Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Berry Islands, HERE WE COME!!


The Berries are one of the places Renne’ and I have always wanted to see.  We have heard so much about them.  This was one of those hideaways the celebrities would come to.  So when we knew we were headed to The Bahamas again, it was where we wanted to go.  Our friends, Chip and Joanne, our next dock neighbors in Boca Chica, spent a month there and raved about it.  Done deal!

So Sunday morning, 09 April, 2017, at 0730, the anchor was retrieved and off we went as an armada of boats.  The first two hours weren’t bad, but winds picked up, and as the old saying goes, “It doesn’t matter what direction you are headed, the winds will always be on your nose!”  And so it was!! 

Of course in sailing, you can’t sail directly into the wind.  A sail is really like the wing of an airplane.  The angle-of-attack is critical.   On our boat, the jib gives out at about 43 degrees to the wind, as does out mains’l.  The stays’l remains helpful in stabilizing the boat in waves, but adds little to forward motion at less than 20 degrees to the wind.  When the wind is directly off your bow, sails are worthless, all must come down, and the motor gets you wherever you are going.

By mid-morning, seas had grown to 2-3’ off the bow, by 1pm, we saw some 4’s and maybe a 5’ or so.  Needless to say, we were all uncomfortable, and Scimitar was running as hard as she could to make 4kts.  I nautical mile is equal to 1.1508 normal land mile or statute mile.  So to give you an idea, imagine traveling in your car 46 miles at 4.6 mph.  You could almost run that fast, and without the up and down movement of the bow!!!  At least half of the day, we fought just to keep above 4.0kts.  Each time a wave hits the bow, the boat slows, sometimes dramatically.  We saw 2.2kts more than a few times during the day.

We did set out a new green and white Jet-bead lure and found we had a 30” barracuda gnawing on the lure.  Needless to say, he was NOT HAPPY!!  Have I said I hate barracuda?!?!?!  I gaffed it and it immediately settled down.  As I dragged it aboard, it began to fight.  To tell you the truth, those teeth are frightening!!!  I asked Renne’ to get me alcohol to put on it’s gills, and almost immediately I was able to begin fileting the fish.  I am not really good at it, but in 10 or so minutes, we had meat for breakfast and more. 

Miss Piggy was 7 or so nautical miles ahead of us all of the way.  About 10nm out from Great Harbor, we began to see the waves begin to settle down.  The way the island lies, it adds great protection from winds and waves generated from the Northeast to the Southeast.  By 5nm out, we were in pretty calm water, and back up to 5.2-5.5kts. 

We arrived in Great Harbor by 1700 (5:00pm) and found Miss Piggy at anchor off of Rat Cay, just north of the Great Harbor Cay City Docks.  We searched for a good anchor area, and finally snagged the anchor about 150 yards from Miss Piggy.  An hour later, the other three boats joined us and dropped anchor.  It turns out this trip has much more wind than previous trips for us to The Bahamas!  Listening to Chris Parker Weather, it looks as though we might be here for a week or so at anchor.  We will have to see.


Once again, out at anchor, and not able to get you out here for cocktails.  We will have to make special arrangements for you next time!

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