We woke up early today – because we were leaving Thompson Bay! Yay. We were excited to head up north. Plus, the weather was perfect for sailing; 10-15 knots and overcast.

Before taking off, I wanted to make sure our engine was all good. Last time we sailed off anchor we had issues starting the engine because it was still in “sleep mode” as we call it. Its not a huge deal, but it did have us freaked out thinking our engine was dead right before coming into an inlet, which is scary enough on its own. So I just wanted to be sure we were all good…which we were!

After our yogurt and granola breakfast, Jake raised the main. We decided to keep 1 reef in because the forecast did call for some squalls, which often bring a bit more wind. So with that, the sails were up, Jake pulled the anchor and off we went.

It is so completely bizarre to pull anchor without the engine on. And then to just sit there and let the boat glide towards its destination. The winds were light enough today (at least in the bay) that it didn’t feel like we were even moving. It only looked like it on the GPS, but it was slow going at first. We had to gain some momentum and clear the land a bit before we picked up any momentum to speak of. Many of the boats were still slumbering or just waking up as we passed by, quiet as a mouse. There were a few boats in our path so we had to zig and zag to avoid collision, but it was easy. Sometimes we have to tack or jibe to avoid crashing which can be kind of a pain.

Once we cleared the bay completely we could turn on course due north. And thats where we would stay all day. The morning clouds rolled in but the sun poke its head out at times lighting up the water. But soon the clouds filled in and the wind picked up. A decent sized squall was looming on the horizon and before long, was right on top of us as a second squall formed in the distance. The nice thing about these squalls is they are small and fast. They blow through for some minutes and then they pass. The first one passed us by in less than 10 minutes. The second one followed right behind but this one lasted for about 20 minutes and with it a whole bunch of rain. Jake quickly reefed in the jib so that the wind wouldn’t overpower us, but we just kept right on sailing.

The squalls gave Bosco a much-needed bath. Soon thereafter the clouds thinned and the blazing sun came out to dry her topsides. The water also transformed into its dazzling bright blue splendor that we have come to know and love about the Bahamas. Winds calmed down and we decided to shake out the reef and continue with full sails ahead.

Since things were so calm, Jake thought it’d be fun to play some guitar. We’ve never done this underway, mostly for fear of ruining the guitar. But it was a great distraction and let Jake practice new songs. It was short lived though because once the winds picked up, I needed his help to man the ship.

Our course kept us on a beam almost the entire day. It was an active day of sailing for us, which just means that we continually adjusted the lines, reefs and points of sail slightly in order to pass the time but also fine tune the sailing so that we were going as fast as possible. Another bonus is that the waters were totally calm and flat for the bulk of the sailing. This almost never happens and it was so comfortable. Our average speeds throughout the day were 4-5 knots, which is very good for us.

Midway through our sail, we had to maneuver between a few small islands on our port and the mainland capes on our starboard. There were definitely some nail-biting EXTRA narrow slots that we had to squeeze through (as narrow as 500 feet wide). Often times its hard to precisely maneuver under sail, but thankfully we got through without issue.

We also tried to do some fishing. Within just 20 minutes of dropping the lure we caught a 1-2 foot barracuda. Boo. That one went back to the ocean and we tried again. After another 30 minutes, the fishing hook jolted forward (almost completely out of its holder) and bent to almost 90 degrees. This has never happened and caught both Jake and I off guard. Jake quickly grabbed the pole, but the line was still tugging. Obviously whatever we got is HUGE.

I held the fishing pole while Jake reeled in the line. It was only made more difficult because I was still steering the boat by hand so I couldn’t really give it my full attention. The beast jumped out of the water and at first I thought it was a dolphin it was so big. But then after seeing it again it was definitely a barracuda. But a MONSTER of a barracuda. This thing was 5-6 feet long. And it was heavy.

It was still about 40 yards from the boat when the hook on the lure snapped off completely and the fish was gone. WHEW. Thank God. I didn’t want to deal with that thing anymore than Jake did. But now we’ve lost our only large hook left to us, so no more fishing for us until we can find a replacement. 🙁

The wind picked up again this afternoon so we put back in a reef and cinched in the jib. We were FLYING though – 5.5 knots. Thats way fast for us! Once we were about 2 miles from the entrance to the Bay, we dropped sails and motored in. We opted to anchor at the very north part of the bay, just in front of the Cape Santa Maria Resort.

In total, we sailed about 23 of our 25 mile day and it took us about 6 hours. We arrived a little before 2PM. And other than our meager breakfast we hadn’t had a bite to eat, so we were famished. Jake whipped up some grilled cheeses and beam soup with tortilla chips. It was a perfect lunch.

And the rest of our day was all about resting and soaking in the glorious beach views. It really is the prettiest beach we’ve ever seen – especially once the clouds completely cleared. How cool to be anchored just off one of the top 5 beaches in the world! The pictures do not do it justice.

Here’s a video of our day:

Even though it was a relatively short day, both of us were exhausted. And we had another early start because it would be a 5 hour sail to Conception Island, and we wanted to arrive when the sun is directly overhead at noon. So that means early to bed for us. Dinner was chili cheese bacon dogs (YUM). Not healthy but tasty. And then we were both in bed and sleeping by 7PM.