Dawn on Friday, February 13

We again got up early, got Kosmos ready to go, and lifted anchor at about 0610. This was another one of those passages where we couldn’t make a direct line because the majority of the area was too shallow, and the only access was through the Comer Channel (the yellow line on the map below was the route we took from Georgetown to Flamingo Cay. The channel was cut through the light area around the southwest side of Great Exuma Island).

The channel was about 10 nm long, and we ran at 1750 RPM. it took us about 2.5 hours to transit it. Eric was really stressed out about hitting bottom as we were on a falling tide, near low tide. The shallowest part was 6.2 feet, so at that point, there was less than a foot of water underneath Kosmos. We made it though just fine. We were in protected waters, so the seas were calm and all went smoothly through the pass.

It was a beautiful day; warm and partly cloudy. It was windier than forecast, so after transiting the pass, Eric rerouted us to go on the west side of some islands for more protection from the west winds. In good news, thanks to the island protection, it was a smooth ride with only 1 – 2 foot swells plus 1 – 2 foot wind chop on the starboard beam for most of the day, though the waves did pick up at the end of the day. We saw a dolphin, too!

We stopped for the night at Flamingo Cay, arriving at 1715. The anchor had difficulty setting, but finally did on the first try. Here was a shot of the anchorage.

Below is a map showing where we anchored. We knew the anchorage wouldn’t have great protection, but it was the best choice for the general area.

The anchorage was pitchy. We were pretty sure that the waves were bouncing off the shore and coming back at us, so we were experiencing confused waves. It felt like we were at sea. The forecast said that conditions would improve overnight. We didn’t bother getting the dinghy down to go to shore.

On Saturday morning, it was still rolly when we woke up. To be fair, the forecast was accurate — conditions had improved, but not enough for the anchorage to be comfortable. Eric started the engine at 0715 and we pulled up anchor at 0730. The seas were 3 feet at 5 seconds coming from the port aft, and it was lurchy. Not the most comfortable ride, but not terrible. Eric again routed us around the lee side of the little islands, so we had moments of calm when we passed the islands. It was another warm day with scattered clouds.

The ride to Hog Cay was uneventful. We ran at 1700 RPM and arrived at 1415. The blue dot was the anchorage.

This show how far we were from Georgetown and Long Island.

One of the fellow cruisers let us know that all the boats gathered onshore at around 1600. We had an early dinner and joined everyone on shore. Eric and Christi joined all the other adults under a hut on the beach while the kids ran around onshore.

There were several families there, including Freya and two families we’d met in Blackpoint back in December, Traveler and Tangent. We were all excited to see them again. Keith hit it off with all of the new kids that we met, too. We had a nice time socializing with everyone. Most people left at 1800, when the sunset, and so did we. Here was Kosmos in the waning light as we approached her in the dinghy.

We had a quiet night aboard. It was a colorful dusk.