March 18-22, 2023 Sugar Beach, Hoffmans and Lucaya

By Lois March 22, 2023

We pulled into Sugar Beach on Great Harbor Cay of the Berrys Islands around 3AM after stopping briefly at Current Cut in Eleuthera the prior afternoon. Yesterday morning we had started in Governors Harbor in Eleuthera some 90 miles in our wake.

At 3 am the harborat Sugar Beach is very dark. AIS is showing us 5 boats in the harbor, but we know there are more as many people turn off their AIS system when at anchor. Radar is showing a few returns that are probably boats, but could also be houses on shore. We moved slowly farther into the anchorage using the spotlight to make sure there were no boats immediately in front or near us. We can hear the surf breaking on the beach ahead, don’t want to go that far for sure. We found a just right place and by sheer salty intuition dropped the anchor in sand, avoiding the grass, and getting the anchor very firmly set. We quickly got settled, grateful for the sound sleep after about 20 hours of being active.

In the first rays of pre dawn light we were able to visually confirm we had managed to find an excellent spot with the closest boats actually well away from us.

We enjoyed a couple walks on the beach and just relaxing. This place is named Sugar Beach after the soft bright white sand here. It is a pleasure to walk in, sinking deeply with every step.

Late in the day, almost too late, we shifted over to Hoffman’s Cay for better protection in the northeast wind and cold front expected to arrive overnight. The sun was all but set when we navigated the skinny water into Hoffman’s but fortunately our navigation equipment had tracks showing our previous trips through this pass. We just had to follow those tracks precisely to find safe passage over the shoal.

We got the anchor down in darkness with no moon overhead and no stars. The clouds announced the cold front was already overhead, and light rain was beginning to fall.

One of the weather apps we use rates the intensity of the rain with raindrop symbols, 1 (light) to 3 (heavy), and it was predicted to be a three dropper. The heavy rain arrived over night, washing the accumulated salt off the boat, which is always a nice benefit.

The following day was mostly about sheltering from the strong winds and enjoying the rain. The anchor spot we had chosen the night before was tucked far up into the cove so that the nearby hills took the brunt of the wind.

Other than runs to shore for Sam it was an uneventful stay. Brent and Sam took a long walk on the beach and through the jungle, breathing this place in one more time. It is hard to say goodbye to the beautiful places in the Bahamas, and this place is a good one to hold in our memories.

Tomorrow is the next step on the journey home.

The alarm goes off at 4AM. One very very quick Sam run to shore and we are anchor up and moving in the darkness. We use those same prior tracks stored in the navigation equipment to very carefully work our way out to deep water. While Brent steers the boat Lois stands nearby with the searchlight in hand for spotting the ragged rocks and also calls out fine details from the chart. She calls out “10 degrees to port here” to help with timing the turns through the rocks and coordinating our movements with the breadcrumbs of our prior successful passages. The chart must be used with caution as the deep spot shown in white on the chart does not exist anymore, having been rearranged by recent hurricanes. The night's deep dark is quite disorienting, but as a careful team we get it done with no drama.

Last night in our tiny wisp of intermittant internet signal we started an email conversation with a marina in Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island, seventy miles distant. They are expecting to have a spot for us if two boats depart as planned later this day. We have no way of confirming the availability of that spot before we go, and so we departed the Berrys Islands on faith that if the marina does not work out we will figure out a plan B. We will be in the deep expanse of the Northwest Providence Channel for most of the day, far beyond the reach of any internet.

It was a pleasant sail, but we were watching the clock as the winds subsided in the afternoon with 30+ miles to go. Would we make it to Lucaya before dark or before the marina office closed? We motor sailed the rest of the way and somehow arrived exactly when we had said we would.

Lucaya- strange to see a "big city" after all our remote island stays!

The dockmaster helped us tie up at the dock and we could relax the rest of the evening. Our slip is perfectly positioned- there's a fenced area to walk Sam 50 feet away, and we're pointed bow out down the straight exit channel for a quick getaway. After washing the boat down with fresh water to remove salt, we had a favorite for dinner- pistachio pasta and salad using lettuce we splurged on at the market in Governors Harbor. The first salad in 3 months tastes pretty doggone good! We slept soundly.

The next day is clean up the boat day. Brent did some laundry and Lois washed windows and cleaned the port hull. It feels good to shed more salt and sand from our living spaces.

I think we've probably lost some credibility for saying this so often and then it doesn't come true, but one more time: The weather looks good to make our Gulf Stream crossing to Florida tomorrow morning.