Picture This ...

Picture this …..

Two small boats being tossed about in a huge, dark sea on 8-foot rolling waves, with the wind on our nose (for non-sailors, read “yuck!”). We’re all alone at 2:00 a.m., when suddenly out of the darkness appears “Disney Dream” – a carnivalesque cruise boat bedecked in all manner of coloured lights. Her captain radios us about our location and intentions, and then proceeds on his way at about 25 knots (we’re making 5.2 knots at this point – bucking waves that are splashing up to the dodger – the front window in the cockpit). Dream-like it certainly was …. some would say more nightmarish, but not us!

We saw no other vessel except our buddy boat all night, as the waves progressively lay down. We ate, slept, took turns keeping watch, and eventually I saw a dim light in the East – the sun was rising! As I watched and took pictures, the sky, still filled with stars became lighter blue, then pink, as the sun slowly made its way over the horizon. This peaceful, beautiful moment in the night turning to day helped me remember why I love sailing so much (pics below).

So, as I write this post, we’re enroute to Chub Cay, where we hope to hole up for a few days while the next cold front with predicted gale-force winds passes. Right now, the sea is calm and a beautiful shade of turquoise, the wind is blowing a light 8.6 knots, the sun is shining in a blue, blue sky, and we’re sailing on the jib – ah-h-h.

The pics are of our departure from Port Lucaya last night at midnight, the sunrise this morning, our buddy boat under sail, and the Chub Key Marina where we will spend the next couple of nights during the storm.