Thursday, November 11, 2010

Landfall in the Turks And Caicos!


Wow, what a difference a day makes!! We made landfall at Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, and once we did, we decided to be a bit decadent, and took a slip in a marina. This was not a decision made lightly, since we loved our good three weeks of anchoring out in the Abacos and Exumas and enjoying the beauty and solitude found there. But, after our lumpy 28-hour crossing from the Exumas and consequent lack of sleep (neither of us found our usual passage-making mode of "sleep fast, sleep deep" unfortunately) a quiet marina was beckoning!

Conditions on the north side of Provo were unfortunately too rough to get into Sellar's Cut and onward to Turtle Cove, so we opted to head onto the Caicos Bank at the Sandbore Channel entrance. We initially thought we'd anchor out in Sapodilla Bay, but were too tired to even contemplate the efforts needed for the dinghy ride in to shore and walk through town for Customs and Immigration clearance. So, we continued on past Sapodilla Bay towards Cooper Jack Bight, where we stopped at small and tidy South Side Marina. We are SO glad we did! We had high tide and plenty of clearance into the marina (dodging a couple of ubiquitous coral heads here and there en route on the bank) to find a quaint, quiet marina much to our liking. The owner, Bob Pratt, was out on the docks to greet us as we entered the fairway, and helped us tie up neatly at his largest slip. Not only that, Bob had called ahead to Customs to let them know we were arriving, so within an hour, Customs was aboard Equinox clearing us in! So nice!!

With necessary paperwork done and completed, we arranged for Equinox to get a much-needed wash-down (she was beyond crusted with salt) so that all we needed to do was make a few phone calls and e-mails to family and friends to let them know we'd arrived safely, then eat an early dinner and SLEEP! Which we did, unabashedly, and it felt absolutely decadent: no currents to contemplate, no anchor set to agonize over, no winds to worry about. Sweet dreams!




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