Crooked & Acklins

A cold front pushed through with light west winds for a few days, so we decided to visit the Crooked Acklins islands with m/v Roam and s/v Elpis.

An overnight sail at sunset made the 80 nm trip easy.

We had a couple of glorious calm days tucked on the east side of Long Cay before the next front was expected. Plentiful palm trees were overflowing with coconuts, so we harvested some for the galley.

A huge salt pond lined the back side of an endless white beach. Laura and I found a pair of flamingos there after forging a path through the brush. As one of the attractions of coming here, we were thrilled to see them.

There weren’t many other birds visible in the pond, yet when Clark, Michelle & I went back they spotted a mangrove cuckoo. Michelle and I continued the quest for flamingos and we weren’t disappointed!

There was a pat of them on a sandbar where we were able to land the dinghy and ease in without disturbing them. It appeared to be a mix of brightly orange/pink colored males, with elegant females and shorter, grayish juveniles.

These birds were about as tall as us! As a bonus, there was a reddish egret nesting nearby, feeding two fluffy chicks.

It was a much needed bird fix. I miss being able to go birding every day, but the underwater reef scenery is certainly making up for it. Here behind Long Cay, the water was one of the clearest that we’ve ever experienced.

On the Long Cay bight side, there were a few rocky reefs to explore with a moderate amount of fish. Dustin found an old shipwreck with two huge fisherman-style anchors and the remains of cable/rode lying nearby. It was remarkable and probably dated back centuries.

Soon, the next cold front, which was supposed to be a standard 24 hour front, turned into a heavy blow forecast from the W > NNW > N > NNE, lasting for about 4 days in the north component!

We were already set for the W winds when anchored on the east side of Long Cay. However, the NNW and N winds were forecast to be in the 30 kt range, sustained.

This caused us plenty of problems, since W winds would come through in the 20-25 kt range, making anchorages on the west coast of Crooked Island untenable. Then they were predicted to switch to NNW > NNE (30˚) overnight in the 30 kt range, making any passage north un-doable.

Roam went into the new marina at the north point of Crooked Island on the last calm day. We two sailboats sailed east across the bight the next day in W winds to try and get protection from the N winds to come. With 25 kts of wind behind us, we just put out the genoa and had a speedy downwind run for the 25 nautical miles across the bight.

The entire bight is quite shallow (~8’), so once tucked in on the Acklins side, we could only get to about 1 to 2 nm from any land. The problem with our anchorage soon became apparent when our already shallow depth started dropping and never came back up with the tide.

We realized that if we stayed there for the extended four day blow, we could become stuck 25 nm deep into the bight, potentially without enough water to anchor or get back out if water kept blowing out of the bight.

So, the next morning after the winds had shifted to NNW > N > NNE overnight as predicted, we sailed another genoa run back to the Crooked Island side of the bight.

Here again, we could only anchor within 1.5 nm from any land, but at least we were near an ocean inlet that kept the water level replenished with no worry about getting stuck, plus a clear exit from the bight if things got bad. Three Brazilian monohulls came around from the thorny west side and anchored behind us (about 0.5 nm or more due to depth).

Over the next three days, the winds shifted more to the NE (60-70˚) and stayed above 30 kts (!!). The wind and chop were annoying, but the shallows in front of us prevented big waves and were not too uncomfortable on the bow…. At least we were all safe & spent the days watching movies.

At this stage, the Landrail Point anchorage on the top northwest peak of Crooked Island would be an option; however, it would still be a beat into the wind to get there. When the winds dropped to 20 kts, which felt relatively calm, we sailed around Long Cay and up the west coast to the northern anchorage of Crooked Island (thank you, daggerboards!).

This anchorage has spectacular views of Bird Rock Lighthouse, crystal clear waters and white beaches, with an indigo blue ocean drop-off visible right behind the anchorage. Mark and Dustin trolled the drop-off and caught cero mackerel, which resulted in yummy fish & chips and sushi. There were nice spearfishing reefs nearby as well, so lobster and fish stayed on the menu.

When winds shifted more to the prevailing SE, Mark and I explored the Atwood harbor anchorage on the northeast side of Crooked Island.

The bay was gorgeous and there were more birds to be found. The water was noticeably greener than the west side due to many inland bays emptying out. A barrier reef had some interesting structure and areas of old reef to explore.

Eventually, we returned to meet Elpis and we had another weather event. A twister formed nearby, which we noticed as it flushed some birds onshore. It then turned into a low waterspout headed right for our anchored boats!

As we all quickly braced ourselves and stowed loose gear and canvas, Elpis took a hit in the cockpit as we watched helplessly. Their boat swung sharply as they got sprayed with water and blown around. They saw 30 kts at the masthead, but the wind was likely much more on the surface. All of their new canvas stayed onboard, so all was well after a few long seconds.

Before leaving the area, we treated ourselves to lunch at Gibson’s, where Willie made us feel right at home.

It was our first meal eating out in over a year.

After consuming so much fish lately, we each opted for the fried chicken and all tasted amazing.

After 3 weeks in the Crooked Acklins we set for departure in the prevailing SE winds. We survived the big blow and waterspout of 2021 and earned our T-shirts! It was a memorable and overdue visit here for us and an area to which we’ll definitely return.

s/v ReachMarch 29, 20212 Comments