Chapter 90: “Island Time”, Weather and Easter, Can We Do This?!?

We left Mayaguana in the Bahamas at sunset on Thursday in order to reach the Turks and Caicos ahead of the expected weather front on Friday afternoon. We had already cleared out of the Bahamas in Georgetown so we could not leave the boat while we were in Mayaguana but we enjoyed a lovely day there onboard Thursday with beautiful sunshine and moderate temps.  We weighed anchor around 6:30pm. The winds were pretty light but we put the sails up to help us motor sail. We expected this to be a slower journey which was fine as we knew we needed to arrive in daylight to safely navigate the reefs and coral in Turks and Caicos.  We watched a lovely sunset and then FaceTimed with Nick and Kat as we slowly progressed. As darkness fell, so did the winds but the swell started to increase a bit.  We adjusted the sails and Bob made popcorn onboard for the first time – it was quite yummy, a fun treat for sure! The stars were out in full force and it was a really pretty night.  I took the first watch and Bob went to sleep for a few hours. My watch happened to coordinate with the midnight release of “Cowboy Carter” so Beyonce kept me company! (loved it, btw- though it took two listens to really appreciate it) Bob took over around 2am and I went down for a few hours.  When I awoke, Bob had turned the engine off to sail and the lights of Turks and Caicos were in the distance. 

When entering a new county by private vessel, you must first clear customs and immigrations. Each country has their own requirements and certain ports of entry that you can visit. They also may have their own electronic clearance system that you need to use.  In the Bahamas, it was Click 2 Clear.  In Turks and Caicos, they use Sail Clear (along with many other Caribbean islands). When you arrive in a new country, you hoist a yellow flag or a quarantine flag.  This flag signals to customs and immigration officials that you request clearance. Once you have cleared customs, you take it down and replace it with that country’s flag indicating you have cleared in.  We initially planned to anchor in Sapodilla Bay and clear customs at the government dock that was listed in Sail Clear.  But as we have found, often the information on individual country’s websites are either not up to date or missing information.  In looking at some of my sailing groups on Facebook, I learned that you could no longer clear in at South Dock so we needed a new plan.  We decided to instead use a marina that was listed as a port of entry. But the depth entering the marina was too shallow for us so we needed to anchor somewhere outside and then Bob would need to take the dinghy and all of our documents to the marina to meet with the customs and immigration officers.  I would need to remain onboard until we were cleared.  Because of the incoming front our most important concern was finding a safe and secure anchor spot for Meraviglia.  Unfortunately, this meant a 2 mile dinghy ride for Bob in conditions that were deteriorating.  Bob left around 9:00 am with our documents, our jerry cans to get fuel, and his rain gear.  He sent me a message on What’s App about 30 minutes later and shared that the Customs and Immigrations office would not be at the marina until noon. We have quickly learned that “island time” is definitely a thing, plus it was Good Friday which is a public holiday in Turks and Caicos so all bets were off on when they would arrive.  Our biggest concern was the front coming in and Bob needing to get safely back across the bay in the dinghy.  Around 11:30, two of our neighbors in the anchorage on catamarans also showed up to clear in so Bob had company while waiting. At 12:45pm, the immigration officer arrived.  She had the paperwork for the other two boats but not ours. Of course. After much trouble, she was able to print our forms out and clear us but we still needed customs to clear Meraviglia. The customs officer finally arrived and we were officially cleared at 2:30 – five hours after Bob arrived at the marina. He still needed to get diesel in our jerry cans as he could not purchase fuel until we were cleared but then finally was able to head back to Meraviglia.  By then the winds and the chop had picked up significantly so he had a very wet ride back.  I was extremely happy to see him approaching Meraviglia and went out to help him tie up.  Unfortunately as we were getting the dinghy attached I saw something fly out of his pocket and into the water.  It looked like a black string but it happened so fast I wasn’t sure what it was.  We got the dinghy tied off and Bob safely on board when we realized it had been his glasses that were on a safety strap that had gone overboard! As you can imagine, by this point Bob was pretty frustrated and this was just the icing on the cake but the conditions were going downhill fast so there was nothing to do except mark on GPS where the dinghy was when the glasses went overboard and hope they might still be there when the front moved through. 

Saturday brought continued winds and choppy conditions.  We need to get fuel so we weighed the options of trying to move closer to one of the marinas and dinghy in but being a holiday weekend it has been hard to get information on what is open. We decided to stay put and instead Bob decided to try and see if he could find his glasses.  He wanted to take the dinghy to the spot we marked on the GPS where his glasses went overboard and snorkel to see if he could see him. Mind you, the conditions were still not good and dive boats and jet skis tend to zoom through this anchorage. Can you tell I was NOT a fan of this idea???  But off he went and threw the dinghy anchor out then hopped in the water. He went back on board the dinghy quickly when the anchor started to drag.  This process repeated a few times. I stood onboard Meraviglia with the airhorn and monitored his progress so I could send a blast if the dinghy started to drift or a boat/jet ski were coming through.  But to  Bob’s credit (and stubbornness), he was able to search the area that we had marked.  Unfortunately, no glasses were found so thankfully he has some spares on board!

So at this point, I have not been off the boat since we left Georgetown on Tuesday and Bob was only off for the customs clearance yesterday.  I guess it is good practice for those longer ocean passages. But it is super frustrating when you are someplace as pretty as Turks and Caicos and you can’t get off the boat!! Currently it looks like the weather will remain like this until Thursday. We need to get fuel as our next passage will be a long and challenging one to the Dominican Republic.  So hopefully we can get that accomplished ahead of the next potential weather window to the DR on Friday.  I do not at all want to sound like I am complaining.  I know we are very blessed to get to have these experiences.  But I also want to share a realistic picture of sailing life and it is challenging as well as rewarding.  YouTube channels never share the reality of being stuck on board because you are afraid your dinghy is going to overturn in the rough conditions or having to try and figure out the rules of each country (and mind you, we haven’t even encountered language barriers yet!) I am also sad we will not be with our children on Easter and probably unable to get ashore to attend church. It is not the same without going to church, doing an Easter egg hunt or coloring eggs with our kids 🙂 But despite all of this, I am so grateful for the miracle of Easter. “Rejoice, be glad, shout Hallelujah! The Lamb of God is risen from the grave” Happy Easter to you and your loved ones from Sailing Meraviglia!