Black Point to George Town

—Blogpost written by Bob

Black Point to Big Galliot Cay

Black Point Harbour was calm last night and we greatly appreciated it as we got some much needed sleep. It rained lightly during the night for about 45 minutes—a long rain by Bahamian standards.

As the sun came up, (on Wednesday  January 29) the boat barely moved—it almost seemed like we were aground except for the tiniest movement.  My day was greeted by a couple electronic idiosyncrasies like the Watt Wizard (that measures battery voltage and amps produced by our solar panels) showed “4444” for amps (or whatever else I tried to measure, like amp-hours). Later, I switched off the inverter that I was using to charge my computer and the problem was corrected but I think the real problem was caused my moisture since I was able to resume charging my laptop without further incident. Also, I had to “force quit” my mail application on my MacBook Pro, as an unrelated problem. (Hmmm...do we have a gremlin onboard?)

As it turns out we had an acceptable (though somewhat immediate) 2-day weather window to go to Georgetown on Great Exuma.  So, today we will travel to Galliot Cut (a distance of 13 nautical miles on the bank) and tomorrow from Galliot Cut to Georgetown via Conch Cay Cut (an ocean passage of 33 nautical miles).

We had a light breakfast onboard and then disposed of our trash (for a $2 donation) and picked up a 10-pound bag of ice cubes at Deshamons Restaurant in preparation for departure.

A fitting tribute to the fine sailors
of Black Point, Exuma.

This guy was waiting for a customer who rented
a boat from him for the day.

Maggie making a donation after depositing
a bag of trash in the trash trailer
provided for cruisers.

By 9:30 AM we were underway. We passed by White Point (with its mile-long beach on the southern side) which is one of the places we hope to anchor near on our return trip northward. Later, we passed Little Farmers Cay, another place where we hope to stop on our return trip.

It seemed like on our current heading (170 degrees @ 11:30 AM) that we were headed directly into the sun’s reflection on the water, making it nearly impossible to detect coral heads but we were hoping that staying on a published route and staying in deeper water would keep us out of trouble for the short while on this heading.

We anchored in a little cove just south of Big Farmer’s Cay in approximately 13 feet of water at thirty minutes past noon. (We actually anchored once and then re-anchored about 5 minutes later in slightly deeper water with better holding.)  We could see through the cut that we will be following in the morning.  Little Galliot Cay is just southwest of our anchorage while Big Galliot Cay is to our southeast.  There was very little breeze and it was quite warm, warmer than it has been the entire time we’ve been in the Exumas. However, a light cool breeze developed after sundown.

The Watt Wizard was acting up again after we anchored—it was reading “8888.” I was running the inverter again but I still don’t think there is a relationship. The battery voltage was up to 13.6 and we were probably generating a lot of amps with our solar panels.  (Later in the day, our Watt Wizard resumed normal operation.)

The water maker was running during the morning’s trip and into the mid-afternoon. I turned it off at 2:30 PM after 6 hours of operation and 9 gallons of new fresh water produced. This amount of fresh water production seemed to closely match our daily demand. This may seem silly to mention our fresh water production but it is new to us this season.  We haven’t had to schlep fresh water in jugs (or go into a marina just for fresh water) this season!

A photo of Lola from below laying on the top
of our forward hatch screen using
it like a hammock.

We were treated to a beautiful
sunset over the water.

Unplanned Stay Over at Big Galliot Cay

Last night was not the most comfortable night for sleeping—we experienced a short chop most of the night from the wind acting against the tidal current. The breeze was cool enough that I needed the quilt for warmth while Maggie slept on the settee because she thought it would be cooler. 

When we woke up, surprisingly, the wind was blowing at 12 to 13 knots out of the south. The boat was riding it a lot more gently than during the night. Upon checking the updated weather forecast, the wind will continue to blow 12 to 13 knots all day, clocking around from the south to the west before it dies down to under 10 knots and out of the north overnight. (We are well protected from northerly winds.) Tomorrow, the wind will be under 10 knots all day, starting out from the north and gradually clocking around to the east and southeast during the day. We will be traveling southward—so, rather than bashing into waves today, we decided to wait until tomorrow to make the ocean passage in gentler conditions (plus we might be able to sail!). However, we will continue to watch the weather forecast for changes.

One of the things that we ‘ve tried for Lola this season
for the first time is Friskies cat food in 3-ounce
single-serving foil packets. They stow easily
(enough for the entire season) and dispose
of easily— plus Lola loves them! We
bought them by the case
from Amazon.

Big Galliot Cay to George Town

We weighed anchor at 7 AM sharp on Friday, January 31, 2020. The sun was barely over Cave Cay to our southeast. Two other sailboats were leaving our anchorage at the same time. As we motored through the 500-feet wide Galliot Cut we could see the disturbance on the water’s surface where the outgoing tide from the Exuma Bank met the level of the Exuma Sound (the Atlantic Ocean). We settled in to our southeast (6-hour long) course to Conch Cay Cut.

Galliot Cut looking from west to east. 

The south face of High Cay next to Galliot Cut.

The water’s surface was like glass for the first hour or so—then the wind created a little more than a ripple on the surface which slowed our boat by a couple tenths of a knot. The ocean swell was less than one foot. We were still making excellent boat speed (approximately 6 knots).

The deep water in the ocean has such
a beautiful deep blue color!

We arrived at Conch Cay Cut, the entrance to Elizabeth Harbour just before 1 PM. Coincidentally, it was at the end of Maggie’s hour-long shift at the helm. We had another 3 miles or so to go before we anchored. We anchored just off Monument Beach in Elizabeth Harbour. We planned to stay here overnight and find a different anchorage closer to town later.

Shortly after we anchored near Monument Beach
we were greeted by a pod of five dolphins.

We finally made it to George Town On Great Exuma!  This may be our southernmost destination for this season but who knows?  Stay tuned...


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