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Argh, can somebody please send us some nice, sunny weather? Despite the encouraging optimism of the forecaster two weeks ago, we have seen blue skies maybe twice so far in June. At least the frequent rain squalls wash our boat clean of the salt spray from sailing. Hey, silver lining, right?

From Ship Channel Cay we sailed to Rose Island, near enough to Nassau that we could see the pink towers of the Atlantis resort. This is an anchorage we've used before, convenient for a stop between the Exumas and the Berrys for people (like us) who don't want to go into Nassau. Despite the total overcast, the wind was a really nice 8-10 knots over our right shoulder, just perfect for a smooth and fast sail. The anchorage was a lot smoother than any we'd been in recently, and we slept well and
woke early the next day to hear the forecast.

Ten to twelve knots from the east, sounded perfect. The only fly in the ointment was the warning of isolated squalls between Nassau and the Berry Islands, with as much as 30-50 knots of wind. We were underway by 8:15, motored through the placid cut out to deep water, and put up the sails.

It was great sailing, at first. With the wind mostly behind us we scooted along on a comfortable broad reach, and a few patches of blue sky made us think that maybe today wouldn't suck, after all.

Then we hit a foul current, and it was like someone had stuck out a hand right in front of our bow. Our 6.8 knots of speed through the water slowed to 4.5 over ground. We hooked a big fish, probably a mahi-mahi - and it jumped off the line as soon as Britt started reeling it in. Worst of all, the clouds started multiplying, expanding and darkening, and soon it was clear that the "isolated squalls" covered the entire area between Nassau and the Berrys.

It actually wasn't that bad for most of the day. We watched the sky, both with our eyes and with radar, and the storms kept their distance. The windspeed increased and we reefed down the sails, but as we were going mostly downwind it wasn't too bumpy despite the building waves. But as we approached the islands, the storm began to gain on us, and the winds and seas increased a little more, covering Windom's deck (and us, occasionally!) with salt spray.

Our concern was the narrow entrance to the anchorage, between Devil's Cay on the left and a series of rocks on the right, new territory for us. This cut faces east, right into the wind, so we'd be surfing down the waves, which were likely to be especially big because the tide was falling, and therefore the current was opposing the wind. Going through a cut like this is scary, as it's harder to see that you're not getting into trouble and harder to correct if you are. (In fact, two years ago when
we'd entered the Rose Island cut - the pass we'd exited this morning - we'd had conditions like that, big downwind waves from a north swell and opposing current, more exciting than we liked!)

Complicating the situation was the fact that the islands form a lee shore: if it wasn't safe to go in, it would be upwind work to get out to deep water. Britt spotted a mast in the anchorage, and suggested I call that boat and ask for a report on the conditions in the cut. When I hailed them on VHF, they took a look and said, "Doesn't look bad, it's not breaking," so with the storm bearing down on us, we put the motor on and aimed for the cut.

And it turned out to be fine. The waves weren't as big as we'd feared, and we could see the reefs on both sides clearly through the water. We turned right and headed for the closest anchoring area and dropped the anchor just as the skies opened up and the rain began.

So far - knock on wood - it's been a relatively mild storm. A little rain to wash the boat, a little wind to turn the wind generator. The boat next to us apparently got hit by a nasty squall yesterday, in an open anchorage a few islands to the north; the winds switched from east to west and howled at 50 knots for several hours, and they had to start the engine and keep it on at low speed to counteract the pressure on the anchor, which if it gave way would run them up on the island they'd sheltered
behind. This place gives better protection, but still, I'd just as soon not see winds like that.

And you never know - maybe it will be sunny tomorrow.
- posted by S/V Windom @ 6/08/2007 [link]