Thursday, April 16, 2009
16 April - Day 43. Anchor watch began at 0315 when a thunderstorm passed through. Once again, however, at daybreak there was nothing but blue sky. After several boats left we decided to give ourselves more swinging room and re-anchored. What should have taken 10 minutes turned into an hour long ordeal. The hook would initially set but wouldn't hold when backing down at greater than 1000 rpm. Each time the anchor was found to be fouled with sand and grass. We heard these conditions are not unusual in the Bahamas and that a Delta (or other non-articulated sharp plow) was the anchor of choice here. We sleep a lot better when the hook holds 1500 rpm but since 1000 rpm held in today's 18kt winds … Green Turtle's White Sound has two resorts: The Green Turtle Club and Bluff House. Both are cruiser friendly, which means we're welcome to tie our dinks to their docks, eat at their restaurants, etc. The island is surprisingly hilly. Rather than being simply a coral atoll, there's a lot of lava rock. The vegetation is dense and myriad: mangroves; pines; the occasional palm; and, many deciduous trees. The houses seem to be taller than most of the trees. Perhaps hurricanes are more effective at trimming them than the stoutly built houses. The very narrow roads are mostly sand and natural stone affairs. Jacked-up golf carts are the vehicle of choice although we saw several cars too. Walking is very pleasant and you're rewarded by one pretty view after another. 0nm today: 1260nm total. DBH
