Boating with Sunset Delight: 2024 Bahamas: Move to Cat Island

28 March 2024
Move to more-protected anchorage
.8 nm

10:00 to 10:30

With another “blow” coming our way, Clark decided we should move the boat to another spot for better north / northwest wind protection. We had to be careful of the coral bottom, but luckily we found a nice spot with good-holding sand. We pulled up the anchor at 10:00 on the east side of the anchorage, and dropped it about 30 minutes later on the west side.

Other boaters told us that we could get great pizza at “Tiny’s Hurricane Hole”. They opened at noon, so we got the dinghy prepped and headed over there just before 12:00. They have a nice dinghy dock to their cottages and bar / grill.

Tiny's up ahead

Covered dinghy dock

Clark posed on the dock

The walk on the dock to the beach is fine if the tide is out. We almost got our toes wet jumping off the end near high tide.

Might get your feet wet stepping off here

We arrived just after noon and could not tell from the dock if Tiny's was open. I walked up to ask and got a nod. We were the first customers of the day.

Tiny's bar and eating area

Our friendly bartender - PJ

Clark is not a big fan of alcohol, but I had to have a Rum Punch before we left the Bahamas. I thought it was delicious, but Clark said it tasted of coconut, which apparently is a bad thing to him.

Cheers!

We came specifically for the pizza, but when we inquired as to its availability, PJ told us that the dough was still rising. We could order it, but it would take a while to prepare. While we waited for our food, I walked around to check out the grounds.

"How do you spell RELIEF?"
Long Island!

Outdoor seating

We shared a salad while we waited for the pizza. All the food was excellent, and we took some pizza home with us as it was more than we could eat there.

Having explored almost the entire island yesterday by car, we headed back to the boat after lunch to relax.

Sunset at Long Island, Bahamas

29 March 2024

I am not sure how much moving the boat helped with the wind event that came through last night. Clark slept soundly, but the howling winds woke me at 5:45 this morning and kept me awake until it was daylight and time to get up. I expect the rocking would have been worse had we not moved.

I took a morning picture of the sky.

Clark listened to the Chris Parker weather report at 6:30. Then, later when he asked me what I wanted to do today, and I told him, “Nothing!” We spent the day reading and I did a lot of sudoku puzzles. I bought a puzzle book at the supermarket before we left Marathon, so I could use it to entertain myself since WiFi is limited.

I grabbed a sunset picture at the end of the day.

After dinner, we watched an episode of Remington Steele.

30 March 2024
Depart: Salt Pond, Long Island, anchorage 9:05
Arrive: New Bight anchorage, Cat Island, 5:50
Distance: 67 nm
Conditions: cold north wind, choppy waters crossing between islands

Clark captured a morning picture of the anchorage today.

Having not slept well the night before, I slept like a rock last night. By the time I looked out to see the sky, I got an entirely different view.

Where's the sun?

Clark had listened to the morning weather report. It was a long one today! When I later came out of the stateroom, he excitedly said, “We might be able to go all the way to Cat Island today!” So, when we left the anchorage at Salt Pond, our destination for the day was somewhat unknown. If conditions looked favorable, we would go to Cat Island. If not, we would bail out somewhere along the west side of northern Long Island to wait for better crossing conditions.

The only problem I could see was that by the time we figured out the conditions beyond Long Island, it would make more sense to keep going than to backtrack. Once Clark ventures out to check conditions, he rarely decides to turn around, so I was prepared for wind and waves for today’s travel.

We passed several points on Long Island before we reached the northern-most point just after noon. With binoculars, Clark could see the Columbus monument we visited when we had the car.

After leaving the tip of Long Island, we had over four hours of open water to cross to reach Cat Island. We saw nothing worthy of picture-taking!

We reached the New Bight anchorage at Cat Island around 5:50. The first vessel we spied in the anchorage was a power boat 108' long.

"Who Cares" anchored

Other than this big one, we saw an aluminum sailboat named "Heavy Metal" and three or four other sailboats at anchor.

We did not drop our anchor until almost 6:15 as we surveyed the conditions of the bottom and saw lots of rocks and rough terrain below us. The chart showed "good holding" but I was skeptical.

I hung over the bow checking out the conditions underwater. With the north wind blowing I had to grab a windbreaker to stay warm. I must be getting soft as now anything below 70 degrees feels cold to me!

Based on what I was seeing, I was hesitant to recommend Clark drop the anchor in any of the places we surveyed. Finally, he complained that the sun was setting, and I needed to make a judgement call. Hopefully, I found a spot with decent holding. The last thing I want is the anchor alarm going off at 2:00 a.m.!

A short while later, the clouds gave us good picture-taking conditions as the sun went down.