In the
mid-nineties, when we sailed a 40-foot Moody in the Grenadine Islands, I knew
very little, and Jeff complained that he had to worry about everything. I was
very relaxed, because I trusted his sailing skills completely, and I didn’t
know enough to worry.
Last night,
as we were preparing to cross through a cut today that was said to be very
challenging, I was researching wind, waves, tides, timing, etc. to ensure that
we would make it through the high-currant cut safely. And guess what? Jeff
commented that he liked it better when I knew less, and wasn’t worrying as much
– can’t win 😊. But I guess that was a
complement of sorts – I certainly have learned a ton about everything to do
with cruising over the years!
Yesterday we were anchored at Glass
Window Harbour – distinguished by a narrow bridge that connects two parts of
the Island, with both
the turquoise Caribbean on one side, and the smashing ocean waves of the
Atlantic on the other. We dinghied to the near-by beach and walked about a
quarter-mile to the bridge to enjoy that incredible view. On our walk back we
stopped to witness huge sprays of water spurting from a blow-hole – hard to
capture on film, but really neat!
This morning
we were greeted by not a breath of wind, and the calmest water we’ve ever
experienced on the ocean – an almost eerie mirror-like expanse as far as the
eye could see. Perfect weather for the final leg of our trip to Spanish Wells.
We had carefully planned the timing to cross the cut I mentioned earlier, as
there are warnings in the cruising guide about how treacherous the heavy
current could be if you go at the wrong time – a very rough ride. We’d done
that once before by accident, and were not interested in a repeat performance.
My heart was
pounding a bit as we approached the cut, right at slack tide. The current was
definitely strong – but the boat handled it well, as it carried us in the right
direction at 8 knots (our motor was only doing 5 knots at the time). It was a
fun ride, but not a rough one – I guess the planning helped!
Now we’re
safely harboured off Spanish Wells, where we’ll be for at least a week for boat
maintenance of all sorts, and a bit of time to explore.
This was our final Northern
destination – we’ll be Southward bound back to Georgetown once we leave here, through Cat
and Long Islands.
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