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The World Cruise of Veleda IV |
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Exumas - Highborne Cay to Shroud Cay, March 4-5, 1999 We left Highborne Cay Marina at noon hour and decided to go down the bank side, which is very shallow, between 6 and 18 feet, as the 15 to 20 knot northwest winds would have made the deeper sound side on the east very uncomfortable. I do not like navigating in such restricted shallow waters, but there was a good route indicated down to Shroud Cay, our next destination, only 14 miles away. Getting away from the dock was a challenge in itself, as we had to back out into a stiff northwest 15 knot wind coming on our port quarter. It blew us down, and we had to get assistance from other boaters to fend us off. Getting through the cut onto the banks was not too bad, and we set a conservative course going well outside the recommended course line to avoid the shoals around Teatable Cay. The chartlet in the cruising guide (admittedly, with the disclaimer "For reference only, do not use for navigation", but with far more detail than the official government charts) indicated these shoals did not extend out past 76 50.3 W. We set our course to go down 76 50.7 W which should have had us in 12 to 18 feet of water. However, we still had to alter course beyond 76 51 W in order to clear shoals extending well beyond the area indicated. This is why good guide books always recommend not relying on GPS waypoints only, and to use prudent navigation and the "Mark 1 Eyeball". I don't like going on the inside! As we passed Norman's Spit (well off it, of course), we saw the Haitian boat still hard aground in about two feet of water, even though it was over two miles off the shore of Norman's Cay. Approaching Shroud Cay, we carefully felt our way in over 6 to 8 foot shoaling areas until we got into Fresh Water Bay where we were able to anchor in a whole 10 feet of water. Anchoring in the Bahamas is generally good if you can set your anchor in sand. When approaching an anchorage, if we do not have to set two anchors for a Bahamian mooring, we will edge ahead even into shallower waters to find a sandy patch to drop the hook. We then back off and let the wind swing us wherever, snubbing the anchor with a 4:1 or 5:1 scope, and going astern again until the anchor grabs, swings us smartly through the arc of the wind, and pulls us forward from a "long stay forward" to a "short stay forward". We then attach a rope snubber and let out another ten feet. This snubber serves as an effective shock absorber with the all chain rode. Judy reminded me to say that since we use an all chain rode with a 35 pound plow anchor, 5:1 will do for normal conditions, although if we used a rope rode we would use a 7:1 ratio. For you non-sailors that means that for every foot from the bottom of the anchorage to the bow roller of our boat we would put out 7 feet of line. Since our bow roller is four feet above the surface, in 10 feet of water we should put out 10+4=14x7=98 feet of line. Another neat device we have seen used with a snubber, for boats with a bobstay supporting a bowsprit, is to attach the snubber at the base of the bobstay just at the waterline, instead of over the bow roller. This little technique reduces the scope needed and gives a more effective pressure point for the anchor rode to act upon, eliminating the downward pressure on the bowsprit. Unfortunately even though we have a bow sprit, our lower fitting is not designed for the attachment of a shackle or a snubber. Anyway, we anchored safely in Fresh Water Bay on the west side of Shroud Cay. This Cay is in the Exuma Land Sea Park. I dinghied into one of the salt water creeks and found a fresh water well ashore. It was used to fill our Sunshower, a black plastic bag with attached sprinkler nozzle, which uses sunlight to heat the water inside it for a warm, though low pressure and low volume, shower. The next day we dinghied over a mile up one of these creeks at high tide (as at low tide these creeks develop impassable sand bars). We actually went right across the cay, through mangrove swamps to the eastern opening on the sound side, where Camp Driftwood is located. This camp is on a hill that was supposedly used as an observation post to report on activities of the "drug lord", Carlos Lehder over on the airstrip at Norman's Cay. A hermit, Ernest Scholte, while living on his sailboat at the western entrance, dug steps up to the top and equipped it with driftwood objects, to which people have been adding ever since. The summit is a driftwood haven with old floats, tables, chairs, bottles, ropes, nets, etc., and inscriptions from many of the boaters who make the pilgrimage to Camp Driftwood. We returned to the beach at our anchorage for a delightful picnic and fresh water shower on shore with our sunshower from the boat. I went back to the well and filled it up again before we departed at about 1330 for Hawksbill Cay, about 6 miles further down. Next Log |
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Links:
Bahamas Net
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