We’re in a new island chain now, and we’ve been out exploring, but when I looked back through the photos all I see are sunsets and sunrises! We’ve had some spectacular ones lately, all completely different, and hopefully this isn’t too much horizon overload but I wanted to share a few!

1.19 – Sunday

We had a quiet day of prepping the boat for a big sail. We’re frustrated with not sailing much, and when we raise the sails we’re sailing too slowly to arrive in daylight, so for our next passage we’re giving ourselves tons of leeway to sail slowly.

In order to do that, we’re leaving at midnight for Spanish Wells, which could take us 10-16 hours depending on our speed.

1.20 – Monday

We raised the main sail and then pulled up the anchor. It’s hard to tell what the swell is doing in the dark, and I think the seas were a bit confused but still comfortable. The winds were supposed to be pretty light to start out, then grow, so we motorsailed on one engine.

During Kyle’s shift, he turned on both engines because he had serious commercial traffic to deal with, he was crossing the route to Nassau and all the cruise ships travel at night, plus he had a few tankers in the mix as well!

The wind was more behind us when I woke up for my 6am shift, lighter than forecast at 5-8 kts but it should have been perfect spinnaker sailing! Despite being a bit bleary-eyed we hauled the sail out of the berth and onto the deck, then raised the sail and shut down the engines. We slowed to almost 2 kts and couldn’t keep the sail full. We pulled it down and continued motoring. Now I am VERY grumpy about not being able to sail.

The only other notable event is that the port engine alternator belt broke, we didn’t even come close to catching fish on this trip (probably because we no longer have any good lures!). At noon we dropped anchor in crystal clear water by Egg Island.

Waking up in the middle of the night is so much worse than being at sea for the entire night, I was totally exhausted. I think I took two naps and still went to bed by 9.

1.21 – Tuesday

We talked about going ashore to explore this uninhabited island, but we were still worn out from yesterday’s trip. In the end we just moved over to Spanish Wells, which was a tiny 7 mile hop. As we were anchoring, a small ship passed by REALLY close to us. We hailed him to make sure we weren’t in the channel, and he said we were good, but there was another ship barreling towards us so we decided to move to the other side of the boats already anchored. Then they all left, and as it turns out, the spot we moved do is right on the Navionics channel line. So we had small ships passing us really closely the entire time we were here.

We went ashore for groceries that afternoon and explored the town. The whole island is 2 miles long and almost completely built up with cozy cottages and micro businesses. It’s one of the only places in the Bahamas where the locals are white, and they speak in a much different accent than most Bahamians. So on an island full of white people, imagine my surprise when an older dude in a golf cart stops in the middle of the road to comment on just how pale I am!

The winds were picking up, we were supposed to have a strong northern blow but it ended up being more westerly. We had no protection from the west so we bounced pretty hard all night and didn’t sleep. It was annoying but not too bad. When we saw the wind wasn’t behaving as forecast, we should have moved to an area with western protection, so that’s on us for not reacting.

1.22 – Wednesday

Mostly chores today, nothing special besides the sunset!

1.23 – Thursday

It keeps trying to rain. I put buckets out to catch laundry water but I only collected enough water to clean out the buckets. These spitting clouds are making lots of rainbows though!

This rainbow was so huge but so complete – I could only fit it in one photo if I used the wide angle lens!

When we were in Great Harbour Cay, we met a group of dinghies out by an airplane wreck. That exact group was at a marina here in Spanish Wells so we met up with them for drinks and had a great evening chatting.

1.24 – Friday

For my birthday, Kyle bought me 65 gallons of diesel. We motored over to a fuel dock, which we’d read had great prices compared to normal Bahamian pricing. It was a commercial dock, and even though we were only at mid-tide, the dock was so high up that even standing on the bow seats Kyle could hardly climb up onto it. Fuel was just under $4/gallon, we’ve been expecting to refuel for around $5/gallon so this was a bargain!

In the afternoon we dinghied in to town. We’ve made plans to leave early tomorrow, so this is our last chance for groceries here. We also heard there is a good tackle shop on the far end of the island. It’s kind of a hike, but it’s a good excuse to explore.

We walked all the way to the westernmost point of the island, which was just a block further than the tackle shop. Maureen was repairing some fishing rods and they looked better than brand new. She told us all about the gear she had for sale and we ended up with a few wire leaders, hooks, and a fully rigged lure to tide us over while we wait for the replacement lures we ordered online. She was great to talk to, very knowledgeable and very chatty!

We picked up groceries and dropped them off at the boat, then got ready for a night out. We started out at Buddha’s Bar with Dizzy Buddhas, which look like bilgewater but taste like tropical paradise!

Some friends joined us there, they had rented a golf cart for the day so we crossed the bridge to Russell Island, heading to the Sand Bar and Grill for more happy hour! We called it a night a little early, because we need to have the anchor up by 7am for tomorrow’s passage.

1.25 – Saturday

This morning’s sunrise was one of the best yet. We’ve got a good break in the weather and the next few days should be very calm!

We’re going to head south today, it’s completely calm and it will just be a few hours of motoring.