Skinny, deep, then skinny again - Passage to Eleuthera
by SV Crystal Blues 11 Feb 2018 07:22 UTC
Rosinante enjoying the conditions © World Cruising
Six days ago we worked our way through the skinny water of the southern Abaco Islands in Bahama, heading to sea and southward, destination Eleuthera. While only 50 nautical miles distant, this was an Atlantic Ocean passage and required the right weather window - so we grabbed the first available opportunity and headed out across the bar in the early morning, with a gaggle of yachts all homing on the same destination. After a somewhat tense exit (we crossed the bar at low tide) it was a joy to have several hundred meters of water under the keel.
The winds and currents gave us a boisterous crossing, with 18 to 20 knots of wind for most of the day, sloppy seas and plenty of movement on board. A true romp of a sail with the apparent wind exactly on the beam. We were the last to cross the bar at Little Harbor heading out, but our waterline length let us haul in those that crossed ahead of us, and we were second into Eleuthera behind our friends on Pelican Express.
Through the Egg Island cut we marched, anchoring at Meek's Patch near Spanish Wells, in just 3 meters of water again, for a spectacular sunset. That really was a fine Bahamas cruising day.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of SV Crystal Blues.