EPILOGUE

At Nassau we met up once again with many of the boats that had shared our anchorage at Key Biscayne. And, after catching up on news, compared notes on the crossings. The Canadian Convoy who had left Dec 20th, had experienced more than its fair share of adventures getting here. Strong winds and heavy seas made for challenging sailing conditions and it was not an easy go. To make matters worse, “Maya”(Halifax) lost her engine in the middle of the Gulf Stream and, with winds gusting from the southwest, was unable to turn back. “Semper Vivien”(Halifax) was able to throw her a line and together they courageously made the last 15 miles to the other side with “Maya” in tow. With dangerous onshore winds and a crippled boat, the cut through Gun and Cat Cay would’ve been impossible, so the little group diverted to Bimini to clear customs and rest before carrying on.

That night while sleeping blissfully in their berths, a scuffle broke out on shore which resulted in a local youth being shot by a police officer. Enraged, the youth’s family began a rampage as they stormed through town seeking justice and revenge. Soon the little island of Bimini was engaged in a full blown riot and the police station and barracks were set ablaze. Anchored out in the adjoining harbour, the Canadian cruisers awoke to find islanders running amok and flames from a huge fire only a few hundred yards from their boats! Horrified, they left as soon as it was safe to do so but with “Maya” still in distress, their progress together was slow. Wind and waves did not let up and they arrived in Nassau two days later with boats heavily encrusted in salt.

“Allergic to Cities” and “Highlander” who had left 18 hours BEFORE us through the second weather window, did not manage to make it to Nassau until more than two days AFTER our arrival. Anchoring out on the “Banks” the first night, they were alarmed when a suspicious boat with an Hispanic crew kept loitering within their vicinity. The strangers eventually approached wanting to confirm their location—implying that they were meeting up with another vessel. During the night signals could be seen flashing between the Hispanic boat and another and it seemed obvious that some sort of a meeting did in fact take place. But we are left to wonder—for what purpose?

The next night “Highlander” and “Allergic to Cities” anchored off Chubb Cay, clearing customs there the following day. But by then the winds had picked up and the trip across the Tongue of the Ocean to Nassau was difficult. About three miles out, “Highlander” lost her transmission and asked “Allergic to Cities” for a tow. It is not an easy thing for one sailboat to tow another and in rough seas it is especially dangerous. “Allergic to Cities” was understandably reluctant to risk their own boat with this tricky manoeuvre and possibly destroy their transmission too with the added strain it would place on their engine. And so they declined, suggesting “Highlander” seek help through BASRA (Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association). But not wanting to “pay” for a towing seervice, the stricken vessel chose to attempt “sailing” into the harbour instead.

When we met up with “Allergic to Cities” on the streets of Nassau Saturday afternoon, they had just arrived. “Highlander” was apparently still “out there” somewhere and we have no idea if she did manage to eventually sail herself safely into harbour. We knew this would be virtually impossible due to the strong currents that plague this area. Even with full control of our own engine we had difficulty keeping Fortnight in the channel and negotiating our way into a slip and couldn’t imagine attempting this safely under sail. As we parted company and headed back to our boat, we thought we had “heard it all.” But after meeting “Eroica”(England) tied up in the slip beside us at Harbour Club Marina, her story definitely “took the cake!”

After an uneventful passage over the Gulf Stream last week, this boat found itself comfortably crossing the banks when they suddenly became aware of a small Cessna aircraft flying directly overhead. Lower and lower it came, gliding in right ahead of their boat—but without its engine running! It suddenly dawned on them that the plane was in trouble and attempting a crash landing!! The Cessna hit the water about a quarter mile away from their boat, flipping onto its back. By the time they reached it, its two occupants had managed to free themselves from the wreckage and were floundering helplessly in the water—clutching onto bags and struggling to keep afloat. “Eroica” fished them out of the water and waited for help to arrive in response to their distress call. It came in the form of a powerful speedboat dispatched from Chubb Cay. As survivors and bags were transferred from one boat to another, the heavy steel prow of the rescue vessel bashed into the side of “Eroica” doing considerable damage to her stanchion and life-lines. It then sped off, oblivious to this destruction, leaving them to carry on and deal with the subsequent repairs and costs themselves.

Compared to the stories we heard today, our relatively uneventful passage was a “walk in the park.” We had no dangerous seas, strong winds, engine failures, rioting, fires, or airplanes crashing in front of the boat. All we had to worry about was rounding the Northwest Channel Light safely!

When we left our “same old, same old” existence in Canada five months ago, we expected to make new friends and enjoy novel experiences but nothing could’ve prepared us for the situations we are actually encountering. In a few days we’ll be leaving Nassau for ten days vacation back home. And it will be interesting to see how we’ll react when faced with “normality” once again.