12/21/11
25 04.72 N 77 19.82 W
Our first few nights were spent in Nassau on the island of New Providence. Checking into this country is straight forward - the interest is mainly on the payment of $300 for our cruising permit. The anchorage at Nassau is between the main island and the elongated Paradise Island just to the north creating a narrow channel which is well protected and very close to all facilities, also very popular as marina fees are extremely high in the Bahamas.
After moseying around the anchorage we found a spot with enough swinging room for us and settled in nicely. The catamaran "Tortortuga" (it was in Portsmouth for a few weeks) anchored close to us and our fears were correct - in the middle of the night when the tide changed and the wind against tide caused all the boats to swing in different directions (those with deeper keels swing differently to cats and trawlers with shallow keels - a bit like an orchestrated waltz) Tortortuga came very close to us and on the other swing (minutes apart) they almost hit another sail boat - we all spent many hours fending each other off in the dark hours. At one stage Don and I were laughing because Tortortuga and the other sail boat each had their boat hooks pushing against the other's boat keeping them away, it appeared they were sword fighting. Much to our relief Tortortuga moved the following morning - that afternoon another boat anchored in a similar spot - once again we were up at 2am when the tide changed and the boat began to swing dangerously close to us - they were horrified and pulled anchor and spent the rest of the night anchored just outside the anchorage - the following night yet another boat anchored in the favourite spot - I yelled at them at 3am - they were only 4 feet away from our boat so they woke easily - they got such a fright at being too close to us they pulled anchor and moved straight away - I felt guilty - I was trying to tell them that this will go on for a few hours then boats will settle back down with the current - I was asking them to help fend off - I think they were French speaking and didn't understand me. Now just so you get the general idea of our state of mind - 6 nights at sea with less than 3 hrs sleep at a time and now 3 nights up for many hours in the middle of the night and I am beginning to feel a tad tired.
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