We are currently docked at Emerald Bay Marina in Exuma.
We did an overnight sail from Rock Sound, rather than splitting the trip into 2-3 day-trips, partly due to the available weather window and also just to cover ground quicker. We will return later in the year to enjoy the northern Exumas.
The trip between Rock Sound and Emerald Bay is a little over 90 miles - too long for a day-trip, but actually a bit short for an overnight. Thus we departed as late as possible and had to keep our speed down in order to arrive after the marina has opened.
We departed Rock Sound, Eleuthera a little after 4:00 PM on Sunday (2/8) allowing us to clear the Davis Channel and enter deep water before sunset.
The trip featured a little close-hauled (wind forward) sailing, but mostly motor-sailing as the wind decreased and clocked more on the nose. We had a 4 foot wind-driven swell bouncing us around as we cleared the southern tip of Eleuthera and one significant squall, but overall it was a decent trip.
We approached Emerald Bay at around 9:00 AM on Monday while the marina area was experiencing a rain shower. We killed a little more time to allow it to pass and had only a few sprinkles on arrival.
As we entered the marina, we were surprised by the level of activity - we had to wait 15 minutes to get some fuel before docking in our slip. That activity, however, was just a prelude. As a strong cold front was approaching on Tuesday, a 'record' 45 boats sought refuge in the marina. This is our fourth stay here, and we have never seen it this busy! Exuma is a wonderful place, but it features few spaces to weather a strong clocking cold-front, Emerald Bay being one.
In all our stays here, we have never seen ONE boat on this dock - today it is FULL. It does not have electricity nor water and it is in the far reaches of the marina - a looong walk to the bathroom, showers, and other amenities.
We have now caught up some on sleep and as I write this, the strong winds have arrived as predicted!
More to follow on our mainland Exuma adventures.
Tom
Docked Emerald Bay Marina
No comments:
Post a Comment