Tag: North West Channel

From Bimini to the Abacos — Part 4 Little Harbor

Getting from Sandy Point around the Hole in the Wall at the bottom of the Abacos and into the Sea of Abaco was the second longest ride we had made so far. It took us from Sandy Point down the Providence Channel and out into the Atlantic. This was another instance of make sure you have your weather right. Winds from the North and West could potentially set up sketchy conditions off Hole In The Wall where the North East Providence Channel, North West Providence Channel and the Atlantic all meet in areas with very steep drop offs.

The second day we were at Sandy Point, was a mess. We had stronger than forecast winds from the West. Pearl was exceedingly bouncy and uncomfortable at anchor. Conditions were so poor that I ended up in the water while trying to dock the dinghy back at Pearl. Lisa was not amused.

Fortunately for us, the winds dropped and backed to the South West. I figured this was good enough to get around Hole in the Wall. We couldn’t really spend any more time where we were at Sandy Point and there was a cold front predicted in a couple of days which would have made things even worse. Off we went.

The transit down the North West Providence Channel was the least comfortable to date. We had quartering winds and short following seas that had Pearl wallowing as we motor sailed down. We didn’t fish any, really. It was too uncomfortable for that.

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Obligatory Sunset Panorama looking East at Bridges Cay and Great Abaco

Getting around Hole in the Wall we stayed in deep water about 2 miles off the shore line. The seas were a bit confused as I think we were picking up reflections from the wind chop mixed in with the current. After we got around the corner, the seas settled and we had a nice ride up into Little Harbor.

Getting in through the Little Harbor Cut was no problem. We had good light and were able to easily slip into the Sea of Abaco. This was completely different to any place we’d been so far. There were sailboats, under sail even, all over the place. It had been a pretty long day for us. Since most of the preferred anchorages were occupied or unusable, we anchored in about ten feet of sand off Bridges Cay and took Harley into the shallows to do his daily doody and to play.

We were in the Sea of Abaco!

 

From Bimini to the Abacos — Part 3 Sandy Point

The trip from Bullocks Harbor was another crossing of sorts. We had to get across the Providence Channel. After the Straights of Florida and the gulf stream, this was another very deep body of water with very steep banks. It also had a current that could cause it to stand up and offer a rough ride. I wasn’t looking forward to a rough ride so we time our crossing for a time when the winds were out of the South East — i.e. with the current.

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Crossing from the Berry islands to the Abacos. Note the depths!

Once we got to the top of the Berrys, we broke out our sails and made use of the 20 kts of wind from the south east to push us on a close reach into Sandy Point. It was a fun ride.

Slipping around the top of the Berry Islands we saw a couple of large cruise ships anchored up at a couple of cays that the cruise lines have taken over to give their passengers an exclusive tropical island experience. We aslo got pretty close to a couple of freighters. One of them sort of snuck up on us an I was glad that the AIS and MARPA functions we have on our chart plotter worked as intended to warn us.

Ships passing in the day light. They are about a mile off and pretty large.
Ships passing in the day light. They are about a mile off and pretty large.

Entering Sandy Point there’s a sharp drop off from about five thousand feet in the channel to about ninety feet on the shelf — in a distance of about one hundred yards. Lisa and I figured there’d be good fishing along the ledge so we furled our sails and went fishing. About five minutes into trolling, we hooked about a 40 lb Mahi Mahi. Yummy!

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Lisa’s prize Mahi Mahi — about 40 lbs. This fish was almost as long as she is.

The anchorage at Sandy Point has good holding, but is completely open to anything by East winds. The first night we spent was no problem. The second day, however, was a nightmare. Fortunately, the winds subsided by evening and we actually managed to get to sleep.

Sandy Point, once again, is a small remote settlement. The water around it has to be experienced to be believed. It was nice to be back in crystal clear blue after the green of Bullocks Harbor. It seems that several of the people who live at Sandy Point work at an island a few miles to the North that Disney owns and showcases as the Castaway island.

Since we had a fairly full refrigerator, we took most of the fish that Lisa caught into the only restaurant and beach bar they had there. As a special bonus we were invited to make a Sri Lankan fish curry for the people at the bar. It made for a fun evening hanging out.

Pictures from Sandy Point follow.

From Bimini to the Abacos — Part 1 Mackey Shoals

Having parked in Bimini for a couple of days, we took the next weather window to head for the the north eastern Abacos. This area’s reputed to be a cruising heaven, so guess what, we had to check it out. The area has great services, it’s easy to get boat parts, and maintenance work done, so it seemed like a great venue to do a shakedown (read breakdown) cruise to figure out what would work.

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Our route from Bimini to the Abacos

There are a couple of ways of getting to the Abacos from Bimini. One involves going north from Bimini to Freeport and then around the top to West End. Otherwise, getting pretty much anywhere from Bimini involves spending a night out on the Bahama bank and heading through the Berry Islands. Since we hadn’t heard anything good about Freeport and in order to keep our travels to day light  hours,  we opted to spend a night out on the bank and go through Bullocks Harbor in the Berrys.

I was a bit paranoid about spending a night out on the banks. You’re anchoring tens of miles from the closest land in any direction. It isn’t that I have a problem with being out of sight of land, it’s a question of anchoring and encountering weather.

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Driving Pearl into a storm on the Bahama Bank. Sails furled, hatches battened.

We picked what I thought was a great weather window. The predicted winds and swells were negligible. About a third of our way to our stop for the night at Mackey Shoals, we ran into a storm cell. We figured it would blow over, but instead it stayed with us until we got to Mackey Shoals. It quit just before we anchored for the night and gave us a spectacular sunset.

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Sunset at Mackey Shoals after the storm.

The next day, we were off to Bullocks Harbor.