BIMINI BOUND

There is a saying in the boating community that “It’s better to be HERE (safely at anchor) wishing you were THERE (out at sea) than THERE wishing you were HERE!”

For over a week we had been tied up at a slip in Nassau along with several other boats waiting for a weather window which would allow us to move safely on to Florida—almost 200 miles away. All forecasts indicated that Sat.April 5th would be the perfect day to leave. Wind over the “Tongue of the Ocean” at 20k would be a little too brisk in the morning but it was predicted to moderate during the day to 15k with 3’-5’ seas. We could live with that—but “just.” It would mean 8 hours of heavy slog while we crossed the 40 miles separating Nassau from the notorious northwest channel light. But seas and winds would be behind us and once onto the banks with lighter winds and shallow water we could safely negotiate the remaining 50 miles to Cat Cay in the dark. Hopefully we’d arrive there shortly after midnight and be able to grab a few hours of sleep before heading out across the gulf stream at daybreak the following day. If things looked ominous we’d then have the option of either staying put at Cat or moving 10 miles north into a marina at Bimini. That was the plan. But as we found out, things do not always go according to plan—especially if the weather forecast turns out to be wrong. And it was.

We left Nassau at 8:00am in company with 4 other boats—“Allegoria” and “Jaya” from Montreal, “Bibi” (Carolinas) and “Shaman”(Florida). As we began our passage northwards across the “Tongue of the Ocean” towards Chub Cay the brisk winds and rough water did NOT moderate as expected but instead increased in intensity. And we found ourselves fighting to hold the rudder steady as we struggled against 20-25k winds and were slammed with 8’-10’ seas. At least it was all behind us and we found that we COULD manage. And, once we rounded the northwest channel light and headed due west across the banks, the seas died down to 4’ and we believed the worst to be over.. At that point “Bibi” decided to leave us and head directly northwest to Lake Worth. It would mean traveling 24 hours non-stop throughout the night and the following day but hey! The forecast was good so why not? We decided to stay the course for Cat where we’d have a chance to anchor, rest, regroup and reconsider.

At 7:00pm the sun began to set. The French boats had moved far ahead of us but we could still make out their lights in the distance. “Shaman” was our buddy boat now, sailing just behind us. And we still had 6 hours to go in total darkness before we could hope to reach the relative safety of Cat Cay. As blackness enveloped the boat, conditions began to get a little scary. Winds were still blowing at 20k. Strong waves battered the port side of the boat and we were barreling blindly ahead through total blackness. And then we saw the lightning. Directly ahead of us, but far away, flashes of light briefly illuminated heavy storm clouds at 15-30 second intervals. The forecast had predicted clear skies with no chance of precipitation. This was not good. Every time we heard the distant thunder, we prayed we’d be able to reach Cat Cay before the weather reached us. We didn’t know how we’d handle ourselves in a thunderstorm and if our GPS failed what would we do? We thought of Bibi who was heading right out into the storm with no chance now of finding any anchorage and were very glad we had chosen to leave our options open. If ONLY we could reach the anchorage ahead of the storm! For the next 5 hours we lived in terror. But at 1:00am we saw the distant lights of Cat and by 1:30 had safely anchored and were sheltered from the SW winds and waves by the bulk of the island. Thank you God! The next morning we awoke to dark skies with the storm still raging off to the west. As we drank hot coffee in the comfort of the cockpit we wondered what had become of Bibi. A few minutes later fat drops of water began dropping onto our boat, mist began rising all around us, the wind picked up and we knew that at last the storm was coming our way. We started our engine in preparation for having to “move off” should the anchor begin to drag. But we were safe. The wind blew. The boat keeled over. The rain pounded down. But we sat solidly, unmoving at anchor.

We waited until noon, when all threat of rain had passed, before heading north to Bimini with Allegoria. Jaya decided to take his chances with the gulf stream and moved westward into 6’ seas. Shaman elected to stay put. Two hours later we motored into a slip at the Bimini Big Game Resort and Marina and over the next few days met with other boaters who had got “caught out” in that storm. Compared to what they had just experienced our passage had been a walk in the park. Two boats that we talked with had battled the storm in 50k winds out in the gulf stream all night long—fighting for their very lives before limping into Bimini just before us the next morning. A third boat that they had been traveling with had disappeared.

We are now all “licking our wounds” in Bimini. We sleep, read, swim and pour over endless weather reports waiting for a chance to make the dash over to the states. The weather system between here and the southern US has been unprecedented in its intensity. The floods, tornados and storms which have hit this area are predicted to continue for at least three more days. We no longer trust the forecasts and will have to be VERY, VERY sure that conditions are benign before we set sail again.