Boring Day Anchored in Montague Bay, Nassau…and the Plan From Here

Allan’s Cay to Nassau – 32 nautical miles sailed

After arriving in Nassau shortly before noon after a pleasant sail from the Exumas, it began to rain and did not stop. This is only the third day of rain we’ve experienced in over four months so it came as a bit of a shock, especially as the weather forecast predicted only a slight chance of occasional light sprinklings.

We stopped at Nassau Yacht Haven to fill up our diesel and water tanks and it was the first time we’ve had to dock the boat in months. Since Fort Lauderdale I have been filling the diesel tanks using jerry cans and calculating the amount of diesel to add based on the number of hours the engine had been running since the last top up. The boat typically uses 0.75 gallons of diesel per hour so I add the appropriate amount, but hadn’t actually filled it to the top for a very long time as using jerry cans doesn’t allow me to hear the “almost full” noise the tank vent makes as it is approaching full, and I hate overfilling the tanks as it spills diesel into the water and can potentially cause fuel leaks inside the boat. So, based on my estimate I was expecting to take about 13 gallons of diesel. How much did it need? 11 gallons. I’m happy my system of fuel estimations is working out.

We also paid to fill our water tanks and took on 75 gallons of water for the price of $15, which is how much I would have spent in gasoline running the dinghy back and forth from Potters Cay filling up our water jugs, not to mention the back breaking (strengthening) job of transporting them. So, it was a good stop.

Hoping to find an anchorage closer to the dinghy dock, we tried to squeeze into one near the yacht club, but there just wasn’t enough space, so we gave up and returned to Montague Bay, where we had anchored previously, which is a decent enough anchorage, but just a little far out. The rain really started to fall once we got anchored so we hunkered down and waited, hoping it would break so that we could go into Nassau for grocery shopping. But it just kept falling and we remained in the boat all day, suffering from intense boredom, which we are unaccustomed to. The rain didn’t stop the local jet skiers and tourist boats ripping through the anchorage with wild abandon, at speeds designed to produce maximum wake, keeping the sailboats anchored here bouncing and swinging and smashing and slapping. But that motion feels normal; what comes across as strange is when there is no motion on the boat, or we’re on land. Makes us a bit wobbly.

I asked Ana a question today. The question was, Do you feel like we’re running out of time on this trip?

The answer, from both of us, was No.

Thus far we’ve covered three island chains in the Bahamas – Bimini, New Providence, and the Exumas. After Stella leaves on Wednesday we plan to sail to Eleuthera for a week, then pick up our friends back in Nassau and return with them for a week to either Eleuthera or the Exumas, depending on wind and weather. After this, we hope to sail north-east to the Abacos and spend a week there, then cut west to Grand Bahamas then back to the US and snake our way north to Canada. By the time we are done we hope to have visited six of the Bahamian island groups, which is probably more than we expected, and yet we will leave knowing there are still so many places to explore here in the future; unlimited, really. I can see why so many cruisers do not go any further south than the Bahamas. The winter weather here is pleasant, the people are kind, the cruising infrastructure is unparalleled, access is amazing with all the local airports, and there’s a thousand anchorages to explore.

So, we do not feel like we are running out of time. Instead, we feel like we are moving at the right pace, enjoying the moments, and using our time efficiently to see and experience as much as possible. Time has certainly taken on a different dimension and I will admit I’ve stopped noticing if it’s a Monday or a Wednesday or a Saturday when we’re sailing across perfectly clear aquamarine waters, or enjoying a beach fire, or snorkelling amongst the fishes, or hiking an island trail, or chilling with new friends.

What will it feel like as we sail out of the Bahamas and back up the incredibly long US coast and ICW? Well, it will be an adventure, just like it was on the way here. We will stop at places we missed, revisit places we loved, discover new places, and maybe do some longer ocean passages. I feel like we will still be Sailing to the Sun, but it will be the sun of the epic Canadian summer, and I look forward to the much longer daylight hours we’ll have for the return journey and am hoping that improved springtime weather outpaces our northward progress.

And as I sit here typing at 7 am on a Sunday I feel the Bahamian sunshine pouring in through the hatches and portholes. Time to get moving!