Back on the Bank

We had a great sail yesterday. We lifted the anchor shortly after 6, and by 6:30 were waving goodbye to Annabelle and Jack who were standing on the beach to see us off.
Once out on the ocean, the waves gently pushed us along as we motorsailed along the coast. It was a wonderful change for us to have the wind behind us. With the prevailing winds out of the southeast, most of our trip southbound had been into the wind. Now we have the benefit, both in efficiency and comfort of travel, of having the wind to our advantage. It made a world of difference to our spirits and speed. Our spirits were also lifted at the sight of two sea turtles along the way!
We had intended to pass through Galliot Cut between 2:30 and 3:30, in order to have minimal current, but ended up arriving shortly after 1. We decided to move in a bit closer to see what the cut looked like. We had been told by many, as well as read in multiple sources that the cuts between the Bank and Sound side can be at best rough, and at worst deadly if you attempt to pass between these bodies of water with the wind opposing the current. We knew that we were still on an ebb tide, so if things got too bad, it would be fairly easy to turn around and let the current push us back out into the ocean where we could bide our time until slack water. As we neared, we could see that there were some significant standing waves, but none that were breaking, so we decided to give it a try. With Greg white-knuckled at the helm, and a bit more power added, we powered through the cut, in the middle surfing down 5' waves. The current dropped our speed down to just under 3 knots from its usual 6, so we knew it was strong. Still, minutes later, we were safely on the Bank, glancing behind us, and saying 'that wasn't so bad.'.
We continued northbound to Black Point where we made a quick stop to get some more water, dispose of some garbage and to see what was available at the grocery store. Since we will be spending a few weeks without finding a grocery store, I have been looking for some fresh provisions that will keep, such as green tomatoes and bananas. No luck at Black Point, but we will look again at Staniel Cay. The final reason for our stop was to see if we could get a a little snack. The proprietor of the laundromat (that's right, not a typo) makes well known and highly recommended conch fritters and carrot cake...apparently except on the days that we are there. On all of our previous visits to Black Point, we had inquired, but always 'oh, I had conch yesterday' or 'tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be conch fritters.' So many times have we tried, that when she saw me coming up the dock, she said 'it's the conch fritter people!! Will you be here tomorrow?' Unfortunately, no, so we will have missed the opportunity to try the Rockview Laundermat (again, not a typo, that's what the sign says) conch fritters. Sigh.
In total, the anchor wasn't in the water 45 minutes, which makes us pretty proud of our crew. In that time we anchored, launched the dinghy, rowed to the dock, got water, checked the grocery, asked about the fritters and got underway again. The girls were a huge help in accomplishing all of this in such short time. They are becoming very responsible and a huge help.
We carried on south, enjoyed watching a pair of dolphins briefly play at our bow, and just after 6 dropped the anchor at Big Major. We enjoyed the sunset over the water again, which we couldn't do during our time in George Town because of having crossed to the east side of the Exuma islands. After a quick dinner, including delicious native rice and beans in coconut milk, we settled in for a nice quiet night.

Today however is a different story....
The reason we wanted to get so far up the island chain yesterday is because the wind was supposed to pick up a bit today. Well, the forecasters were right on that one, sort of. They said the wind was forecast to come from the west at 10-15 knots. They got the direction right, but we have seen speeds upwards of 30 knots. Which is OK if you can find a little island to tuck in behind to protect you. However, on the west side of an island chain there's not too many places to hide from a west wind. I now present a little sailing term called 'fetch'. Fetch is the distance that wind has travelled over water without interruption. Generally, the more fetch the bigger the waves. Considering the wind blowing through this anchorage is coming across over 50 miles of water on the Bank, we are lucky to have only 2-3' waves. There have been lots of whitecaps breaking around us, but really is it more uncomfortable (or humorous, depending on your mood) than dangerous. To give some idea of our conditions, we have all taken a dose of Gravol as a preventative measure; we have never done that before. The girls summarized it best by laughing on deck this morning and asking if this were a ride at Canada's Wonderland, what colour wristband would you need?
Though we were intending to get some schoolwork done to make up for some lost time along the way, we have cancelled school today. At home we might have had a snow day; today has been deemed a 'wave day' for fear that concentrating on written work on a pitching boat would make us all nauseous. We are however learning first hand about levers and fulcrum points, by tending to stick pretty close to the center of the boat where the movement is minimized.

Now we think we are through the worst of it. We continue to slowly point more northward, as the wind continues to veer to the north. By 7 tonight, this anchorage will hopefully have settled down considerably and we will be able to once again sleep comfortably.