Abacos
May 25th, 2006
The Abacos, the upper Bahamas Islands
The rainy season has arrived in the Bahamas. We departed Georgetown, the southern end of the Exumas, a week ago, with a predicted favorable weather window for heading north. Unfortunately, the window shut earlier than predicted so we did not make it to our anticipated destination. We were met with “white out rain conditions and squalls” so we decided to duct into a protected anchorage and wait out the storms. While anchored in a small but protected cove, we still broke anchor and started to drag. These anchor drags always seem to occur in the dark of the night, with driving rain, giving us no visibility. There was one point when we were within 6 feet of hitting a craggy shore. Thankfully, we have had a few years of experience dealing with this situation and both of us rose to the occasion and handled it without injury to us or the boat. Two days later, when the storms passed, we continued north to the Abaco Islands. These islands are close to the U.S. and more developed compared to the southern islands. There are several airlines servicing these islands and therefore lots more people. The water is greener than the Exumas, which is pristine clear with varying shades of aqua and blue, with more settlements/towns and cruisers.
On our sail north, we “thumped” into something. It wasn’t an alarming crash, just a thump, but both of us hurried out to the cockpit to see what we had hit. Just off our stern (back of the boat), we saw two whales surface, unfazed by the collision. We know of other boats who have collided with whales, suffering noticeable damage, so we felt amazed and lucky that our bump was apparently benign, that is until I was under the boat, cleaning the bottom and noticed that indeed we had suffered damage. We had broken 6″ broken off one of the keels in a clean vertical break from the bottom of the boat to the bottom of the keel. Luckily it does not effect the integrity of the boat so we can repair it when we return to the States.
We are now in the last weeks of our Bahamas cruising for this season. We will probably start looking for favorable weather windows to sail north to the States within the next week or two. The hurricane season begins in June, so we plan to have the boat in Baltimore by the middle of the month. Spending several months in the Bahamas has been wonderful. The Exuma Islands are by far the most pristine and undeveloped. The water is amazingly clear and refreshing, offering so many options of water sports, general appreciation, exploring and beach combing. Having said that, tomorrow we hope to dive a very beautiful reef off one of the Abaco Islands,(Baker’s Bay for those of you who have been here)which lacks clear water but has stunning coral growing from the floor of the ocean to the water level. While snorkeling today we saw brain coral larger than both of us!
Michael has experienced difficulty and frustration trying to get our pictures posted on our website because we have not been able to get a reliable fast speed connection. So, we just keep collecting pictures and will post them once we return to the States.
I hope all is well with you and that you are finding ways to enjoy your lives. There is so much to see and do.
Love to all of you,
Jeri and Michael
