3rd May 2023
An uneventful stroll across the edge of Great Bahama Bank in relatively light winds. Beautiful sailing conditions for the first half, then gradually slowing winds had us deciding between the engine and spinnaker in order to arrive at our next stop before 2am. Hector’s insistence meant we got the spinnaker out of its bag (where it has lived for the past two years), rigged up new lines for it (as the old ones were buried somewhere in the lockers), and got it flying.
Good call Hector, particularly as the wind came back somewhat a while later. We had a lot of fun getting it set right; easy when running straight downwind, more complicated on a broad reach. But, with a little trial and error and some practice we were up to consistent 6kt boat speeds in 10kt true wind, which we’re pretty happy with. Later on the wind died away completely, so the passage ended with a few hours of motoring.
On the way we’d caught a rainbow runner, but as we didn’t know whether it was a risk for ciguatera (which is a real problem here, not like in Belize) we stopped at sunset and used it for bait/chum. By stopped I mean we were just floating along in 20m deep water, with no wind at all. It was clear enough water to see the bottom while the sun was setting, very pretty indeed. Didn’t catch any more fish, but the kids had a good run around before we turned the engines back on. Might make that a ritual any time we’re in windless conditions at sunset.
