It was time for us to leave the Jumentos/Ragged Islands as we were beginning to run low on some supplies. There was a favorable weather window that would allow us to move up into the central Bahamas and we chose to take it. We pulled anchor on the 19th and after hoisting all sails we sailed up to Flamingo Cay in 10-15 knot winds. We planned to spend a couple of days here since it was a new area for us but by the next morning we were starting to roll. We do not like staying in a rolling anchorage so we decided to move on. Flamingo Cay is sort of a jumping off point for what is called the outside route or the inside route. We chose the inside route which kept us in the shallow waters of the Bahama Banks. We headed off with plans of stopping off at one of the smaller Cays if it got too late and continuing on to Blackpoint the next day. We had winds 15-20 knots and arrived at our halfway point early and continued on. We dropped anchor at Little Bay just outside of Blackpoint at 6:00 pm, a run of 80 miles in 12 hours. I made a small error by anchoring too close into shore and during the night a rain squall came through and the winds shifted. We were no in too shallow of water and had to move. Nothing is as much fun as pulling anchor and re-anchoring at night in the rain. Once situated it was time to go back to sleep. In the morning we moved to Blackpoint proper. Blackpoint is a small community with a protected harbor and amenities for cruisers. The Bahamas were still enforcing a total lock-down on weekends so we spent the two days on the boat with light rain showers moving through. On Monday we were able to go into town with our masks on and do a load of laundry, use the WiFi and stock up on bread. There is a lady who bakes bread and we purchased three loaves for the upcoming trip. This is some of the best bread you will ever eat and it was still warm from the oven. In the afternoon we pulled anchor and moved up a few miles to Big Majors Spot, home of the swimming pigs (google it), and spent the night.
Tuesday morning, the 26th, we pulled anchor and moved over to Staniel Yacht Club, about a mile, to top off our fuel. Once full we started the trip back home. There are a number of options and we chose to take advantage of the fair weather and make it non-stop. We took what is called the Decca Channel across the Banks to the Tongue of the Ocean which is a deep water area in the middle of the islands. Once there we shifted to a northwest heading and our next waypoint was the Northwest Channel Light. The winds were light and from behind, not a good combination. When going downwind you subtract your boat speed from the wind-speed and get what is called the "apparent" wind. With 10 knot of wind we were only showing 4-6 knots apparent. We were only sailing at about 3.5 knots. We finally got an opportunity to fly our spinnaker, we had been carrying it with us for years without use. A spinnaker is a an oversize sail made with lightweight material for sailing in light-winds usually going downwind. With this sail we were able to maintain 4-4.5 knots of speed. With evening coming we expected the winds to drop and we started the motor to continue on. With the motor we were able to maintain 5-6 knots of speed. In the morning we tried sailing with the headsail again and were able to maintain about 4 knots. By evening the winds were dropping again so we started motoring. This time I started the watermaker to fill one of the tanks. We continued across the Banks (shallow water area) until about 3:00 am when we moved into the deep water between the Bahamas and Florida. Once in the deep water we were able to catch the Gulf Stream and ride it as we motored across. This gave us a boost and we were now maintaining 8-9 knots. We angled northwest as we crossed and headed to St Augustine. We were planning on going further but with the light winds still behind up we had to motor rather then sail. There was a weather front moving down the coast and we would have to tuck in somewhere to let it pass, St Augustine was a logical choice. Once it passes we could continue and hopefully sail the next leg. We arrived at St Augustine on the 29th and dropped anchor about 3:00 pm. the marina reported all of the mooring balls were reserved so we anchored just outside the mooring field. It is a short dinghy ride to shore. We had traveled 461 miles in 77 hours, motoring 50 of those. It was an uneventful trip except for the last evening. Just after sunset, off of Cape Canaveral, a storm moved in and suddenly instead of 10 knots of wind and calm seas we had 30+ knots on the nose. We had heard the forecast and knew it was coming so we were not caught by surprise. What caught us was that after seeing almost no traffic we were approached by three boats of various sizes one after the other, either them maneuvering to avoid us or us maneuvering to avoid them. After about an hour it calmed down but the seas had built by the winds and took longer to calm down.
We are now in a major urban area, with lots of people and varying reports of the Covid Virus. Saturday we launched the dinghy and made a trip to Winn/Dixie. Time to re-provision. We tied the dinghy to a dock at one of the boatyards, with their permission, and walked to the store, put on our masks and went in. OMG, there is air conditioning! We are limited in how much we can buy at one time since we have to carry it back to the dinghy. We now had fresh fruits, vegetables, other necessities and Diet Coke (my drink of choice in the morning). Later we went back to shore to have dinner at one of our favorite barbecue spots, Mojo's. The food was as good as we remembered. On the walk back to the dock we checked out some of the shops but most were too busy since it was a Saturday evening. We are still not used to being around crowds after social distancing in remote areas.
Sunday we spent the day on the boat since there was nothing in town that we needed to do. In the evening, as we were enjoying our first grilled cheese sandwiches (on Bahamian bread) we were hailed by a passing dinghy. Their motor had quit and they were attempting to drift back home. We jumped into the dinghy and towed them to their marina. The tide had just changed and they never would have made it and were in the process of calling for a tow. We got back to our boat just after sunset and settled down for the night. In the morning on of the boaters we had towed stopped by to pick up our propane tanks. We had mentioned that we needed propane but didn't know where to get it. They returned them filled, refusing to let us pay for it. A much appreciated but totally unnecessary gesture.
We are checking the weather forecasts for the next leg to Beaufort NC and it is not looking good. Once this front passes there is another one coming that will hit before we arrive in Beaufort. Our current plan is to make our way to Charleston and sit it out before continuing. It is June 1st and our insurance states that we need to be north of Cape Hatteras by now. It is time to get moving.
We are still struggling with low bandwidth so no photos again.
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