Ease The MainWith Benevento and its crew

We have some advice for you. If you plan to go to the Bahamas, make sure you spend more than 4 weeks there because you won’t see a fraction of what it has to offer. We know, because during our cruise we heard about countless “don’t miss” spots that we, well…missed! What we did see, we loved. We had a nice 3-day sail from Puerto Rico to Matthew Town, Great Inagua and averaged over 7 knots during the trip. What a difference it can make to have the wind *behind* you and a nice current with you. On our passages going “into the weather” we would be lucky to average 4 knots. Had we been going 4 knots on the passage from Puerto Rico to our entry point into the Bahamas, it would have taken us almost twice as long.

We checked into the Bahamas in Matthewtown, Great Inagua, where we were the only boat in the anchorage. The next day we went to an anchorage off of Acklins Island, where we were the only boat in the anchorage for 4 days, including Easter morning.

 

 

 

Searching for more “kid boats” (so that Dante could have a playdate), we took an overnight passage to Georgetown, Great Exuma. While we arrived in time for the all-island regatta for the Bahamians, no kid boats were to be found. Instead, we paid Dante $50 to help wax the boat. Aren’t we nice parents? Georgetown, normally a tiny quiet town, was bursting with excitement over the annual regatta. They set up food stalls along the viewing area (where I tried my first conch fritters) and ended the week-long event with a great parade down the small main street. The boats came through the anchorage area on the way to the race course and we had a great front row view of the sloops racing across the waters.

 

 

 

 

The name “Bahamas” originates from the Spanish words “Baja Mar” which means “shallow sea.” They got that right. Being from California, we’re used to deep water and we don’t anchor in anything less than 15 feet due to tidal fluctuations. And you definitely can’t see to the bottom. In the Bahamas, the tidal fluctuations are more like 2 to 3 feet, and you can see all the way down to the white sand bottom from a depth of 30 feet or more. It’s not uncommon to anchor in 4 feet of water. When we were leaving Georgetown, we left during low tide and our depth reader registered “0.0” feet as we were heading out! When we got to 2 feet we high fived each other and said, “yahoo!”. We never thought we’d feel like we were in deep water with 2 feet of water under our keel!

We took an overnight sail to Staniel Cay and anchored off of a beach where the pigs will come and swim to your dinghy to beg for leftovers. The 300-pound swimming pigs turned their snouts up at the lettuce and potato peelings I brought. I think they were expecting spaghetti.

 

 

 

Staniel Cay is home to the Thunderball Grotto, which was used in the James Bond movie by the same name. It’s best to go snorkeling there at low slack tide in order have enough room to get under a ledge and swim into the grotto. Once in, you are swimming in a kaleidoscope of tropical fish. Light streams in from the opening above you and from the entrance and exit points, highlighting the clearness of the water and the colors of the myriad of fish. It’s like swimming in a kaleidoscope.  As Dante said, it was “epic.”  Unfortunately, we had no James Bond sightings but we did drink a martini.  Shaken, not stirred of course.

 

 

 

 

We spent another two days sailing up Great Exuma (anchoring at night) to make it to our final stop in the Bahamas – the Great Exuma Land and Sea Park. This park is protected – no fishing, no shelling, no lobstering. As they say, “Take only pictures, leave only bubbles.” Because of this, the wildlife are not timid – including the birds and the lizards. We did finally find one kid boat moored in the park with us – however they arrived the day before we left. At least Dante got in a couple of hours with another kid!

Along with about a hundred other sailors, we left a piece of driftwood with our boat name on it on top of one of the highest points of the island – Boo Boo Hill. It was a feat to get to the Bahamas from San Francisco and we noticed that our piece of wood was the only one with a website.  Our Silicon Valley roots showing through, I guess!

 

The view from Boo Boo Hill provided us with a panorama of hues in blue, from the slightest hint of pale blue over the shallowest waters to azure, cerulean, turquoise, teal, navy and midnight. As a sailor, it’s so cool to be able to judge the depth of the water by the color. We thought of our artist friend Giselle, and how she would be looking at the colors of the water thinking of paint combinations.

After the Land and Sea Park, we made our way back to Florida. We had to sail over the Great Bahama Bank – a long stretch of water that is only 15 – 20 feet deep and beautifully clear. It was another lovely 2-day sail with the wind at our back and no heeling. It was so comfortable at some points it didn’t even feel like we were sailing.  We crossed the Gulf Stream and made it to Fort Lauderdale, Florida just in time for the sunrise.

 

 

 

P.S. – to see all the photos from the Bahamas, go to our Flickr site:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/easethemain/sets/72157644594485596/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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