Rough Ride to Athol

At 0545 on May 18, 2015, we pulled anchor and set our sights on reaching the Nassau area.Winds gusted to 21, waves to 5 feet, and a course, once again, close hauled into the wind. Sometimes sailing with main and jib reefed, sometimes motor sailing, we spent a long tiring day churning towards Nassau in the choppy seas of the Northwest Providence Channel.



 

View from inside as the wind turned our boat into an aquarium

At 1800, just as we arrived at the narrow channel entrance, an avalanche of pouring rain enveloped us, erasing the landscape of shallow rocks and jagged reefs. We motored in giant circles in the open waters before we were able to move into the shelter of Rose Island, where we hoped to find protection from the wind and waves.

 

Luke and Jan tried several anchorages, but found poor holding at an unacceptable distance from the shore.  At this point, we made the choice to do a mad dash, through the darkening twilight to reach another anchorage near Athol Island, 5 miles away.We strained the engines to reach safety before we lost the light. Mockingly, the clouds parted, just at the horizon, allowing us to watch as the fierce orange eye of the sun blinked closed.

 

Another first experience, anchoring in the dark, listening to waves crashing against the rocks of the adjacent shore.  The first attempt by both boats failed as the scoured bottom near the shore proved untenable. Further out, in 12 feet, we found sand and after setting the anchor alarm, retired for the night, a 14 hour day over at last.