Are there any safe routes across the Great Bahama Bank south of Andros
Island that can be run at night or with poor visibility (5 1/2 foot
draft)?

If not, what is the best route from Marathon to the lower Exumas?

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:27:22 GMT, "FMac" wrote:

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
.. .
Are there any safe routes across the Great Bahama Bank south of Andros
Island that can be run at night or with poor visibility (5 1/2 foot
draft)?

If not, what is the best route from Marathon to the lower Exumas?

Check your charts. You will be running against a current and it's rather
shallow in the southern area of Andros Island. You might want to reconsider
changing your route northwardly.

====================================

I understand your point but since I'd be going through the Keys in any
case, the southern route would save a lot of distance. Is there
really a lot of west flowing current on the banks? That seems
somewhat counter intuitive to me.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:27:22 GMT, "FMac" wrote:

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
.. .
Are there any safe routes across the Great Bahama Bank south of Andros
Island that can be run at night or with poor visibility (5 1/2 foot
draft)?

If not, what is the best route from Marathon to the lower Exumas?


I understand your point but since I'd be going through the Keys in any
case, the southern route would save a lot of distance. Is there
really a lot of west flowing current on the banks? That seems
somewhat counter intuitive to me.

Counter intuitive. Interesting thought. However, you will be subjected to
a NNW current through the Santaren Channel coupled with a massive amount of
coral heads unless you head south to 23N. Good luck!

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:27:22 GMT, "FMac" said:

Are there any safe routes across the Great Bahama Bank south of Andros
Island that can be run at night or with poor visibility (5 1/2 foot
draft)?

If not, what is the best route from Marathon to the lower Exumas?

Check your charts. You will be running against a current and it's rather
shallow in the southern area of Andros Island. You might want to
reconsider
changing your route northwardly.

I take it that checking his charts is what lead to the question.

If I understand correctly what you're trying to say it's that you know the
area, and the answer to his first question is no.

I took the northerly route, because I was sailing solo. Perhaps, with a
lookout forward the area north of 23N can be navigated successfully.

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 00:08:52 GMT, "FMac" wrote:

I took the northerly route, because I was sailing solo. Perhaps, with a
lookout forward the area north of 23N can be navigated successfully.

=============================================

What was your route across the banks going northerly and did you have
to dodge any coral heads?

Wayne.B wrote:

Are there any safe routes across the Great Bahama Bank south of Andros
Island that can be run at night or with poor visibility (5 1/2 foot
draft)?

If not, what is the best route from Marathon to the lower Exumas?

I have not done that myself.

It would be better IMHO to go from Marathon or a bit north of there
leaving at night and getting to the Bahamas in the morning. I have
heard that you can cross the Banks from Gun Cay area at night although
we anchored. Then you can go around the north end of Andros and maybe
check in at Morgan's Bluff. Then you could sail down the Tongue of
the Ocean safely at night.


grandma Rosalie

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:33:09 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Then you could sail down the Tongue of
the Ocean safely at night.

Yes, that would remove a lot of uncertainty but be quite a bit longer.
Where did you exit Tongue of the Ocean?

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 00:08:52 GMT, "FMac" wrote:

What was your route across the banks going northerly and did you have
to dodge any coral heads?

If I were to proceed, I would heed Grandma's advice. However, what I did
was slid up the Gulf Stream and hung a right to the Providence Channel then
went in to the Exuma Sound between Eleuthera an Cat Island and proceeded to
Sampson Cay. Admittedly, it's the long way but remember I was solo and
coral heads weren't in the equation. Regardless, it's one of the pretty
places I visited. Work it and have fun.

Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:33:09 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Then you could sail down the Tongue of
the Ocean safely at night.

Yes, that would remove a lot of uncertainty but be quite a bit longer.
Where did you exit Tongue of the Ocean?

We didn't do it that way. We have a 5 foot draft and are a slow boat.

We went to the Bahamas twice - both times by ourselves (so many people
seem to take a convoy). The first time we left our mooring in Miami
and went down around Cape Florida (this URL gives you the start of the
trip and then there is a link to the next section at the bottom of
each one) http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2abf0/#TL and crossed
to Bimini and checked in there. Then we were weathered in for awhile
- we had intended to go to the Berrys or to Abacos. But it just
didn't look good for that so we went up along the west side of Bimini
and over to Lucaya. Then after another couple of days there when it
didn't look like we had a weather window unless we went NOW, we went
back to Florida instead of going anywhere else.

The second time, we were in Marathon
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2e608/#TL and we left there late
in the afternoon and sailed up to we anchored off Tavenier and
anchored and then the next day we went up to Rodriguez and spent the
day there and then left that evening. We again went to Bimini and
checked in. After a day, we went north of Gun Cay and crossed the
banks (anchoring once) and went to Frazier's Hog Cay in the Berries
and stayed there a couple of days, and then went to Nassau. After a
couple of days there (including visiting Atlantis, my having a filling
replaced, and retrieving my glasses from the harbor), we started down
the Exumas, but Bob had a heart attack before we got to Great Exuma.

grandma Rosalie

Hi Wayne,
We made a few trips to the Exumas from our home base in Islamorada, about 40
miles up the Keys from Marathon. We sometimes left from Alligator Creek, and on
one occasion from 5 mile bridge at the south end of Marathon. Our draft was only
about 4 feet. Your best bet is to get a copy of the Bahamas Guide, which lays out
all the routes and is almost a necessity for cruising those waters. The most comfortable
crossing would be to go for Gun Cay or Bimini. If you have never crossed the Gulf Stream,
be sure to do so on a SE, S, or SW wind. Since the winds
clock around clockwise rather quickly, the window is usually just a couple of days, or
less. If you try for Andros, you will be fighting the current. From Gun Cay you set a
course for the south side of the Berries and from there to Nassau. From Nassau, you
will have to cross the Yellow Bank, which is deep enough except for coral heads that
can be only 3 1/2 feet deep. It is not dangerous if you cross with a high sun where you
can spot the heads in enough time to avoid them. You may also want to cross at high
tide to give you an extra bit of protection. That will take you to the northern part of the
Exumas and you can work your way down the chain. The west end is deep ocean but
there are numerous cuts to get to anchorage's. These can be hard to find and navigate,
so put your GPS to good use. I did my cruising without a GPS and on one occasion
could not find the harbor at Hawksbill and rode out an uncomfortable night on the banks.
The Exumas are a great place for cruising but bring plenty of supplies and water, as they
are only found at selected places like Staniel Cay and Georgetown.

Sherwin D.

"Wayne.B" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:33:09 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Then you could sail down the Tongue of
the Ocean safely at night.

Yes, that would remove a lot of uncertainty but be quite a bit longer.
Where did you exit Tongue of the Ocean?

We did it at Russel Beacon, an easy target.