Anchoring in the Bahamas

Anchoring usually involves dropping your anchor off the bow of your boat and seeing it disappear into the murky water you are floating in. This all changes in the Bahamas! The anchor drops and you can see it on the bottom! You can see it dig into the sand, and you can see if your rode is fouled on anything!

The nice thing is you know what you are anchoring on. You can precisely set your anchor on a sandy patch and watch it dig into the sand. Weeds can foul your anchor, but in these clear waters, it is easily avoidable.

While anchoring may seem straight forward, there is one profound issue to deal with: currents.

The currents in the Bahamas are notorious, and for good reason! They will whip through an anchorage with several knots and reverse in a few minutes. If your anchor has trouble resetting, it will prove itself an issue every 6 hours!

To remedy this, all you need to do is set two anchors, one upstream and one downstream of the yacht. When the current reverses, the boat will swing and pull on the other anchor. The result is that you will simply switch the anchor you are pulling on and not have to worry about resetting your anchor with each tide.

Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

We sailed out of West End and right on past Freeport, as we made our way south. Winds became light and our progress slowed to the point that we realized that we would not make it all the way to Nassau, and instead we pulled into Slaughter Harbor nestled in between Great and Little Stirrup Cay.

This anchorage is deep, and protected by a "tall" island of 50 feet to the East. The next few days are forecasted to have strong Easterly winds, so we figured that this would be our safest plan of action.

We figured that we could go ashore and relax on the Cays while we waited for the weather to blow over, but we were saddened to find that all the islands around us are privately owned by cruise ship companies. As we approached the islands, we noticed large "Do Not Enter" signs on the shores. Upon closer inspection, we realized that the charted towns on Navionics were referring to the structures that are built by the cruise ship companies.

So, we remain anchored with the wind blowing strong and our anchor firmly set as we wait for the weather to improve so that we can venture off to new lands.

Good Days and Bad Days

When cruising in paradise, you will have wonderful days with clear blue skies and perfect wind that will carry you quickly to your next destination. At the same time, you will have days where ominous clouds roll in and winds will gust over the waters surface, kicking up some serious seas.

If you are in the flats of the Bahamas, where the water is shallow, these heavy winds will be just that. The water is so shallow that the waves will break when they are only a few feet tall. This means that you will have a very wet dinghy ride to shore, and snorkeling will be challenging, but your sailboat will handle it just fine. Conversely, if you are in the deep ocean waters between island chains, the seas will grow to their full potential in the water that is thousands of feet deep! If you know that heavy weather is on your horizon, it may be best to seek protection in the lee of an island and get into shallower waters.

Our Gulf Stream Crossing

Sailing across the Gulf Stream can be a stressful time for new cruisers who view the waterway as a mysterious path through unknown waters. With enough study and research, the veil can be lifted and logic brought to the situation.

We crossed the Gulf Stream when two factors were predicted to be at hand: less current, and a west wind.

Less current means that you will experience less northward push as you sail across the stream. It also means that weather will have less of an effect on the sea state.

West wind gives us a nice push that will carry us on a downwind course across the stream, allowing us to fight the current and make it towards our destination with ease.

Aside from these conditions, we also looked for conditions that would make the Gulf Stream much calmer for us. First, we wanted to have the days before we left to have a South Wind, that way the wind and current are flowing in the same direction. This will subdue the seas and make the passage much easier on the crew. The second thing we looked for is for light conditions before we set out. If the winds are from the south at 5 knots, they will produce little wave action, but if they are blowing 25 knots, it will be like climbing into a washing machine!

We had our calm current, our calm days preceding our voyage, and the predicted west wind. Everything looked like it was going to be in our favor! So we set out at 11pm, and left Lake Worth Inlet with the outgoing tide.

As soon as we made it out to sea, we found that the predictions did not match the actual conditions. The winds were from the North West, and the current was much stronger than estimated. Our bow was pointed at 150 degrees, while our heading was 90 degrees. In other words, we were sailing South-South-East but moving due East! We managed to use the Northerly wind to fight the current and keep us from drifting north, but it did generate some seas in the process. Thankfully, with our bow pointed South, the seas were following and we were able to comfortably ride up and over all the waves without any breaking over the stern.

This worked out well, and we were all comfortable, but it was a very slow journey. We were using all of our speed to fight the current, and only moving East at 1.8 knots. When you have a 60 mile journey, this quickly becomes a long trip!

When the winds were starting to lighten up, we went full sail and pointed our bow due east, allowing the current to drift us north with it. We picked up speed and made it out of the Gulf Stream before the winds got too light to sail in, which would have forced us much further north! We arrived in the wee hours of the morning near Memory Rock and anchored in a deep section to avoid colliding with a coral head in the dark. The next morning, when the winds returned, we finished our sail south to West End where we checked in with Customs.

The entire journey took almost two days to complete, but we did manage to make it there under sail with our little electric motor.

Sailing the Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream is a current of water that is shrouded in mystery and confusion. This is all due to a lack of study of the water instead of actual lack of information available about the water.

The Gulf Stream has been studied for decades and is very well understood at this point in time. It flows from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, up by Florida and the East Coast of the United States, and then over towards the UK. The Gulf Stream is composed of warmer and saltier water than the ocean water it contacts, and it has its own wave pattern to it.

Now, there are a few horror stories that will commonly come out of the Gulf Stream. First, has to do with navigation; the second has to do with weather.

When you enter the Gulf Stream, you enter a body of water with on average a 3.5 knot current. There are areas that can even exceed 4.5 knots! When you are sailing East or West, you will be pushed North at this rate. The problem with this is people won't realize they are being pushed north and then get pushed off course!

If your crossing takes 10 hours, you can expect to be pushed at least 30 miles north! If you are not expecting this, you may find yourself never reaching the landfall you planned.

The second issue has to do with weather. Since the Gulf Stream has such a powerful current, any wind out of the North will kick up the seas in a horrible and fierce manner. Any north wind will produce a stereotypical "square" waves with steep faces and float tops. These waves can make the journey less than enjoyable.

The trick to avoid these waves is to only cross when the wind is blowing out of the South, East, or West.

To cross the Gulf Stream in an uneventful fashion, all you need to do is prepare to be pushed north (so start out further south than your destination) and only cross when there is no northern component to the wind.

As you cross, you will know you have entered the Gulf Stream because the water gets warmer, a new swell can be seen in the water, and the bioluminescence at night is magical!