Crossing Lake Worth to West End or Green Turtle

[cclyerly]

We are in a sailing cat averages 5.5 kts and getting ready to make our first trip to the Bahamas. We are leaving from Lake Worth Inlet. Our initial intention was to cross to West End but some have recommended moving on to Green Turtle since WE is pricey and can be a challenge to navigate. We certainly don't want to get stuck at WE but it just seems like a long sail to NOT be able to get off the boat. Maybe looking at the chart is more daunting than actually is. We welcome all comments on the subject. Also if anyone is waiting near Lake Worth Inlet for a window to cross (this Thurs we think) we'd welcome a crossing buddy boat.
thanks
CC

[Magnawake]

Hello CC,
We are currently in Stuart and plan on leaving Thursday as well. We will arrive in Lake Worth Wed evening. We travel 7 kts only. We also were heading to Green T. Cay. Ours plans were to arrive W.E., then on to GTC on Friday. Yes, the W.E. is expensive and only want to get drained (money) for one day. I dont think W.E. channel is that bad. People go in and out frequently without any problems. Going directly to GTC would certainly be an overnight haul. I'm not sure I would want to do that at night since its your first time there and being the water is pretty shallow in places. Also, I'm thinking your depth draft shouldnt be a problem in your cat, but dont take my word for it since its our first time too. You can follow me in with my 3.5 ft draft and I'll test the area out. It should be fun.

[skipmac]

Have not heard any recent reports but last year several cruisers reported being stopped by Bahamian authorities (BDF maybe?) and informed quite strictly that the rules require cruisers to check in at the first/closest port upon entry into Bahamian waters. In this case that would mean West End or Freeport.

Have not been into West End in several years but unless it has silted up it wasn't that difficult to get in. I would think with a cat it would be a piece of cake.

[cclyerly]

Thanks for the response Magnawake. We draw 2' with boards up; 4.5' with them down. What time are you leaving Thursday? We were thinking we'd leave early Thursday a.m. around 4 or 5, giving ourselves plenty of time since we go a little slower. I don't think we'll make it before customs closes on Thursday though, do you?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by cclyerly

Thanks for the response Magnawake. We draw 2' with boards up; 4.5' with them down. What time are you leaving Thursday? We were thinking we'd leave early Thursday a.m. around 4 or 5, giving ourselves plenty of time since we go a little slower. I don't think we'll make it before customs closes on Thursday though, do you?

If you arrive after customs closes or late in the evening you can easily tuck in close and anchor right off the beach then go in the next morning to clear. In normal east winds it is calm and protected, and free.

[Magnawake]

Gosh dog !! I havent thought about that. Passage weather shows the stream being a little rougher in the early morning. I was thinking about leaving at day break. You could leave early and I would catch up to you. Looks like a 9-10 hr day for you. I'm looking at a 8 hr day. We wont push it too much or I'll start bleeding money for diesel. I guess sunrise/crack of dawn would be good for me.

[cclyerly]

Thats probably a good plan, Magnawake. We will be at anchor just south of the inlet, then pull out early. We'll head southeast until we hit the stream, the turn to 090 on the compass. We'll adjust heading once we get across Stream for W.E. We'll probably catch up again on the radio.

[Magnawake]

Well it looks like Friday will be a better crossing day. What do you think? Man, this wind is blowing like stink everywhere. I dont mind a little wind, but geesh its getting crazy.

[nautical62]

As Skipmac indicated, they are becoming less tolerant of cruisers sailing across the banks without checking in at W.E.

I have almost always checked in at W.E., but have very rarely picked up a slip for the night. They will of course ask if you want a slip, but you are free to decline and stay tied up at the sea wall for free while you clear in.

Personally, I don't care to sail all night, so typically I leave Lake Worth early AM to arrive at W.E. in time to clear that day, but as previously noted, if you get there late, you can anchor with Q flag up and clear in the next morning.

From W.E. you can enjoy as many of the beautiful northern Abacos as you wish or truck it to Green Turtle with one or two overnights on the way.

I don't feel that the channel into Old Bahama Bay at West End is particularly difficult to navigate. It's fairly straight forward in day light.

[Canibul]

We did our first crossing in our old but new-to-us boat from Lake Worth to West End. We left right at dawn and were there mid afternoon, and it was a lovely trip. Set your auto when you leave Lake Worth, for a spot about 20-25 miles south of where you want to hit land and don't touch it until you see that water tower at West End. and you will see it from about 20 miles away. That's a guess, I didn't actually measure it. by the time you see the water tower you'll be out of the effects of the stream for the most part and can then head straight toward it. Within sailboat reason.

Getting into the marina there is easy beans. Straight in, a right turn, and then left into the slips. There is an aerial photo of that on our blog if you want to look at it. Scroll down to the second photo at http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2012/06...e-islands.html you can see it's not that scary at all. The Customs Immigration office is the little building right there at the marina. We found it to be a good place to rest up and congratulate ourselves and get silly and do all that new boat owners on their first crossing stuff there.


Even if you only spend one night there, it's worth it. Nice facilities, and you can rent a car or take a cab into town if needed. Hey, you might even run into the Travoltas, as he has a place there and lands at the strip nearby.

And even though we've been living in one of the conch capitals of the world for the past 9 years, I have to say that the cracked conch served at the outside bar/restaurant over on the beach there at West End is the best I have ever had in my life. No kidding. I ate it three days in a row. We moved on from there to Running Man on the south side of GBI, as we were waiting for a Fed Ex delivery of some meds we needed and we wanted to get a BTI sim card for the phone and mobile hotspot.

The queen snapper was excellent too. I don't mention these things lightly. We were told about the conch by the people who ran Pine Cay here for years, and then ran their own resort on Salt Cay for years. IF they liked the conch at W.E, that says something.

[onestepcsy37]

we cross lake worth to memory rock, then across the banks to great sale and on to green turtle. once you're on the banks east of memory rock you can anchor just about anywhere if you need to take a break.

three years ago we were still flying q flag as we left spanish cay. a bdf boat hailed us and, after a few questions, we told them we were headed to green turtle to check in. we could have checked in at spanish but didn't. they advised us that we should have checked in at the nearest port - west end. we acknowledged and they then left. we went on to green turtle and checked in.

the whole affair was very courteous and businesslike. i think if we had come in from the north they probably would have advised us to check in at spanish.

[Amapola]

If you intend to go to Green Turtle to check in, you might want to consider going via Memory Rock. The Bahamian Patrol has turned some boats back who bypass West End. By law, you are required to check in at the closest point of entry.

[Magnawake]

Moot point now. I'm throwing the towel in. The weather is too bad for me to cross. Maybe if I had a large sail boat I would go but not with this top heavy MY. I moved to Mariners Cay Marina in Manatee pocket (port Salerno), near Staurt for a change of scenery and chill by their nice pool. I'm beat down from doing all these maint things and getting ready to cross and getting my hopes up.

[bratzcpa]

We did this crossing last year on May 15th. We left from Fort Lauderdale (because it was a little further south) to West End. LOTS of east wind that day so ended up pretty far north of West End.

We left in the dark and arrived in the dark - - a long trip.

At West End, the place you go is Old Bahama Bay. EASY entrance. Well lit (red and green) markers at the entrance. plenty of depth. nice docks to tie up, but EXPENSIVE. They charged us $95 for a few hours (2am to 9am). This was not-negotiable.

When we left West End (headed for Mangrove Cay and Great Sale), we were cautioned about the channel that leaves directly from West End, so we went way up north to Memory Rock and then East onto the banks. On the way out, we took the shortcut channel and it was fine. Plenty of depth. No problem at all. Also a series of tall stakes/poles mark the channel too.

[AnchorageGuy]

Tony, We have only heard of one incident where the BDF turned a boat back and after speaking to the head of the BDF on the phone, he indicated that while the law states you must check in at the nearest port when entering Bahamian waters, it was not his policy to chase pleasure boats down and turn them around. As with all things in the Bahamas, policies can change daily. You can cross over and sail on to Mangrove or Great Sale Cay to rest up before moving on to GT. The channel near west end has plenty of water and is easy to do in daylight. If you leave early enough, you want to enter the channel at about mid day. Leaving from Lake Worth in the dark is easy. The winds and seas are generally up a bit in the early morning hours so may not be an indicator of what you will have later on. The seas are also a bit more sloppy close to the coast. As you move offshore and into they stream the tend to spread out. Even if they are a bit high, look for the intervals to be longer and it shouldn't be an issue. One of our best sails was between the Turks and Caicos to the DR with 8 foot seas with long intervals. Our 40 foot ketch was like a giant surfboard but a fast run and lots of fun. Just be careful and respect that Gulf Stream. Don't get impatient. Have a great trip. Chuck