The Great Bahama Bank and the Tongue of the Ocean

Here's Wayne at the tiller crossing the Tongue of the Ocean, and me sporting a Phil's 550 shirt on the beach at Whale Cay.
We arrived in Nassau yesterday, after about a week at sea. After checking in at Cat Cay, we sailed two days across the Great Bahama Bank to Chub Cay. The Bank is an extraordinary geographical phenomenon, a vast area of ocean only 10 to 15 feet deep, with beautiful white sand creating the most dazzling water color you've ever seen! The total distance was about 75 miles, so after a big 50-(nautical) mile day the first day we just threw out the anchor and hunkered down. It is, after all, the middle of the ocean so it was hardly what you would call a "calm" anchorage. It really wasn't too bad, considering how much better it was than the Gulf Stream crossing. You kind of get used to constant motion and clanking. The second day we had a favorable wind and Wayne had his finest sailing day in the Caribbean as we managed to sail to Chub Cay. There the development has focused exclusively on expensive power boats and fishing, we were not really welcomed on the island. We did anchor in front of a lovely beach (we were not allowed to use) and saw Paul and Becky and their daughters Maddie and Kelsey on Rio Dulce. We had met them in No Name just prior to the crossing. They are on a dreamy 40+ foot Catalana catamaran. Some day. Maybe. They convinced us to join them at Whale Cay the next day, a wholly deserted island. The entrance is marked by an abanoned light house, perched about an incredible white sugar sand beach with a little run-down palapa for shade. It was only about 8 miles from Chub, so we grabbed a bag of ice and sailed off to join them. We had a great day playing in the ocean with the girls, snorkeling, exploring, and hanging out in general. Just as the afternoon was winding to a close, we noticed a big truck on what we had thought was the unused road to the lighthouse. A guy got out, and came down to see us on the beach. He explained that he owned the island. Ooopppssss. Well, he wasn't too angry really, he just wanted to make sure we would not leave any trash. We assured him we would not, and after a big of a real estate conversation he took off again. Our lovely day ended with a move over to the other side of the channel in the lee of Bird Cay as the wind was predicted to change to the west. That it did, which made it perfect for our crossing to Nassau. We left Bird Cay by 7am, and made Nassau by noon or so - tired but happy. Apparently the Tongue of the Ocean is part of this last crossing - quite the reverse of the Bank, this is an incredibly DEEP part which can get super churned up on the wrong wind. In addition, it is considered a part of the Bermuda Triangle. Since I have recently mastered the new Garmin GPS, we had little fear as we set out. Waiting for the ideal wind seems to be the most intelligent thing a sailor can do in the Bahamas. This is, of course, the principle of parsimony. This would apply to the GPS as well. We still look over everything on the paper charts first, plot the course both ways, and look up a heck of a lot. But the bottom line is, sailing using the GPS is nothing like doing it "the old fashioned way" - which is what we have been doing to this point. It's so easy, it almost seems unreal. Ah well, thank goodness for the benefits of the GPS. Seemingly in order to balance out this new facility, the autohelm decided not to work any more, resulting in 100% hand-steering and another return to the stone age of sailing. No worries though, it's kind of fun!

Nassau is all new to us, so we'll be doing some exploring looking for local music and art. More on that tomorrow, with any luck.