Highbourn Cay, Bahamas
24.42.209N
76.49.469W
In spite of the fact that we woke to thunder and lightening this morning, the winds were down and we decided that we would leave. We could see that the worst of the clouds were almost past us, so by the time Dale tracked down the security guard and asked for the submarine net be lowered for us, the rain had stopped and I was able to just let the boat drift away from the dock far enough to gracefully pivot and exit without any embarrassment. Besides, it was 7:15am and hardly anyone was moving at that time.
Once we negotiated the winding channel leading back out to the bank, we raised our main and had a rather boisterous romp the first part of the morning. By mid-morning, the waves had died down, we raised the jib as well and off we went.
We arrived at Highbourn Cay around 1pm and entered into a more protected area behind Oyster Cay, a small island to the south of Highbourn that Gerry and Nicky referred to in their blog. The last time we were here, we stayed to the west of Highbourn itself and woke to a huge yacht next to us. It was definitely Mutt and Jeff time back then.
Dale always says that anchoring, docking and mooring is a spectator event, so if anyone was looking out their windows today as we approached, they had quite the spectacle.
The first time we made our attempt, was at 1:15pm. We approached what looked like a sandy area where the charts indicated 6’. There were shallows to the left of us, so we cautiously looked for a sandy area half way between the rocks and the island. The anchor went down, seemed to set well but Dale decided to dive it as our depth sounder would alternate between 19’ and .6’. He hopped into quite the current I later learned and scouted out where we were. As the boat would swing on its anchor, we would swing from deep water to over a sand bar and only had a few inches clearance. As the tide was heading out, Dale climbed back on board and said that we weren’t in a good spot.
The second time (about 1:40pm), we moved closer to the island and into deeper water between what appeared on the chart to be two routes for boats to take. This time when the anchor went down, we never got the tug we like to feel that indicates that we are well set. Once again, Dale jumped in and checked out the anchor. He’d motion for me to reverse and would watch the anchor. Then he would dive down and reappear. Again, he would motion to back down. After 3 of these exercises, he swam back and said that we were in sand over marl (stone); the anchor was never going to set.
The third time (about 2pm), we moved further forward and tried again. This time we got the tug we like and Dale turned and said “Do you want me to dive it?” Of course, I did! It took 3 times, lets make sure. Once over the anchor he motioned to back down and the tug came once more. He swam back and confirmed that we weren’t going any place tonight.
Tomorrow we plan to make Warderick Wells Land and Sea Park by early afternoon. We consulted the charts and weather info downloaded earlier and plan to once again leave early in the morning in order to ensure we arrive with the sun high in the sky. When we were in Palm Cay Marina, we had telephoned ahead to make reservations for tomorrow, as the winds are supposed to once again pipe up to over 20 kts on Monday. Its an area well protected and has mooring balls to attach to, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about there. I wonder if Dale would be willing to dive down to make sure the mooring balls are secure?
