Today as we were leaving our little slice of paradise (okay not ours exactly) but we get to look at it and dingy to it and swim from it (and move pianos onto it) we were all very sad. The weather however, has decided to become crazy windy tomorrow. Our little cove at Manjack has been great for us so far but it doesn’t have the protection from the NW winds and that’s why we have to leave. The prediction is that a front is coming in that will bring with it winds up to 40 knots and that’s just more than we want to sit through here. The anchorage will become bouncy and that much wind might cause us to drag our anchor.

Normally if we knew there was a big wind coming we could compensate by putting out more scope on the anchor we already have out or even putting out another anchor. The bottom at Manjack however, is sand over a layer of old coral so while the anchor may set seemingly well, if the winds are significant and a lot of strain is put on the line/chain the anchor only has 6 inches or a foot to dig in to after that it will hit the old coral and pop clear. If that happens, as it would, when the weather is bad it would be nearly impossible to re-anchor under the new, worse conditions. So of all our options running seemed the wisest thing to do. So we did, we pulled up anchor and headed for Treasure Cay.

Treasure Cay is on the “mainland” side of Abaco and is a much more protected area especially in a NW blow. First where the marinas and anchorage are is inside a small cove with a very narrow entrance so that reduces the rough water. Secondly the larger portion of the land is on the side where this wind will be coming from so the land will give us some additional protection from the wind.

Treasure Cay is farther into the Abacos than we have been yet. One reason for that is because we so enjoyed Manjack Cay so very much. Another reason for our delay in exploring further into the Abacos is because just below Green Turtle Cay is a section that the locals call The Whale. So that you get a better idea of the significance of “The Whale” I’ll tell you that there is a local report about “The Whale” that is given daily. If it’s a bad day at The Whale, it’s called a “Rage” and no one goes through. In fact the school aged kids who live on Green Turtle Cay and are past 6th grade have to go to school in Treasure Cay (the other side of The Whale) and if there is a “Rage” on the ferry doesn’t run and the kids can’t go to school; the Bahamian equivalent of a snow day.

Well fortunately we made it through The Whale with no problem, as we left enough before the weather to get through when the swells were only 1 ft. Boyd was a little tense even still as the cut that goes out into the Atlantic Ocean to go around The Whale is through coral heads and is very narrow and shallow. With just a 1 ft swell the ocean lifts and pushes the boat sideways with every wave.

I can’t even imagine what it’s like on the days the ferry doesn’t run, on a day like today. Two days after the big wind the swells were reported to be down to 8-12 ft. As we went through the cut around The Whale the 1 ft swells were causing waves to crash 4-6 ft up the island. I could see from the line of black running the length of the island that nothing grew in many areas along the whole island lower than 30-35 ft up and in from the water line.

Once on the “other” side of The Whale I was much more relaxed as most of my concerns centered on getting past that sticky point before the weather came in. As it turned out letting down my guard just after The Whale was premature and ill advised.

We had sailed through The Whale fine and were taking down the sails, (mizzen, jib and staysail, for those of you that are taking notes) and were just passing the first set of posts into the narrow and serpentine channel entering Treasure Cay when it happened.

It was windy, 20-25 knots by now, and the waves had picked up as a result. Still I was feeling pretty good as we were almost into this protected harbor and the sails were down and suddenly Boyd shattered all my warm fuzzy feelings by shouting, “We have no steering, we have to abort”. With 20-25 knots and no steering we “aborted” our negotiation of the narrow entrance to Treasure Cay narrowly missing the most southerly post as we backed into the wind with no rudder control.

Not knowing why we had once again lost rudder control we all scrambled for our posts. Paul and I who had been tying on dock lines on and putting fenders out quickly changed posts to man the anchor. Nicole hurried below to get the hand held VHF so we could announce our new condition and her life jacket. Boyd valiantly did his best to keep us backing out of the shallows and away from the island that the wind was trying to push us on to. On Boyd’s command Paul dropped the anchor and put out as much scope as we dared to try to keep us from dragging and yet not allow us to swing into too shallow water.

It was a harrowing time! Once we got the anchor down I cleared the main cabin and Boyd dove down below to try to ascertain what the cause of the loss of steering was. All the while the boat was again drawing closer to the shallows as the anchor kept catching and releasing. After what seemed an interminable amount of time Boyd reappeared, just in time to tell us that we were too close to the shallow water (something Paul and I had been yelling below somewhat urgently for several minutes) and we would have to pull the anchor and reset until he could try to fix the problem.

Over the next 10 minutes we reset the anchor and Boyd refilled the hydraulic fluid canister and within a few minutes we had steering back. After a couple of tests Boyd was satisfied that we had steering back. We pulled up the anchor and resumed our course into the marina. Inside of half an hour we were tied to a dock safe and sound.

The cause of the problem turned out to be two pinhole leaks in a hydraulic hose that had caused the total amount of fluid leaked down to a level that was insufficient to maintain pressure and thus caused us to loose steerage. By refilling the hydraulic fluid canister Boyd was able to recharge the system and regain control. We stayed two days in Treasure Cay as the winds blew through.

I for one was happy to be safely tied to the dock, and not to have to worry about steering problems or wind or dragging anchors. After having refilled the water tanks, dumping the trash and taking advantage of the marina showers we have moved on to Marsh Harbor where we may be able to find new hydraulic hose to complete the repair correctly.