S/V Halley

23 29.165n 75 44.358w Halley stayed put at the marina in Georgetown all day Tuesday. The boys took the dinghy and went snorkeling at a nearby reef. The rest of the day we spent at Chat n’ Chill beach. Really nice spot in a beautiful location. Good burgers, beer and sting-rays. What more to ask for? Today we woke up to the news that Justus had had a visitor in his bed during the night. A rat had made it in from the dock through his roof hatch and scurried under (!) the sheets up along his legs and body. He spent the rest of the night in the salon with the door firmly shut to his cabin. Instead of leaving early as planned, we waited until the stores opened and stocked up on rat traps. We also searched the cabin and saw no signs of the rat or rat poop; we were hoping that with some luck the rat would have made it out and left the boat. But, alas, now in the evening the rat excitement continued. The boat was quieting down for the evening and I was in the kitchen when the little f-er came s...

23 30.224n 75 46.027w Justus took the early morning shift at the helm and announced our arrival at the Georgetown waypoint a little after sunrise. We circled for a few hours until the sun was higher in the sky, then made our way in through what is known to be a tricky cut and channel. The Bahamas charts mark areas with “visual piloting required” and the guide books talk about the frequent necessity of “eyeball navigation” in the Bahamas. You have to learn to read the colors of the water and be prepared to take action quickly. We’ve found that the roof of the helm provides a perfect look-out spot, it’s high up enough to serve as our crow’s nest, and you can talk to the person at the helm through the hatch in the roof. We made it in and docked at the Exuma Yacht Club (don’t be fooled by the haughty name - a very rustic operation). We needed to fill up water since the water maker is acting up. Chris is working on a fix, but to conserve water, none of us had had a shower since we left Nass...

23 47.693n 75 58.470w Up at 3 am yesterday morning to check the weather forecast via satellite. Still favorable for a haul to the Exumas in general and Georgetown specifically. We weighed anchor and set off in the dark. The moon was full but hiding under a cloud cover so no help there. Fortunately, the first few hours of travel took us through the deep safe water that we had crossed on our way to Green Cay so the darkness posed no issue. A little after dawn we reached the entry point for crossing east across the banks to the Exumas. We were following an established but not commonly used route across the banks (the Decca channel) and felt a little apprehensive, but all worked out. We traveled for 8 hours over bottle green clear 15-20 foot water where we could see the sandy bottom and occasional dark patches indicating coral or grass. Then in the mid-afternoon we reached the Exumas island chain and marveled over the colors of the water as it became increasingly shallower. The shades of b...

24 02.905n 77 10.735w Another very nice day at Green Cay waiting for the right weather to cross the banks to the Exumas. We survived the propeller mission yesterday - team hug afterwards. Chris had the line cut in no time and we were out of the water about that quickly. Today, we moved the boat to the north-west side of the island since the wind is shifting towards south. We are facing a gorgeous beach of rocks and sand, seemingly untouched by humans. Chris, Eva and Justus did another attempt at snorkling from the dinghy in this new location and this time with more success. No sharks, good coral and lots of cool stuff to see. The forecast looks favorable for a 3:30 am departure tomorrow morning. If conditions remain as expected through the day, we will cross the banks, go through Conch Cut into the Exuma Sound in the mid-afternoon, then on to Georgetown in deep, safe waters overnight into Monday. Then we will be “on time” to pick up Sixten and Axel in the afternoon. But, if conditions ...

24 02.215n 77 10.855w So we arrived here at Green Cay (pronounced “key”, by the way) yesterday and are staying put today and likely tomorrow. We are waiting for the right conditions to cross the shallow water to Pipe Cay. We have beautiful sunny and warm weather but also a brisk easterly breeze that is the opposite of what we need. The forecast is looking good for a Sunday crossing, however. Then onwards south to Georgetown on Monday to pick up Axel and Sixten, though we may end up being a day late, weather depending. In the meantime we are enjoying the heck out of this isolated island right on the edge of the deep, deep blue of the Tongue of the Ocean and the shallows of the Great Bahama Bank. When I scan across the bay I see four or five shades of blue and green, ranging from the dark intensive blue of the deep waters, through sky blue, shimmering blue-green, turquoise and aquamarine as the waters get shallow towards the beach of the island. (Pictures will follow when we are off sate...

24 02.208n 77 10.860w We left Nassau yesterday, paused on the west side of New Providence Island for the afternoon and then did an overnight down south via the deep waters called Tongue of the Ocean (name obvious if you look Google Earth). Good sailing initially, then a bumpy ride by motor close to the wind in 20 kt, gusting occasionally to 30-35 kt. Now, we’ve landed on Green Cay at the very edge of the deep waters and the banks that lead over to the Exumas and Georgetown, essentially in the middle of nowhere with nobody around us. We have the island all to ourselves, pretty darn cool and pretty darn beautiful. Here we will be waiting for the right wind direction and strength to cross the bank towards the Exumas in the next few days. All good!

25 04.539n 77 19.043w We got up early and went to work. Chris scrubbed the outside of the boat to an inch of its life and I did the same on the inside. Our Halley is gleaming now. (Well, sort of, there’s lots more detailing before she’s truly gleaming, so comparatively gleaming might be a better way of putting it.) Justus and Eva arrived in the afternoon and we are now only 2 short of our full family unit. Great to have them here and lots of fun to see their reactions to the boat and to show them around. Lucy was happy to see them as well, though with a somewhat quizzical expression on her face; human children also forced onto the boat? We started out with a minor adventure by taking the dinghy across the Nassau harbor channel to Atlantis, the gigantic ocean-themed Vegas-style resort on Paradise Island. We landed in the dinghy dock of the Atlantis marina and ogled the many-many-million dollar yachts, then marveled at the over-the-top displays of artfully blown glass and the gigantic sa...