.  Then Tom and Bette dinghied in -- a long wet ride -- only to find  the facility, when they finally reached it, somewhat underwhelming.  

Don and I stayed behind on the boat for that adventure, in part to lighten the load in the dinghy.  Don continued to work on boat projects, mostly electrical, and I did some cleaning, reading and writing.  But Tom and Bette were back quickly and, it was unanimous that we didn't want to stay there for the night.  So motored right back to Calabash Bay.  

This time we anchored much farther out to discourage visits by the biting critters.  In addition, the easterly breeze that had so stirred things up at Stella Maris, here bathed the boat in cooling breezes without the sea getting rough.  Since the summer solstice a few days before which was about the same time we lost the trade winds, we have all been uncomfortably hot a lot of the time, so this renewed breeze was very welcome.  

As the sun headed for the horizon, we were hopeful for a green flash.  It would be our last chance, we figured, before being surrounded by the Exuma islands.  in the last hour before sunset, though  we grew pessimistic as a hidden cloud bank swallowed the setting sun.  However, at the very last minute, Ina kind of miracle the big orange ball of sun seemed to find a slot just big enough to slip its fat self though and amazingly, we got our flash!  

Later, before bed, Don and I sat out forward on the tramps enjoying the breeze and the clear night sky.  Incredibly, between the moon, summer haze, and cloud cover, this was the first really good star watching night we'd had in the whole month!  While lying back and trying to pick out the summer constellations (I am much better at winter ones), we were amazed to see two starts suddenly split and move rapidly in opposite directions!!!!  Not planes...perhaps the space station?

The next morning we made an early departure, bound for Georgetown and Exumas.

Rum Cay

Our overnight at anchor between Strachan and Salt Pond Cays across from Clarence Town was one of the nicest of the trip.  A light shower rinsed off the boat and cooled the night air, while the breeze provided the gentlest of rocking motion.

Excited to be on our way, we set off for Rum Cay, about 30 miles to the northeast.  We had heard mixed things about Rum Cay, but the guidebook was glowing, and, as you might guess, Don felt there was no way we could pass up visiting a place named Rum Cay.

We anchored out in the open roadstead with just a few feet of water under the keel between us and miles of white sand bottom.  Sharing the anchorage was a 76 Nordhaven and Cat Ppalu, a large go-fast catamaran that I recognized from the old days in the Virgins.

Don and I did a long swim to cool down and burn some energy.   The sand with occasional patches of grass is mesmerizing, but not very busy.  One stingray was our sole wildlife sighting! 

In the evening, dressed up for dinner out, we dinghied over to Sumner Marina, at the very east end of the long bay.   Probably once a charming little cruising center, we discovered that the marina is currently defunct.  So much for the Guidebooks!  Several boats are tied up there, nonetheless, despite damaged docks and no services, and several large nurse sharks patrol the waters.  One of the boats in the marina is said to be a fellow who has  just taken over the lease for the place.  So perhaps there is hope for next season.  

After discovering the sad state of the marina, we found ourselves all dressed up with no place to go!  So, we backtracked to the town dock, hoping to catch a bit of local life.

It was Sunday, late afternoon when we clambered ashore.  A bunch of guys had a volleyball game going over a net stretched across the sand road.  Across the road was Kaye's bar, a very local hangout, with a sand floor inside and out. It looked plenty iffy, but the proprietor, Kaye, was a lovely warm woman who had me sign the guest book, and we managed to get cold Kilick beers and just enough intact chairs for the four of us to sit and enjoy them beneath a spreading almond tree. "No, THE almond tree," said Dru, a Norwegian girl who has stopped off in Rum Cay indefinitely, who wandered over  from her group of male pals to chat with the visitors.

The afternoon's moment of drama came shortly after when  Dru's dog took off to chase a police jeep rolling through where the volleyball net had been moments before, and an older dog following the younger pup proved not as agile at the chase and got clipped even though the police jeep was barely moving!  The thump and yelp caused all dog lovers to leap to their feet in dismay.   Fortunately, the dog seemed relatively non-plussed, with just some cuts and nothing evidently broken.  She was still able to leap into Dru's Jeep!  Good thing because I doubt there was anything like a vet on the island!

One wonders that an island of 70 residents warrants a police jeep!?!?!

For food, Dru suggested we try Ocean View, a yellow house on down the street away.  although the house was dark when we approached, Ruby, the owner, welcomed us ins, turned on the fans, and promptly pulled out some icy cold beverages.  Ruby was another super warm Bahamian lady who had, in addition to the cold drinks, Internet and some food, but the place was awesomely hot.  Fans turned lazily overhead, but do nothing to cool.  Silver air-conditioning duct work wound through the rafters, but obviously was not in use. Sweat was dripping off every one of us, and beading up on my iPad.  

Later, just about the time we were finished, a  big charter group came in from Ppalu, obviously well known to Ruby.  With their arrival, the place came alive enough that they fired up the generator AND air con!

Such is the excitement of a Sunday evening on a small island.  

Bahamas - Clarence Town, Long Island

We had a lovely, easy 24-hour trip from Providenciales to Clarence Town, Long Island, our first stop in the  Bahamas,  using, we found out later, the last of our steady trade wind allotment.  

Long Island is just that, a long, very long island: 76 miles from end to end, quite narrow, with spit and arms and capes akimbo and pocked by blue holes.  Indeed the world's deepest blue hole -- Dean's Blue Hole,  the site of some major free diving competitions, is just north of Clarence Town.

Clarence Town, is a quaint village about a quarter of the way up from the south end,  situated on some gentle hills which are topped by two rather remarkable churches, one Anglican and one Catholic, both built by the same architect/priest, Father Jerome.  The village faces east a mile or so overlooking a long narrowing bay, protected from the Atlantic by a string of islands, islets and rocks on the seaward side.  

The Explorer chart kit identified Flying Fish Marina as a place we could clear customs, so Tom brought Quantum Leap into the dock again.  It turned out Clarence Town is not an actual Port of Entry after all.  The customs and immigration officers must drive down from Stella Maris, a resort area an hour away at the north end.  However, they would do that, and did.

Flying Fish Marina was recently purchased by a the owner of a big sport fishing boat who was looking for a place to store his boat.  He has clearly masterminded a lot of new construction.  The docks look brand new...indeed woodworkers were laying a new section as we tied up.  Bright fresh paint in pink and turquoise dress up a sea wall, and every buildings is tidy.  A very large new edifice of concrete block is rising on the point, earmarked to be a new office and restaurant.  The bathrooms and showers are among the nicest and best conceived we have seen!  

So we stayed on the dock overnight, after a mid-afternoon lunch at the marina's dockside cafe.  Then Tom invited a couple of sailors, septuagenarian Jack and his delivery crew Adam, (introduced as Jack's wife's yoga instructor!), over for a beer, to pick his brain about the Bahamas.  These  path-crossing encounters are truly one of the high points of cruising.  Jack, a veteran of many years in the Bahamas, was waiting for a weather window to lay the Windward Passage between Hispaniola and Cuba, bound for Montego Bay Yacht Club in Jamaica, a regular run he says he makes every few years.  Jack  was waiting for the strong winds that brought us north to die, so that he could motor south.

The next morning, he got his wish.  Perfect conditions for Jack's needs.  Not so nice for us, as it turned out.  Without the breeze, the Bahamas in June get pretty hot!

Before we left the dock, the four of us went for a walk, following the road that lead from the marina up the hill to St. Paul's, the Anglican Church.  

This was a very charming church with familiar Episcopal trappings and views from the hilltop though arched windows. 

This church had a brand new roof, the previous one lost to hurricane damage.  The church seemed particularly bright and fresh, probably because much inside had been recently replaced.

From the Anglican Church we wandered south to the Catholic Church of St. Peter and Paul, which presents almost castle-like twin towers above sweeping steps. something you's expect to see a fairy princess run down. 

Inside, however, the sanctuary was smaller, darker and more closed in and cave-like within its thicker walls and a lower ceiling.  Views  through plain rectangular windows were not soinspiring.  Guess that's better for holding attention to the sermon!

We wandered around the local streets a bit, meeting some of the local inhabitants,

(Yes, Bette, sheep in this case, not goats!.....yes, the tails are down like stood little girls!)....

..... In and out of a small store for bread and eggs, and back to the marina. 

 When we finally backed out our destination was but a mile away, an anchorage just across the bay behind the offshore islets and rocks.  Here we enjoyed our first Bahamian snorkle and swim.

This anchorage was a very gentle introduction to the shallow roadsteads of the Bahamas.  To people accustomed to deeper waters and coral reefs, these shallow, open sandy bottoms are discomfiting.  We expect every dark spot to be a coral bommie, and they just turn out to be patchesof grass!  The water is so clear, it is like swimming in a swimming pool, but you have to work hard to find sea life to get excited about...a small conch here, a peacock flounder there.  The four of us snorkeled to the beach, walked a bit and then snorkeled back. We cooked fish on the grill and enjoyed a lovely sunset.  

Now this is the life!

Rum Cay

Left Clarence Town, Long Island this morning after nice two day visit.  Motored to Rum Cay.  Don says, "How can we pass up an island named Rum Cay?"  Well....things have slowed near to a stop on Rum Cay since the marina died!  

Also died today, my camera.  Sand is the culprit. Perhaps it will resurrect.  

Meanwhile, very HOT, hot, hot.  No wind.

Very close to end destination.

Arrived in Bahamas - Clarence Town, Long Island

After a very smooth 240-mile, single-overnight trip, we are arrived in Clarencetown, Long Island.  The Explorer Chart Kit implied we could clear customs here, but the truth is it isn't a real port of entry and the officials had to drive down from Stella Maris!  We are at Flying Fish Marina tonight, then out at anchor tomorrow,

Passage Update June 19. 2014

Still working on my post from our four days in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, but I want to let you know we are departing this morning as soon as the tide comes up enough that we can! Our planned destination is Clarencetown, Long Island, Bahamas, about 225 miles away.  It should be our last overnight trip.  When we reach Long Island, we will be very close to our final destination.  We have a possible stopover along the way planned, a place we can pull up and drop the hook, if it doesn't look like we'll make it in daylight tomorrow. We didn't quite account for the tide keeping us here in the marina till closer to midday!

This has been a nice stop.  Mostly the light -- very special -- and some  very interesting people.

Turks & Caicos

It's amazing what you can do with an all but barren rock in the ocean if you throw enough money at it!  That is surely what has made Turks & Caicos into the vacation destination it is.  Money, plus great sunshine, shallow aquamarine water, good diving, and perfect winds for kite boarding!

Originally inhabited by Taino people from Hispaniola, the island was depleted of its population by the Spanish and left more or less behind to be found by British loyalists bailing out of America during the Revolution and Africans liberated from illegal slave ships.  Salt, fishing and cotton were the early subsistence industries. 

Now, the major industry is tourism, fueled by that water, wind and sun combo, and offshore banking. Plus construction, fueled by all of the former.  And of course, fish and conch.

The north side of the Providenciales, the population center on the Caicos, is one long strip of hotels on a calm azure lagoon dotted by people at play.  And that strip is backed by a swale filled with vacation homes and condos.

Down the middle runs the Leeward Highway, with a fair crop of commercial establishments along its length and slightly to the west of the middle, the main town.  Thanks to the tourism, the commercial strip is pretty first world!  And pricey.

The south side has the port and several "marinas", plus the majority of the full-time population in nice houses, some grand and some quite modest.  There is little soil around any these houses; where soil has not been imported, gardens seems to sprout out of limestone rubble.  One wonders where all the soil for the resorts and the golf course came from!

The Turks & Caicos island group, for all its fame as  a vacation destination, was new territory for all of  the crew of Quantum Leap.  After our  midday arrival on Sunday, we dinghied  in to South Side Marina to do Immigration & Customs.  South Side Marina is also at the end of a very shallow channel that Tom wasn't quite ready to address on his first day.  Navigating in such shallow water after years in deep, deep waters, is kind of like coming down off the 75mph expressway into a school zone....a big adjustment.

So we anchored out in 5.5 of water and went into the marina by dinghy, getting soaked by the choppy waves on the way, in order to meet with Customs and Immigrations.  It was a Sunday, so the process was leisurely, giving us time to sit in the marina gazebo and enjoy the breeze through the palms.  When the immigration officer came, he brought his 9-year old son.  He and I had fun playing games on the iPad.  He thought grandson Kai was very big for a nine year old!  

South Side Marina is a charming hole-in-the-wall compound owned and operated by Bob Pratt, a spry septuagenarian who moved to T&C from the Bahamas 30 years ago.  He has set up his marina to attract cruisers.  He has all the amenities: electricity, wifi. laundry, gas, diesel, water, clittering palm trees, and a lovely light.  There's even a brand new bar perched above the marina.  Although a little less lush than my fantasy marina, it's pretty damn close to something I could I imagine us doing.  If we could afford it.  Which we could never.  T&C is a pricy place.

At five, Bob opened his brand new bar on the hill above the marina so we could get a drink and enjoy the view.  Then he drove us to the Tiki Hut restaurant at the Turtle Cove Marina on the north shore for a dinner out to celebrate Tom & Bette Lee's 46th anniversary!  It was a very good meal and perfect atmosphere for the occasion.  

Unsure of how many days QL would be staying, Don had had Bob book us for a two-tank dive trip  Monday morning (a holiday - the Queen's birthday) with Ocean Vibe Divers, an outfit that works out of the Marina.  Bob is clearly the kind of man who decides who he his going to support with his referrals, and though there is another dive outfit just across the canal, he steered us to Ocean Vibe because "It's run by a young local man who is doing a good job with it."  

And this proved true.  I'll confess to a moment of pause when we walked up and saw one of the crew loading tanks attired in that new hip hop style of pants-below-the-butt, a look I do not like, but I'm pretty sure the pants came up by the time the rest of the customers arrived, and this same young man ended up being our dive guide, and a good job he did.  In fact I was very impressed with the whole operation, a well-balanced mix of humor and safety.

We dove West Caicos, a island about an hour away in the speedy Island Beauty.  It was an eye-catching run, particularly the stretch they ran the boat only a few meters of the beach in front of a huge resort development that went defunct and unfinished thanks to the Lehman Brothers financial collapse.  

The word is, though, that someone has bought the property and and will rebuild, only word also has it they plan to tear all that is there down and start again!  I've got to say that West Caicos is pretty far out, and with hurricane season coming, it's hard to grasp how this would be a good investments.  But then again that's probably what they said about Providenciales fifty years ago!

The dives themselves were deep banks, and while the coral landscapes were nothing special (albeit alive!) the animal life was rewarding.  We saw lots of reef sharks, a huge turtle (loggerhead?) and a really big green moray that came out and free swam for our entertainment, all up close and unafraid.  Plus we saw garden eels, conch, one lobster and a pleasing assortment of favorite reef denizens.

One other little fun thing was glancing down at the gear bags of the young couple next to us reveal the Pan Aqua Logo.  They were from my dive shop in NYC!

Tom was waiting for us on our return.  The tide was up. he was ready to move Quantum Leap in.

Tuesday morning we acquired Jo Jo, a rental Toyota Opa, kind of a cross between a Rav 4 and a van. Very spacious and good air con!  and right hand drive.  Lots of windshield cleaning happen because there were a lot of turns!  We wandered around a while, trying to match the rotaries we encountered with the map. 

Suddenly there was a barber pole in sight, and as both Tom and Don had been complaining about overlong locks, we swerved in.  Well, it's overlong no more.  We were there about an hour as the dreadlocked barber Alex labored exactingly over both his customers.  

Plus, Alex had a friend who apparently brings In a thermal bag of "pastilitos" (little pasties or pates, as the Jamaicans or Virgin Islanders would call them) fried meat empanadas, that he sells to customers for $2 apiece.  Such a deal!  

We learned from these guys that they are from the Dominican Republic.  Turns out a good proportion of the service class in T&C is from the D.R.

Much cleaner cut, but still hungry, we drove to Bugaloo's for lunch.  Bugaloo's had been recommended by about everyone we spoke with.  There's a good reason why.  

It is a beach joint extraordinaire.  White sand, shallow water where there actually are tables in knee deep water, 

shaded tables on the sand, etc...you get the gist.  

add happy, sunburned tourists and you've got it! Bette had conch salad, Don had a conch burger, Tom, had coconut shrimp and I won the day with grilled snapper! best fish I have had in memory!

Bette Lee and I also had lime coladas!  Yum!

We drove all over the island after that, from the industrial south port, along the north shore resorts to the east end conch farm (which was closing for the day :-(   ).  wandering around the residential areas, trying to cover all the paved roads, we stumbled on a kite boarding beach.  

 

We sat for probably and hour enjoying the steady onshore breeze and the swelling crowd of student and expert kite boarders.  It's pretty exciting to watch.  A lot of very fit young people.

On our way home we hit the IGA supermarket.  Just like the best American grocery you'd so find in an upscale neighborhood.  be've only been back sailing three weeks and already I find myself back in grocery covet mode.  I want it all!

Wednesday, Tom and Bette took the car for a day of errands, while Don and I stayed aboard and did boat chores.  These moments where we have the illusion of being "master and commander" again, even if just for everyday chores, making our own lunch, and having a little time to read quietly are suprisingly sweet.

Wednesday night, though, was Bob's weekly marina barbecue.  Customers, staff and friends congregate in the aerie like bar, bring something to grill and a potluck dish to share.  For cruisers there were just eight of us from three boats, us four senior sailors from QL and two young couples just setting out.  Then there were a bunch of locals.  for us this was a highlight, as we became aquatinted with a super couple who come to T&C regularly from Pittsburgh....an oil executive and his state Supreme Court justice wife!  what a fine example (as of course, are Bette Lee and Tom) of having successful careers, family and still making time to travel, explore the world and enjoy life!

However, we cut the BBQ just a wee bit short to dash to the 8:30 movie!  Imagine, going to the movies too full to want popcorn!  The film was Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow.  We missed the first five minutes.  It turned out that didn't matter over much as it repeats about 20 times!  Bizarre concept, actually kind of interesting.

Now we are waiting for the tide to rise enough for to safely depart.  we cross now to the Bahamas.  Our destination is Clarencetown on Long Island, at least an overnight sail.  Thanks to the tide-delayed departure, we may need to put in somewhere tomorrow night.  We'd like to be in before the weekend.  thunderstorms are forecast.

From Long Island we are very close to our end point.  Tick, tick, tick.

On Passage to Turks & Caicos - June 12-15

The Gods were definitely smiling on Quantum Leap Thursday morning when they decided to hold their breath, making getting off the dock, the subject of much anxiety, a non-event.  Then they started to exhale again as we rounded to corner and started our 440 miles sail To Providenciales, Turks. & Caicos, and we took off sailing fast!

All I can say is conditions have been just about ideal.  Settled weather, full moon nights, and with the wind astern blowing 15-20+ knots, we set the whisker pole up for wing-and-wing sailing and  haven't hardly touched the sails for two days!  There hasn't even been hardly any ship traffic to stress over!

This morning, one day out of Providenciales, there was no way to work the math that would make it come out any way except our arriving tonight in the dark.  So, much as it pained us to do so, we took in all sails except for a handkerchief of staysail, the only way to slow the boat down enough (4.5 knots!) to allow us to arrive after dawn.  This has made for a very relaxing day.  I've been writing, Bette has been practicing her classical guitar, and Don and Tom have replaced a water pump.  

Thank you Mother Nature!

2am, Sunday a.m, June 16

Didn't I thank Mother Nature above?  Didn't I say nice things?  Well!  When Don got up for his midnight watch, I woke to such slamming as to truly shiver one's timbers.  The wind had increased to nearly 30kts and the seas rolling up behind the boat were at least eight feet.  Lying in my bed, I could hear   great wads of incompressible water squeezing its way in between the two hulls, building up to punch the bottom of the bridge deck with a sledge hammer like crash, making my berth thump and leap and rattling everything in the galley overhead!

I got up and sat up with Don through his watch until 2am and he staying up with me through my watch until four.  on the Chartplotter we could see the boat on inching its way northward along the blue blob that is the Turks and Caicos Bank , and we kept hoping that once it was abeam there might be a little Lee effect.

By the time we went below and Tom came up at four, the winds had dropped bit and the seas likewise, so that the slapping thumps were only occasional and not every sixty condos.  We we're both able to fall asleep.

When we came up after sunrise Quantum Leap was already over the bank.  The water surrounding us having gone from deep blue to emerald green.Tom said that the moment the boat crossed the wall from out-of-sounding range depths (thousands of feet) to the very shallow (10-12') was one of the more mind-boggling moments in cruising!  As the sun rose the water over the sand turned the aquamarineof travel posters.

There was evidence on deck of our rough night...flying fish caught in mid-leap and now petrified.

We still had some 12 miles to travel to raise the low island of Providenciales, the water getting shallower and shallower.  We finally dropped the hook in about six feet of water well outside the South Side Marina....even with a catamaran that only draws 4.5, if is hard to adjust to anchoring with only a foot or two under the keel.  We are not getting much protection here from the wind, and the boat is jostling a bit.

After last night, however, it feels deliciously smooth.  Nap time before officials this afternoon.