After four full days of pushing the boat EAST from Miami, and laying up for two days in Bimin for weather, we have finally reached the Exumas. We have now made it here just in time for the next big cold front and high winds and squalls! A storm moving off the east coast will drag a very strong cold front across Florida Wed and Thursday that will reach us here in the islands. So our first mission is to find a place to anchor safely from the projected 20-25 mph winds. Our good friends Laurie and Jim connected with us via VHF and we may have a place to go to ride it out. We will up anchor here off Highborne Cay and head down to Normans Cay in the AM and see if there is room for our fleet of three Island Packets. If so, it will be a MINIVOUS of IPs. If there is no room then we will have to find another place with protection from SW, then W, then NW then N then NE 20-30 knot winds with chance of severe storms/squalls! WHAT....come on, give is a few days of rest and a break before we get whacked!
For now, this is our plan. We plan to stay centered around Warderick Wells and the Exumas Land and Sea Park. We will reach south to Little Farmers and North to Shroud Cay, all within 30 miles. In April we will be up in the Abacos based at the JIB ROOM. For now, we need to find shelter for Thur....
for a larger view
Click this image to see the picture of our plan
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| Our March, April and May 2014 Plan |
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| That is all coral heads you need to avoid |
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| This is the true color of the waters in the Exumas |
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| Do you see the orange and black range makers guiding me over the reef? |
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Anchor down in 20 feet, look at that chain going forward. I have out 125 feet
20 feet of water + 5 feet to the bow = 25 feet times 5 = 125 feet of anchor for a 5:1 scope |
OK, this Open Free WiFi rig is really really slow, but I find it amazing we can connect out here.
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AM WX Update and Study from:
http://passageweather.com/index.htm?http%3A//passageweather.com/maps/florida/mappage.htm
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| West Winds 20 |
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| NW Winds 20+ |
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| N winds 20 |
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| N winds |
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| This is what effects the weather in the Bahamas, storms up north! |
Hayden:
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine cruised to Norman's Cay years ago, not long after Lehder was forced off, and described the remains of his compound still shot up from the assault, and the tail of the transport plane sticking out of the water in the harbor. Is that still there? The Wiki page suggests it's all submerged now:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman's_Cay
Have also heard the new resort owners are almost as friendly to cruisers as the cartel was. I'd love to see it, have heard it is incredibly beautiful. Look forward to your report!
-- sb
Bearboat
Do you anchor down by Horn Cay or Boot Cay when at Norman's ?
ReplyDeleteCarey on Catspaw