Worth It

You could spend a lifetime exploring the Bahamas and never get enough.

We’ve had a blast so far, bouncing from island to island. Each spot seems better than the last. At least five times a day, one of us stops and asks the obvious, rhetorical question…

“Can you believe this is our life?”

After leaving West End, we headed through Indian Rock Passage. We definitely should have done a better job timing the tide, especially given the swell on the outside and the opposing wind direction.

This pass made the Jupiter Inlet on its worst day look like child’s play. It’s narrower, shallower and generally more unforgiving.

Once we made it through the cut (surfing down waves) and our heart rates returned to normal, we raised the sails and enjoyed a beautiful downwind sail to Mangrove Cay for the night. It’s a small, uninhabited island, which we came to learn is a common stopover for boats looking to time the tide right at Indian Rock Pass. We get it now.

We were the only boat around, and while this spot is beautiful, it’s not a very protected anchorage. Knowing it was going to be a somewhat rolly night, we still fell asleep early. The wind, sun and excitement of relocating definitely makes for tired sailors.

At 11 p.m. the dogs alerted us to a fishing boat that anchored less than 50 feet away and very much in our swing radius. We watched them closely for a while and weighed our options. Since the only thing we can control is ourselves, we opted to move in the dark.

By “dark”, I mean dark. There is no light pollution here and on this particular night, there was enough cloud cover to hide the moon and stars. But, we made a plan, moved quickly, reset our anchor and finally got a couple more hours of sleep.

Up early, we were eager to get moving to Great Sale Cay, which has an anchorage in a nicely protected harbor. This sail was much more into the wind than the previous day. We tacked several times, minding the marked coral heads and giving way to other sailboats, when appropriate.

Great Sale is another uninhabited island with a white, sandy beach. We took the dogs to explore and they ran the beach like crazy. Once we were all sufficiently tired, we returned home, cleaned up and crashed for a much needed, restful sleep.

When we arrived at Great Sale, there were only two other boats in the anchorage but by dark there were more than 15. We overheard evening radio conversations about departure times and weather forecasts. Nearly all the boats were staging to make the return trip back to the States with the forecasted easterly wind.

The next morning, our neighbors departed and we were left alone in the anchorage with that small slice of paradise all to ourselves. We used the day to catch up on chores and give our bodies a break from the sun. Laundry and boat projects aren’t so bad when this is your backyard…

Today, we continued moving east to Fox Town on Little Abaco Island. With wind and rain in the forecast over the next few days, we will be well protected here. There’s a small town to explore too.

It seems impossible that we were still in Stuart just over a week ago. I also don’t know how we’ll ever be able to force ourselves to go back. It’s such a privilege that we get to do this.

This life is both incredibly satisfying and very challenging, switching between the two at a moment’s notice. When something goes wrong, it’s always at night or when you’re already at your breaking point. More often than not, you make it to the other side of the present challenge humbled but unharmed.

It’s definitely not perfect, often terrifying, but oh so rewarding.

I hope we’re able to give an accurate depiction of the highs and lows. If it was all easy, everyone would be out here doing it. It’s the challenging times that make you feel accomplished at the end of the day. It also makes those pinch me moments like watching the sunset or walking an untouched beach so much sweeter!

We feel so lucky that we have the opportunity to call this our life and I hope you are enjoying reading about our adventures. From here, we will continue to march east toward the Abacos and tell the story as we go. Drop us a comment and let us know if you want parts of boat life you want to hear about.

Thank you for following along!