March 6-7, 2010... Long Island

Thompson Bay was a little crowded but there was still plenty of room to accommodate the fleet arriving from George Town. We anchored out on the edge, but tucked up enough to flatten out the rolls. On Saturday we headed into town to catch up on some internet activity, then over to the grocery store for a few things we forgot in George Town. We also sat down with Carl and Carrie from Sanctuary to plan out a strategy for moving south and east through the Bahamas to eventually reach Turks & Caicos and onward. We decided to sail up the west coast on Sunday to Calabash Bay and position ourselves for a run on Monday to Conception Island or Rum Cay depending upon the wind and swells. That settled, we had dinner at the weenie roast over the new fire pit at Long Island Breeze and danced to the DJ playing rake 'n' scrape.

Sunday we headed up the coast comfortable that the weather forecast said N-NE winds 10-15 knots. Since we were stopping at Calabash Bay, and not turning the corner around the island, we figured the 8-12 ft seas in northerly swell would not affect us as we were still on the bank. Once out there, we encountered winds of 15-20 out of the NW with sustained gusts of 20-25. Not such a cakewalk. And the water wasn't calm either - probably 3-4 ft on the bank. We motorsailed, reefed the main, hanked on the staysail and sailed - finally got some speed and distance - but the winds were very flukey and it turned out to be much rougher and then slower than we expected. After a conference call with Sanctuary, we decided that Calabash (an anchorage with ocean surge) would probably not be a good idea tonight. The swell was not going to ease up with these winds. So, we bailed out at Alligator Bay and anchored off Simms -- about half the way up to the point. Feeling dejected we thought a nice kayak would pull us out of our funk. While difficult paddling in the winds, we did manage to get in some good exercise and talk to some guys bonefishing on the government dock. The sun even made an appearance to brighten our day. Back at Anhinga for the night. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Alligator Bay, Long Island: 23d28.512'N 75d14.522'W

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