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| We cross the Mona passage |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Porpoise acompany us on the crossing |
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| 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.
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| Our transportaion |
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| 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.
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| At South Side Marina |
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| At bar overlooking the marina |
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| South Side Marina |
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| The fish fry |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
