We have been moving up from Puerto Rico into the Bahamas passing through Turks and Caicos.
Most stops have been short but the crossings have been quite tiring at times especially the overnighters.
I can't believe some people ask why don't you just pull into a harbour for the night! Distances sometimes over 100 nm, Puerto Rico to Gran Turk was 380 nm 3 nights and 2 days but we were making so much speed we had to stay out for the sunrise so we can arrive with good light.
Some of the anchorages now can be very shallow and others we had to abort because the wind or swell makes a very uncomfortable stay to say dangerous at the least. However the ones we choose to stay in not only for the rest but are good when we do manage to go ashore.
So far after Puerto Rico, Gran Turk, a challenging place to land the dinghy and a very different customs building.
Position Gran Turk 21°26N 71° 09W
We tied up to a high concrete dock and had to climb a rusty vertical ladder, if anyone goes there FORGET THE 3RD STEP FROM THE TOP! At the end of the dock it looks like some private commercial yard but the gates missing, we cautiously approached the security gate but noticed 2 guys walking through and noticed one with a uniform, it turned out he was a customs officer who then took us to the office.
 |
| Customs and immigration office where is the sign? |
 |
| Customs office from the rear look it has air con, they leave the windows open |
Well we paid the 50 $ to check in and a further 50 $ to cruise Turks and Caicos for 7 days. We walked along the road to Jacks Shack beach bar and the dive center. Jack is quite a helpful guy we even used the wifi there. Not too far along from there is a cruise ship dock which has its own little village for the tourists but some do venture out to the dive centres and go for organised trips, we moved back to the boat when they came in for the free rum samples at Jacks shack.
It looks like the only activity is when the cruise ships come in and even then its when they escape from the custom made village for the ship. We watched people go onto dive boats and go on the water sports boats to be dragged along on silly rides.
 |
| Pretty quiet when no ships are in |
 |
| There are more people on these ships than are on the whole island |
The plan when we left Gran Turk was to go to Great Inagua but the wind wasn't playing our game so onwards to Acklins island, the south, which was quiet to say the least we didn't see anyone for 2 days however we did stay onboard.
April 17th Position 22°12 N 74° 17W
After 2 days we did manage to do a make the boat a little more comfortable and did dry out big red and tidy up the foreword cabin and catch up on the usual chores.
BFN
Agua Therapy
Don and Glenys
No comments:
Post a Comment