, Turks & Caicos Islands
21.19.204N
71.39.049W
332.9 NM
55.49 Hrs.
6.0 Avg.
8.3 Max
Current Odometer: 7370.3
Happy Birthday James! We love you and look forward to seeing you soon.
As morning dawned, we could see the rocks we had been trying to avoid during the night and came up on the bank without mishap.
We could see a couple of boats anchored along Great Sand Cay, most likely pre-positioning for the trip south. We continued on and punched in the route that would take us around the Fish Cays to an anchorage behind Big Ambergris Cay.
We listened to Chris, our weather guru, and learned that there were gale force and possibly hurricane force winds along the east coast of the US developing this coming week. These conditions were expected to move south and east over the Abacos and Bahamas though they weren’t expected to reach as far south as the TCIs. However, the seas that were kicked up by these winds might. We were advised to tuck in somewhere until the seas moderated. Gerry & Nicky had told us of a marina they had stayed at on their way south on the north side of Provo; we’ll consult our charts and check it out.
Along our way to Ambergris, we met a convoy of 6 boats making their way south. The captain of “Maggie” hailed us on the radio and asked about sea conditions off the bank. We had heard him earlier on the SSB speaking with Chris and assured him that it was very calm and practically without wind. We also warned him that the evenings had been known to have thunder and lightening over the DR.
Dale spoke with the captain of Maggie at length and learned that they were in their mid-60’s and took up sailing 2.5 years ago. They had traveled through the Panama Canal from San Diego, along the east coast before hopping the ditch and working their way south through the Bahamas and Exumas to the TCIs. The captain, who spoke with an English accent, told of how they had been weather delayed for almost 6 weeks and were hurrying to get to Trinidad before hurricane season. They spoke of insurance “boxes” and places to stay before we finally wished them well and God’s speed to their destination of Crews Inn, the marina that was right across from us when we were in Trini. Once you get out here, it’s a small world.
We finally rounded around the Fish Cays and wiggled and dodged our way through the coral heads that lay between us and our anchorage behind Big Ambergris. There was a trawler named Voyager who was already anchored there, so we gave him plenty of space and anchored behind him in crystal clear water about 3:30pm. Dale dove in to check the anchor and came up with a conch shell for me to photograph before putting it back where he had found it.We sat in the cockpit for awhile and noted the construction progress that’s been made since we were last here in late December 2005. Big Ambergris is an 1100 acre private island and home of the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club. So if you’re looking for a home in the $525,000 - $4.5 million range with a paved jet strip and deepwater marina accommodating 200+ foot yachts, with NO TAXES, this is the place for you!
Photo #1: What's left of wreck on Big Ambergris
