April 24, 2021 Back in the Berry Islands

We had anchored last night at Normans Cay in the northern Exumas to stage for today.  There was no compelling reason to choose this place other than convienence. The swell made it rolly, it was a bit noisy, but there was a small fireworks event at the headland around midnight.   It fit our purpose: on the west side of Normans there is no fiddly maneuvering in and out of the anchorage to avoid rocks or shallows.  We simply raised the anchor, turned northwest and were on our way across the expansive Exuma bank.  The sun was up but certainly not high in the sky.

Sailing across the bank is very pleasant with only small waves.  This day we were glad for a little more breeze than the forecast which has Second Star moving well and covering miles.  

After about 15 miles we crossed the Yellow Bank where the bottom shallows briefly to nine feet, but of more concern are the many large rocks, some of which come up off the bottom to be a real concern.  Luckily they are (almost) all on the charts, that helps. So we threaded our way carefully through with a sharp lookout.

Once over the bank it is back to sailing at speed.  In another 15 miles we had reached the chain of islands and rock that guard the northern rim of the Exuma Bank beyond which is deep water. Here is Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas, and Rose Island, a small thin splinter of an island that is a popular rest stop anchorage on long crossings. We stopped here on our way south, and could again if we were so inclined.  Since it's only 11AM we elect to keep going.

To get beyond Nassau means passing through  Porgee Rocks, a narrow way of modest deep guarded on both sides by ragged rocks.  There is strong current

as the ocean swell pummels the rock.  It's not the narrowest place we've sailed through recently, but we certainly double check the chart and depth sounder when lining up to enter the pass.  

Once through the pass the water depth plummets to abyss depth of the sound.  This region on the charts show depths of 5000, 10000, even a point of 18000 ft deep. Our depth display only  has three digits, so it doesn't know what to do and just flashes.  If it flashes 015 ft, you can check the chart and know that's really 3015 ft.

We have left the Exumas, trading placid waters for ocean waves.  We make good time with the wind, but going into the waves dampens that a bit.  Nearing the Berrys poor Second Star experiences a bit of noisy rig shaking. Our ETA is between 5-6 o'clock, plenty of daylight to find a sandy place to drop the hook.

(I bet you can see this coming...)

The the wind begins to slack off to low teens, then down to 10kts. The wind direction is very shifty so the sails have trouble holding any shape at all.  We have 10 more miles to go and there is an unspoken concern about how low the sun will be when we arrive at the rocky entrance to Bond Cay.  

Brent works his captain magic for 5 miles. We motor sail the last 5 through the cut, easily missing the rocks, turn into the wind to furl sails, motor 2 miles to drop the anchor in a nice patch of sand, it sets the first time, and we breath a tired sigh as the sun is just beginning to set.  Another 75 mile day in the books.