By Capt. Scott Buckley
As predicted the great Bahamas cruiser circulatory system was at work. As weather conditions improved for those cruisers wishing to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini so also improved our weather in Bimini to cross over to Nassau. The conditions looked good for an overnight crossing from Bimini down to Cat Cay and thru Triangle Rock pass onto the Great Bahamas Bank. We would sail across the Great Bahamas bank and enter the Northwest channel and sail on to Nassau.
The Great Bahamas bank is this large expanse of shallow water between the island of Bimini and the Gulf Stream channel on the west side and the large island of Andros and the Tongue of the Ocean on the east side. The water depth is from 8 to 13 feet all the way across and the water is amazingly clear.
We had good weather for crossing the bank and there were 5 boats in our flotilla. SV Alice Mae (crew David and Alice Woods). SV Soul Serenade (crew Jimmy and Sue) MV OZ (crew Toby and Dana) and SV Sognara (Crew Craig and Joy). Oh and us.
SV Alice Mae a 36’ Endeavor Sailing Cat
MV OZ a 36’ Endeavor Motor Cat
SV Sognare a 48’ Sailing Cat
SV Soul Serenade a 38’ Sailing mono hull.
After crossing the bank you enter the Northwest channel. The water here is very deep and the channel is part of the body of water known as the tongue of the ocean. This stretch of water can be particularly unforgiving to east bound sail boat if the wind is blowing hard from the east. Fortunately for us over winds were from the west but the Northwest channel still supplied some rolly conditions. Some of the group got spooked by updated weather reports received when we passed close enough to Chub Cay to get cellular service and increased their speed to get to Nassau ASAP. However there was little on those weather reports to support this action. Winds were from the west and though they were expected freshen to 15 to 20 knots they were to stay from the west. Later in the day however the winds were predicted to increase to gale force. We should be tied up in a marina before those winds showed.up at our location. Running ahead meant getting into Nassau harbor in the wee hours of the morning and having to find a place to wait because the marina did not open until 8AM.
Approach to Nassau Harbor
Before entering the Nassau Harbor it required to get permission from the Harbor Control. This was a simple procedure. You would hail “Nassau Harbor Control” on VHF channel 16 and they would direct you to switch and answer on VHF channel 09. They would ask for your vessel name, last port of call, vessel ID number and intended destination in the harbor. They would then give you permission to enter.
Route thru the Harbor to the Yacht Marinas.Even though SV Alice Mae and SV Kooky Dance did not run for Nassau we still got to location about 2 hours early. We went up to the Nassau Harbor Club Marina at about 6AM and tied up. The tide was pretty low, a strong current was running and the city lights made visual navigation very difficult at night. Fortunately there was not a lot of other vessel traffic and the winds were still moderate. As a bonus it began to rain lightly as we were tying up. At that point I was really too tired to mind very much. I knew I was exhausted but it took me a little while to relax after the tension filled trip of entering a strange port at night. I did get about an hour of sleep before going into the marina office to check in.
New Friends
Kooky Dance got her first cleaning sense we left Naples Florida and she needed it.
We continued to bond with our new cruising friends while in Nassau and this proves to be a lot of fun.
Alice Mae of SV Alice Mae
Capt Dave also from SV Alice Mae
Dana from OZ
Toby from OZ
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