A nice weather window allowed us to leave North Bimini for Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands. It is a two day trip, so you first head for Mackie Shoal, drop anchor, then the next morning sail to Great Harbour Cay.
The day started with goodbyes to new friends made in Bimini. Once we reached the entrance channel, a surprise awaited us. Check out this cool tall ship that we passed as Mahi headed north.
Once we reached our waypoint at North Rock, we headed towards Mackie Shoal. You head off the lane about a mile, then throw out the hook to anchor. We were rewarded with a lovely sunset to eat dinner by.
The winds kicked up in the evening, so it made for a very bouncy night. Think rocking horse on steroids. Our snubber failed in the morning just as Joe was about to remove it. Apparently, the chafe protection rocked its way off the stress point, hence the failure. Luckily, we have lots of line to use as extra snubbers.
At first light, we quickly had our morning coffee and pulled up the anchor. First, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of the sunrise. Headed on a course for Great Harbour Cay.
Ethan has been a real trooper on all our travels. So far, he has not been seasick at all. So glad of this, the flip side could have been real nasty.
We arrived in the late afternoon to Great Harbour Cay. It has an interesting entrance which looks like someone dynamited an opening for the marina. Looking forward to hearing the history of this beautiful island.
We were exhausted by the time we docked. Have such wonderful, welcoming neighbors in this marina, and a bonus- another boat with a 4 year old on board! A quick dinner at the marina restaurant- Joe ate conch salad and I had fried conch and fries to share with Ethan. Shhh… we tell him they are chicken fingers since he is a picky eater.
I leave you with this sunset shot of the marina from our boat, and a picture of our boat at dock:
So love to hear about your adventures.
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Thanks, Bobbie! ❤
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Being a day sailor, what is a snubber and its purpose? Love that Ethan has good sea legs AND that there was another kiddo for him to play with!! Amazing how many food items are listed as “chicken fingers”!!! Oh, that tall ship is amazing! Thanks for sharing the pictures!!!
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Great question! You use an anchor snubber for a couple of reasons- it is a bridle that acts as a shock absorber between the chain rode and the windlass. It also has the benefit of silencing the chain, too. The snubber absorbs the load instead of having the load completely on the gypsy. The gypsy is the part of the windlass that the chain fits into.
Anyway, I hope I have explained it adequately. 🙂
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