At some point I noticed that the anchor was not well secured. I had to crawl up forward, being the chicken I am, and take care of it while the boat was plunging forward. Surprisingly I didn’t get too wet and was soon back in the mostly dry cockpit. Despite our new weather cloths we were taking a bit of spray in the cockpit now and then. One particularly large wave splashed in and gave Prince quite the surprise as he as suddenly wet. I even managed to cook some pasta for lunch. The only downside in this whole thing is that we could not lay our course to Conception. We actually passed the entrance to the anchorage by 6 miles with plans to be able to tack back. Well we tacked, but due to a setting current, we were headed back the same way we’d started. I was none to happy at this point as we were 6 hours into our 15 mile sail, still had 9 miles to go and we couldn’t head that way! Now what to do! We considered just heading back to Long Island, or sailing downwind to Cat Island arriving well after dark, but once again being the good sailor I am, I decided it was time to use the iron jenny. I reasoned that I had paid 10K for that thing I might as well use it. So we motor sailed our way the last 9 miles, navigating our way through the coral patches and setting anchor at 5:30 p.m.
I was super tired, but soon we had the boat tidied up and I was sitting on the foredeck gazing on a miles long white sand beach sprinkled with palm trees while sipping a pina colada. I guess it was worth the effort!
We plan to be here a few days as there is a lot to see. Uninhabited Conception Island is a Bahamas National Park. All the wildlife and marine life is protected. There are trails to hike, a long creek to explore by dinghy that is supposed to be filled with sea turtles and baby fish, countless reefs to snorkel, and maybe even a little time relaxing on the beach. It should be fun!
Just a heads up to my friends and family, there is no internet access here other than the sat phone. So I can’t read e-mail or Facebook. If you need me please call the sat phone.
Love and hugs to everyone!!!