THE BAHAMAS ADVENTURE
Page 6
12/13/00 (Wednesday)
 The
first thing that happened today was at about 4AM. I woke up with a
cramp in my right calf and dam nearly killed myself trying to get up to stretch
it out. Let me explain my sleeping arrangements so you can truly
appreciate my circumstances. I'm 6' 2'' tall and the area I was sleeping
in was 5' 7'' in length. To my right and left was stuff. Over my
head and below my feet was stuff. Ron had provisioned Seaclusion
with enough stuff for a month at sea ( I guess he thought if we missed the
Bahamas we could just continue on to Spain ). There was also a permanently
mounted table that extended over the area where I slept. The distance
between the bottom of the table and the top of the seat cushion I was sleeping
on was about 1 foot and the cushion itself was about 18'' wide.
When I tried to jump up with my cramping leg, I got my other leg caught
under the table. Still mostly asleep and unsure exactly where I was, I
somehow managed to get my left hand caught on some stuff that was tied to the
inside of the boat. I basically ended up falling over the table and
pulling bins of batteries and other equipment off the wall before I was able to
stand and rub out the cramp! From then on I always slept facing the other
way so I could jump up unimpeded in case of another emergency.
Later at around 9AM we filled up with diesel fuel ( 8 gallons ) and headed
out to Indian Pass. Indian Pass is one of the few ways to get pass the
shallows that surround the west side of the Little Bahama Bank. An area of
ocean about 14 feet in depth on average, the Little Bahama Bank covers hundreds
of square miles of ocean.
 We
made it thought the narrow channel of Indian Pass and headed for Mangrove Cay.
Using that as a landmark we turned and headed for Great Sale Cay where we would
spend the night. During the trip we saw dolphins and our jib sail rigging
came loose. The former was much more satisfying. Losing the jib sale
meant a slower sail and we arrived at the anchorage at Great Sale Cay with only
minutes to spare before dark some 10 hours after we left West End.
Great Sale Cay is uninhabited and there was nothing around for 20 miles in
any direction. After dinner I went topside and was stunned by the
brightness of the stars. I mean there was not an area of the sky that was
not just filled with points of light. With no moon showing, Venus was the
brightest point in the sky. It was so dark there that the light from Venus
reflected off the water like the light from the moon does during a full moon.
I could see the
Milky Way as it stretched across the sky like a bright band from
East to West. Every 5 minutes or so a shooting star would streak across
the sky and disappear within seconds of it's first appearance. I laid down
under the gathered sail and starred for 2 hours while smoking a cigar and
drinking Jack Daniels until the moon came up and ruined the show. This was
to be the first night of a regular evening of star power that I enjoyed.
Intro
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© 2001, Donald R. Swartz
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