On Wednesday, January 13 at approximately 1100 hours we arrived safely in Providenciales ("Provo") in the Turks and Caicos Islands after a 27-hour passage from Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas, having departed there at 8AM. We took advantage of post-cold front north winds to make the southeast passage (which otherwise would have been all upwind in this area's prevailing SE winds). It was a brisk and boisterous passage with wind speeds ranging from 5 to 25 knots and seas approximately 9 feet. Our companion boat Our White Magic accompanied us along with another boat we had invited along, a Catalina 47 with a family of four aboard who were interested in making the journey with other vessels for safety reasons.

Our planned route took us in a southeast direction, north of Crooked and Aklins Islands, then to the south of the Plana Cays and Mayaguana, to Sandbore Channel for entering the Caicos Bank on the south side of Provo . We would have preferred arriving on the north side of Provo but suspected high seas entering the north facing reef cuts made landfall on the protected south side more prudent.

Other than the cool temperatures, the passage was just about ideal. Donna gets the credit for the departure timing following the front which gave us true wind direction on or just behind the beam the whole way. We never had to motor. After leaving Clarence Town harbor we made one long port tack to Provo. During the day on Tuesday we sailed on the full main and genoa, changing from the genoa to the large Code 0 when apparent wind was far enough aft to use it. At night fall we double reefed the main and went back to the genoa for a more comfortable and trouble free night. At that point we were ahead of schedule for a daylight arrival into Provo and could afford to slow down a bit. We had an uneventful night, taking turns on watch, but only needing a few hours of sleep. Shortly after daybreak we were thankful for having the double reef in the main as winds picked up to 20-25 kts just aft of abeam. This made for a fast finish. Even with the double reef main we sustained 8 to 9 kts boat speed with frequent surfs over 10 kts. Upon arrival on the Caicos bank, we anchored in Sapodilla Bay, where we could clear in with Customs and Immigration.

The highlight of the passage was a change in our poor fishing luck. Around mid-day Tuesday we hooked a large bull dolphin (mahi mahi) but lost it, in part due to not being able to slow the boat sufficiently in time to lessen the strain on the rod. But later, just before dusk, we got another chance, hooking another large dolphin. This time the wind was lighter, having been oscillating between 5 and 12 kts. We were surprised the fish took the bait while the boat was moving relatively slowly in a 5 kt wind lull. It took a lot of line, and of course, right on queue, we got one of the nice 12 kt wind puffs we otherwise like which sent boat speed quickly up to 8 kts. This made it tougher for Dave to counter the fish’s run. It challenged our fishing and boat handling skills and was a real “Pas de Deux”. Donna simultaneously reeled in the other lines to get them out of the way and feathered the boat up into the wind to slow it. Over the next twenty minutes Dave slowly cranked the fish toward the boat while Donna handled the helm and prepared our big fish containment bin for the new arrival. Finally, Dave brought the fish to the port transom, gaffed it and dragged it up the steps into the bin. We don’t have a weight scale, but the fish measured 41 inches from its snout to the fork of its tail and likely weighed at least 40 pounds. Dave cleaned the fish, cutting meal-sized filets. The day following our arrival we invited both companion boats over for dinner, feeding ourselves and 9 other people. There were still enough filets left over for us to have dinner the following nights.