The Raggeds, Long Island, and Conception Island

After leaving George Town we pointed our bow south toward the Ragged Islands. Remote, mainly undeveloped, and teeming with underwater life, they have been at the top of our "want to go" list for years. They didn't disappoint. We had an easy motorsail to the northernmost cay, Water Cay, and spent a little over a week working our way south. We had settled weather, including some windless days, perfect for exploring these small islands that offer no anchorages with all-around protection. (Also perfect for mosquitos and no-see-ums.) We were able to anchor more or less where we wanted and took advantage of windless days to snorkel outer reefs and coral heads. We spent a couple days hanging out with some youtubers, sharing meals and snorkeling a blue hole together, and we spent many days in solitude. A low point was the death of President Periwinkle, the kids' hamster. He lived a normal hamster life expectancy but it was sad nonetheless. We found a nice spot to have a little memorial for him and we shared stories and memories. We stayed at that anchorage for quite a few days and Matilda was able to visit him when she wanted.

 

Don't burn the boat down!

This was our favorite anchorage--we threw a stern anchor to the beach and with the centerboard up we were only at chest level at the swim platform. The kids went to and from the beach at will for days.

Hanging out in the water (standing), chatting with Hans while he relaxes in the hammock. Does anyone know where the kids are? We don't. Not a bad life.

My series on boat work in exotic places: Hans re-bedding the glass on the forward hatches; laundry drying. Not shown, our zoom seminar with our friends on Totem about standing rigging. Thank you Behan and Jamie, thank you Starlink!

Exploring a cave off Flamingo Cay:

Not a swimming pool.

Matilda trapezing while we motorsail.

It was very hot, with little relief from the sun. We spent the majority of our time in the water and the middle part of the day we stayed down below. Hans speared a good-sized grouper, on his list for a long time so he was a happy camper. We continued with schoolwork, Hans did some boat projects, and we spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the crystal clear water. The reefs were alive and the fish were abundant, testament to minimal human interactions. Also sharks. Lots of sharks.

Dinner!

Oh hi friendly Bull shark.

After a long week, we sailed north to Long Island. It was time to start looking for weather to sail north to Bermuda. Hans had a flight out on May 24 so we knew we needed to watch the weather patterns and prepare to leave. We spent a week in Long Island, grocery shopping and making food in advance of the passage. Since we were still firmly in the southeast tradewinds and we needed to sail northeast to Bermuda, we knew it wouldn't be a comfortable passage. We took advantage of the time spent waiting for weather to pre-make easy, basic meals to fill the freezer.

An epic burger at a beach bar in Long Island

We took a wrong turn in the rental car which resulted in us seeing these flamingos hanging out in a salt pond. Spitting distance from the road.

Dean's Blue Hole, pictures literally don't do it justice.

The kids floating over the deepest part, I'm swimming on the edge.

Our last anchorage in Long Island was Calabash Bay, a place other cruisers had recommended. We had a calm day and Hans and I snorkeled on big coral heads a little south of the anchorage. The water was insanely clear and the heads were healthy and full of fish. We had a couple happy hour beverages at the resort that lined the beach and subsequently got eaten alive by mosquitos while we waited for Freja to pick us up in the dinghy. Between the heat and the bugs, we were ready to leave the Bahamas.

We sailed up to Conception Island, a Bahamian National Trust island, and were surprised at the number of boats there. It was flat calm again so we snorkeled the northern end of the island and were shocked at the absolute, complete lack of fish. We literally saw zero fish in the course of over an hour snorkel on multiple coral heads. Our daily cardio workout was provided the next day by scrubbing the hull in preparation to sail to Bermuda. We have little bottom paint left and PW was supporting a healthy ecosystem. 

Our last Bahamian sunset.

So much trash, all plastic.

We anchored close to shore at Conception, hoping to get to standing depth for easier bottom cleaning, but it was a steep beach. Still made for a good picture tho!

A sweet picture I found on my phone.

After analyzing and re-analyzing the weather, we weighed anchor after a couple days and sailed toward Bermuda. We knew it would be a challenging passage, but I don't think we were quite ready for what we got. The first day was solid 25 knots of wind with seas increasing to 3 meters. We had two reefs in the main and two rolls in the jib and were able to maintain around 6 knots to windward. Impressive, but also at a 15-120 degree tilt so rather uncomfortable. The only saving grace was that the kids and I took dramamine before we left and none of us got seasick. Hans and I talked about bailing and going to Cat Island, but without any better weather windows in the near future, we didn't want to risk getting stuck waiting indefinitely. The boat was doing well and the crew was doing well, albeit uncomfortable. We decided the best course of action was to just hang on and keep going.

Day one: no one is happy.

Trying to smile and have fun for everyone's sake.

Freja's perspective. You can see my feet bracing myself on the steering pedestal.

It was fast tho!

Sitting on a sport-a-seat on the cockpit floor.

Day 2 brought better weather and a few smiles.

And then finally it was calm enough so the kids and I could watch our soap opera/telenovela Jane the Virgin. Note Matilda's face: it's a pretty intense show. (and the best show ever, regardless of what Hans says.)

It was a good decision. The winds abated over the next couple days and while we were still going to windward and rather heeled over, it wasn't as intense as the first day. We lost all of our wind on the fourth day and ended up motorsailing into very sloppy seas due to a bigger system to the north of us. Our last day was gorgeous with winds off the starboard aft quarter and speeds around 7 knots. Hans and I stopped our conversation about buying a farm and homesteading and kicked back with a gin and tonic each and enjoyed the afternoon. A friend said something about sailing being a lot like childbirth: in the moment it's miserable and you hate it and swear you'll never do it again, but a year later (or week in the sailing calendar) all is forgotten and you do it again.

Ah, this is why we sail. Dinner in the cockpit on the last night.

One passage present was wikisticks. The kids have been making art with them since they were toddlers, we're jut at a different level now. They had a micro-food competition. One category, three submissions. Anonymous entries.

Inventing new clapping games.

Last sunset before Bermuda.

We arrived at the entrance to St. George's harbour at dawn, six days after we left the Bahamas. It was exactly as we remembered, bright pastel houses with white roofs clustered along the waterfront, but all the much sweeter for such a rough passage. The kids exceeded all expectations so after we were cleared in we gave them each $20 and the keys to the dinghy and they went ashore for a couple hours while Hans and I de-salted the boat.