Escaping Hurricane Nicole!

On our passage from the Chesapeake Bay to The Bahamas, we made landfall at Egg island, near the settlement of Spanish Wells, Eleuthera. After a full night's sleep, we were still moving pretty slowly. We took a dip in the gorgeous turquoise waters which gave us a needed boost of energy. We were close to a cell tower which meant we could get online. At 2 pm, Chris Parker sent a weather update regarding a tropical disturbance his team had been monitoring. The disturbance had developed enough to be named Invest98. Tropical models had just started running on the storm that morning, so Parker's team had very little tropical-system-specific information to go by. From the information they had, Parker's team predicted the storm could become a Cat 1 or 2 hurricane (65-90 knot max sustained winds with higher gusts) and was on track to hit the Abacos. The Abacos are an island chain in the Bahamas, just 40 miles north of our location at Eleuthera. Swell. We had sailed through with gale force winds on our passage and now a potential hurricane was in the mix. What the heck?!

We quickly went into problem solving mode, discussing our options to ride out the storm. We could get a slip at a marina in Spanish Wells, anchor in the hurricane hole at Royal island or try to get further south on Eleuthera Island or New Providence Island. That afternoon, the weather became unsettled with several squalls on the horizon. The wind picked up out of the N which meant our anchorage was no longer protected. It was time to move, at least for the night. We motored through the cut at Egg Island and anchored at Meeks Patch, an island close to the settlement of Spanish Wells. It was dusk by the time we anchored but we were well protected and safe for the night.

After reviewing NOAA's National Hurricane Center site and Parker's storm update, we decided the best option was to get out of the storm track. We emailed Parker at 8 pm and asked for his advice on where to go. We told him we were ready to leave in the morning. He emailed back at 10 pm and suggested we head south for George Town, on Great Exuma Island. It meant an overnight passage but 120 nautical miles seemed like nothing after our 820 mile passage. We were all in and thrilled to have a good option to get the heck out of there!

Todd raised the anchor at 6 am on November 7. Just 29 hours after we had landed at Egg Island. Our first hurdle was Current Cut, a shallow narrow cut between Eleuthera and Current island, which we needed to hit at slack tide. We completely lucked out as high tide was at 8 am that morning. We arrived at the cut early and the tide was ripping! Yikes! But just like the tide table said, the tide changed at 8 am and we went for it! Freya's keel draws 6 feet and the shallowest depth we saw was 9 feet. Whew! Hurdle one, down. Next up, crossing the shoals at Middle Ground. The depths across this 35 mile stretch run 8-20 feet with lots of coral heads. One of us was on coral patrol from Freya's bow directing our path the whole way. We made it safely across the shoals and entered Exuma Sound at Ship Channel cut. Hurdle two, down!

Next up, Exuma Sound! Luckily, Exuma Sound is very deep so there are no issues with sailing at night. 80 miles to go! Our next lucky break was the wind direction and velocity were perfect to sail a broad reach/reach all the way to Georgetown. Had the wind been out of the south, we wouldn't have been able to set off for George Town at all. The bummer was the waves in the Sound were steep and close together which made for a very uncomfortable sail. We tried several different sail configurations but nothing helped. In fact, it was the most miserable sail I can remember...ever...and I've been sailing a long time. Ugh. Neither of us felt seasick, it was just super rolly and uncomfortable. Consequently, we didn't get any sleep. We just kept reminding ourselves it was better than sitting through a hurricane!

As we sailed along the Exuma islands chain, we reminisced about our wonderful time exploring those cays last winter. We spent three weeks cruising the Exumas, our days filled with swimming, snorkeling, paddling our SUPS, beach walks, hiking and of course, sailing. The highlight was the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a national park covering over 112,000 acres of land and sea run by the non-profit, Bahamian National Trust. This time, we were passing it all by in 12 hours, in determination to escape the storm now named Hurricane Nicole.

We arrived at Conch Cut at 8 am and made our way through the channel to Elizabeth Harbor. Elizabeth Harbor separates the settlement of George Town from Stocking Island, where there are several great anchorages. Hundreds of sailboats flock to George Town every winter. Some make it their base for several months and others spend only a few days. At the it's peak, over 300 sailboats are anchored throughout the harbor. It's quite a site and a wonderful community of cruisers. It's a completely different place in November. There were only three sailboats anchored in the whole harbor. Three...!

Winds from Nicole were forecasted to blow 20-25 knots with gusts to 30 so we needed to find a super secure anchorage for Freya. I remembered seeing three hurricane holes on Stocking Island last year. A hurricane hole is a natural harbor with almost complete protection from wind and waves. As we motored through the channel, I called Norman, who runs the moorings in Hurricane Hole 3. I couldn't believe it...not only did he answer the phone but he had a mooring available for us! Hurricane Hole #3 is most protected of the three holes. The entrance was narrow and shallow but Norman said Freya's draft could get through at high tide. Our lucky streak continued...it was just past high tide! Hurricane Hole #3, here we come! Norman met us at the entrance in his speed boat and directed us in. The depth gauge read 7 feet at one point but Freya made it in without touching the bottom. By 9 am, Freya was tied up to a mooring in the safest harbor in all of George Town. Pinch me! We had safely escaped Hurricane Nicole. We were shocked, thrilled and completely spent!

Once we were settled, the adrenaline quickly wore off and pure exhaustion set in. I was so tired, I could barely function. I finally gave up and crashed. Todd never naps so he puttered around in first gear while I snoozed. I woke up after 90 minutes, still feeling a bit foggy but at least able to form complete sentences. We decided to rally and go to George Town to clear customs and immigration. We had left Eluethera in such a hurry, we never made it to shore to check in. The wind and waves were more than our dinghy with an electric motor could handle so we asked Norman for the mile-long ride across the harbor to George Town. We cleared customs and purchased our $300 cruising permit in one location and walked to the other end of town to clear immigration. It all went smoothly and we were now officially legal! We dropped off our trash, stocked up on fresh pro and hit Sonia's Conch Shack for a cold smoothie. Ahh!

We took the water taxi back to Freya and hoisted The Bahamas courtesy flag! 56 hours after arriving in The Bahamas, we had sailed another 120 miles to dodge the path of the hurricane and could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Whew! We did it! Go Freya!