A BAHAMAS CRUISE ABOARD WINDSWEPT - EQUIPED WITH AIRBATTENS
(Editor’s note: Bob Henderson tackled a four month cruise from Miami to the Bahamas, Cuba and back on board “Windswept.” This was a test of the AirBatten Systems on Windswept’s main and 160% genoa. Windswept also carries a 100% blade jib and 1000 square foot asymmetrical spinnaker.
Bob single-handed the boat for six weeks. The rest of the time he had crew, but in her words, she was always fishing and he was still singlehanding anyways….)
January 24, 2009. Miami, USA to Bimini, Bahamas
Depart the Port of Miami bound for Bimini in the Bahamas. For the first few legs of my trip, I am solo. Lucky crew is flying into Nassau to join up. My confidence is high – the AirBatten System allows me to sail to the boat’s maximum potential with ease. Winds are light, 10 knots from the north. I sail with an AirBatten main and an AirBatten genoa. Performance is outstanding and is aided by the Gulf Stream. I cross to Bimini in eight hours.
January 29, 2009. Bimini to Nassau.
Depart Bimini. Here again winds are light, 10 knots from the southeast. Windswept,on a close-reach across the Grand Bahama Bank and is half-way to Nassau by nightfall. I anchor on the Bank, approximately one mile from the Russell light. The following morning, winds pipe up to 15 knots from the southeast and Windswept sails close-hauled to Nassau. I arrive at four pm. Airbattens shave an hour off of sailing time.
February 5, 2009. Nassau to Shroud Cay, Exumas.
Crew has arrived! Time to sail again. Winds are 15 from the northeast and we decide to sail to Shroud Cay, approximately forty miles. During the course of the day, the wind starts to clock east and strengthen. By noon the winds are 30-35 knots and I sail 40 degrees off the wind. I utilize a double reef in the main. With an AirBatten Main, this still allows the lower two battens to be filled and provides a beautifully shaped, reefed main. Because of the wind I furl in the 160% genoa and fly a 100% blade jib along with the reefed main. All other sailboats en route take down their sails and motor. We sail in these conditions for twenty miles until we reach Shroud Cay. We sail past several sailboats motoring through the eight foot seas. A challenging but exhilarating sail.
February 11, 2009. Shroud Cay to Warderick Wells.
We leave Shroud Cay facing light southerly winds and as such make it a twenty mile day of tacking. Airbattens allow us to point higher than with an unbattened furling mainsail. Warderick Wells in Exuma Park is an outstanding underwater preserve and we are lucky enough to swim beside four spotted eagle rays. They must be seven feet long.
February 14, 2009. Warderick Wells to Staniel Cay.
A southeasterly 10 knot wind allows us to beat our way to Staniel Cay where we anchor close to Thunderball Cavern. As the winds pick up, we use a small portion of the mainsail with the lower two battens inflated to keep Windswept from sallying around at anchor. We ride out three days of 20-30 knots in comfort as we explore the surrounding reefs and small cays.
February 17, 2009. Staniel Cay to Black Point Settlement.
We unfurl the sails and set out in southeasterly 15 knot winds for Black Point Settlement, a short sail of 10 miles.
February 20, 2009. Black Point Settlement to Georgetown.
Easterly winds of 10-15 knots and we set sail for Georgetown, approximately fifty miles south. The winds vary in intensity and we have time to do a little fishing in the beautiful emerald waters of the Bahamas. No fish, but a beautiful day of sailing and reading with arrival in Georgetown at dusk.
March 6, 2009. Georgetown to Long Island.
Finally, a north wind, albeit only 10 knots. We set sail for Long Island, a distance of forty miles. We leave our Airbattens furled, hoist an asymmetrical spinnaker and carry it all day. At times it is slow, but as the day wears on winds increase and we arrive in Long Island in the late afternoon. We are passed by twelve sailboats as they motor in the light air. We were the first to leave Georgetown and the last to arrive in Long Island but what a wonderful sail.
March 10, 2009. Long Island to Water Cay.
A southeast wind of 10 -15 knots and we see a chance to sail to the Jumentos, through the Comer Channel. We fly our AirBatten main and genoa and arrive in Water Cay by last light. The sail is a run of fifteen miles and a broad reach of fifteen miles, another glorious sail and flawless operation of the AirBatten System on both sails.
March 12, 2009. Water Cay to Flamingo Cay.
A northeast wind of 15 knots and today we fly the 160% genoa with the wind at our backs. Our autopilot works effortlessly and we fish, but only land barracuda. It is a short sail of ten miles to Flamingo Cay and we are there early in the afternoon
March 13, 2009. Flamingo Cay to Buenavista Cay.
An east wind of 10 knots and a forty mile sail to Buenavista Cay. Slow going for a while until the wind gods say the fun is over. Winds build to 30-35 knots, we double reef our main and choose the 100 % jib. We realize later that the area we are going through develops huge breaking waves when strong winds oppose an outgoing tide. We are soon in 12-15 ft breaking seas with water washing anything not tied down over-board. We have the option of putting into Jamaica Cay, (we still had twenty miles to go), but the boat is sailing well and we decide to sail on. It is a wild and wet day and not without incident. The mainsail performs flawlessly with two battens in a double reef. I manage to hourglass my small jib with careless furling and that results in a nice, but fixable tear. We arrive late afternoon in Buenavista Cay ready for a cocktail.
March 14,2009. Buenavista Cay to Raccoon Cay.
North winds 20 knots and we hoist our AirBatten genoa and sail south to Raccoon Cay, a short sail of eight miles. A glorious day.
March 16, 2009. Raccoon Cay to Duncantown.
Duncantown in the Ragged Islands is due south and only twenty miles away. Another 15 knot wind from the east and we are off on a broad reach with Windswept surfing off the waves. Another memorable day of sailing. We anchor in the lee of Duncantown and use our steadying reefed mainsail.
What to do now? The next island south of us is Cuba, a scant 80 miles. A bit of a dilemma: the Old Bahama Channel north of Cuba has a lot of shipping traffic, some boats moving at twenty-plus knots, so we must transit it in daylight. That means leaving at midnight and crossing 10-20 miles of the Bahama Bank before we reach deep water. Charts are a little sketchy here so I go into Duncantown and visit a few of the local establishments looking for fishermen with local knowledge. After several beers and great stories, I realize there is a safe route though the reefs at night, a southeast course, taking the Two Brothers rocks to port, a distance of 12 miles.
March 17, 20009. Duncantown, to Cuba.
At midnight it is raining hard. An ominious start to a nighttime sail across a bank riddled with coral reefs. I lift anchor. The wind is from the northeast, 10-15 knots. I decide to fly the jib alone and keep our speed down till we hit deep water. Everything is perfect and we are in deep water before dawn. We unfurl our AirBatten mainsail and enjoy a glorious reach to Cuba, arriving at two in the afternoon. Our port of call in Cuba was Puerto Vita on the north eastern coast.
Winds swing to the north for the next week, so we explore the island of Cuba. We drive to Havana, a trip of 450 miles - not an easy task since both accurate maps and road signs are rare. We include a trip to the famed Hemmingway Marina, a complex far larger then I had imagined. Be it by land or sea, Cuba is a beautiful place to visit.
Winds clock east and we see a broad reach back to the Ragged Islands. The wind god is true to his word and we experience a letter-perfect sail back to the Bahamas. We arrive late but by now feel like veterans sailing the reefs at night. No mishaps. The boat and sails perform flawlessly and we drop anchor at ten pm.
March 31, 2009. Duncantown to Raccoon Cay.
Still an east wind of 10 knots, so we sail north to Raccoon Cay.
April 1, 2009. Raccoon Cay to Johnson Cay and Double Breasted Cay.
Double Breasted and Johnson are both in the same area, and have secure anchorages that provide protection from westerly winds. We can’t pass up the chance to visit them. We are alone here and enjoy a magnificent sunset.
April 2, 2009. Double-Breasted Cay to Water Cay.
Still an easterly wind so we head further north sailing to Water Cay, a broad reach all the way, with winds of 15 knots for most of the day. A little fishing, but much of our time is spent checking charts and watching for reefs in the treacherous but crystal clear waters of the Southern Bahamas. We arrive at Water Cay at dusk.
April 3, 2009. Water Cay to Simms, Long Island.
Winds from the southeast and we must make haste before they clock north again. We leave Water Cay and set sail back to Long Island, winds 15- 20 throughout the day, another perfect day of sailing. With the winds holding SE, maybe we should go to Conception Island the next day, a sail of forty miles on an easterly course? Yes, a great idea. We anchor at Simms, near the north end of Long Island, and prepare for an early departure.
April 4, 2009. Long Island to Conception Island.
Onward to Conception, but the winds clock further south and lighten to 5-10.
We unfurl our mainsail, put up our asymmetrical and have enough speed to arrive in daylight. Conception is a National Underwater Park in the Bahamas and has reefs extending three miles off the island and in only fifteen feet of water.
The snorkeling is remarkable. For the first day we have the island to ourselves. We spend two glorious days. Reports are that the winds will clock southwest, so we prepare to move.
April 6, 2009. Conception Island to Georgetown.
Close-hauled, and forty miles away is Georgetown. That becomes our destination. We have SSW winds of 15-20. Problems develop when we hook a four-foot mahi-mahi and are sailing too fast to haul him in. We decide that if we have another strike, we will furl the genoa in and wrestle the catch in with only the main up. Bingo - another strike! We furl the genoa, keep moving at 4-5 knots with the mainsail alone and land dinner, a thirty-eight inch mahi-mahi.
The winds are clocking west and we actually have to alter course ten miles to the northern entrance of Georgetown. We arrive at dusk. Mahi dinner is on the grill.
Winds are from the north for the next four days so we relax and snorkel in the sparkling waters offshore of Stocking Island, east of Georgetown.
April 10, 2009. Georgetown to Black Point Settlement.
A northeast wind of 15 knots and fifty miles to go to Black Point. We start early. The sky is brilliant and the winds are perfect. We arrive and drop the hook in Black Point at dusk. Of course, another meal of mahi-mahi.
April 11, 2009. Black Point Settlement to Staniel Cay.
Still northeast 15, so we sail to Staniel Cay. We spend two days enjoying the amazing underwater world of the Bahamas. The iguanas on Bitter Guana Cay are not to be missed.
April 15, 2009. Staniel Cay to Cambridge Cay.
Southeast 15 knots and a run to Exuma Park with the genoa. It is only fifteen miles and a short sail to an outstanding anchorage. The Seaquarium snorkeling site and the underwater cavern, Rocky Dundas, are worth the trip.
April 16, 2009. Cambridge Cay to Warderick Wells.
Light winds from the east and so we head out onto Exuma Sound and sail north to Warderick Wells. We are ghosting along at 3-4 knots. This is a good day to fish or read. It is a good thing that it was not too far, since it took us most of the day to get there.
April 19, 2009. Warderick Wells to Shroud Cay.
Northeast 10–15 and about twenty miles. Close-hauled and another enjoyable day.
April 20, 2009. Shroud Cay to Rose Island.
A SE wind and fifty miles to sail to Nassau. We set sail early and it is gusting to 20 knots, so it is an exhilarating ride. We pass over the Yellow Bank and head for Rose Island, just east of Nassau and a perfect place to anchor in a southeast wind. We spend two days snorkeling, socializing and relaxing at anchor.
April 22, 2009. Rose Island to Nassau.
Winds clock northeast and we sail into Nassau, a scant five miles away and anchor just off of the Nassau Yacht Club. My crew leaves. The winds are contrary - I stay in Nassau for a week.
April 28, 2009. Nassau to the Russell Light.
For the rest of my trip, I am without crew. This has its own joys for me. I have confidence in Windswept, with her numerous AirBatten options for sail configurations. I can fit her out for maximum speed, or reef down equally well.
Northeast 15, time to head towards Miami. Solo, now, I leave Nassau Harbor entrance and set all sails. Eight hours later I am off Chubb Cay on a glorious reach. The winds lighten, I decide to sail on into the night. I barely make 4 1\2 knots. I sail under an almost full moon. It is ghostly, with the only noise being the swish of the water. At midnight I drop the hook, a bit to the west of the Russell Light.
April 29, 2009. Russell Light to Bimini.
Still a northeast wind and light, I have fifty miles to go to Bimini. The sails are full, but I make only 5 knots. Without Airbattens, I would be making less. I arrive in Bimini at last light and for the first time time since January, I tie up at a marina. After a week of relaxing, making minor repairs, hoisting the dinghy and stowing the kayak, it is time to watch for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and return to Miami.
May 8, 2009. Bimini to Miami.
A favourable southeast 10 knot wind, albeit a little light for my liking and I set sail for Miami. The sails are full, the shape and condition of the sails are perfect and the AirBatten System works flawlessly for this entire leg. I arrive in Miami mid-afternoon.
I am ready to set off again tomorrow, but grandchildren are calling.
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