Preparing for the Return Trip to the States

We spent a single night, June 21, at the Bluff House Marina, Green Turtle Cay.  Dockage at a marina allowed us to complete preparations for our passage back to the States – filling the water tanks, using the internet to check weather forecasts, laundry, showers, etc.  We last visited the Bluff House Marina in fall of 2010 and were impressed by the facilities and the low prices.  The facilities remain clean and in good repair, but the cost has gone up… dockage has gone from $1/foot to $2/foot and they no longer have a “dining for dockage” program.  In the past all the money spent in the restaurants & bars was deducted from the dockage fees.  We took full advantage of this deal on our last visit.

The weather is looking good for us to sail back to the States early next week.  To position ourselves for a jump across the Gulf Stream, we need to head northwest along the Abaco Islands.  Black Sound’s shallow bar necessitated transit  prior to the late morning low tide.   We departed the Bluff House mid-morning with threating squalls to the south and east.

The squalls caught us just off Manjack Cay.

On the helm in the rain.

Limited visibility and lightening were the greatest threats from these cells.  I was on the helm when the first wave of grey, rain swallowed us.  Once wet I remained on the helm while Anne stayed below assisting with navigation and counting off the time between the flash and bang in an effort to gauge the proximity of the lightening.

 We danced in and around squalls through the middle of the day.   By the time we sighted our destination – Allens Pensacola Cay the skies were clearing.  Likely due to the foul weather many vessels occupied the anchorage.  In busy anchorages C’est la Vie’s shallow draft often allows us to sneak inside the outer lines of deep draft vessels.  This played to our advantage today and we were able to find a spot less than 100 meters off the beach.

 The day’s squalls now west of our position provided for a colorful sunset.