Off 2 Jamaica mon

After not being able to provision in George Town before we left we had little hope for finding anything in the Acklins but we took off knowing we only had a few days until we got to Jamaica where we thought we would have better chance of finding good provisions. Weather was about as expected and we headed out on what we expected would be an overnight motor to the Acklin Islands.

Heading south past George Town looking at Monument Hill from Exuma Sound.

The passage was uneventful. It was nice having a 3rd crew member on board because we divided up the watches into 3 hours. I took the watch until midnight, our crewman Skip took midnight to 3, Linda took 3 to 6 and I took after 6 until. We had 2 primary constraints for the passage. The first was that we would be off the Banks by dark and not go into the Bight of Acklins until daylight. We did get off the Banks just as it was getting dark. We made it from Emerald Bay to the Banks in about 10 hours with about 50 miles to Windsor Point in the Acklins. Our projection was that we were going to make it about 4 in the morning so we slowed down to make it later.

Sunset as we exit the Great Bahama Bank.

We got to Windsor Point as day broke and we pulled in our sails to make the trip across the Acklins Bank. We had used our stay and main sails to help get lift in the light wind but I took them in although we could have kept them out for the long ride across the Bight. So we motored into and across the Bight that was way farther than we expected but we decided to drop the hook behind Camel Point on Acklin Island close to the air strip and the settlement of Spring Point.

For the first time with this boat we had difficulty setting the anchor. We made 2 attempts to set the anchor and it drug through sand over marle. After the second attempt and it seemed to catch I dove down to find it partially dug in but it seemed we had a soft spot. So I dove back down and had Linda back down again on the anchor to see if it was dragging. On the first pull it seemed to drag, had another pull and it seemed to dig in, had another pull and it began to dig in and had another pull and it didn't move. I went over and rocked it and it was set.

Our anchorage off Camel Point. A view you want as a screensaver.

After breakfast we dinghied up to a jetty to see what was in to see what was there. We didn't find much so we asked some locals about a place to get some lunch and a beer. They informed us that the closest place was miles down the road. The guidebooks listed several places in Spring Point but apparently everything closed. After Hurricane Joaquin the islands were devastated and many people left, few businesses reopened and only a fraction of the people remain.

Our new friends offered us a ride up to the closest restaurant and we jumped into their pickup with them and rode the 4 miles to the only open restaurant and had some conch and cold beer. Skipp and I rode with James in the bed of the pickup truck and Linda rode upfront with Eugene. First time I had ridden in the bed of a pickup probably since I was 16. What a fun afternoon. We stopped at a local market that had nothing we were looking for. James gave us a pumpkin from his garden that he didn't want and we headed back to our boat.

Linda by the grocery in Snug Corner where we met a nice 89 yo woman named Liza and I got a nice coconut that I opened with a rock.

The next morning we had a great sail back across the Bight to anchor close to Windsor Point so we could reduce the next day's trip. This time the anchor caught first time and when I swam on the anchor I saw lots of starfish all over the light grassy area. It was windy and cool but the anchorage just outside Albert Town was comfortable for the evening.

The Castle Island Lighthouse.

Next morning we got out early as we had over a 100 mile sail for the day with a strong wind from the northeast. We went to sail just outside Windsor Point heading south to Castle Island at the bottom of Acklin Island. The broad reach was very pleasant being in the lea of the Acklins without much chop. We rounded Castle Island and the wind came up to the beam and we took off to Great Inagua.

A short video of the sail.

We sailed the entire way from coming off anchor near Windsor Point until we were behind Great Inagua to go into the anchorage. We covered about 105 miles in about 14 hours. There were 2 other boats in the anchorage and we found a point upwind from them and dropped the hook. I swam down on the anchor and though it wasn't set as well as I would like it was fairly secure. We had a ncie dinner and retired.

We were now set to jump off for Jamaica after 1 more day in the Bahamas.