Friday, February 19, 2010 Nassau to Allen's Cay

Nassau, New Providence to Allen’s Cay; 36.5 miles Anchored in 7.5 feet
25 04.717 x 77 11.618 to 24 44.845 x 76 50.293

We hailed Nassau Harbor Control and got permission to leave the harbor after fueling up. Fueling up was massive confusion. We went to fuel up at the Hurricane Hole Fuel Station and a power boat jumped in front of us and cut us off so we decided to go on to Brown’s which had boats lined up to get fuel, then over to the far one where we had stayed at and anchored at last year. There was a line up there too. So we headed back to the original one between the two bridges and waited for the powerboat to pull out. It was kind of neat because I sort of drifted into their dock sideways. I’m not used to that happening. It felt like I had bow thrusters or something.

The fuel dock that Mary and Axel went to had run out of fuel just as they pulled up and they had to go to a different dock, and Pam and Glen ended up coming over to the Esso at Hurricane Hole too. Originally we’d heard that at this ESSO you could get free water and they had the cheapest prices. When Mary called, they told her that there was no water at the fuel dock, which was why we decided to move along. When we pulled up there though, I was told we could get water there. So we got fuel and water but had to pay cash. For some reason our credit card wouldn’t work there. None of our credit cards worked there. Interesting. But we got fuel, water and dropped off our garbage.

It was a terrific day for motor sailing. The winds were light 5-8 knots from the NE on our beam and the dolphins gave us an escort once we were out of the harbor. It’s incredibly lovely. The water is so calm that the turquoise seas are like lake water. There’s no swell. The sky is Crayola blue with white coma clouds and rows of stratocumulus hovering over the sea green/aqua water. You can hang over the side of the boat and look down 20 feet to see white sand. I spotted several starfish. We put two lines out hoping to catch dinner but didn’t get a nibble.

I got bow watch crossing the Yellow Banks. That area is known for rocks and coral heads. As you approach the trouble ones, they appear as large dark blobs close to the surface of the water. So I got to tell Wayne where to go heh heh heh… No, seriously – to the left hon; okay – back on course. The Yellow Banks are about 4 miles long and it was a nice day for bow watch :)

We pulled into Allen’s Cay around 4:30pm. There were already 6 sailboats in here. We pulled in to where we anchored last time but a boat was already there so went back closer to the entrance next to a beautiful Tayana 42 called Passport. It’s a lovely boat! We ended up having to set the anchor twice. The first time we hooked a rock by the corner (Azaya checked for us with their glass bottom dinghy). So while we felt firm, once we turned with the tide, we’d have probably broken loose – it was a little rock. Azaya and Blue Pearl dinghied to shore to see the iguanas and I’m getting ready to put something on for dinner. Don’t know what yet – time to look and see what’s good.