Salt Water Shower With A Rain Chaser

S/V Seas The Day under sail on the White Cay Bank

     Typically, when a cold front swings into the Bahamas from the United States it brings high winds and creates havoc in the anchorages.  Since our arrival in the Bahamas back in early November, the cold fronts have been mild.  When I say mild, the winds have been clocking around from the E to the S and continue clocking to the W and then to N and never present any concern because of the low wind speeds.  Yesterday, that came to an abrupt ending as a very large cold front entered the southern Bahamas and our location in Salt Pond, Long Island.  This cold front had been anticipated by the weather gurus for the previous week, and all the cruisers have been taking whatever action they felt was necessary.  This cold front was the "gentle" nudge we needed to motivate us to depart from our "winter residence" (read anchorage) in Plain Bay and Black Point Settlement.  So, with a near perfect weather window for a trawler, we left Black Point Settlement after a 2 day layover for laundry and a dinner out at DeShaMons Restaurant.  However, on the eve of our departure we had dinner at DeShaMons, where we had a chance encounter and met some wonderful cruisers on S/V Seas The Day, Mark & Jan and their dog Daisy, a Golden Doodle.  Unknown to us when we departed on Wednesday morning, it would be the start of a new adventure with the crew of S/V Seas The Day.  Mark and Jan had never taken the back route through the Pimlico Cays and have never been to Long Island.  So, Big Run was able to not only get herself through the back route without going aground again; Big Run was also able to bring another boat through the skinny water safely.  After a one night layover in Williams Bay just south of Lee Stocking, Big Run and Seas The Day made the 10 hour run to Salt Pond on Thursday.  It was a glorious cruise down the Exuma Sound, White Cay Bank and the Great Bahama Bank.

     Friday was a day for doing land things like a walk over to the east side of Long Island for a view of the Atlantic Ocean.  We also did some reprovisioning of the boat at the local hardware store that is also a grocery store - only in the Bahamas. On the island there is also a lumber company that doubles as a butcher shop.

     On Saturday, the wind as predicted started clocking from the SSE to the S.  After moving the boat early Saturday morning from Salt Pond to Thompson Bay, a distance of 2 miles, the winds starting building in from SW.   But as this point in time, it was not enough to curtail activities as we went to yet another grocery store for more reprovisioning.  Saturday evening was spent onboard S/V Seas The Day for another round of "The Meixcan Train Game", a great domino based game.  Then, almost right on cue, it happened.  The winds jumped from 10 knots to 25 knots gusting to 30 knots as a squall ushered in the cold front.  Needless to say, our return in the dinghy that night to Big Run was the equivalent of a salt water shower with a rain chaser!

Big Run and crew.  Photo credit Mark & Jan - S/V Seas The Day