On Monday March 18, we crossed Exuma Sound from Emerald Bay to Cat Island. This was Joyce's birthday and Captain Bligh ordered her to sea :-). It was particularly cruel since the wind and seas were higher than forecast and more on the nose than expected, so we had 53 miles of close-hauled sailing. Sailing close to the wind is not the most comfortable point of sail and we had a 'lively' trip. We did, however, sail the whole way motoring for only a short period of time out of the marina and into the anchorage. This was our longest 'pure' sail in a long time! Joyce's Birthday present!
Yesterday we went ashore in a lively southern breeze and got wet beaching the dinghy and soaked on way back to the boat.
We did take a brief tour of New Bight including Father Jerome's retirement home/monastery. Father Jerome was the Anglican/Catholic priest that built many churches in the Islands (see my post regarding Long Island - South on 3/1). It sits on Mt Alvernia, the highest hill in the Bahamas at 206 ft. It is an impressive structure resembling a medieval monastery and life there was very austere. Below are a few pictures:
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| From the 'Stations of the Cross' lining the path up the hill 'Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem' |
Today we have moved to the north end of the bay to get better protection from an approaching front. The protection in Cat Island is not great, but we think/hope that we will be OK tonight. We will then have a couple of days of fairly settled weather and need to decide where we will stay for the next (stronger) front expected over the weekend. The weather has turned unsettled and we may defer moving north until it settles more - it is forecast to be worse, the farther north you lie.
Tom
Anchored at New Bight
Cat Island, Bahamas
Map of Cruise 2012-13
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