Day 18 - 1/19/11

Remember those beautiful images of yesterday evening; well about 3 am they were shattered.  I was awakened by the boat being rocked by a new swell, with some intermittent wave slap.  The light winds of the evening were replaced with a freshening breeze, and that breeze suddenly became 15 to 20 knots.  Between the wind and waves, we did not return to sleep.  I made my GPS checks to assure that we were not heading for the shipping lanes, and Beth responded to Dennis on the VHF, noting that if we were up, we should get moving.  I was a little hesitant with the wind and waves, and considering neither of us have a windlass to pull the anchor.  However, around 5:30, both the wind and the waves subsided enough to allow us to leave our overnight anchorage.  One consolation was a spectacular sunrise as we motored towards the channel. 

Our destination today was West Bay on the western portion of New Providence island; Nassau is the capital.  With the winds we were able to fly our jibs, and at least save some gas.  We were close hauled all of the way, until eventually we were forced to motor. 

Once West Bay was in sight, I felt that a weight had been lifted.  Two sleeples nights were starting to take their toll.  We motored into the bay, Beth steering while I monitored the bottom.  The notes in the charts said that there were some coral heads that required watching.  Once anchored, I took off my shirt and climbed into the water, which was 78 degrees, according to my speed control.  You would hardly guess that I had spent the two previous nights hardly sleeping, as I swam to our friends boat about 300 yards away. 

Dinner was catch as catch can, as I did not want to cook.  I wanted to relax and recharge.  After watching another sunset over a couple of drinks, the previous two days are now distant memories.