Jono and I left Madisonville La. 10AM on Monday the 7th on SYL for a Bahama run.
We left late because our first leg was only 44 miles out of the Pontchartrain and barely into the Mississippi sound. The trip was nice, we motored with little or no wind until our 6PM arrival at Rabbit Island. Our first night on the boat was uneventful, we slept well in the nice calm waters just off the GIWW.
Tuesday morning our goal was over 90 miles so we left at 6AM for Dauphin Island off the coast of Biloxi. Winds were right in our face the first 4 miles so we motored out but got enough wind angle to sail the rest of the day. With strong winds against us we only made 55 miles and stopped next to Horn Island – not the most protected anchorage I can assure you. We bobbed like a cork all night but slept reasonably well given the conditions. Tuesday was a “Man Sailing” day…. Winds were 20 to 22 knots on the nose in 3′ seas so we tacked a lot but SYL did her job well.
Wednesday morning Jono and I took some time to work on boat projects, and took the dinghy to shore to walk the beach on Horn Island so we didn’t leave until just before lunch. If Tuesday was a big wave day, Wednesday was bigger! We tried to make out way East with little progress. We ended up bailing out and hiding in Pascagula Mississippi. Winds were up to 30 knots and waves were solid 6’ers. A buddy recommended a small city marina that turned out to be a delight. We met 3 new friends, Tim – Dick and Less who all own slips here. They hooked us up to power, visited and told boat stories… Less brought me and Jono some fried red snapper for dinner. He’s a big sportfisherman, owns the Bertram in the next slip. It turned out t be a great decision on many fronts… Just as we entered the harbor the Coast Guard issued gale wind warnings, and we met such great sailors here in little “Lake Yazoo” Tomorrow it’s supposed to get a little better, blow like stink tonight and slowly back off tomorrow during the day. Our plan is to reef the sails down and try to get out about 7AM, try to make it across Mobile Bay tomorrow into the ICW. If we get beat up too bad in the morning we will hang out at Dauphin and make the ICW to Pensacola on Friday.
Today’s dinghy ride to Horn Island netted us our first shells and driftwood of the trip.
Well it’s 8:30.. my bedtime… Sea Yawl Later !!
Mate, It is good to see SYL back doing what she does best. It has been an excellent blog that I’ve followed from Australia. I’ll buy a SW 1000 one of these days. I agree they are a great boat and it’s good to hear your impressions of how she handles all conditions and how you have modified her to suit the Bahamas etc.
Thanks for all the tips mate.
Paul