Sailing Last Mango

We left Little Farmers Cay shortly before 8:30 in the morning and made it to the Galloit cut shortly before 10:30AM (Out going tide). There was a line of boats behind me including Fracas and a few boats waiting to come in through the cut. While passing through the cut the waves built and we had mostly long swells with a few choppy areas that slowed Mango to a crawl and of course the wind was right on the nose. We knew these conditions would most likely exist but we wanted to make it to see Hannah today rather than tomorrow. The weather showed the winds would change and waves should start to settle. As time progressed the waves did settle and the winds did shift to a more easterly direction and we were able to make 6 plus knots motor sailing. We decided to cut the trip about 7 miles short and stay at the Sandal’s Emerald Bay resort since we knew we would be there with plenty of time before dark and could take a slip for a night or two. One of the nice things about staying at Emerald Ba...

3-10  This morning Karen and I took a long wet dinghy ride to the yacht club to grab internet and try to make arrangements to get Hannah to us from Georgetown. After making some contacts and having tentative plans made we took a walk into the town. Town is a loose term for the area. It’s more a collection of small buildings that people live in and sell subsistence items. We tried to open the screen door to the grocery store and it seemed stuck. We peeked around the side and found Tasha the store owner playing dominos with her brother. We introduced ourselves and Karen explained our issues trying to get Hannah to us. Tasha grabbed my hand, closed her eyes and blessed us through prayer. She explained that everything would be fine and work out to gods plan. I’m not a religious guy but her words made sense to me and made me feel more at ease. The same feeling must have been felt by Karen and she wiped the tears from her eyes and got a smile to her face. Tasha’s basic premise was...

Hitchhiker in the middle of nowhere 3-6    Pulling up anchor this morning we had a few squid that seemed to like our anchor rode and bridal. These are the first I’ve seen all trip. Hopefully I will be able to see them snorkeling.  Our trip from Morgan’s Bluff to West Bay at the East end of New Providence Island went without issue. The trip was only about 30 miles but with the relentless east winds and swells we were glad it was a short trip. We motored or motor sailed the whole way and thank goodness the swells decreased after the first 5 miles or so. Karen and I talked most of the way across and it was good. We both miss family and friends back home and are looking forward to seeing them this summer. We’ve both felt this way, Karen probably more so. It was good to talk about this and brainstorm on our future plans. He stayed with us for awhile until I bothered him by putting a reef in the main, Anothe...

3-03    We planned on arriving in West Bay tonight but the waves were killing Last Mango. At times our speed would be reduced to 1.9 knots by the waves we were beating into. I would start to think the waves and wind were dropping and then it would startup again. Winds were now consistently above 20 knots on the nose. Karen and I had a short discussion and we made the decision to pull off at Morgans Bluff just off of Andros Island. We contacted Fracas on the radio who was a few miles ahead and they agreed this beating in to the wind and waves was no fun. I’m glad we did as we were able to sail the whole way there on a beam reach with speeds above 6 knots. Then when we arrived we found a very beautiful, protected anchorage from all winds but north.  Beach just opposite our anchorage Dinghy's resting in the surf Morgan’s Bluff got its name during the 1700s, pirates occupied the island of North Andros, Bahamas. Morgan's Blu...