Back in the Saddle

Stage 3 Turks & Caicos –South Side Marina to Wheeland Cut: 24 Jun 09

Sunset over Wheeland Cut

This is what they call “staging”.  It’s simply a matter of pre-positioning yourself to ensure the following day is a nice quiet day sail allowing plenty of light to anchor before you set out the Rum Coolers or Beer Buzzers.  We chose Wheeland Cut, a wide but rarely used hole in the coral reef on the northern side of Providenciales in which to hunker down for the night.  We were in virgin territory and felt like real explorers.  Thankfully, the wind died, the seas slackened and the mozzies forgot about us – so we rested peacefully before our scheduled early morning start.  Hopefully on the way out, the Motleys wouldn’t graze WJ3’s keel on lurking coral heads; we were keen to start our “Bahamian Banks Drift”. 

But we just don't want to leave this...

Just as a political aside, we understood that TCI was brewing up a momentous political storm.  It's said their Governor General (appointed by HRH Queen Elizabeth) is on the edge of sacking the current day government due to alleged corruption.  Amongst other things, it seems that monies ($5m) given as hurricane relief have just vanished.  I need to get my facts straight though as we were only hearing local gossip, but we were told to check out tcijournal.com as a reference.  Don't be surprised if it's shut down - seems a little criticism hurts...

From: South Side Marina, TCI  Lat/Long: 21 45N  72 13W  Date/Time: 24/6/09: 1140

To: Wheeland Cut, TCI  Lat/Long: 21 51N  72 18W  Date/Time: 24/6/09: 1600
Time Taken: 24nm (4.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 1066nm (244hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 2015nm  (412hrs)   Fastest Speed: Not noted**
Weather: Winds SW 7-10kts; Seas 2-4ft; SW swell; ripples over banks
(**Another nerve racking trip across the Sandbore Channel threading our way past coral reefs and large bommies)