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Chinook in the early morning, crossing the Gulf Stream (Photo courtesy of Muskoka Rose)
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THE BAHAMAS
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We had reached Miami harbour, on January 12th and we were to stay there for seven days. waiting for a "weather window" of southerly winds to cross the Gulf Stream. Northerly winds opposing the southerly current can produce extremely large waves which would make for a very uncomfortable crossing – if not quite dangerous. Our friends the Gilmores on Muskoka Rose were buddying with us for the trip across, and that was at least a small degree of comfort for both crews. Our route would take us 80 nautical miles to just north of Bimini, and then 75 miles across the banks to clear customs at Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos in the northern Bahamas.
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Resting for a while after supper, we raised anchor at 10:00 p.m. and an hour later were motoring out of the Miami Harbour entrance and setting sails. But with light 10 knot winds we were destined to motor-sail all night. The seas were about four to six feet, enough to give us a good rock and roll. We took turns resting with the other at the helm, although Debby tends not to be able to sleep and Brian managed to get more than a fair share of naps.
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Through the night we saw several ten-story cruise ships headed for Freeport or Nassau, lit up like chandelier-skyscrapers. It was a clear moonless night and the stars were phenomenal. Dawns are also a great time on the ocean, and although tired, we enjoyed that time. Muskoka Rose stayed with us the whole night long, and we checked in with each other hourly on the VHF radio.
At six in the morning on the VHF we heard Eric and Natalie (Malulani) who were only five miles away – they were also crossing to Bimini unbeknown to us.
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At 11:30 a.m. we approached our waypoint south of Memory Rock. The water changed quickly from the deep ocean ultramarine blue to a lighter blue, then, almost suddenly to the light blue-green of the Bahamas Banks. The depth sounder jumped from "not registering" because of the unfathomable depths to "50 feet", then to a nerve-wracking "10 feet"! We had arrived on the banks! Even though the charts were telling us we had enough depth (at least eight feet underneath our keel), given our track record for running aground, we were as nervous as kittens, constantly watching for shoal areas. The colour if the water determines the approximate depth, but we had no experience in "reading" the water yet.
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Any islands we did see were flat and featureless – which we knew would be typical of the Bahamas. A cay (pronounced "key") is a small island built of old coral reefs and uplifted by ancient plate tectonic action. Another five hours of sailing (with the engine off for most of the time) took us to Mangrove Cay, where we anchored, put up the yellow quarantine flag, slept until late afternoon, and also had an early night.

Another motor-sail to Great Sale Cay the following day where we anchored for two nights, meeting up with Malulani again who had opted to clear customs at Bimini. We cleared in the Little town of New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. New Plymouth was settled by British Loyalists from the Carolinas in the 1780’s. Their descendants and the descendants of those bought as slaves, form the population of Green Turtle Cay although a few Americans are purchasing winter homes here.
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Photo: Muskoka Rose and crew
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The weather had been perfect for the past week – a little less wind for sailing than we’d liked, but we weren’t complaining, and we could not for the next two weeks either. It was, in fact, the best January weatherwise cruisers had seen for a few years. Typically, a procession of cold fronts would sweep across from North America with accompanying strong northerly winds. It was not until mid-February that this pattern was to re-establish itself.
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THE ABACOS

We spent the next few weeks in the Abacos, alternating between Walkers Bay and the "Settlement" in Great Guana Cay and Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay on Abaco Island. Much of this time we spent in the company of John and Debbie Gilmore (Muskoka Rose) giving each other encouragement in the harrowing times and relaxing together in the "happy hours". We were very sorry to part from them eventually when we were to go further south and they returned to Canada.
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The ferry ride to Hopetown on Elbow Cay for a day trip was an alternative to trying to anchor in that very crowded harbour. It was here we bumped into Penn and Kitty (Mystic Turtle) again. Kitty volunteers at the local school, and there were many hugs for her from the children out on the street at noon. Fair N Sea (Terry, Kim and Brynn Ferency) was also at Marsh Harbour, and it was good to see them again. Marsh Harbour is the largest town in the Abacos, and was a good place for the necessaries – laundry, provisions, and communicating, but it has little beauty.
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Dave and Donna Vanmoorsel, our good friends from Niagara, came to stay a week with us on Chinook. A great week with them – close - we sure got to know each other much better! We were able to do some sailing with them from place to place within a twenty-mile radius. Happy hours started early that week. We swam, walked on the beach, and ate well. The cream and sugar in Dave’s morning and evening coffees consisted of Bailie’s Irish – he timed it right running out of te cream on the day before they left.
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Terry and Ruth Boulton from our home sailing club (Niagara-on-the-Lake) were in Treasure Cay on their ‘time-shared’ boat Quartette the second time we went there – quite the coincidence! Many happy hours were spent with them over the next two weeks. They took us exploring up a river lined with mangroves, and we saw manta rays, sea turtles and nurse sharks. Ruth taught us the methods of cleaning conch; we ground it up and had delicious conch fritters – a staple in the Bahamas.
The British sailboat Merlin which had pulled us off a grounding in the Chesapeake also turned in Treasure Cay. As we had not had the chance to properly thank them after the event (as they took off right away) we took them across a little bottle of maple syrup, and shared our rum with them at happy hour.
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Happy hours are a very important daily function I’m sure you are beginning to realize, right up there with vessel maintenance, seamanship and navigation. The preferred rum (mainly because of cost) is Fire in de Hole, billed as a Bahamian "erotic" rum, but after a few of those, any eroticism seems to wane! Freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice does vastly improve it’s flavour and we have not contracted scurvy yet!

NASSAU, NEW PROVIDENCE ISLAND
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Photo: Nassau Harbour
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The overnight trip to Nassau was a good one although the seas were six to nine feet. We were on a beam reach for the whole 75 miles – 5:00 p.m. leaving Little Harbour Cut to 6:00 a.m. off Providence Island. The anchor dropped in Nassau Harbour at 7:00 a.m. next to a Canadian sailboat, Voyager 14. After our sleep, we met the occupants and found that Voyager 14 had been on the hard next to Chinook in Port Dalhousie when we were negotiating to buy it. John was a geology prof. at Brock Univerity in St. Catharines, and he and Judy were on their second trip in the Bahamas.
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The Feryncys on Fair N Sea came in later that day and anchored between us; they were old friends of the Flints. Happy hours were an event with them. The Ferency’s had a six-week old puppy (Louis was Brynn’s pet) which fell overboard one happy hour. In a flash Brian dove into the harbour and rescued the pooch, and Terry cooked an Italian dinner in his honour the next night. Actually the harbour was relatively clean and neither Brian nor the pup suffered any ill effects.

The Bahamians purchased the two winning New Zealand America’s Cup race boats NZ10 and NZ12. They race each other for practice, and can be seen coming and going in and out of the harbour. Nassau is a busy, noisy city of 165 000. The traffic which drives hell-bound on the left on roads unimproved for the last fifty years, has little consideration for pedestrians.


The harbour is busy with huge cruise ships, fishing boats, annoying sea-doos, the seaplane landing and taking off twice a day, and cruising sailboats. At night, one can hear dogs barking, roosters crowing, horns and sirens, while listening to the loud music and revelry of the passing party boats – Booze and Cruise being the most frequent.

The people here (as in the Bahamas generally) dress very well, and are courteous and quietly religious. Politics are discussed freely in coffee shops, and the radio stations play much inspirational music and have politicians in debating open-line shows. Yes there are the poor, but we have not seen any homeless.

Brian’s younger son, Paul, came to visit for a week. We met him at Nassau and sailed to Allen’s Cay and Norman’s Cay in the Exumas for a few days of snorkeling and catching some tanning rays. Allen’s Cay has a native iguana lizard population which is quite used to being fed by cruisers, and Paul, the animal lover that he is, certainly relished that activity. Photo: Paul making the morning coffee

Back in Nassau, the Atlantis resort and a nearby beach were attractions for us all, as was the downtown Nassau shopping area. Atlantis has the largest aquarium in the world and it truly is a remarkable building, the theme of course being the mythical sunken underwater city of Atlantis.
We "endured" a three-hour presentation about time-share properties for a very nice (free) buffet lunch and seventy-five dollars in vouchers. Promptly cashing in the vouchers at the Atlantis Casino, Debby won $110 on the slots, and we waltzed home to Chinook US$176 richer! That was to pay for our ripped drifter sail.
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Paul on the desert island before being rescued..
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THE EXUMAS
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The Exuma chain lies roughly in a north- west to south-east line 35 miles from New Providence (Nassau) and is about 95 nautical miles long; a series of islands and cays including the beautiful National Land and Sea Park. To the east are the deep waters of the Exuma sound, and on the west side lie the shallow banks. Several "cuts" or passages exist between the cays, safely navigable only in the right weather conditions.
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We returned to Norman's Cay (40 nm) which we had enjoyed with Paul’s visit, directly from Nassau, and spent four nights there – one night we were the only vessel in the anchorage, an unusual occurrence. Malulani (Eric and Natalie) arrived there on the second night and we had a great reunion. They were anxious to begin heading south as they had still to travel the 600 miles or more to Trinidad before the hurricane season began. The passage to Georgetown involved sailing southward on the shallow banks side of the Exumas, then passing through a cut to the deep waters of the sound, then back through another cut into shallow Elizabeth Harbour which Georgetown is situated near the southern end of.
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We decided to do that passage in four or five legs, each an easy day sail, and enjoy the places we would stop at. From Norman’s Cay we sailed to Black Point, a small community on Great Guana Cay. Surprise! Fair ‘n Sea was there, and it was good to see them again. They were on their way back to Nassau and then Florida. Ken and Cathy McIntire on Kalua were also at Black Point on their way south to Georgetown.
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However, the community was friendly, the water was good and free, there was a reasonable grocery shop, and a (slow) computer hooked up to the internet at Lorraine’s Café. We enjoyed the week. A local ancient character named Willie had been collecting large pieces of driftwood for about 15 years and had arranged it all over his property, naming it the Garden of Eden, and charged unsuspecting cruisers (like us) a few dollars to take a tour of his "sculptures". Meantime, the locals were gearing up in preparation for the Georgetown Family Islands Sailing Regatta due to be held in 2 weeks, and a Sunday morning meeting held at the main dock was loud with the arguing of strategies everyone though should be employed.
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Photo: Deborah with a group of school children
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There was a primary (elementary) school in this settlement, with the children neatly attired in uniform. They would go to secondary school in Nassau, but did not look forward to that. "Nassau’s a killin’ town", one of the grade 4 boys explained to us, his perception of the high crime rate there. The children were very eager to have their photos taken. This cay was not unique in that the population was mostly composed of children and their grandparents. Most parents had to go to Nassau or another island resort to obtain work.
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When the winds had eased a little we moved five miles further south to "stage" our passage through the Galliot Cay Cut to the sound. Early the next morning Chinook eased through the breakers crashing over the rocks on either side of the narrow cut and met the high seas and stiff winds from the direction in which we wanted to go. Making only 12 miles in 7 hours, the decision to spend the night at nearby Lee Stocking Island was not a hard one. Going through the cut to the shelter was nervewracking as the wind was against the tide and had whipped up large broaching waves in the entrance.
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Weather forecasts put the winds from the same direction for the next three days, so four reasonably sheltered nights were spent on a free mooring off the Caribbean Research Centre at Lee Stocking. Unfortunately we were not able to go ashore this privately owned island, but were content to swim and read.
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When we did make the 25 mile leap to Georgetown there were 15 – 20 knot winds on the beam giving us an excellent sail. Chinook just loves those beam reaches. We sailed into the anchorage at 2:00 p.m. answering the radio calls of several cruisers we knew - who had been there several days already.
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Georgetown was a disappointment to us. Literally hundreds of cruisers make it their destination for the winter. We could not see the attractions to hold them for that length of time. The harbour is a mile wide, and due to the prevailing winds, the sheltered anchorage is on the opposite side to the town, which makes for a long and wet return dinghy ride. We found the town itself to have little charm. The available drinking water is slightly salty, which was not fully realized until our tanks were filled (yes, of course we tasted it beforehand, but a small sample is false when you are thirsty). We did not find the locals friendly or helpful, in fact, being Regatta Week, no one was in a working mode at all. The only internet café was shut down for the week, and the local Fed-Ex simply refused (with a downright lie) to courier our insurance papers out "Dey is all regatterin’, mon" was an excuse given to us. What can you do? We had to renew our cruising permit (no cost this time), and try to arrange new boat insurance, and we became a little frustrated.
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However, the social life with the other cruisers was the saving grace. Over the ten days we were there, we met some really nice people, had ribs and cold beer at Chat and Chills Bar and Grill as well as enjoying their weekly pig roast (stretching our cruising budget), enjoyed a beach concert by Eileen Quinn, a Canadian singer-songwriter who performed her very humerous songs about the sailing/cruising life, watched the daily "volleyball for oldies" at Volleyball Beach, swam often on the deserted ocean side of the island, and took our thermoses of rum ashore at happy hour to meet with others for the end-of-the-day sundowners.
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As well, the Annual Family Islands Regatta was well worth the stop. Fortunately the race course passed near our anchorage. In fact, the beautiful Bahamian wooden sloops with their huge canvas sails came right through the anchorage on occasion, once so close we could have reached out and touched them. With twelve to fifteen crew whose main job was to balance the boat by keeping it upright by perching out on planks on the windward side, there seemed to be few rules, and little race etiquette. Races started from anchor. But the partying by day and by night was I am sure, the racers’ main reason for being there.
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Bahamian sloops in the Georgetown Regatta
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TO THE TURKS AND CAICOS
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The winds diminished and the seas settled enough to allow us to leave to ward the Turks and Caicos. The first leg on May 1st was a pleasant day sail to Calabash Bay at the top of Long Island to anchor off a Canadian-owned resort. Around noon we saw a pod of three or four whales (we think they were Humpback Whales as this is their migratory path), and later met up with an interesting couple, Michael and Estelle, bound for the British Virgin Islands aboard Ishmael. Two nights there, then a longer day-sail to Conception Island accompanied by ten small dolphins swimming at our bow for quite some time. Uninhabited Conception is quite beautiful, another National Land and Sea Park, with excellent snorkeling at the northern point. Ishmael came with us. The next leg was a long sail to Rum Cay; we motor-sailed toward the end of the day as the winds had shifted and strengthened, but motorless Ishmael arrived 5 hours later, after dark. Poor Estelle had almost had enough of the long hauls by this time and was openly rebelling and threatening to jump ship.
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Rum Cay was a point where we knew we had to wait for the right weather window to proceed further south and east with any degree of speed and comfort. Two days later the weather forecast sounded favourable, so we departed with a reefed mainsail and a planned 30 hour passage to the Plana Cays. Ishmael left an hour after us. The winds lightened, and so we changed the high-cut yankee roller-furled jib for the larger one, but keeping the main reef in. Making 5-6 knots – a reasonable speed - the winds then picked up to 20 knots and produced rougher seas. We were fully prepared for the "overnighter", but not for the uncomfortable ride we got. We neared our planned destination in the dark at 8:00 p.m. – 32 hours after we left Rum Cay and too late to anchor safely, so we decided to spend a second night and make Mayaguana Island by early the next day. The 20 knot winds gusted to 30 and the 8 foot seas became more obtuse, we were hit by a heavy rain shower at 7:00 a.m., but by 10:00 a.m. we anchored off the Island and spent a good part of the day catching up on sleep with the waves crashing on the nearby coral reef lullabying us.
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THE DRAMAS
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We found out about the dramas several days later. Our friends Ken and Cathy on Kahlua had set out two days before us on the same planned route and of course with the same weather. Both were violently seasick, their engine quit (a fuel line airlock) and they were towed into Clarencetown 30 hours after leaving Rum. Ishmael altered their planned destination, but Estelle became very ill with a bladder infection and was airlifted off the boat by the U.S. Coast Guard. Kahlua set out again after regaining confidence in the weather, themselves and the engine, but the crew again became sick, the engine developed the same problems, so they decided to head for Florida instead, an easier downwind sail. Ishmael came into Turks and Caicos almost a week after we did with Michael single-handling, meeting his wife who flew in.
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Chinook resumed the last leg toward West Caicos the next day, another planned 30 hour passage. With 20 – 25 knot winds right on the nose with 6 – 8 seas, we had another very uncomfortable journey before reaching the anchorage off West Caicos at 5:00 p.m. Setting off early the next morning we motor-sailed into Sapodilla Bay off Providenciales (Provo) arriving at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, May 14.
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This part of our journey broadened our experience considerably. We have often said we will take our time, wait for the right weather windows and enjoy our trips. And we usually do. The forecasts were good, but the reality was not. Brian had developed a slight toothache at Rum Cay which became steadily worse. He was worried about infection, which was in fact occurring, and knew he must get dental help. Aspirin helped, and the Gravol for his chronic seasickness worked very well too. The dentist in Provo immediately put him on antibiotics and did two root canals on the offending teeth the following Tuesday.
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Turks and Caicos Islands
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Debby took the opportunity to fly home to attend her son Andrew’s graduation in Thunder Bay while Brian "boat-sat" in Provo. Several dental appointments were necessary, the boat insurance had not yet been finalized, and it seemed a great place to recover before the passage to the Dominican Republic. It was there we met Bill and Pat on Callipygia with whom we were to sail with to the Dominican Republic and spend many many pleasant hours with over the next 18 months.
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The settlement on Provo is cosmopolitan, quite modern and has all the necessary conveniences. It has a high proportion of expat. Brits, Americans and Canadians. New resorts are being built everywhere. It is very hot and dry, quite desert-like with many cacti and low scrubby brush type vegetation.
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