Current Cut Anchorage

Friday and Saturday April 18 & 19, 2014

25 24.800 N

76 47.350 W

Today we had planned to “take a day off” and ride the “fast ferry” thru “the Devils Backbone” to Paradise Island. The “Devils Backbone” describes the maze of coral reefs that line the northern coast. Paradise Island was reputed to be a very pretty place and a bit touristy.

Then we realized that it was Good Friday, and this being a religious island the place would be virtually closed down. Also the day would cost us $170 in marina and ferry tickets, so we decided to give it a miss and begin our trip to the Northern Exuma Islands. We had heard from Barb and Don and had a meeting place set up. The weather forecast was not so good so our intermediate destination was determined by finding a good place to anchor out of expected strong easterlies. The choice was a bit limited so we opted for a short run to an anchorage near “Current Cut”.

The wind was quite strong as we crossed the bay (it does not seem to have a name)  and we were pleased to get into the lee of Southern Eluthera. The wind was still quite strong but the water was protected and reasonably flat and we were anchored in deep sand.

That afternoon I spent a lot of time planning the next day. The challenge is that our route is not a common approach to the Northern Exumas (Our target is Highborne Cay) and passes thru several areas of reefs that are “not fully charted”. Plus the various charts and guides emphasize that you need a reasonably calm and sunny day so that you can navigate around the coral heads that dot the area, using “Visual Navigation Skills”. The more I worked on the route the more apprehensive I got. Nevertheless we planned to weigh anchor at 7 AM so we had a full day for the 60 odd miles.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

We are still at the Current Cut anchorage. The wind got up last night and we had a disturbed night. Deidre had a really bad “bogyman” nightmare. I got spooked by the wind and noises and was up checking the boat “all night”. The boat was bouncing around a lot, it was pitch black. This morning was overcast, stormy looking and windy. Not a good day for “Visual Navigation Skills” so we did the prudent thing and decided to stay on the hook for the day and try again on Sunday.

I am pleased we did as the wind remained “brisk” and wealso  experienced several squalls during the morning. It was a long rough day. The wind moved around the compass so that by nightfall it had a lot of west in it – not good for us as we were now on a lee shore. I recon the gusts got up to 40 mph. The boat had rotated over 180 degrees, asking the anchor a lot. I was up a lot during the night, it was hard to settle.