Movin on down the chain

We left Warderick Wells after just one night because we had spent several nights here last year and an impending cold front is poised to come through over the weekend (another weekend another gale) so we wanted to get to a place where we could hide. Even though Warderick Wells would provide great shelter we didn’t want to stay there that long.

So we left our friends Wendy and Diana (who later decided to come too) and planned to head to the Staniel Cay area. We like the anchorage behind Big Majors which is where the famous swimming pigs live.

As we left the anchorage it appeared that we would be motoring the short 20 miles to our new home as the wind was in single digits and the apparent wind only about 30 degrees off the bow. But after motoring most of the way to our first waypoint we had cleared some of the shoals and I could begin to fall off away from the wind. Realizing that without the speed of the engine the apparent wind would increase off but the apparent wind speed would decrease. We had plenty of time to make the anchorage so we pulled out the sails and shut off the engine. We were sailing! As we settled in we had the apparent wind about 50-60 degrees off the bow which is a perfect angle and the wind speed about 10kts and we were doing 4.5-5 kts towing a dinghy. Not too shabby for a boat that most people don’t believe can sail in light wind. The true wind was between 6-8 kts.

We maintained the speed for the entire time. There were a few lulls where we slowed down and a few gusts where we raised a bit but mostly consistent and a very pleasant sail with just a gentle rocking motion and a comfortable breeze. We passed several other boats enjoying the beautiful day.

One of the boats we passed was an Island Packet 45 “Cloud Nine” with whom we chatted a bit and expect that we may seem them again since they will be in the area here for a while longer. Another boat we passed “Spartina” had Claiborne, Maryland as its hailing port. We called them and asked them if they were really from Claiborne and we had a pleasant conversation. We discovered they were. Claiborne is a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on the south side of Eastern Bay just north of St Michael’s, MD. There can’t be more than 50 people in Claiborne. He mentioned that he found 2 other boats in Staniel Cay from Claiborne and they had dinner together. What a small world.

Just before we entered the bay behind Big Majors we passed a large blue-hulled motor yacht. Something over 200’ named Seven Seas. It was anchored just off our waypoint for turning into here. Turns out the boat belongs to Steven Spielberg.

We got the anchor down with the wind from the west which is very unusual for here. As usual our Rocna set very quickly as it usually does. After showering we dinghied into the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch. After we celebrated our arrival we walked around the town a bit and bought a few perishables from the Isles General Store. According to a report we had read in our brief email update the mailboat from last week had not arrived yet and the island was getting down on supplies. But apparently it had because a waitress told us people had gotten supplies.

Today was Saturday and we had no hurry to get up. So we got up gradually and made a Saturday breakfast of eggs. Day started out sunny and warm but got overcast. Probably in anticipation of the front scheduled to come through in the next couple days.

So, before the weather changes we’re moving down the Exuma chain to Black Point Settlement where we can hide from the northern and eastern winds that are supposed to blow beginning Sunday night.