Waiting Out the Bombogenesis at Green Turtle Cay

Following the Junkanoo on January 1 we all hopped in our dinghy for the return trip across the harbour to the Leeward Yacht Club where we were docked. Up and down the dock preparations were being made for the 60 knot winds that were apparently forecast.  Nobody could tell me who was predicting 60 knot winds, it was  certainty not any of the models in Windy or Predictwind that we look at, although they were forecasting up to 40 knot gusts.  Any way, better safe than sorry, we put out additional dock lines "wrapped the main" (although I'm not quite sure what that achieved) and rolled up most of the canvas to reduce windage.  Monday night wasn't particularly windy but it did rain, and with the canvas rolled up the cockpit got soaked.  At least we'd put all the cushions below.  Tuesday we had a quiet day around the marina, Karen did a couple of loads of laundry, we read and Karen and I walked to the beach to look at the waves rolling in.

Waves on the Atlantic side of Green Turtle Cay

Bob, Sheila, Bill and Michael came over after dinner for another game of Wizard. It started to blow Tuesday. Thirty-five knots were registered on some anemometers, and we had a pretty noisy night on board with the dock lines creeking on the cleats.  Wednesday it continued to blow, but we had reserved a couple of golf carts to tour the island, so off we went at noon to explore the island.  First stop was the Green Turtle Club in White Sound, towards the north end of the island, where a Bucketlust fleet of catamarans carrying young "Unicorns" (look it up, I learned something today) had arrived. 

Bucketlust cats in the background

 Apparently it was Olympics day, and most were dressed in bikinis and speedos showing off their perfect bodies!  We noticed Mariposa, a Catalina 34 we had met in Old Bahama Bay was in the marina so we went to say hi, and Michelle and Phil joined us for lunch at Bluff House.  They entertained us with stories of the Bucketlust gang, who apparently partied to 0530 in the morning went to bed for a few hours, got up and started again.  Soon after we sat down at Bluff House, our waitress suggested we order lunch as the Bucketlusters were on their way ...  Meals ordered, they began to arrive ...


Next, the sky began to darken, and a squall came rushing down the sound blowing all the unicorns into the small restaurant.  The noise level rose exponentially and it was time to leave!

"Unicorns"

We carted back to the marina to see the boats heeling over under the strain of the wind, lines were checked and we heard that the squall arrived with a 55 knot punch!  Karen went below to discover that my stack of dishes in the drain tray had fallen over and my water bottle had fallen off the counter ... guess poor old Trekker must have laid over a fair bit when the squall hit.  Anyway, since we were all secure we headed into New Plymouth to check out a couple of renowned bars, but unfortunately power was out and between that and the wind they were all closed! 

Pineapples closed due to wind and lack of power

We popped into Lowes, a grocery store and Roberts Hardware but eventually retreated to the marina to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening quietly on the boat.

Today we took the carts into New Plymouth again, bought some groceries, then drove down to Gillam Bay. 

It is a beautiful protected bay ringed in a sand beach.  Just outside the bay, the waves from the Atlantic were breaking onto the shallows surrounding  Green Turtle Cay. 

We had swizzles with Aquila and Her Diamond on Trekker during which we discussed when we should go through the Whale, a notorious cut where we have to pass from the shallow Sea of Abacos out into the Atlantic for a couple of miles and then back into the Sea of Abacos.  In the wrong conditions it can be very uncomfortable, even dangerous ... so we are all taking it very seriously.  Unfortunately, local knowledge and the actual criteria to decide whether or not to go seem to be in short supply. Brother Adrian confirms that we shouldn't go in the wrong conditions, but his criteria for "wrong" seem considerably more severe than what is forecast in the near term.  We've decided to listen for a report from Bluff House, ask for advice on the Cruisers Net, and possibly seek out "Brad" a local Karen and Sheila spoke to today who can apparently provide the much needed local knowledge.  

Friday the 5th of January we were all up to listen to the cruisers net however there were no reports from the Whale. Savannah, a 38 foot Catalina with Australians Adam and Lisa aboard were preparing to leave, so I asked them to send back a report from the Whale which they agreed to do. About 1100 Bob and I thought we might run down to the cut in our dinghy but the 2 foot waves made for a pretty uncomfortable ride so we aborted. On the VHF we heard a few boats report passing the Whale without incident and Savannah reported back that there had been 5 foot rollers but that they made it safely. I think all in our crew were satisfied that we would be fine going Saturday, so we made plans to leave about 1000, an hour before high tide to reach the cut close to slack current. In the afternoon  we went to the beach to collect shells and sea glass and then enjoyed happy hour at the Leeward Yacht Club. Karen and I then hopped in the dinghy and went across to New Plymouth Liquor store for the cruisers Friday night gathering.  We met some new folks including a couple from Kitchener! Small world. We joined a few of the cruisers at 2 Shorty,a small take out shack with picnic tables, for dinner and then repaired to Trekker, put on the fireplace (yes it's that chilly!)  and turned in for a good night's rest before facing the Whale.