Being jet-lagged and worn out from the red-eye flight, we woke up at the late hour of 7:00am. I made some coffee and ate a bagel, and then ran around preparing to go to the boat briefing when Rosie, the base manager came along and told us that the chart briefing wasn't until 8:30am. Unlike other companies where the briefer would just sit down with you and figure out what you like and how to customize an itinerary just for you, Navigare had a standard briefing complete with slides. While waiting for the briefing, I discovered that we didn't have a paddleboard and arranged to pay for one. We had asked for one previously but turned out that they had no records and it
turned out that our yacht broker didn't actually convey our request nor had we
paid for it. I paid for the paddleboard and it turned out that $200 got me an
inflatable paddleboard in a neat compact package that we stowed away easily.
At the briefing proper, Rosie didn't seem to know a lot about snorkeling and dive
sites. She seemed to care a lot about which beaches to go to, how to enter
harbors (which later turned out to be well justified), and which towns to
visit. We kept telling her that we wanted away from noisy anchorages and
mosquitoes, and she said: "You're asking too much!" We were given
tips on feeding the pigs on Noname Cay, how to buy squid to feed the mantas on Nunjack
Cay (which immediately was followed by instructions on where to store the squid
so it wouldn't stink up the boat --- which led to me deciding that was way too
much work to bother with). We were given boundaries --- the idea was that they could
provide service/rescue within those boundaries, which were big enough to
explore for about a week. I asked about visiting the Exumas and was told that
it was 2 days of sailing each way, which was too far. Interestingly enough, the
Bahamas was far North enough, and close enough to the Atlantic ocean that there
were tides! This mattered for a few things: first, while anchoring you had to
do the math to add up to 3 feet more to the depth in order to calculate scope.
Secondarily, there were harbors where you needed at least half tide to traverse
the entrace (the Katja had 4' 1" draft, which was much shallower than most
monohulls, but the entrance to Little Harbor, for instance, was 3' 6" at
mean low water!). This would also turn out to be a limiting factor for dinghy
exploration as well!
There was also the crossing from Great Guana Cay/Whale Cay/Noname Cay.
There was a treacherous patch between them that could be avoided by crossing on
the Atlantic side, but that would subject the crew to rough water, and we
should do it under relatively calm conditions. There was also the possibility
of getting stuck there if weather/conditions worsened and we had to return the
boat, so we should do it early.
After the chart briefing came the boat briefing. We were told unusually enough that we didn't have to check the engine oil every day. "Our engines are serviced every 200 hours!" the technician said proudly. We were taught how to operate the watermaker, the anchors, the sails and the power panel.Interestingly, there was no checklist, and the signoff was all electronic. The generator had to be run 3 hours a day to fill the watermaker, and it was enough to recharge the batteries if we didn't run the engines at all.
After the boat briefing we were ready to go, and set off at 11:00am. We got
out of the habor, and set sail immediately for Fowl Cay, where there was
promise of good snorkeling. But on the way there, Arturo spied at the island
through binoculars and said that it looked too rough for any feasible
snorkeling. We changed direction to Spoil Cay, where we could at least get a
swim in and there were sea shells to be found --- Spoil Cay was off the dredged
channel for use with the cruise ships back when Great Guano Cay was a cruise
ship destination (before Dorian destroyed all the cruise ship facilities)
We anchor'd off Spoil Cay and snorkeled ashore, where indeed, beautiful
shells could be found, but there was actually nothing to see in the water.
After that, it was pretty late, and we motor'd across the channel, where we
anchored in about 8' of water for the night. I did my first dive check of the trip and was satisfied. Arturo set up the grill and
grilled hamburgers for dinner while we got used to the boat systems, water
generation, and diving for the anchor for an anchor check. After dinner there
was the customary star gazing, though we noted that the moon was waxing and our
opportunities would decrease over the course of the trip.
I slept for about 10 hours, having not fully recovered from jet lag from
the sleep the night before.
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