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This was my first trip to the Bahamas.
My friend Jerry, who owned ¼ of the "Luna Sea", a 33’ Morgan Out Islander, invited me and my roommate, Steve to go on a two week sailing trip to the Bahamas. Although I have been sailing since I was about 10 years old, this is the first time I would sail out of the sight of land.
Being recently divorced and having little money for fun, I took this opportunity for a little “R&R” on a low budget. Just pay for part of the cost for food and fuel and spend 2 weeks in paradise. As I said, since we were broke, instead of flying to Florida, Steve and I jumped into my Datsun 200SX and drove the 14 hours from Atlanta, GA to Fort Lauderdale, FL where Jerry lived.
We were fortunate in that the boat owners had just had the Luna Sea hauled for maintenance and was still in the Fort Lauderdale area (normally it is kept at Lower Matacombe Key in the Florida Keys). They had parked her behind a friends house on a canal temporarily until we could get to her.
Although we arrived late at night, we went out and bought supplies (food and drinks) loaded up the Luna Sea and went back for a short nap before departing. Since we wanted to make it to West End, Grand Bahama Island during daylight, we needed to get up and be on the boat by 3:00 AM.
We woke up bright and early, got to the boat and then headed out Hillsboro Inlet at 4:00 AM. The winds were from the east so we had to motor.
Although the winds were not strong, we had to deal with large rolling swells (20 feet tall and 80 feet apart). This made for a roller coaster type ride the whole day. At this time, we did not have a GPS so we were using a Radar Direction Finder to plot our course. During the trip, Steve, who was not used to ocean sailing, was feeling a bit “queasy” and wanted to go down below for a rest. No way. We made him stay up top because we knew what would happen if he went down below where he could not see the horizon.
After 14 hours, we finally saw West End. (A few years later, using GPS and an Autopilot, we made the same trip in 8 hours. So much for our navigational skills.) We got to customs at the Jack Tar Marina, just before they closed so they checked us in. While we were there, we met a couple from the Chesapeake Bay Area who just finished their Bahamas excursion. They were leaving to go back to the states. The owner said he never wanted to come back here again because they grounded so many times and gave us their NOAA Chart book. This was a great gift since we only had the “Yachtsman’s Guide to the Bahamas” book.
We then anchored out for our “first” dinner on the boat. We had bought a roast and were going to cook it on the grill. Unfortunately, we did not realize how big it was and would take a long time to grill it. Jerry wanted to speed things up, so he kept spraying it with “Gulf Light” charcoal starter to keep the fire hot. After that great meal, we won’t talk about all of the trips to the head.
The next day we headed out for Great Sale Cay. The channel to get around West End is pretty scary so we used the “dink” to check the depths getting out. There is a rather large coral reef here that is not well marked, so we took our time making our way through this area. We made Great Sale Cay before night fall and then went exploring and swimming. Great Sale Cay is uninhabited and is about 5 miles long.
That night a front came through so we had to sit for a day while it blew through. As an aside, Steve and Jerry decided that on this trip, they were going to quit smoking, yea, right. They quit buying and smoked all of my cigarettes. When the front came through they had finished my small supply of cigarettes so I was not a happy camper for the next two days until they (not me) bought me more cigarettes. Oh, the power of bad habits.
After sitting for a day at Great Sale Cay, we headed to Green Turtle Cay, Abacos. After we got there, we cleaned up the boat and went into town. Green Turtle Cay is a fun place to just wonder around. We had a great time for a day and went to bed down. At Green Turtle Cay we met a retired couple who had just bought their new 41’ sailboat, unfortunately it drew 6 feet. They ran aground trying to get into White Sound and had to have a power boat pull them out. Although a beautiful boat, it was not made for the Bahamas.
The next day, we left Green Turtle Cay for Marsh Harbour. The tricky part of this trip is going around Whale Cay. If the weather is not right, this can be a frightful trip. We were lucky and made it around with no problems.
We arrived at Marsh Harbour and took a slip at the Conch Inn. We needed a few days of “R&R”. At last, a shower that does not bounce around. While we were there, our friends on the 41’ sailboat also showed up in Marsh Harbour. They anchored out and were having trouble with one of their halyards. Steve, the lighter of us, decided to go on a “bosun chair” ride and helped with their problem. As a reward, we received a bottle of Scotch, unfortunately, none of us drank Scotch.
The next day we headed over to Hope Town on Elbow Cay. Our new friends were heading the same way, so we went out in the dingy to lead them in. With their draft, we knew they would probably have problems. After we all got settled, we took the dingy out to a small island near the entrance into Hope Town Harbour and snorkeled for a few hours. It was great. When we returned, we saw a fishing boat come in with a Marlin that they had caught. We got about 8 free Marlin steaks for dinner.
The next day, we walked around Hope Town. Unfortunately, it was Sunday so not much was open, but it is still a nice town.
Therefore, we left for Man-O-War Cay and arrived in just a few hours. Unfortunately, it was also Sunday there so nothing was open. We spent the night anchored and went in to explore the next day. We had a nice stroll around the town on Monday and bought a few T-shirts.
Well, unfortunately, life in paradise must end and we needed to head back. We left Man-O-War Cay and headed back to West End. We made it to Manjack Cay where we anchored for the night.
The next day when we headed out, we could see some weather (storms) coming in, but we kept going because we were on a schedule. After motoring for about 2 hours, they hit us and we could not see the bottom very well. We also did not have any foul weather gear, so we used plastic garbage bags to keep us dry. Unfortunately, I lived up to my name “Shoals Councill” and hit bottom a few times. We finally made it to West End, Grand Bahamas and anchored around the point. We had spaghetti for dinner and went to bed early so we could be ready for the crossing the next day.
Unfortunately the wind was from one direction and the current from another so we “rocked and rolled” most of the night. After a few hours of this, we decided to make a break for the U.S., since we were not going to get any sleep. Ten hours later, we were coming back into Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Tired, but happy.
Another 14 hours later and Steve and I were back in Atlanta, GA. Although a grueling trip, it was fun to be in paradise, if only for a short time.