After lots of rain on Wednesday, Thursday dawned without a ripple on White Sound. We’ve been getting anxious to start moving, so took the opportunity to head North to stage for jumping back to the United States. It was a hard choice because we would have liked to explore the cruiser friendly, Manjack Cay, but we’re starting to feel the deadlines looming to get home. We’ve been told that the residents of the island put up a “Yes Trespassing” sign.
Light winds meant motor sailing out into the Sea of Abaco. Leaving at 0919 we were approaching Angelfish Point by lunch time and bidding farewell to the Abacos. Quite a fleet was headed north with many conversations on the VHF about potential destinations. We decided to head for Great Sale Cay where we could stop and evaluate our options. At 1645 Brenda was treated to her first dolphin sighting as a pod surrounded Intuition and played with our bow wave.

It was 1844 when we anchored at Great Sale in the company of 14 other boats. We found two other Island Packets (Jule and Our Turn) along with friends from our home marina on Grateful Attitudes. A boat named Firelight, that we had met the day before, came sailing into the anchorage with a transmission that only worked in reverse gear. They attempted, unsuccessfully, to get TowBoat/US to meet them at Memory Rock and ended up going back to Green Turtle to have their transmission replaced.
Friday started with Dave on Grateful Attitudes announcing the “Great Sale Cruiser’s Net.” He then proceeded to entertain us all with a parody of the Marsh Harbour and Georgetown morning nets. “Doubtful Dave” shared valuable weather information in a light hearted manner with the six boats on anchor.
We don’t carry enough fuel to motor all the way to North Carolina. After motoring 63 miles in ten hours yesterday we decided to look for more fuel, just to expand our options. Found that “Rosie’s Place” has fuel in the settlement at Grand Cay. We weren’t able to raise Rosie either by calling for Rosie’s Place or using her published handle of “Love Train” on the VHF. Dave graciously called on his satellite phone and confirmed that they were open and had diesel on hand. Chris & Cathy from Jule, an IP 38, decided we had a good idea and brought over 3 jerry jugs for us to take with us. Getting ready to pull the anchor we were surprised to see a barracuda at least as long as Noah is tall drifting just off the side of the boat.

A 15 mile run north brought us just off Grand Cay where we anchored and filled the dinghy with seven empty jerry cans. Brenda and I zoomed into town and found Rosie’s place. It wasn’t a place we would want to spend much time as it looks like hurricanes have taken their toll and rebuilding will take a few more years. We were surprised to see that a sandy cay across from town had been turned into a dump with stacks of garbage and piles of used tires. Several boats floated on moorings, some with shredded sails flapping in the breeze and others with broken ports and bruised hulls. Prices for a gallon of fuel were less than in Green Turtle at “only” $4.25 for diesel and $5.00 for gas. Glad we didn’t bring the big boat in as there wasn’t much water beside the fuel dock at low tide.
It was 1518 by the time we loaded all the jugs onto Intuition. We had originally planned to go back to Great Sale to enjoy a pot luck on Grateful Attitudes, but decided to forgo that and spend the night at Double Breasted Cay. We were anchored there by 1614 and had time to go out exploring in the dinghy. Double Breasted is billed in the cruising guide as a place to get away from the crowds. We explored in the dinghy and went snorkeling close to the boat around some shallow heads with juvenile angelfish and squirrel fish. It is two miles out to the barrier reef, so we didn’t go out there this late in the day. At least Brenda was able to get into the water and see some marine life. As the sunset we took turns blowing the conch horn and were the only boat in sight.
At 1230 we were awakened by flashes of lightening and waves lapping against the stern. The current had overcome the wind and had us turned around, but we were still in a good position. We added a couple more sail ties to the main and dropped a zinc over the side just in case the storm came our way. It wasn’t until 0330 that rain woke us up to close all the hatches and ports. Thunder and lightening were nearby, but never went directly over us.
Waking up in time for the 0630 weather forecast was a little difficult after the restless night, but we listened in anticipation of improving conditions. The prediction is still for increasing winds and no good window to go north until after next Wednesday, so we decided to head back down to Great Sale Cay. While readying the boat to leave we watched a colony of terns swoop around us in pairs as they left to go fishing from their evening roost on the limestone rocks of the nearby cay.
Underway at 0849 we only ran the engine for ten minutes to pull the anchor and raise the sails. With winds out of the NE we were carried along at 7 kts in a very light chop over the banks. We returned to Great Sale with full fuel tanks and smiles on our faces. Spent the afternoon looking at weather, replacing the spare halyard and doing a little school.

Beth made brownies and we sang some silly songs to round out the evening. At story time we just passed through India in Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days.” We were glad to be anchored here as the winds picked up to 25 kts and there are squalls around this afternoon. Fourteen other boats are here with us in the anchorage.
After looking closely at the weather we decided not to leave tomorrow on a straight path to Beaufort. The conditions are marginal and the weather gurus are saying they are only confident of the next 48 hours while we need at three to four days to make our passage. We’re thinking about a crossing to Ft Pierce or Cape Canaveral in Florida, leaving on Sunday or Monday if there doesn’t appear to be a better window opening up before Memorial Day weekend for an offshore trip to North Carolina. As I type this it is raining and winds are blowing 15-20, but we are cozy, well fed and comfortable.