All I wanted for Christmas
All I wanted for Christmas was a super-protected anchorage and a free Wi-Fi signal. I must have been a good boy this year!
After a beautiful downwind sail from Nassau, we dropped the hook in a windy and choppy Allen’s Cay anchorage. Although our intention was to anchor out of the current in lower SW Allen’s Cay, the strong wind would have put us on a very dangerous lee shore (nowhere to drag but into the rocks). With that ruled out, we decided to join the herd and anchor near the dozen or so other boats. Although our chosen spot was windy and had a fair amount of current, we had plenty of swing room and were safe, or so we thought.
Rebecca and I taking turns playing on the tramp while under sail. It was cool watching the coral heads pass by underneath us at 6-7 knots.
A brief description of how anchoring works. All boats lower their anchor and then pay out a certain amount of chain or rope, referred to collectively as anchor rode. The ratio of the amount of rode one pays out to the depth of the water is known as scope. In a strong blow, to be really secure, 7:1 is a very good ratio. So, let’s assume that all the boats let out the same scope and when the wind and/or the current pushes them back, they hopefully lie a safe distance from one another. When the wind or the current changes, in theory all the boats swing the same way, remaining that safe distance apart.
ZTC at anchor. In the background is a high-speed tour boat from Nassau. They dropped off a boat load of tourists for a 15-minute photo taking frenzy.
And the above all works, until there is no wind and/or no current, which occurs at slack tide. Or even worse, when there is no current and a bunch of wind, such as what happened last night. Around about 11:00 PM our anchor-drag alarm went off, waking us up (you don’t even want to know how early I went to sleep last night). Although we hadn’t dragged anchor, I had set the alarm with a distance of only 50 feet to let us know if/when our boat had swung around. When I looked out I noticed that the people inside the half-million-dollar power cat beside us were still up in their salon area. And then it dawned on me, “why can I see them so closely?” I barely had time to call to Rebecca to get up and make it up to the bow when I had to fend off the other boat to stop our bow roller from putting a huge gouge in their hull. Neither of us had dragged anchor but with no current to hold us in place, the wind was causing our boats, and just about every other boat in the anchorage, but especially the cats, to swing around like crazy. So began 3+ hours of a combination of bumper-boats and chicken. It wasn’t until the current picked back up again that things returned to their state of normalcy.
You can see how the boats behind Rebecca, including ZTC, are well spaced. Until 11:00 PM that is.
A couple of the iguanas that Allen’s Cay are famous for. We were sorry that we had to blow off today’s tour of that place. Perhaps we’ll go back again in more settled weather.
At 7:00 AM this morning, Rebecca and I quickly got the boat ready to move, not wishing to play another round of that game. The weather is supposed to deteriorate in the next day or so as a front blows through and everyone is looking for a protected place to ride it out. A couple of hours south from Allen’s Cay is Norman’s Cay, a place made famous by it’s use in the drug smuggling trade of the past. Right in the middle of the Cay is a legitimate “hurricane hole,” an anchorage protected from all directions. The only issue, and one that played in our favor by limiting the other boat traffic here, is that the entrance to the place is so shallow and intricate (read: dangerous!) that not many people would be willing to risk trying to get in. Except us. 🙂
The entrance was indeed tricky, and shallow, but that’s why we have a little cat, so we can get into places like this. Once inside “The Pond” as it is known, it reminded both of us of the movie “The Blue Lagoon.” Such a perfect and protected spot could only be made better by a free internet connection, which we found! We now only wish our friends and family were here to share it with us.
Oh I can’t wait to see pictures of this new anchorage. It sounds like a slice of paradise!
Pictures are coming. 🙂
The photo of the iguana being feed from a stick has someone with wrist bands on. Was that someone from a cruise ship that took the cigarette boat tour?
In La Paz, Mexico the bay there has squirrely currents and it was dubbed the La Paz Waltz since the boats at anchor point a different direction.
What an eye! When all the tourists swarmed the island, I snapped a couple pics of a young girl feeding one. That was her hand.
cool!
Yes, cool!
Where, oh where, did you find internet? And what kind of antenna do you use?
Antenna:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O9X9EU?ie=UTF8&tag=zertocru-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001O9X9EU
Internet? Just some free wi-fi signal here on Norman’s Cay. It’s pretty strong and fast too!
What was the least amount of water you had entering Norman Cay? And what was the tide condition when you entered? Or maybe you want that to be your secret. Lol.
Eric: We’re not concerned about letting out any secret, the info is all on the charts and in the guidebooks.
It was just after high tide when we went in. The least amount of water was 4.7 feet I think. I may not have been right in the “channel” when that occurred as I didn’t recognize the range marks for what they were. I pretty much just followed the dotted line on our chart plotter even though Rebecca was on the bow to spot any trouble should it have come up. At one point she commented and said “look at that shovel in the water.” When we went back later in our dinghy, after the water had gone down, we saw that the shovel was actually supposed to be a green marker. 🙂
Merry Christmas Guys. Have fun. JC
Thanks JC. Same to you.
Forgive me for saying this, but I can’t help myself… does anyone else think it’s awesome that someone named JC is wishing us Merry Christmas? 😉
You wished that friends and family could be with you. We are, thanks to your blog and the internet! Merry Christmas!
Same to you, Helen!
Thanks for following along.
Hi Mike Rebecca, looks a great place you have their,have you noticed a big change in the air temps after the over night crossing you made . have you seen any fish life ? & i can remember do you scuba dive ? & is their room for a small air compressor for charging dive cylinders on your cat ? it would have to be a standard generator size “hold” Thanks again andy & sonja
It is definitely warmer although when the sun sets, it still gets a bit chilly.
We don’t dive but we don snorkel. In fact, just an hour ago we broke out our gear and got in the water for the first time. Not much sea life right where our boat is but there is apparently lots just outside this anchorage. As for a compressor, we could have one on this boat but that would be a big investment in real estate (and weight). I think having a Hookah on board would be cool though, and helpful for any work that needed to be done on the hull underwater.
Iguanas are attracted to red or red-0range things like brightly painted toenails. They love hybiscus flowers.
That’s why they were all over my feet!
😉