December 15, 2009.

Things, they are a changin’. Yesterday we sailed from Black Point to Big Majors Spot as it would afford us a good jumping off point to get into Pipe Creek. We’ve never had wifi in Big Majors Spot before and I was pretty psyched when we picked up a usable although slightly dodgy signal when we arrived. So I was able to take care of some interneting before the weather imposed exile in Pipe Creek. The approach to Pipe creek is across a couple of sand bars that are only covered by about five and a half feet of water at low tide. Since we draw five and a half feet things can get a little sticky for us.

Just because the chart shows 5 ½ feet doesn’t actually mean that there is that much water. The sandy bottom here is ever changing. So we will only attempt to enter pipe Creek on a rising tide. That way if we run aground, we’ll float off shortly (hopefully) as the tide fills in. If you run aground on a falling tide you can find yourself lying on your side in a matter of hours. It’s not boring though, as you’ll be spending your time doing projects like covering the toilet with duct tape so once the toilet is horizontal it won’t be dumping itself back into the boat. There is so much to consider if you end up on your side like, will the engines oil stay in the engine, will the water tanks vent be submerged thereby allowing the egress of seawater into your drinking supply, then there’s the same chance with the fuel tanks, will my wife murder me before this is all over, why is everybody else pointing and laughing etc. etc.?

So we raised the anchor at 1330 hours for the 7 mile trip to Pipe Creek. Low tide was at 1340 so I figured we’d arrive 1 hour into a rising tide. The trip was a slow sail in the afternoon’s light breeze. When we arrived we dropped all sail and motored through the meandering route that would take us into the protected waters of the anchorage.

It all went well and we are now anchored in a good sandy bottom with a few other boats. There are surprisingly few places with protection from the west in the Bahamas. During a frontal passage in the Bahamas the wind will clock completely around and at one point expose you to the westerly winds. The front that is due to arrive later this week seems to be more than the usual front. Most fronts blast through quickly while this one seems like its going to be a big deal for 48 hours or more with anywhere from 25 to 40 knots in the forecast. We’re in a good spot and happy with our situation at the moment. The anchorage should start to fill up tomorrow and the next day.

Before we left Big Majors Spot we did hop in the dink and go over to Pig Beach (wasn’t that a Beach Boys song?).

There are several large pigs that inhabit the island and they run right into the water and swim out to your dinghy in the hope that there
might be a handout in it for them. If you get to close they will try to claw their way up into the dink with you.

A couple of weeks ago we bought some Bahamanian postage stamps so we could mail some correspondence. I was sitting here the other day and as I looked down at the remaining stamps I realized that they depicted George Washington crossing the Delaware. Can anybody explain that one to me.

Oh and one last thing. When we got here to Pipe Creek I found that the new stray wifi signal that I was picking up in Big Majors Spot must be emanating from somewhere nearby. So even though we’re trapped by the weather, we’ve got internet and it’s still beautiful out.