St Augustine, FL — 11•25•23
0545—Dropped the ball. Destination West Palm Beach, approximately 208nm. This is an overnight passage. The winds were light, and I motor sailed on and off throughout the day.
As I approached the West Palm Beach Anchorage the wind veered to almost on the nose, so I had to motor for a few hours. The weather forecast looked good for the next couple of days. So after a quick call, to the Great Harbour Cay Marina, I altered course right at the West Palm Beach entrance and headed for the Bahamas. I figured I might as well make the jump now. The wind was clocking around a bit, so again, I had the wind forward of the beam. I was able to sail a pretty close course, except for the Gulf Stream pushing me north.
As nightfall came, I contemplated putting a reef in the main. I decided not to, as I was having a good time. I did see a small rain squall coming, but on my radar, it didn’t look too big, so I thought it would not have much wind.
Sailors have a saying. If you’re thinking about putting in a reef, you should just always do it and do it early. Well, the squall had some punch to it. Before I knew it Trouble was racing upwind with too much sail up with pouring rain and 30knt winds. The only good thing was the wind shifted, and I was making a much better course. But I was busy trying to get at least a reef in the genoa(front sail) and feather the main sail. On top of all the mayhem, I was racing at 10knts towards a large cruise ship. Being dark and rainy, I could only use my AIS and radar to avoid him. The squall lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, but I finally broke out of it without breaking anything and avoiding the cruise ship.
With Trouble back on track, the rest of the night was uneventful. I pulled into Great Harbor Cay around noon. I had already filled out my paperwork online with Click to Clear. Having Starlink aboard made it easy to do it while underway.
Great Harbor Cay, BS — 11•27•23
Clearing customs went smoothly. Since it was Monday, the Beach Club was closed, so I did some laundry and took a quick nap. I would be leaving the next morning, as the weather looked good for a bit.
The Berrys, BS — 11•28•23
After taking care of my marina bill, I dropped the lines and headed out. Except for having to dodge a cruise ship docking at Coco Cay, I had a great sail to Alders Cay. I had the anchor down by 1500 (3 pm).
Alders Cay, BS — 11•29•23
0700—Anchor up, and we are off today for Rose Island near Nassau. It will be a 40nm run. With great winds, we had a swift trip and had the anchor down by 1330 (1:30pm).
Great Bahama Bank, BS — 11•30•23
With still good weather we took off to Normans Cay, about 40nm. We were cooking and made great time, and had the anchor down by noon.
Doing a lot of 9knt sailing today.
Normans Cay, BS — 12•02•23
After hanging out at Normans Cay for two days, I pushed on. Black Point was my next stop, about 40nm. The wind was a bit on the nose, but I could still sail it until almost Big Majors. The wind had picked up and was directly ahead. I ended up dropping the sails and motoring the next few miles into Black Point.
Exumas, BS — 12•04•23
With still good wind, I pulled anchor and headed further south. Dotham Cut, leading out of Black Point and into the Exuma Sound, requires timing with the tides so you don’t have the wind against the current, causing steep waves. My timing was slightly off, but Trouble just plowed through like a champ until we cleared the current. I put up full sails and ran the motor most of the day as the winds got lighter as the day went on.
I was headed to Willimas Bay at Lee Stocking Island, about 28nm. As I entered the cut, I anchored in front of the research center instead of Williams Bay. The wind was supposed to go a little west, and this anchorage would add more protection.
I hung out here for a few days and got my first lobster of the season in what is now termed “Petes Rock.” Pete for EOS found this spot a few seasons ago, and it has rarely failed me in harvesting a lobster.
Lee Stocking Island, BS — 12•07•23
0900—Anchor up and off the Georgetown. It was a short hop of about 31nm. I dropped anchor in Monument Bay next to a fellow Catana owner. I later moved to Kidd Cove as the wind switched, and I wanted to do some provisioning before I took Trouble to Emerald Bay.
Being this early in the season in Georgetown it was nice to have the place to myself. Later on in the season, they hit a record for most boats in Georgetown.
Georgetown, Great Exuma, BS — 12•11•23
I left Georgetown today and headed to Emerald Bay Marina. Last year, I had a wild ride going in, but this year, it was tame.
I pulled into the fuel dock, topped off Trouble, and got my slip assignment.
The Marina at Emerald Bay, BS — 12•11•23
Emerald Bay was particularly surgy. I put out all my lines and snugged up Trouble, as I’d be leaving for a week while I traveled back to the US for Christmas.
Even after returning from my Burger and Beer, I added more lines as I heard a few other boats on the docks further up were snapping lines. The surging is nothing new to me here, but since I’d be away, I thought it prudent to add more. I probably snugged up the lines a dozen times before I left.
Cover Photo—Trouble Sailing On The Great Bahama Bank