Arrival Great Inagua

We had been at sea for 4 days, first with Puerto Rico in sight then Dominican Republic.  Haiti coast not visible.

Tried fishing and hooked a big one.  Unfortunately our lack of skills meant that it got away with hook, the whole of the line and swivel (didn’t use a sinker).  I feel badly that a fish is swimming around with tackle dangling from it, or if not that, that I have sent several metres of line into the ocean to cause I know not what pollution.  I am sure that many people will laugh at that, but anyway, I will only try again when I have had some more advice and obtained some more line which can take the snatch.  I will also use smaller lures as we really don’t need a big fish – we’d be eating fish for days and it would be a struggle landing it. We should have paid more attention to Richard and Dick’s successful fishing exploits across the Atlantic. 

I am looking forward to seeing Great Inagua.  The weather doesn’t look promising for the next couple of days so need to find a good anchorage to ride out stronger easterly winds.  In order to get there in daylight we have switched the engine on.  ETA 1600 to 1700.  It will be our first landing in the Bahama chain so we will have to check into immigration there. It will be late so we will have to stay on the boat until the skipper can go in with all our documents the following day.

Story 11 May Great Inagua

Anchored off the settlement in Gt Inagua.  Interesting – heard US Coastguard challenge a couple of boats and asked one to go to US Channel 22.  The Aussie boat replied that they didn’t have US Channel 22 and so the helicopter directed them to International Channel 13.  We are not in US waters so it is puzzling why they should expect that.  As we motored gently to find an anchorage off Gt Inagua a helicopter came low over us and, I suppose, landed in the airstrip on this island.  Soon after came a military/naval boat which also ignored us and drove into the small dock.  The only thing we can think of is that we are only 40 miles off Guantanamo and the Bay of Pigs, hence US military having some rule over these waters. 

We are the only ones here.  We have our Q flag up and will go ashore in the morning to check in and look around.  The one settlement here lives off salt panning from what I read.  There is one area of the island which is 22 metres high otherwise not much above sea level. Will let you know more.

Had a clear view of the sunset tonight and looked closely but did not see the ‘green flash’ as it slipped under the horizon.  It’s probably a myth.

Going to drink my cup of tea and go to bed – with Bill – that has not happened for 4 days as we have had to take it in turns to watch.  Bill let a freighter pass at .03 of a nautical mile last night, brave man.  I was scared when I let one pass at 1.9 of a nm previously.  When I say ‘let’ I don’t know how else to describe it, except that we held our ground (sorry, water) rather than take evasive action.  In fact it is probably easier in these waters than say, in the Solent or the Channel where it gets very busy and there are lots of lights in the surrounding coast and sea.

12 May 2010

We could have stayed in Matthew Town, Great Inagua.  It has what is called in the Bahamas, a settlement of houses and buildings built on a grid. Some houses were empty and dilapidated and new ones being built in breeze block next to them (hurricane damage?).  It is home to 900 inhabitants nearly all of whom get about in UTs and who mostly work for Mortons Salt Company (salt pans).  When a vehicle breaks down it is left.  The island imports everything and it would have to get rid of everything somehow.  It incinerates its rubbish and produces electricity via a huge generator.

The people are really friendly.  Like in Scotland or Wales you wave when a car passes by and the beep or wave back.  One stopped for a chat.  She was a lady who had moved to Nassau and hadn’t been back to visit her mother for 3 years.  I meant to ask if any of the many houses we saw incompletely built were for people who were sending money back to build them for retirement.

We met Tania who ran a restaurant.  She is not originally from the island but came from Nassau with her fisherman husband and is now raising 4 kids her where it is a gentler life.  We chatted about one of her son’s progress in school and dyslexia and ADHD.  We briefly met this lovely young man as he popped in to get his lunch money.  I told her not to let anyone label him ADHD and perhaps tackle possible dyslexia by finding out what he is good at (art apparently).  Aren’t there lots of successful businessmen and architects who are dyslexic?

The man at immigration was lovely too, although we had to walk such a way (half a mile from the dock to him and it would be a half mile again from the airstrip to him from the other direction) but he offered cooled water and a welcoming smile.  Donna the harbour control lady had given Bill a lift to the office when he first went ashore to check us in but the gentleman was busy on a outlying cruise ship which was checking in (but not landing) its passengers here – probably because it is a quiet place to do so.

There is a 29 foot British yacht in the harbour with a solo sailor waiting for some spares before he could go anywhere.

We could have stayed.  The kind immigration man invited us to bring our boat into the little harbour too but what with the three half sunken boats Bill was not sure.  We should have stayed.

At 1700 we upped anchor despite forecasts of three days of 20-25 knot winds from NE and later E.  There was a small vessel warning to go with it.  But we had faced those winds across the Atlantic, albeit with a crew of 4. We identified two possible pull-ins if we thought it was too rough and set off.  Luckily the wind was not quite on the beam otherwise it would have scared me (more).  But in the dark and with 60 miles to go it did get tiring.  Even George the autopilot gave up on two occasions but was persuaded back by Bill.  By dawn we definitely wanted to reach our first bolt hole which is where we are now at 1400.  It is on the southwest point of Acklins Island at Salina (see position log).  It is still blowing.  We have put down a kedge anchor with our anchor sail it seems OK.  It always seems worse at night.

One excitement occurred as we were trying to anchor.  Our first attempt failed so we moved up a bit and tried again.  This time the steering jammed.  Luckily the anchor had been deployed and we just prayed it would take.  It did.  How fortunate because a rope had dangled over the side and got wrapped and wedged in the gap between rudder and skeg.  He went into the water for an initial rekky (whilst I kept a look out for sharks) but was able to untangle it from inside the boat.  It is a good thing that Bill knows the boat so well - an advantage of having seen it in various stages of build.  The release involved getting under our berth, getting out the emergency steering to check that the steering linkage worked, which it was, giving it a heave which widened the gap to release the rope and there you are.  He is very clever is Bill.

Well we thought as we are all on our own here and there is a lovely white beach with lots of beachcombing possibilities we might go ashore but Bill thinks it is still blowing too hard to risk it.

Making no plans yet but wind looks like it will move to E which may be easier.