The Long Passage Home

Our last night in Spanish Wells was a celebration of sorts. “Akasha” had guests flown in from the US and after they were settled in and introductions made, Linda invited us over for cocktails, chocolate cake and ice cream! We were both leaving the next day--they to Harbour Island and us to begin the long passage home. It was a great evening and we promised to get in touch once back in Canada. But I don’t know if we’ll see them in these parts again as Larry is shipping Akasha to the mediterranean in November and plans to cruise those waters next winter. But these last two days with this wonderful couple were certainly memorable.

We inched our way out of the anchorage early the next morning at low tide and were soon in full sail on our way to Nassau. It was a gorgeous day and we made good time, arriving about 3:30pm. We soon made friends with “Silver Girl,” the boat tied up in the slip beside us at the Nassau Harbour Club and joined them for a wonderful seafood dinner at the Poop Deck that evening. We made arrangements to cross the “Tongue of the Ocean” together the next day. But they planned to pull into Chubb Cay for that evening while we’d be pushing on for a night on the banks. We didn’t look forward to being anchored out alone but trusted that others would probably be “out there” too. We left bright and early the next morning with light seas and winds quartering on the boat. And within an hour of being “out” we found ourselves in radio contact with several old friends from Georgetown who were also making the passage--”Nice ‘n Easy” “Lady Ray” “Cavu” and “Delicia.” Cavu decided to join us on the banks for the night and we put down our anchors together about 6:00pm. At first all was well. The seas were a little rolly but not too uncomfortable and when we sat out in the cockpit, enjoying the sunset, all four of us were privileged to see the “green flash” as the sun sunk into the west! We went to bed shortly after that but as the night wore on both winds and waves kicked up and it was almost impossible to sleep. We awoke at 3:30am as planned, in order to make it into Bimini--our next stop--before dark the next day, and were surprised to find “Cavu” nowhere in sight! The had planned to sleep until dawn, but perhaps changed their minds--like us, finding sleep impossible. But we have no idea where they went and what happened to them. Our radio was on all night, but there was no contact. We can only hope they pushed on across the banks and continued on to the states at daybreak as many of the other boats had planned to do.

For us it was another perfect day of travelling in ideal conditions, arriving in Bimini as planned about 3:00pm--12 hours later. By 6:00pm “Silver Girl” pulled in to the harbour and we found ourselves once again in radio contact with “Suncast” who chose to anchor outside the island. With only one more day separating us from Florida, and terrific weather conditions for crossing the gulf stream, the last 24 hours in the Bahamas should’ve been a relaxing experience. But this was not to be. When we had pulled up our anchor at 3:00am that morning, Vince was unable to see where it was. The holding was too good and the waves battering the boat too strong, and, as a result too much pressure was put to bear on the bowsprit of the boat as he struggled to free the anchor, and part of it broke off! We did manage to get the anchor up and secured but it would be impossible to use it again as the broken sprit could no longer support it. Luckily we have 2 of just about everything on this boat, for just such an eventuality. We still had a 2nd anchor supported on the other side of the bowsprit, but our confidence was shaken. All the way back across the banks, Vince was mulling over the “anchor situation” in his mind and by the time we arrived at Bimini, he was a little unsettled and very tired. We knew the next day would be long and harrowing--crossing the gulf stream in always unnerving, no matter how good the sailing conditions are. And Vince was very tired from the long 12 hour day he had just endured. But there were things still to do before we could turn in for the night and despite being exhausted Vince continued to busy himself taking care of all the little details necessary to ensure a safe passage until just before dark.

When we had entered the Bimini channel this time round, the co-ordinates were wrong and we almost went aground. And tides could not have been worse for leaving the next day. We’d be casting off our lines right at low tide without proper co-ordinates, and it was going to be too dark to read the waters. There was every possibility that we would in fact go aground leaving the harbour in those conditions, but we were willing to give it a try anyway. Just before heading off to bed, with those worries plaguing his mind, Vince decided to do a final check of the engine. And to our horror we found it covered with thick patches of salt! There was no way we could consider leaving now until we could find the source of the problem, fix it, and remove all of the salt--hoping it hadn’t already corroded anything crucial! About an hour later, all of this had been done. The problem was identified as a malfunctioning “vented loop” (or so we hoped!) which Vince jury rigged with duct tape. All of the salt had not been adequately removed from the engine compartment, but Vince could hardly keep his eyes open any longer and HAD to get to bed. And now we faced the very real possibility that we might not be able to leave the next day for Florida after all. This was very discouraging because the weather window was starting to close with heavy winds and possible thunderstorms approaching within the next few days. And we were so close to safety!

The next morning we were up well before 6:00 with clear heads. We immediately attacked the salt on the engine and within an hour had it completely cleaned up. With 15 minutes left before our scheduled departure time, the engine was now “a go” but there was still much to do before we were psychologically ready to push off. And we decided the timing was too tight and that we’d have to put off our departure for another day. Then we heard the engines revving up on the huge cruiser beside us and I had a brain wave. I ran over to the captain of that boat and asked if he was planning to leave, what was his draft and did he feel confident about attempting the channel on the low tide. He was leaving momentarily, had the same draft as us and felt the channel would be no problem. If we wanted to follow in his wake, he was willing to wait another 15 minutes for us to get our act together and shepherd us out. And so we did--rushing around, closing hatches, stowing away gear, getting out the life jackets, turning on the depth sounder and chart plotter and casting off our lines. Vince didn’t think we could do it but we had nothing to lose and with the weather holding, we had to give it a try.

At 8:00 we were following the big cruiser out into the channel and confidently on our way when we watched it hit a shallow spot and run aground! We immediately swerved off in the other direction and, with very careful attention to the charts and depths, slowly made our way away from Bimini and into deeper water. With its powerful engines the other boat was in fact eventually able to free itself from the sand and ironically it was them following us out into the ocean and not vice vera. It was great to find ourselves back into deep water again with calm seas and an absolutely perfect wind direction for crossing over! And when we put up both jib and main, and found ourselves flying across the water with sustained 7 knots in our sails we were very glad we had put in the extra effort needed to leave when we did! We were unable to make radio contact with “Suncast” who were several hours ahead of us and “Silver Girl” who had elected to remain behind in Bimini for another days rest before attempting the last leg home. But we did maintain contact with “Delicia” and “Lady Ray” who had left from Cat Cay shortly before our departure, although we didn’t actually see their boats until we were just off the coast of Florida. This passage we made alone. But with perfect sailing conditions under sunny skies, I was relaxed, happy and not afraid.

We pulled into the Lake Worth Inlet just before 6:00 but had to almost immediately turn around and head back out again when we encountered a humungous cruise ship on its way out! But half an hour later we found ourselves turning into the calm south anchorage of Lake Worth and settling in just in front of both Lady Ray and Suncast who had both arrived just a few hours before. Vince gingerly set the 2nd anchor and we had a firm holding for the night. After a very long sleep on still waters in a safe place we awoke the next morning, ate a leisurely breakfast and headed off in our dinghy for customs. We enjoyed at great lunch at the thatched tiki restaurant at Riviera Beach and spent much of the afternoon relaxing with Barb and Bill aboard Suncast. Over the next few days we slowly made our way north to Titusville, stopping at Vero to say goodbye to friends, and do a few odd jobs about the boat. We will be staying in Titusville for about a week, where we’ll be making repairs and improvements to the boat before having it hauled out there at Westland Marina. Then it’s into the car--which we left in Titusville--and back to Canada, hopefully well before the end of April. We’ve had a wonderful adventure in the Bahamas this year, but have been away for almost 8 months now and it’s time to return to the family and friends we’ve been missing. And we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!