I never left from Blackpoint with the intention of making it all the way (51 miles) to Georgetown. But I had an itch to to get closer since the last 15 miles must be off shore. If it was to be a challenging finish I didn’t want to have to weave through all the shallows before going off shore all on the same day. We left Blackpoint about 10:00am and to our amazement there was still a little North left in the wind so sailing down the Exumas was quite easy. We expected the wind to be on our nose Saturday and Sunday but it wasn’t.
Linda and I decided to sail until it became uncomfortable or late. It never got uncomfortable and we enter Georgetown Harbor at 6:30pm.
Our shallow water work was fast and easy with the ENE winds at about 12 knots. We zipped through Little Farmers and comfortably passed Big Galliot. Favorable winds stayed with us as we passed Cave Cay and found the narrow passage around the sandbars the precedes Musha Cay. The Explorer Charts are an absolute MUST for sailing the backwaters of the Bahamas.
Interesting information about Musha Cay. It is owned by the famous magician, David Copperfield. We have watched it being developed over the years. We understand that many of the islands are own by celebrities but none have been developed to the level of Musha Cay. There are several large homes on the island and it comes equipped with various boats, jet ski’s, hobi cats and every water toy imaginable. It can be yours for a week for a paltry sum of $350,000. I doubt it is BYOB. We were told my a sailor in Blackpoint that Copperfield had a full size grand piano made out of stainless stell with a mermaid seated on the piano bench and is submerged in 15 feet of water. We were given the coordinates (N 23-52.163 W 076-14.157) We plan on taking a day trip after the Family Regatta and after the water warms up a bit to go snorkeling on what is sure to be an amazing site. Right now the water is cool and takes a bit getting use to. Plus the wind is still fairly cool so the fun water time is to come.
Leaving Musha Cay we decided to stick our nose outside at Rudder Cut to check the sea state. It is always rough going through the cut but today the wind and current were traveling in the same direction so it was pretty calm for a cut. Initially the winds were due east by now so we had enough wind to fill the sail, but just barely. The swells were only two feet and as the waves and the wind came around to the SE the sails came down and we motored 30 miles with long, slow waves off our port bow.
As we approached Georgetown the swells picked up to 4ft, then 5ft and occasionally 6ft. These waves were slow, rolling swells with long intervals so they did not present a problem. The wind continued to clock to the SE but dropped off so we motored all the way in at 6 knots. Much of our inside work was slow because we didn’t intend to make the full passage so we just meandered along. A very enjoyable day. We don’t normally do 30 miles outside in the Atlantic Ocean but conditions were light which made it doable and much more direct.
As soon as we entered the harbor we saw old friends on Cats Meow. It was fun to see them. We dropped anchor, got into the dinghy and said a quick hello.
We are here!
Sea Yawl Later!!