Crew Log for February 27th – March 1st, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Spanish Wells – Egg Island – Little Harbor, Abaco
• Trip Distance of 71 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 3,158.6 NM
• Day 1: Departed at 10h30, arrived at 13h30
Day 2: Departed at 06h30, arrived at 16h15
Our original plan when we left in August 2022, was to spend the entire 3 months in the Abacos. However, the more people we talked to and the more research we did, our plans changed. Our revised plan took us through the Berry Islands, Exumas, Eleuthera and then, eventually on to Abaco, for the month of March. Getting to Abaco from Eleuthera involved a 70 nautical mile open ocean crossing and so picking a suitable weather window was important.
It was sunny, warm with a light breeze out of the southwest. The forecast was for the winds to clock around to the south and eventually the south east and ease over the next couple of days. We could wait a day or so and wait for the sea state to calm down and the winds to lighten, or we could take advantage of the last bit of wind and hopefully sail most of the way. Willow and Phase 2 were also both planning to cross on February 28th, so we'd company for the crossing.
The plan was to stage down off of Egg Island the day before, which would not only cut 10 miles off, but we would have an easy point to depart from at first light. Most boats stage at Royal Island, which offers more protection, but we didn’t want to navigate the entrance and narrow cut between Royal Island and Egg Island, early the following morning.
We were getting pretty comfortable at the marina in Spanish Wells, which is a sign that it is time to move on. We were a little concerned about getting out of there given we had a boat directly behind us and not a lot of room to maneuver. We also didn't have a lot of water under the keel. Getting grounded here would not be good. However, we quietly slid out of our spot without incident and headed towards Egg Island for the night.
Willow was already at the Egg Island anchorage, along with sv Islamine, a Lagoon 38 catamaran crewed by Jeannie and Tony from Belhaven, North Carolina. Phase 2 would arrive a short while later, along with 2-3 other boats, presumably all crossing to Abaco.
Just off the south western tip of Little Egg Island, there is a sunken ship, the Arimoroa and we were invited to join Willow aboard Islamine to snorkel the wreck. We had never been on a catamaran, so we jumped at the chance.
In May of 1970, the Arimoroa, a steel-hulled, 260 foot Lebanese freighter, was traveling from South America to Europe with a cargo of guano-based fertilizer when a fire started in the ship’s galley. The fire spread so rapidly that the captain ordered the ship to be run aground on the closest island (Egg Island in this case). The crew were able to escape, but the cargo continued to burn for three months, and the phosphates leaking from the wreck made the area around the wreck barren of sea life for several years. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated this area and broke the wreck in half, so today, only the bow can still be seen above water.
The plan was to take Islamine close to the wreckage. We had originally planned to snorkel off the boat, but decided to anchor the dinghy a bit closer.
The currents here were very strong and the water surface was very rough. Not only am I not a strong swimmer, but I still suffer from PTSD-like symptoms from my windsurfing episode over 30 years ago. If you aren't familiar with the story, I refer to it in our "About Us" background. I am generally OK with snorkeling in shallower water, but I don’t do well, jumping in deeper water. I decided someone needed to stay with the dinghy and keep an eye on the snorkelers. Fortunately Judy got a few pictures of the wreck.
As predicted the winds clocked around to the south and south west through the night, which made for a sleepless night in insanely rolly conditions. It was the first time I had ever felt seasick on anchor. Phase 2 reported that they dragged anchor in the middle of the night, for over 100 feet before it reset. Given we were basically starting a passage, having not slept, we did wonder if we would have been better off doing a night sail. This was not a great way to start, but we had 60 nautical miles of open ocean ahead of us and we had to get it together.
Day 2…
We left just before first light. The winds were south west 10-12 knots with gusts to 18-20, right on our stern quarter. A side note for non- sailors. When we talk about wind speed, we are referring to the “true” wind speed. The “apparent” wind speed is the combination of the true wind speed and the forward motion of the boat.
So, if the wind was blowing 10 knots and we were moving at 5 knots directly into it, it would feel like a 15 knot wind. Conversely, if the wind is blowing 10 knots and we are moving directly down wind at 5 knots, it would feel like a 5 knot wind. It is of course a more complicated calculation when the wind is at the side or at an angle, but thankfully our wind instruments do that calculation for us.
While we prefer more wind on a down wind run, the boat is more difficult to control. Not only is it harder to control the sails, but because we are a monohull with a shallow, modified fin keel, we tend swerve side to side as we surf down the waves. The boat feels like a hobbyhorse on a jolly jumper. Not the most comfortable conditions. Both Elizabeth M and Willow took a few waves over the back and into the cockpit, although it sounds more dramatic than it actually was. That said, it was a challenging sail, made worse by the fact that we didn’t sleep at all the previous night. Fortunately, we did eventually enjoy some nice beam reach sailing for the last half of the trip.
The southern tip of Great Abaco Island was only 28 nautical miles from our anchorage. Unfortunately, there is no where to safely come ashore until we reached the entrance to Little Harbor, another 30 nautical miles to the north. There are 2 cuts that take you from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sea of Abaco side, the closest at Little Harbor and the second, at North Bar Channel, a few miles further up the coast. The cut at Little Harbor can be rough and so a lot of people recommend you transit through North Bar Channel. However, several other boats ahead of us reported calm conditions through the cut at Little Harbor, which is where we headed. Safely inside, we could finally breathe a sigh of relief and reflect on the day’s passage.
We made our way up to an anchorage on the western side of the Lynyard Bank a couple miles north of Little Harbor where we had a wonderfully calm night on anchor. Judy explored the shoreline on her paddleboard the next morning while we waited for Anodyne, who left Royal Harbor at 08h00. Phase 2 headed off to Hope Town. Later in the afternoon we moved Elizabeth M down to the anchorage just outside of Little Harbor. We had wanted to snorkel but the swells made it too uncomfortable and challenging to land the dinghy.
As the name suggests, Little Harbor is quite small, but extremely well protected. Unfortunately, it seems to be plugged full of charter catamarans and so there were limited moorings available. The entrance is also only navigable at mid to high tide. If we did get in, we'd have to wait until mid day to get out. We decided to stay out on anchor and dinghied in to have supper at Pete’s Pub which seemed to be the main attraction.
Pete’s is an open air restaurant with a sand floor and serves up a selection of local favorites, including lobster and shrimp tacos. It is next door to a gallery where elaborate bronze sculptors of marine life are created. We weren’t in the market for a bronze dolphin, but the tacos sure sounded good. In addition to Willow and Anodyne, we also recognized the crew from sv Sabrina, who we saw in Rock Sound. Other than to say hello, the encounter was brief.
The forecast was calling for strong southerly winds over the next few days so we started hunting around for anchorages. We had a couple of options. There was Pelican Point, just north of where were now, or Tilloo Cut South closer to Elbow Cay. Pelican Point provided better protection, but the holding was reported to be better at Tilloo Cut South and there was less swell.
So, we were off to Tilloo Cut in the morning with Anodyne, while Willow headed to Hope Town. At Tilloo Cut, we would start to see real evidence of the impact Hurricane Dorian had on this area as well as some of the beauty of the Abacos.
But, more about that, next time.
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