The Whale Passage and Little Bahama Bank

Treasure Cay to Matanilla Shoal on the Little Bahama Bank – 105 nautical miles sailed

With glassy water and a calm day forecasted we raised the anchor shortly before 8am and were off for the start of a 230 nautical mile run to Florida, waved off by a cheering, shirtless, and morning-haired Ben in Waddington. But after five minutes we noticed the engine was making an odd noise, so checked the exhaust port and could see no water was coming out. I immediately knew the problem and slapped my forehead. Yesterday I had done some routine engine maintenance which included checking the impeller of the sea water pump. I had forgotten to reopen the thru-hull valve after doing this and as a result the engine had been running without water long enough for it to heat up and burn off all the fins of the impeller. Fortunately, I had plenty of spares so replaced it and we were on our way to the Whale Passage.

The menacing whitecaps and breaking waves we saw last time here were replaced with easily ridable and gentle swells, some quite large, but they presented no difficulty in crossing through this feared cut that sinks boats every year. I am glad we waited.

After passing Green Turtle Cay and Manjack Cay, two islands we were really hoping to explore (next time…), the rest of the day was spent motoring for hours across the Little Bahama Bank, characterized by consistently shallow and gloriously clear waters. Despite being in a sailboat, we relished the lack of wind after sitting at anchor though so many blowy days and nights in the Abacos. I sat for a long time at the bow looking down into the water, scanning the bottom, but saw no fish, no conch, and nothing but the occasional piece of waterlogged wood sunk into the sand. We listened to a podcast or two. We read. We listened to music. We made a great dinner. We watched the last half of Kong and Godzilla: The New Empire (preposterous story, terrible dialogue, silly creatures, but somehow epic and awesome). The hours slid by gently, neither fast nor slow.

At 2am Ana woke me to take over, just as we had passed the Matanilla Shoal on the far north-west corner of the Little Bahamas Bank and were heading into the deep waters of the Gulf Stream. She somehow unknowingly kicked off the battery switch in the cabin and we had a brief but significant panic attack when we looked at the DC electrical panel and everything was dead, including our navigational lights. It did not take long to find the issue, but my accelerated heart rate endured for some time, not slowing much after taking the helm and realizing the boat had spun around and we were going in exactly the wrong direction, due to the auto pilot being depowered. I spun the boat in the complete blackness of the night, totally disoriented, but finally got it headed the right way then let the autopilot take over so I could focus on keeping watch for boats and settle in for the night ride.