The Great Bahama Banks

This is what cruisers do when together – look at and talk about weather.  This little group of 3 was just one cluster of many as weather discussions flowed.

 

Several of the boats – including Latitudes – decided to make the break and leave Bimini early on Thursday morning.  Off we sailed, through the narrow channel into the open water and into the shallow Great Bahama Bank.  The water we crossed was about 50 miles wide...And 3-20 feet deep.  Beautiful water everywhere you can see – and that is all you can see.

 

 

10 hours of motor sailing through the shallow waters, we were approaching the Northwest Channel, the entry point into the 10000 feet deep Tongue of the Ocean.  A nice link... Tongue of the Ocean It is necessary to cross the Tongue of the Ocean to get to the next stop, New Providence Island, home of Nassau.  We anchored in the shallow Bank waters for the night, in company of about 3 other boats.   Here is an aerial photo of the banks and the Tongue of the Ocean.  Light blue is sandy, shallow banks, dark blue is deep water. 

 

 

Our first Bahamian sunset…

 

Today we reached New Providence Island, the island where Nassau is.  We are anchored on the west side of the island, in a cove.  The weather is slated to turn windy -very windy - so we will go about 20 miles tomorrow and tuck into a sheltered marina for a few days.