Bahamas Trip

[C-164]

Hi Everyone,

Just returned from a three month trip to the Bahamas with my Commander #164. What a trip!!! What an experience!!! Both good and bad. But the amazing thing is that those "passages from Hell and anchorages from Hell" seem to melt into oblivion real fast leaving only good memories and "lessons learned". To be honest, until 3 days before I left, I didn't feel the boat or the captain were ready and although I had bought this boat with the Bahamas in mind there was still lots to do and I had wanted more sailing experience. What tipped the scales was setting up some rigging to enable me to reef the main. However, the main factor was that I had the oportunity NOW, and if I didn't take it, it might not have come again. I bought an Explorer Chartkit for the Near Bahamas, 30 gallons of bottled water and a bunch of food. The next night at 2AM, I hoisted anchor at Angelfish Creek and headed east not looking back. The weather report at SE 10-15 looked good and indeed it was. As the sun arose, my first impression was how nice the sea is away from the confused waves around the coast. For the rest of the trip passages it was always a pleasure to be sailing in deep water away from the dangers of land.
Anyway, I dragged my inflateable for 1370 miles until I arrived back in Miami. The trip took us to Bimini, Gun Cay, across to Great Harbor Cay, down the Berries to Nassau, over to Highborne Cay in the Exumas (where the water finally warmed up), down the Exumas to Georgrtown. Down the Raggeds to Flamingo Cay. Up and across to Long Island, out to Conception. Down to Rum Cay (where I went up on a reef placed inconviently in the middle of the harbor). Back to Georgetown (in case I had to haul out to fix the leaking keel. which wasn't necessary as I had spread a tube of Lifeseal on it underwater and it held all the way back to Miami). From Georgetown up to Cat Island, Little San Salvador to Rock Sound, Eleuthera. Up to Governors Harbor. Straight west back to Nassau anchoring at a place called Finley Cay, which was a sandbar half way to Nassau. By this time I was in 'going home mode'. Back up to Frazers Hog and back to Bimini. Down to Gun and back across. The trip back was a royal pain in the a** as I had to sit at the tiller for 14 hours straight, having no tiller pilot, and the wind was light and I had to motorsail.
For statistics, I burned out 2 tillerpilots and my GPS. My anchor was a 22lb Delta with about 50ft of 5\16 chain and 1\2in nylon line.
I always felt safe on my boat. It may be small and uncomfortable, but I felt that I had a solid platform under me. I say small and uncomfortable, only due to the number of gouges on the top of my head. Note to self: Don't jump out into the cockpit at full velocity without sliding the hatch cover back first. Ouch.

Checking in at Bimini.
I always parked close to row into shore.


Coming into New Bight, Cat Island from Georgetown, Exuma


Leaving Nassau Harbor on the way home.


Pleasant Surprise!!! Meeting S\V Faith in Nassau.

[c_amos]

Glad you made it home safely, thanks for posting your trip pictures. I wrote about our meeting here. It was great running into you. Hope to hear more later, and to see you out there again soon!

[Tim D.]

Barry, thanks for sharing your trip, the good and bad is always appreciated. A few of questions;

Were you satisfied with the holding of your 22lb Delta, and it what kind of weather?

Did your autopilots give out because of too much work? and what kind were they (looks like Raymarine)

Do you have an outboard and what kind?

Thanks Tim

[C-164]

Hi Tim,

I considered the #22 Delta a little bit overkill in the usual sandy anchorages but wanted a little edge for fronts. I also have a #14 Delta which I had used in the keys with no problems even in stronger fronts, so I slept even better with the larger anchor. My original plan was to use the #14 everyday and break out the #22 for special occasions. One of the first things I did to my boat was put on a Windline anchor roller that fit both anchors. I also removed that deck vent pipe cover and installed a chain pipe so that I could use the anchor locker. This made it very easy to use a lot of chain, and the larger anchor was easy enough to lift that I just used it all the time. I also carried enough line and chain to make another complete anchor line if I lost my original. If you're traveling and you lose your entire anchor setup, you need to have a spare ready. I had bought a 600' spool of 1\2" line and cut it into three 200' pieces. I flaked these into old sailbags so they would pay out quickly without tangling if I needed them in a hurry. In one of these bags I also shacked more 5\16 chain to use with the #14 Delta in a hurry if need be. Another bag was my quick-deploy going-aground kit. It had a bunch of 1\4" chain and a #12 Danforth shackled to the line. It was very fast and convienient to deploy. Boaters are great. Sometimes when you go aground another boater will zoom up in their dingy and say "give me an anchor and I'll take it out for you". You feel like a million bucks when you can say "a kedge anchor? certainly, sir. Why, I have one ready right at hand. Which is another way of saying "yes, I go aground often, I know the drill".
By the way, I had wanted to install a roller furler, but couldn't get it together before the trip. Instead, I setup a downhaul for the jib which worked well. I would raise and douse the jib from the cockpit. The downhaul also captured the jib shackle and halyard so I never worried about losing the halyard up the mast. I would tie the hanked on jib to the stantions or lifeline to keep it out of the way and not blowing around while I raised the anchor. When the anchor was up, I would untie the jib quickly and beat it back to the cockpit, then raise it when I was clear of other boats.
I started off with a Simrad TP-20. It starting going bad early in the trip, I discovered later, from water intrusion. And then I polished it off with an unintentional jibe. I had a Raymarine ST-2000 sent from West Marine to Georgetown, Exuma. You are running almost the whole way back from there. I tried to be careful and at one point even tried to outsmart my tiller pilot. On one tack, the arm would be extended all the way out, frequently even not enough, so I drilled another hole in the port side seat and would switch the tiller pilot back and forth, depending on my downwind tack. I even turned the gain down so it wouldn't work so hard. No use, the motor burned out anyway. Next trip I want to use a windvane.
My motor is a 5HP Tohatsu. Not really big enough. I would get the 8HP or 9.8HP since they weigh the same. There are some strong currents in the Bahamas. The 5 just doesn't push the boat fast enough. I made my passages when there was enough wind to sail. I disliked motoring because it was so slow. At the end of some passages, if the wind was light, I would resort to motor-sailing to reach an anchorage before dark. I had thought that in an emergency, I could pull the motor out cause it's so light and put it on my inflateable, but never did because the inflateable was easy enough to row. Only one time was I boat-bound because of the wind. A much better arrangement would be an 8HP for the big boat and a small light 2-3HP engine for the dinghy. What I find disconcerting is when kayakers paddling slow and easy, pass me when I'm motoring.

Doggone, I wanted to attach more pictures, but can't figure out how I captioned them last time!!

Regards,
Barry

[Tim D.]

Thanks Barry,
I will have a 14# Delta for a secondary, but am debating about the primary, another bigger Delta or one of the new breed Manson/Rocna styles. I'll be up in the PNW probably first and although the Delta has been good so far I like having diversity.

I was wondering about the autopilot, a ST2000 should have been big enough, which make me wonder if it's worth it. I guess both would be ideal windvane for sailing and auto for easy motoring.

I currently have a 5 hp on my Ariel, but I am not sure how much bigger I can go with the motor well size.

Anyway thanks for all the info

Tim

[mbd]

Barry,

Thanks for the pics and the tips! Good stuff. It's great to hear from you guys "out there doin' it" as to what works and what doesn't.

Doggone, I wanted to attach more pictures, but can't figure out how I captioned them last time!!

Try and "Edit" your post with the pics, and you should be able to see how you did it. We'd love to see more pics!

Regards,
Mike

[Tony G]

Thanks Barry

I can only repeat what the others have said...These posts make great reading and even better inspiration. Because some of us are so green it hurts, leave no detail out when telling us about the trip. Equipment, places, weather, photos, it's all important and relavent! And of course, pictures always help.