Having gotten a pump out and unclogged our black water holding tank, we were ready to leave Freeport and head to an anchorage just outside of Port Lucaya. We left Freeport Harbour right after breakfast on Saturday, Nov. 12, for an 11.8 nautical mile trip east, hugging the southern coast of Grand Bahama Island.
Rick and Maryalice came to help us get off the dock, while they stayed back to work on their boat for a couple of days before getting back in the water on Monday.
Kory and I had to motor the whole two hours from Freeport to Lucaya since the wind was right on our bow. Rather than entering the harbour through the Bell Channel Inlet, we decided to anchor outside on the Atlantic Ocean side. It was a little rolly when we got there, but we figured it wouldn’t be too bad for the night. We anchored at low tide with a depth of eight feet, and let out 65 feet of chain, including the bridle. We dug into the sand and held well the first time. It sure is nice to anchor in sand as opposed to the muddy bottoms we had in the Chesapeake all summer.
It was nice to be anchored in beautiful waters. I was able to do two more loads of laundry, including sheets, and hang them out to dry. We spent the afternoon straightening up the boat, catching up on emails, cooking, and dipping our feet in the water.
Come dinnertime, the swells started getting bigger and we were really being tossed around. We had 2-3 foot seas at 3-4 seconds apart. Our boat was rocking side to side like a large baby’s cradle, but a lot more frenzied. By this time, it was getting dark and we didn’t want to pick up anchor, go into the harbor, and try to figure out where to go in the dark. So we spent the night on anchor in not so favorable conditions. Thankfully, we were so tired that we fell asleep and slept through the rocking most of the night; other than us getting up a couple of times to make sure we weren’t dragging. Our anchor held tight all night, and for that we were grateful.
First thing in the morning, at sunrise on Nov. 12th, before showers or breakfast, we decided to pull up the anchor and head into the harbour through Bell Channel. It was so peaceful making our way into the inlet and into smooth waters.
We stopped at the fuel dock first to top off our tanks after our passage from Charleston. Surprisingly, diesel was cheaper here than in South Carolina.
When we were in The Bahamas in May of this year, we stayed in this same harbour on a private dock owned by a very friendly man named Gilles. We called him a few days ago to see if he had dock space available for us. Thankfully, he did. He remembered us and was happy to have us come back.
We wanted to get on a dock because all the forecasts were showing a strong low pressure system coming our way starting Monday evening through Thursday. This system is expected to bring heavy winds with gusts up to 37 knots. The seas outside of this harbour, where we were just anchored, are expected to reach 6 feet at a period of 5 seconds — not the place we want to be hanging out.
Once this low pressure system passes, Lord willing, it looks like we’ll have a good weather window to start island hopping to The Exumas beginning next Sunday, November 19th. Until then, we’ll enjoy our stay in Lucaya and the hospitality of our friendly dock master. He has given us full use of his property for the week including power, water, trash, pool, and barbecue. Not only have these amenities been great for us, but Gracie has enjoyed spending time on land, running, going on walks, and gallivanting in the Bermuda grass.
There is a nice grocery store within walking distance, and another near enough to ride our scooters, so we’ve been able to get produce, meat, and other perishable items while staying here.
There are several nice restaurants as well. Kory took me out to a nice dinner at Flying Fish Restaurant. We ate on a couch on a floating dock, which was pretty cool! Kory had fish and chips made with fresh red snapper, and I had a freshly caught wahoo caesar club sandwich. It was quite tasty, but the ambiance was the best, with live music to top it off. This was a special treat, considering we’ve spent the past week holed up on our boat during the passage and working on boat projects.
