Hurricane Dorian - Category 5 - largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded

 

Hurricane Dorian:

- September 1 - 3, 2019

- Strongest Atlantic hurricane on record

- Strongest hurricane to ever hit the Bahamas

- pummelled the Abacos and Grand Bahama Island for 48 hours

- hovered over the islands moving as slow as 1 mph

- highest wind speed recorded 298 km/h

- maximum sustained winds for a one minute period - 185 mph

- estimated storm tide 20 - 25 feet

- estimated rainfall - 3 feet

- 74 deaths

- 282 missing (many undocumented Haitians)

- 70,000 left homeless

- 45% of homes suffered damage or were totally destroyed

- 90% of infrastructure in Marsh Harbour (Great Abaco Island) destroyed

- 60% of Grand Bahama Island was left submerged

- airport was under 6 feet of water

- efforts are still underway to restore and flush the aquifer of salt (the locals buy bottled water)

- eye came to land at Elbow Cay

- 87% of Dorian's damage was in the Abacos

Our hearts are saddened to see the devastation that hurricane Dorian has brought to this area.  We take comfort in seeing the number of cruisers who are here, contributing to the local economy.

On March 25, 2022 the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will & Kate) paid a visit to the Marsh Harbour/Elbow Cay area to draw attention and to view some of the devastation caused by Dorian.   Every day we've been afloat in the Abacos has been sunny and hot with an extremely rare squall passing.  The day the "Royals" visited was a drab, overcast, dreary day ..... all day.  It certainly fit with the mood of sadness surrounding this tragic remembrance.   

We were definitely in the right area to see the Royal contingent.  We had our Canadian flag flying proudly but sadly didn't get a glimpse of the dignitaries.  

Devastation

 

Having now made our way as far north as Elbow Cay, we find ourselves in the area that was totally devastated by hurricane Dorian, the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. 

Properties are either destroyed or brand new.  This is where the eye of the storm lingered for an unbelievable 48 hours.  Lord have mercy.

                                                                 Palm tree trunks

Thirsty Cuda Boat - Restaurant and Bar

 

Yes, that's Barry ordering us Bahama Mamas and cheese burgers .... in paradise.

The Tahiti beach sand bar is a very popular location.  The "Thirsty Cuda" restaurant and bar boat anchors itself at the edge of the sand bar each day to offer ice cold tropical cocktails and foods such as conch/fish, burgers and fries.  While waiting for your order you can watch the many fish who hang out around the boat, obviously hoping to be fed.

Many charter boats find their way here to enjoy the pleasures of the beach and sand bar.  We note that all the charter boats are flying a blue burgee on their flag halyards.  We're not sure if it's so "Moorings" can locate their boats or to give the rest of us a "head's-up".

Tahiti Beach (Dry at Low Water)

Tahiti Beach is an area of sand bar that juts out where crescents of beach on the south and west shores of Elbow Cay join.  

The beaches are located just inside the narrow ocean channel at the south end of Hope Town (Elbow Cay).  Not only are the beaches and sand bar a pleasant distraction but the ocean swell crashing in also makes for a gorgeous splash to view.  

Continuing North - Abaco's Barrier Island Cays

Sandy Cay (Coral Garden), Pelican Cays, Tilloo Cay Sand Bank

 On March 22nd we set out from Lynyard Cay heading north.  Our plan was to anchor in the lee of Sandy Cay (Coral Garden) which lay just 2 miles from us.....we could easily see it.  Six hours later we dropped anchor north of the huge sand bank at Tilloo Cay.

Unfortunately we found the Sandy Cay anchorage to be too unsettled .... too open to the ocean with too much swell.  We carried on north and made 2 separate attempts to anchor in the lee of the Pelican Cays.  They were too small to offer protection plus they had too much swell and current running round them. 

We continued to carry on and made our way around the Tilloo Sand Bank.  

It was certainly easy to see where the shallow water lay.  We tucked in on the north side of the bank for the night. 

The next day we moved forward and anchored at the north end of Tilloo Cay just around the corner from Tavern Cay.   While there we could see a huge beach/sand bar just north of us.  On March 24th, at high tide, we took the shallow passage route on the inside of Lubbers Quarter to anchor north of Baker's Rock.  Here we had a very enjoyable visit to Tahiti Beach (Elbow Cay, Hope Town)

Lynyard Cay - Abacos

 

Our first anchorage in the Abacos was in the lee of Lynyard Cay.  

We're amazed at the numerous beaches we can explore.  They literally are in every direction you look. 

We immediately found our surroundings to be more to our liking than the Berry Island chain.  It's not surprising yacht charters are operating in these gorgeous cruising grounds. 

We anchored in 2 different locations at Lynyard Cay.  At both locations we hiked across the narrow island to view the ocean side. 

                             The variety and profusion of shells on the beach are a continual delight. 

                                                            Sunrise tellin (clam) shell

When we were making plans to visit the Bahamas one of my hopes was that I'd find a sunrise tellin clam shell and indeed laying open in the water, 20 feet off Lynyard Cay's shore I found a perfect one.  I believe these shells are unique to the Bahamas.  (this one was 3" in length ..... as big as they get)

Atlantic Passage - "Just Swell"

 Even though we'd only progressed half way along the Berry Islands chain we felt we'd seen enough.  We decided to move north to the Abacos. 

The weather on Thursday, March 17th was good for a passage on the Atlantic heading northeast. 

At sunset we lifted anchor at Devil's Cay and set sail for Little Harbour, Great Abaco Island ...26.19.30', 76.58.80'

A full moon lighted the way for us.

We viewed many cruise ships, freighters and flying fish in the 70 mile passage and arrived in the early afternoon on March 18th ..... 16 hours after departure. 

Our arrival was a moment we'll not soon forget.  We came in through a narrow channel with extensive breakers on both sides riding a 8-10 foot swell ..... by way of a course taken from a waypoint that we reached 1.19 miles from the entrance..... eyes WIDE open!!

We literally surfed in!  Our concern was that the wave may toss us into the breakers.  We had no control other than to hope we were positioned well.  Thrilling to say the least.

This photo, taken at our first Abacos anchorage (Lynyard Cay) shows the surf (swell) crashing in on the ocean side and the calm waters of the anchorage area on the other.  The channel we "surfed" through is behind me.  The swell out of the east was with us for most of the passage.  The photo shows just how narrow the barrier islands are.  My Dermatologist would approve of the outfit :)

Cuke

 We fondly refer to our dinghy as "cuke".....short for "sea cucumber".  Sadly, she continues to "dissolve" before our eyes.  The glue that literally holds it together has let go.  The manufacturer, Duras tells us the problem is due to the Florida sun.  They agree this can happen.  

Barry's repeated efforts to bring it on deck and use 3M's 5200 as well as Gorilla Glue have been to no avail.  We need "PVC cement" but have no source for it here. 

As we sit, waiting for a front to pass over the next couple of days, Barry is once again hauling "cuke" on deck.  Today he plans to try West System epoxy.  

As well, our outboard (Tohatsu 5 hp - 2 stroke) is causing us great grief.  It works just well enough to get us to a wonderfully isolated beach only to strand us there as we can't get it to fire up again.

Such was the case at an anchorage behind White's Cay where we had to be towed back to Sea Star.

It was lucky for us that a couple out fishing happened by and came to our rescue.  The strong current flowing between us and Sea Star would've made for a very difficult row.  Perhaps that's what "2 stroke" stands for?

Heading "Up" the Berry Island chain

 

By Saturday, March 12th we'd made it to just over the half way point heading north in the Berry Island chain.  

We've enjoyed nosing around the many beaches and seeing the rich bounty of shells and sea life. 

Basically, we sail in the deep water on the "outside" of the chain (N/E Providence channel) and anchor in the shallows in the lee of the chain (Great Bahama Bank).  I truly mean shallows as a large portion of the bank is dry at low water.  We use "Open CPN" on our laptop to show us the channels to make our way through.  Depths are often under 1 meter so routes must be strategically planned. 

                                                   "Reading" the water is imperative. 

When we tuck in to the banks (inside) to anchor at night we can see the whole Berry Island chain crescent; which is to say, we can see our previous anchorage locations. 

In the morning, I enjoy having my morning coffee while drifting in our dinghy tied to the back of Sea Star.  I use our glass bottomed bucket to check out what's happening in the sea.  (lazy snorkelling, for sure!)

                                                             4 inch dark red star

                                                                 4 inch sea biscuit

Chub Cay, Private Island, Resort and Marina

 

                                              One of the 2 gorgeous beaches on Chub Cay.

                                              Chub Cay in the Berry Island chain, Bahamas

Situated as it is: on the N/W Providence channel; northern end of the "Tongue of the Ocean"; 35 miles from Nassau; southern tip of the Berry Island chain, it's not surprising Chub Cay is known as the "Billfish Capital of the Bahamas".....truly a sport fisherman and diver's dream location.  Here they're catching the likes of mahi-mahi, wahoo, marlin, tuna, grouper and sailfish.

We spent a few days sheltered on anchor in 7' of water just off Chub Cay's beach while stronger than usual gradient winds engulfed the Bahamas (090 degrees - 100 degrees, 25 - 30 knots, gusting 40).

Our Bahamas glass bottomed dive bucket allows us a great view of the bounty of sea life below the surface.  We managed to view a small sting ray and a fish both swimming by together.  

A party was held at the resort on Saturday night complete with a uniquely beautiful fireworks display.

  

We took it as a sure sign that the weather was approaching to cross the Great Bahama Bank and the Gulf Stream to the U.S. when 10 additional boats dropped anchor with us for the night.  Up until then we'd shared the space with just 2-3 others. 

Bimini to the Northwest Shoal (Great Bahama Bank) - 68 miles

 

Our time in Bimini was short but very sweet.  We picked up a SIM card for our phone, made a sizable donation to the local economy with the purchase of many t-shirts and visited their gorgeous beach.

We were amazed as we drifted our dinghy beside a 3' diameter sting ray that was laying in 2' of water near shore in the harbour. 

By noon on Tuesday, March 2nd we were sailing north along Bimini's west coast to round "North Rock" and cross the "Great Bahamas Bank". 

With the "Monitor" wind vane steering assisting to take the helm (thanks to our good friend, Larry Cole), Sea Star covered 68 miles that day. 

Along the way we had a wee yellow breasted bird drop by to join us for lunch.  (see him on the line under the barbecue)

                                              He was at least 50 miles from shore. 

We dropped anchor at 1 a.m. Wed. March 3rd behind the Northwest Shoal on Great Bahama Bank and awoke in the morning with no land in sight !!