May 12, 2019 Mother's Day and spinnaker sail north

I was able to attend church at St Ann’s in Rock Sound.  It was a “communion service”, not a mass because we had a deacon, not a priest.  I remember being here for Mother’s Day 3 years ago.  They did a special blessing for all the mothers.  And we each received a plate of fresh fruit.  I didn’t take one, because I wasn’t sure there was enough.  But they came to me towards the end and gave me one, too.  How nice.  They even had a special welcome for me.  I was the only visitor.  There were probably about 30 people there.  I have notice that all the women wear dresses, and the men wear dress pants and some jackets.  But since I have to climb up a ladder out of the dinghy, I wear capri pants.  No problem, just an observation. 

remembered to take a photo after I broke into the tray for the grapes

The church service was at 9:00.  So after I returned to the boat, we took off towards the Current Cut, just south of Spanish Wells.

We were able to use our spinnaker sail today.  You have to have the right wind conditions.  It is such a big beautiful sail. 
 
 
 
We planned to anchor on the south side of the Current Cut.  We would snorkel the area in the morning, then make the passage through the cut at the appropriate time with the tide and current.  The overnight winds had changed, so it really would be best to be on the north side to anchor tonight.  We checked a couple sources for tide.  High tide in Nassau was at 3:00.  High tide at the cut is about 2 hours later.  We arrived at the cut about 6:30, at the beginning of the ebb flow, which means we would travel with the current.  That’s ok, you just don’t want to be at the fastest time of the flow.  We figured we’d be fine or we would turn around and wait until morning.  Luckily, there weren’t any other boats coming or going.  We were going about 7 knots as we entered the cut.  The current took us unto 11.3 knots at the strongest point of the flow.  Quite the ride for us.  It seems we have always made this passage with the current.  If you go against the current, you have to be able to power up against the current or you could be pushed to the side and into the rocks.  You also don’t want a strong wind opposing the current.  We also had a calm night to our advantage.  Another successful passage!

Once we were through the cut, we thought we’d anchor just to the north side.  We decided to continue on the Meeks Patch, about 2 miles outside of Spanish Wells.  We were anchored by 7:30, just as the sun set behind the island.  We really made some miles today. 

We are both have our minds set on heading back to the states.  We will spend the next couple days prepping the boat for that passage and for one week of company.  We will meet Devyn in Spanish Wells on Friday.  It’s also comforting to be early at the place you need to meet guests.  And we are excited to “play” for a week with Devyn.