Midnight Rambler gets to Turks and Caicos

We cross the Mona passage

Isla Desecheo in the Mona Passage

It was 56 hours from Puerto Rojo to South Caicos. By the start of the second night we were all pretty tired. We stood 4 hours on 6 off watches overlapped so there was always a watch stander who had been on for 2 hours to keep good continuity, but as we were all keyed up for the trip no one got much sleep the first night and just got little naps during the day. The sailing was good with 15 kts of wind, but with a 6-8’ swell on the starboard quarter so we rolled a good bit in the seas. Even though we all got some sleep the second night we were still tired when we pulled into South Caicos and anchored.

Old wall in South Caicos

 

It was a rolly anchorage and unfortunately it was Sunday. So everything was closed. We did get some cold beers by asking Risha to open her store for us and she very kindly accommodated us. There is also a Marine school there and they let us use their wi fi while we were there to check the weather.

Porpoise acompany us on the crossing

Aug in the Galley

The next morning we crossed the Caicos Banks. It was an all-day sail dodging coral heads and skimming over the bottom which sometimes was only a foot and a half beneath our keel. About 2/3 of the way across we were greeted by a couple of porpoise who played by our bow for about 15 minutes before leaving. About an hour later the sight was repeated but this time with six porpoises! They are just so great to watch. They barely move their tails and they shoot away.  As we approached Providenciales we were met by a high speed police boat and told to call Radio Provo and provide them with all the information about the boat and the crew. We did, but in after thought since they asked for a lot of personal information and passport numbers we should have refused to give the information over the radio since it is open communication.

We anchored in 8’ of water in Sapodilla Bay Providenciales and spent a relaxing night. The next day Aug and Bobbie went in and checked us in. At the dock by customs is a 43’ Haitian boat which was stopped with over 100 people on it.

Our transportaion

Bugaloos Conch Crawl

The winds were predicted to pick up in two days so we decided to wait for good weather before pressing on and to go into a dock while we waited. We took a cab to South Side Marina and checked it out. It is really nice and the owner, Bob, gave us directions in and assured us that our 6’ draft would be no problem at high tide. So the next day we threaded through the coral heads and slipped through the narrow channel to the dock.

There are some nice places to eat here. We went to a beach bar and restaurant called Bugaloo’s Conch Crawl which is a stunning place with dinning on the beach and the food is good.

At South Side Marina

At bar overlooking the marina

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Side Marina

 

The fish fry

Grace Bay Providenciales  at Fish Fry

 

We also went to a fish fry on Grace Bay which tuned out to be a party with almost a dozen food tents to choose from and a band and entertainment.

A small parade like Junkanoo at the Fish Fry

There is along canal complex here at the marina which stretches for miles with houses all along its banks.

House on the canal

We put Bobbie up the mizzen mast to work on the wind generator and the radar reflector. It was his first time up a mast and he did a great job up there.

Bobbie goes up the mast

It was then time to leave the Turks and Caicos as the weather turned fair so we waited for the high tide so we can get through the channel and off we went for the Bahamas.