Passage to Exumas: A Wild Ride!

During the storm, we had seas of six to seven feet breaking over S/V Pandion.

Following several weeks of exploring Eleuthera and sharing time with family, we sailed S/V Pandion south to Rock Sound to stage for our passage to the Exumas.

After reviewing weather forecasts, securing dinghy and hatches, and doing engine checks, we lifted anchor at sunrise and turned southwest. We planned for a passage of 40 nautical miles, taking about seven hours, arriving at Little Cistern Cay in the Exumas Land and Sea Park by late afternoon.

S/V Pandion under reefed sail during the Exumas passage.

As we rounded Cape Eleuthera, we discussed the wind conditions, and decided to unfurl our Code 0.

For the first two hours of our passage, Pandion was hitting an average of 7 knots and we were making good progress towards our destination.

And then the weather began to change.

We noted that winds were picking up, from 15 to 20 knots, and then gusting up to 25 knots.

In response, we turned S/V Pandion into the wind and furled our Code 0 sail (not designed for higher wind conditions), reefed our mainsail (reducing the total area of sail) and unfurled our jib.

We were still making 7 knots, when it became clear that a storm was building up and we could not avoid it. Once again, we turned S/V Pandion into the gusting winds and reefed our mainsail further to make sure that we were safe.

It was at this point that our furled Code 0 began to unfurl, catching the gusting winds (now up to 35 knots), and we had a problem on our hands.

After brief discussion, we decided our best course of action was to lower the Code 0 as quickly as possible, to avoid having the big sail tear on the mast spreaders and cause other issues. As Brenda manned the helm and lowered the halyard for the sail, I positioned myself forward on the trampoline and attempted to get control of the partially unfurled Code 0 that was now bucking like a wild bronco.

Weather change.

The sail lifted me off the trampoline three times, slamming me back down (fortunately on our new stretchy trampoline which took my body weight easily) as Brenda and I wrestled the big sail into submission. Once down, I grabbed a dockline and wrapped the loose sail to keep it down.

At this point,  winds were gusting over 40 knots, with six to seven foot seas breaking over the flybridge. Time to furl all remaining sails. Under bare pole with both engines running, we also made the decision to run with the storm to reduce the impact of breaking seas on the boat. We changed our course to aim for Hawksbill Cay, providing us with a wider cut for safer entry to the islands ahead.

Running with the storm. We changed our course to Hawkbill Cay Cut,
giving us a wider entry between islands and reducing the impact of breaking seas.

As we approached our new destination, the storm had begun to pass and winds dropped from 40 to 30 knots. We turned S/V Pandion into the Hawksbill Cut, and with our engines throttled up to avoid being pushed by the big following seas, we ran through the cut at 11.5 knots.

Happy crew of S/V Pandion, as the storm passes and we barrel along towards Hawkbill Cay.

It was a wild ride! The experience reminded both of us of a recent conversation that we had with young Ben Hibberd from the circumnavigating S/V Cool Runnings. When asked about how challenging things could get, Ben answered that in his experience, sailing is 90% fun and easy. The other 10% is a total adrenaline ride.

We logged our passage to the Exumas in that 10%.