From "Holy Crap!" To "Ahh...So Relaxing" In One Day | Cat Island & Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Usually living and cruising on a sailboat is fun. Anchored off of a tropical island and sipping sundowners in the cockpit - what's not to enjoy?

But it isn't always like that. There are the days when it sucks. That's usually when something breaks. Those kind of days happen more often than you'd think.

Then there are the days when you scream, "Holy crap!" That's usually when you're afraid you're going to crash onto some rocks, lose your boat and everything in it, and then spend many hours on the phone trying to find out exactly how good your insurance is. Fortunately, those kind of days are quite rare.

We had had a pleasant night anchored in Fernandez Bay on Cat Island and sipping sundowners in the cockpit. Pretty view, huh?

 
We woke up early to the sound of howling wind (40+ knots) as a storm cell passed overhead. We rushed up on deck to find that our boat had turned 180 degrees and was pushing us towards a dodgy looking lee shore. Big breaking waves kept crashing into Tickety Boo as we tried to get the engine started.

Of course we couldn't get the engine started, which made me say, "Holy crap!" again. It wasn't really a surprise considering our battery bank doesn't hold a charge very well and it was too early for our solar panels to have kicked in (plus we have some questions about the effectiveness of our glow plugs). So we turned to our trusty Honda generator to start the engine, which isn't exactly a quick process.

Finally, we got the engine going and got the heck out of there. We thought about heading to Arthur's Town or anchoring elsewhere, but the weather conspired against us. So we said goodbye to Cat Island and headed off to Half Moon Cay instead.

Once we got there and dropped the hook, we sat down in the cockpit, took in the views and said, "Aah...so relaxing."

I bet you'd find it relaxing too. It's one of those cruise ship islands, where they drop off the punters for the day to enjoy the beach. The place is really called Little San Salvador Island, but the cruise line renamed it Half Moon Cay. I guess that sounds more tropical or sexier or something.

The cruise ship left around 5:00 PM and then we had the beach all to ourselves.

Somebody made a sandcastle that kind of looks like a cruise ship. I think a giant sand turtle is about to eat it.

There are colorful cabanas scattered along the beach.

There's even a pirate ship with a pretty cool looking bar inside. Captain Morgan's, of course.

They've got a little village with a "traditional" straw market and other little shops.

Just because the cruise ship left, doesn't mean there still isn't work for the folks who keep this place running to do.

Look how happy Tickety Boo looks in a peaceful anchorage, untroubled by storms and scary looking rocks that she might crash into.

****

Cruising Log | Wednesday, 28 June 2017

28 JUNE
Early morning nightmare when a storm cell passed over us and pinned us onto a dodgy looking lee shore. Anchor finally up at 6:30 AM. Thought about going to Arthur's Town, but wind much higher than forecast and from wrong direction. Checked out another anchorage, but it didn't look great. The sun came out, so decided to push on to Little San Salvador. Picked our way through the coral and rocks and dropped the hook at 2:00 PM. Cruise ship in port, but left at 5:00 PM. Went ashore for a peaceful walk. Nautical miles = 38. Engine = 7 hours 30 mins. Spending = nil.

Have you ever been on a cruise? What was your favorite part? Ever experienced a storm that made you fear for your life or property?

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