Salty Sailing to the Berry Islands

We pulled up anchor this morning at 7:30 under overcast skies and started our passage north to the Berry Islands. The cloud coverage changed from 90% to 10% in less than 30 minutes. Protected from the southern wind where we were anchored, the wind speed was 14 knots and there was only a slight chop on the surface of the water. The wind gradually clocked to the southwest and increased by noon to a steady 24-27 knots, with occasional gusts close to 35. Of course, the sea state also changed, first to 1 foot breaking waves to 4-6 feet by 10 a.m. We started out with a full main but put two reefs in only an hour after setting off. At 1:00, we put in the third reef and also reefed the genoa. Throughout the day, our speed was at 9 knots or above, and we saw the instrument register 13.7!

Shortly before noon, we cut in behind Whale Cay to have lunch and assess whether it would be a good anchorage for the night. The winds were predicted to shift to the west and die down to 10-12 knots by sunset. We found a small sandy patch among the rocky bottom and dropped the anchor, but it did not hold. There was current and the wind was at 25 knots. We brought the anchor up and made another attempt, but it was extremely difficult to maintain course into wind and slow down to drop. I was at the helm, and each time we reached the spot, the wind blew us off. Peter and I changed our usual positions, and he took the helm and I went to the bow to drop the anchor. He made two attempts, but he had the same problem. I came back to the cockpit and after a very brief discussion, we agreed to keep heading north to Great Harbour Cay. 

Even though the autopilot did a good job of maintaining course, Peter stayed at the helm just in case it failed. He got drenched several times by waves rising up above the gunwale on the windward side and sending spray over the pilot house (really, it's a large hard dodger because it is not completely enclosed with the wheel inside) and into the cockpit. We tried to stay close to the lee of the land to minimize the spray, but it really did not help.

Peter at the helm, ready to jibe

That's not rain; that's spray on the windows

Mantra riding the waves 

Scattered thunderstorms were predicted, but we did not encounter any. We dropped anchor in a large open bay on the southeast side of Great Harbour Cay around 3:30. Luckily, I had made sandwiches last night for the passage, so we did not have to wait until we were anchored to eat. We could see rainclouds on the horizon and hoped that there would be some rain to wash the salt from the boat, but there was only a spattering of raindrops once. There was a rainbow in the east, however.

There is a long beach curving in a crescent shape around the bay, but the chop deterred us from launching the kayak to reach it for a walk. It is supposed to calm tomorrow. Meanwhile, we have to decide if we take a long route around the northern end of the island to reach the anchorage and small town on the other side of the island. We ran out of milk a few days ago, so Peter has not had tea for a while! (Also, we are down to a 6-pack of Diet Coke.)

The boat is rocking in the current and the wind is still making a low howling sound, but it is quiet here and there are just a few houses on the land. What a relief after the bright lights and noise of Nassau!