Heading South

Welcome aboard to the southern islands of the Exuma’s. We were ready to sail to our next destination, Great Guana Cay, despite the strong winds and wild seas that made us feel like we were on a bumpy rollercoaster and we crossed our fingers that everything would remain intact. We encountered boat traffic like never before! From cruise ships to superyachts, fishing boats to jet skis, it was rush hour on the water. The real excitement came when we reached a crucial stretch of shallow water in the middle of the night and preferred to pass by daylight. We anchored in the middle of the rough seas, trying to get some rest before continuing our journey across the shallows against wind and current. When we reach Georgetown a little less than a week later at low tide, we get stuck on the way to the anchorage. The depths on the nautical charts are therefore not always correct. What did Franklin D. Roosevelts say again; “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”.

Today our sailing adventure to the southern islands of the Exuma’s starts. We are ready for the challenge ahead! Our destination is Great Guana Cay, which is 140 nautical miles away and although the wind is between 23 and 27 knots, we are determined to get there in one piece. We will mainly sail an upwind course, which is not exactly the most pleasant course, especially with the short waves that constantly crash against us. Every four seconds we are hit by a new wave and sometimes a larger wave of 2.5 meters high comes at us out of nowhere. We try to keep sailing as close to the wind as possible, which is sometimes a challenge for our boat. You see, sailing very close to the wind is not her best skill. We have only rolled out the Mizzen and the Genoa and we are currently cruising around 8 knots. The short-wave action ensured that every few waves we hit the water with a loud bang, which then reverberates throughout the boat. We keep our fingers crossed that everything stays intact, because it certainly doesn’t sound like that! We sailed close to New Providence Island, the main island of the Bahamas with the capital Nassau and you notice that in terms of boat traffic on the water. We have everything around us from hulking cruise ships, freighters, to fast superyachts cruising around, not to mention countless sport fishing boats and sailboats of all shapes and sizes. And let’s not forget the little guys like jet skis and water taxis! It’s rush hour on the water! Since the start of our trip we have never seen it so busy on the water. Fortunately, our AIS system helped us navigate through the chaos, but we still need to keep a close eye on boats without AIS. A few times we had to veer off course to avoid being crushed by freighters!

Our wind changes more to the southeast, so we cannot maintain the course we have to sail. The real excitement came when we reached a crucial point of our journey – a shallow stretch of water about 5 nautical miles wide with a depth of only 2-4 metres. To make matters worse, it was low tide at that time. We consider crossing the shallow end in the middle of the night, but our tired brains can’t handle that stress. So at 02.00 we decided to anchor in the middle of rough seas, in 5 meters deep water and close our eyes for a few hours. It wasn’t the most restful sleep we had, but at dawn we pick up the anchor and slowly make our way across the shallows against the wind and current. With a speed of 2-3 knots our journey continued very, but very slowly. In the evening at 6.30 pm we arrived safely in the Black Point bay of the island of Great Guana Cay. After we had all showered and put on some clean clothes we enjoyed a glass of wine with some pretzels before I went into the kitchen for a nice meal.

That night we went to bed early and had a great night’s sleep. It is pleasantly busy with boats in this bay. As we moor our dinghy at the dock we are greeted by several nurse sharks and large stingrays chilling quietly under the already tethered dinghy’s. It remains fascinating to see these creatures up close and in their natural habitat. After three days of exploring the island, visiting the “blow hole” and enjoying a delicious pizza, we are ready to set sail again.

The weather conditions have become more favorable for sailing further south, so we decide to sail towards Georgetown, about 50 nautical miles away. The southeast wind isn’t perfect, but we’ll make do with what we’ve got. It is an almost impossible course against the wind, but we try to keep sailing close to the coast. Occasionally we have to tack and when time becomes our worst enemy, we decide to motor a bit to get further from the coast. When we have enough distance from the coast, we hoist the sails again to continue south. We were warned that this route will not be fun to sail, and they were right. We do not reach Georgetown, but end up in Rat Cay, where we wait an extra day until a storm with mainly southerly winds has passed before we can continue sailing south to Georgetown. We motor a little further out of the coast against the wind, after which we can sail to Georgetown in one go. Along the way we had a stroke of luck and caught a lovely Cero, which we knew would be a delicious addition to our menu that evening.

We were salivating just thinking about our fresh fish dinner! As we approached the “cut” during low tide, we relied on the charts for guidance. Jeroen, as our navigator on the bowsprit and scanned the depths with his eyes. According to the charts it should have been a comfortable 3.5 meters deep, but just at the point when Jeroen shouted that it is getting very shallow, we see the depth gauge suddenly shoot to only 1.7 meters! Before we knew it we hit the sandy bottom, our hearts skipped a beat. I quickly put the boat in reverse and managed to get us out of the shallows. Relief! We quickly turned the boat around and decided to trust our own eyes from then on.

Navigating by sight, we carefully made our way, watching for any hidden surprises underwater. As we approached the anchorage, we couldn’t believe our eyes. Boats were everywhere, as far as the eye could see! We counted at least 250 boats bobbing and heaving in the bay. Georgetown, Great Exumas was definitely a household name among cruisers, and we were right in the thick of it. Determined to find an even nicer place to anchor, we boarded the dinghy armed with our depth sounder. After some deliberation we found a nice spot for the bar chat & chill. Navigating the shallow waters may have been a little nerve wracking, and it was certainly an adventure we won’t soon forget. As we sat on the deck watching the sunset on the horizon, we raised our glasses and toasted to the excitement of the unknown. Our time in the Bahamas is drawing to a close and we face a crucial decision for our journey back to the British Virgin Islands. To return south we have two options: the Thorny Path or via I-65. As we consider our options for sailing back to the British Virgin Islands from the Bahamas, we weigh up the pros and cons of the two routes. The Thorny Path is a coastal route that takes us through the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, past the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and then on to the British Virgin Islands. However, we know that this route can be challenging. We will have to zigzag and go against the prevailing wind and current, which can slow down our progress. The seas are often rough, making the journey potentially uncomfortable and demanding. Despite the beautiful views of the coast and the possibility of sheltering from extreme weather along the way at the various islands, we are aware of the potential difficulties and delays we may encounter. Many cruisers indicate that they allocate 2 months for this route. Then there is the option of I-65 being an offshore route. Then we sail into the Atlantic Ocean between 5 and 600 nautical miles east of Georgetown until we are at 65°W and then turn south towards the British Virgin Islands. While this route may not provide the same opportunities to shelter at various islands as the Thorny Path, it can be a more direct and faster route. On the open sea we will have more favourable wind direction and current conditions. The journey via I-65 is 1100Nm in terms of distance versus 850Nm for the Thorny Path, but we will probably be able to cover I-65 in 8 to 12 days, depending on our speed and weather conditions. After much deliberation, we chose I-65. The next few days will be a whirlwind of preparations. The next few days will be a whirlwind of preparations. We need to stock up, refill our tanks with water and diesel, install our iridium go for satellite communications so we can retrieve weather maps. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Starlink antenna, which is on its way to St. Maarten! I try to pre-cook as many meals as our freezer will allow, but most of all, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the weather. We don’t know exactly what day we can leave. We only know that when the wind turns in the right direction, we should be ready to go. This could be tomorrow or in two weeks. We look forward to this, for us longest, ocean journey and to safely reach the British Virgin Islands again. We are getting our first family visit. Angelique, Jeroen’s sister, will sail along for a week. That will be fun!