These blogs will start to be out of order with this one. I haven’t made the time to write about our experience after Cape Canaveral. And I want to catch up. But we will add the others, it just might get confusing from here. Sorry.
We came to Hatchett Bay from Current Island. It was a few hours of blissful sailing at 6+ knots. We caught 2 barracuda. Both were released mostly unharmed. But the dark clouds building on the horizon suggested that those hours of carefree sailing had to be paid for, with hours of heavy weather.
As the squalls ahead of a massive thunderstorm and Ventolines converged we started to prep the boat. Did we have sea room if we needed to heave-to? Not at all. Were we carrying too much sail for the conditions approaching? Yes, we were. We rectified both by tacking towards our ultimate destination and reducing sail. Jennifer asked if we should take all sail down. I felt heavily reefed main and jib better than nothing, so we went with that. This way, should we have engine issues we could still make way and if we wanted to heave-to we could just back the jib and lock the wheel, to go below and have some popcorn…
Our buddy boat, Voyager was closer to the storm. Their crisp white sails up stood in stark contrast to the deep darkness building before them. I worried about them, as they were several miles ahead of us and to our eyes, directly in the path. They tacked as we had in an attempt to gain sea room away from shoals directly ahead and to our port. As the wind built past 20,20 and then 30 knots the storm sent forth its herald: a water spout and a sizable one. Then the storm raised the stakes even higher with ocean strikes of lightening. On came the engine.
We started motor sailing towards the backside of the storm. Wyatt clipped in and said a prayer, mostly for the Preys, who looked like they were between the storm and the spout. Our plan was to get east of the southwest moving storm before we were introduced to a spinning vortex. The seas had built to 6 feet within a very short period and made for a tough ride towards Eleuthera and Hatchet Bay.
After 45 mins, we started to outflank the storm. The winds died down to the low 20s and the sea state moderated. The last hour was good motor sailing while watching the seen unfold behind us. Voyager made it out as well. We both anchored in the bay before nightfall.
Hatchet Bay
Hatchet Bay has a narrow entrance channel and otherwise is completely enclosed by high bluffs. It offers fairly outstanding protection and great holding. It can get crowded and was when we came in.
The town on the shores of this bay is Alice Town. The community is quite friendly though it appears that many homes have suffered from storms or fires, if not both. We love the people. But… Trash is everywhere. It’s on the side of roads and highways, in yards. Everywhere. It should not discourage you from visiting, but its a different culture. I just can’t help but think that if it was cleaned up, many more vacationers would want to come. But who knows, that is likely wishful thinking on my part.
You will see many run down or burned out buildings. Some are being restored. Others show no signs of being dealt with. But there are people actively trying to do something about the challenges in their own way. Ken, owner of Project World started this hardware store as well as several other businesses to help bring revenue to the area. Emmett, owner of a popular bar and grill on the water is constantly expanding his business to serve the community and cruisers.
There are many Potcakes, the local Bahamian dog, running around. They are friendly and mostly just want attention and a free meal. Some have ticks so be careful when playing with them.
Hatchet Bay could be a much more developed place. It would be an ideal place for a marina with full service boat yard where cruisers could get repairs. But there are not many amenities now and not many on the horizon. So cruisers that need marinas and pristine conditions will chose other locations.