MAKANI MUSES

Bahamas

November, 2017- May, 2018

Makani saying farewell to the US

This year’s journey to the Bahamas began in Lake Worth, Florida on Saturday, November 18, 2017.  A narrow weather window for crossing the gulf stream  was projected for mid-day Saturday through early Sunday.  After finishing our provisioning on Saturday morning we hoisted the dinghy engine onto its mount on the davits and then raised the dinghy onto its place on the bow.  Seas were projected to be 3-5 feet early Saturday, diminishing through the day to 2-3 feet. 

We left Lake Worth inlet at 12:30pm heading for Memory Rock, our entrance onto the Little Bahama Bank, 54 nautical miles away.  Winds were very light and coming directly at us so we motor-sailed; the sails were up mainly to provide stability against the ocean swells.  We were pleasantly surprised that the crossing was one of the easiest we have done.  Kathi navigated us onto the Banks at Memory Rock at 9:30 pm.  I had napped for as much of the crossing as I could then took over for the next part of the trip.  We decided to head for Mangrove Cay, a tiny uninhabited Cay, 24 miles from Memory Rock.  We reached the anchorage around 1:30am, set our hook and settled in for some well deserved rest.

In the morning, we took care of our chores including getting the dinghy back into the water and remounting the outboard, then did our traditional swinging off the boat and down into the water.  After a nice bath in the salt water we were on our way to our next destination, Grand Cay.

Grand Cays is one of the northern-most Cays in the Bahamas and is a check-in point for customs and immigration.  We have never checked in at Grand Cays before but were told it was an easy process.  The trip of 24 miles took us about 5 hours but the winds had shifted to the north-west at about 12 knots allowing us to turn off the engine and sail using all 3 of Makani’s sails.  After a beautiful sail we reached Grand Cays, anchored, then went in search of the Customs office.  The Customs office was closed (of course) with a phone number to call posted on the door.  We went to Rosie’s Place, the local restaurant, and one of the patrons called the number.  The Customs officer is actually headquartered on Walkers Cay, 5 miles away, but she boated over and we completed the paperwork sitting at a table at Rosie’s place.  The biggest concern in clearing through is wether you will receive immigration stay for 3 months or for 6 months.  If you only receive authorization for 3 months you must return to an immigration office no more than a week before your time is up to request an extension.  Fortunately, we were given a 6 month time-frame.  We are now legal to travel through the Bahamas, spearfishing to our hearts and stomach’s content! 

At anchor in Grand Cays

Grand Cays consists of 5 populated Cays, Grand Cay, Big Grand Cay, Little Grand Cay,, Seahorse Cay, and Felix Cay.  The largest settlement is located on Little Grand Cay with the Government Administration, a small grocery store, three restaurants and a few other shops.  In the recent past, many of the inhabitants worked at the resort on Walkers Cay, about 5 miles away.  Walkers Cay was a hotspot for offshore fishing, boasted a first-rate marina and hotel.  The area was one of President Nixon’s favorite vacation spots.  Hurricanes essentially destroyed the facilities on Walkers Cay which now lie abandoned, eliminating one of the primary sources of livelihood for the locals of Grand Cay.  Today most of the population makes their living from fishing.  Each evening you can watch the small boats returning to the harbor to drop their catch off at the dock for future shipment to Marsh Harbor and the processing plant.

Blustery in the anchorage

  As predicted, the weather turned nasty late Sunday with gale-force winds from the north clocking around to the east.  The winds will persist through Tuesday afternoon so we stayed on our anchorage for the next two days.  We still feel good about crossing to the Bahamas when we did since the next potential weather window isn’t until November 25.   

Regardless of how strong the winds are we can always find a place to snorkel and enjoy seeing the undersea life.  We saw about a dozen lobster but they all looked too small so our conservation ethic kept us from spearing any.  This is just a time to enjoy being in the water again. 

Tuesday brought squalls along with the wind so we decided laundry was the task of the day; wash in salt water, rinse in salt water then hang on deck for a final fresh water rinse. Tomorrow we can hope for sunshine to provide the drying.