Mayaguana, Sopidilla Bay, Turks & Caicos, Amergris and Big Sand Cay

Seems like a whirlwind since we left Georgetown Friday Feb.10. We left at 4:15 pm and up till about 1 hr before that
Never Bored and Time Enough weren't coming with us which we were pretty bummed about. Then Chris looked at the weather window and decided to go and Time Enough II followed. They only stayed with us till midnight and headed toward Rum Cay due to battery problem. Tt was very rough seas and Ed was seasick and I just wanted to sleep so no cooking that trip or eating. We arrived in Mayaguana
2:00 am on Sunday the 12th. We stayed there till the 16th due to wind conditions and left at 4:30 pm for the Tiki Huts anchorage at the northwest corner of Provodenciales (Provo) of the Turks and Caicos and arrived there at 3:30am on the 18th. We left on the 19th at 6:15 am and headed to Sopidilla Bay.

Ed and Chris went to check in and it took only 5 hrs from the time they left the boat till they returned and Chris'
daughter Linda and partner Amy were coming in that afternoon. We sure didn't think they would be gone for 5 hours.
The next day, Ed and I explored Provo on foot, hitch hiking and had lunch at the Conch Hut; it was 90 deg. That evening we got
to meet the girls and had a nice happy hour together. On Tuesday Time Enough II joined us and they had caught
a Mahi so we had dinner on Never Bored along with Nepenthe-Alex and Carol also on way to Trinidad; I made Rum Cake. We
played music and sang. Wednesday was Happy Hr. on our boat and I made carmel rolls and we had appetizers. I played
my keyboard and Chris showed me some new ways to use it. Ed played guitar and Bob fiddled.

We left for Ambergris at sun up on Thurs. and arrived at 4:00pm and we motored then picked our way through coral heads for
an hour to get to the anchorage. We snorkeled over to a reef near the boat which was very nice but pretty
small fish. We should have explored more today. We left at 11:00 to head to Big Sand Cay and unfortunately had
to motor again and we went right into the waves 5-7 feet; not what we had planned. One fuel filter got clogged so we switched to the alternate so replacing it is a job before leaving for Luperon. Before this year we would have had to replace it enroute but Ed added an alternate filter.

Today we explored the beach. Ann found some nuts we call hamburger beans plus some pretty shells. We are leaving for Luperon now and we have winds from the ESE 15K maybe going more east and upto 18K so with a course of 173M we will definitely be sailing hopefully arriving outside the harbor near sunup and before the trades override the island lee.

Next post will be from Luperon.

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Georgetown to Mayaguana(Abraham's Bay)

We finally left George Town after nearly a month of activities; volleyball, beach parties, dances and meeting
lots of boaters. They also have restaurants and a grocery store and free water made by reverse osmosis which means it is very pure.

After much debate on Friday with our 2 other boating partners, Bob and Carol from Time Enough II and Chris and
Sheila from Never Bored, we all decided to head out of Georgetown at 4:00pm and head for Mayaguana. According
to our weather Guru, Chris Parker, there was going to be a window of opportunity for us. By midnight Time Enough II
had dead batteries and headed into Rum Cay and assured us that they would be fine and that we should continue so
we did. Ed was feeling pretty sick from the action of the waves and Ann just wanted to sleep and was zombie-like.
We finally arrived this morning at 2:00am. We anchored just inside the entrance so it was very rolly but later
in the morning we moved further down and it was more comfortable. At one point we were ready to turn around
and head back to Florida and sell the boat but we made it. Sailing is supposed to be fun but is sometimes a lot of stress when long distances are involved.

Tomorrow and in the next few days we will explore Mayaquana, a little out of the way island on the way to the Dominican Republic (DR) that has a protected achorage providing a stepping point to the Turks and Caicos islands. Given the prevailing easterly winds sailors must overnight to it from Rum Cay to the north. We did not stop at Rum this time because we had a short weather window to get here. We might have been able to continue to the T&Cs but 25K winds were expected in the morning, we would not have arrived until about 10AM and we were dead tired already. So, we are stuck here for a while until the seas and winds cooperate. And indeed the low pressure front passed us this morning on its way south and the north wind is as forecast. We have it pretty easy as sailors these days with accurate forecasts and GPS to find our way in and out of places.

Ed calls this wind "electric" because the wind generator whirs away completely charging our batteries for which we are thankful because our solar panels alone cannot. While sailing it can keep up with the chart plotter, GPS, radio, instruments and autopilot which steers better than we can under almost all conditions.

Next stop: T&Cs, then the DR.

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Waiting For Front

Hello everyone,

We wish we could say that we were farther south but we are in Georgetown, Great Exuma, the Bahamas and here is the simple reason: the wind has remained southeast and strong for almost the entire time we've been here. Like most cruisers we want to sail and if we motor to not motor into waves! Usually, cold fronts leave the US and push down to the Bahamas during the winter about once a week changing the wind speed and direction. This year, the fronts have been weak not reaching into the Bahamas so the southeast trades just keep on coming. We arrived in GT 2 and 1/2 weeks ago the wind generator has been spinning strong ever since. There is a possibility of a motoring opportunity next Tuesday-Thursday but two days of motoring is not an exciting prospect but we are getting anxious.

The great news is that we have come to love GT! There is so much to do here with several hundred boaters in this wonderful harbor. The boaters who come every winter for 3-5 months have so many organized activities and go out of there way to be open and friendly so that no one feels like there are cliques or unwelcome. We've been to two rock and roll dances, six beach gatherings, played volleyball, attended two seminars, gone on a bus tour, into a cave and made many new friends. If you have to be stuck, then this is the place.

We had to replace our windlass motor so we learned about customs processes. At least now it is working again. Yea!

Our sail from Galliot Cay to GT was uneventful but fast. We averaged about 7.2K with wind behind the beam 15-20K, what a great sail. The only thing was that it arrived late in the day so the harbor entrance was at night which I dislike and will avoid in the future. We have been in GT enough that we know the coordinates for the harbor twists and turns so we let the GPS be our guide and arrived just find but it creeped me out and I hope not to do it again.

We hope you are all well. Over and out from GT. Go Patriots.

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