Rum Cay to Provo

March 6^th & 7th

We left Rum Cay early in the morning and made our way southeast toward Mayaguana.  We had light winds again still from the North which gave us a broad reach to motor sail.   The swells became big again once we left the lee of the Island.  We traversed most of the way in 6 – 8 ft swells but they were fairly regular at about 11 second intervals and so were not to worrisome.     Mike had both fishing poles rigged and we trolled as we made our way South.     Mikes ocean Rod that was a beautiful gift from the Butler Family had not seen much action since we began this journey but not for the lack of trying.    At around 11:30am I had the helm and Mike was below reading and resting, as we would be sailing all night.  Suddenly,  Mike’s pole began buzzing and I yelled “Fish On!” and slowed the boat.   I was just reaching for the pole and Mike was emerging from the Salon when the other rod also started buzzing.  I yelled again “ Two Fish On!”   The Autohelm steered the boat and we both got to reel in a blackfin Tuna,  10lbs and 7lbs respectively.     It was a great rush!   Mike cleaned the fish while we were underway and I packaged the steaks and put all but one package in the freezer.   We will no longer be fish starved.  Hooray!   We continued on our journey and although we had a fish on 2 more times both bit through or broke the lines…..In which case it was probably better that we didn’t bring them in.   The freezer is not that big.     We made great time to Mayaguana  arriving at 2:30am under a sky full of stars and a glowing ¼ moon hanging low in the sky.  However….we arrived too early to hazard an entrance to the bay.  Most of the Islands are surrounded by Coral Reef and are better approached in the light of day.    We decided that since we had already traveled this far and we only had another 39 miles to get to the Turks and Caicos we pressed on.  Upon entering the Channel to the T&C the changes in the colors of the water was dramatically defined.   There were quite a few coral heads and we found that our GPS only covers the Bahamas so we entered using only our Paper Charts, and eyballing the Coral Heads.   28 hours after leaving Rum Cay we anchored safely on Mike’s Birthday in Sapodilla Bay on the Lee side of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.  We ran up the yellow Q flag and  I spent the afternoon baking him a Carrot Cake in our BBQ that actually turned out great!  I think I’m finally figuring out how to bake in it.    We had seared Blackfin Tuna Steaks with Wasabi for dinner and the Birthday Cake for Dessert.  We also had a good WiFi signal and so Mike was able to Skype with Family on his B-Day.   It was an exhausting but wonderful experience.  We will officially check into the T&C tomorrow.

Catch of the Day/ Blackfin Tuna

Michael’s B-Day Sunrise

Dramatic and Defined Color Changes

Happy Birthday Sweets

Michael’s Birthday Sunset