Turks & Caicos - 21 44.50N 072 17.37W

OOJAH's AWESOME ODYSSEY
Peter & Christene Tanner
Sun 19 Jan 2014 15:32
After 15 days waiting for the forecast wind to drop we finally sailed the 150nm to Sapodilla Bay on the Island of Providenciales. With hindsight we wondered why we'd waited as the actual wind was half as as much again as forecast & the waves were at least 3m. To the south of the islands there's a vast very shallow bank, 60 nm east to west which we had to cross in daylight. This gave us a problem as the authorities in the Dominican Republic would only allow us to leave between 8am & 5pm making a daylight arrival on the bank impossible. Much to Christene's consternation we anchored off French Cay, a tiny sand spit just above sea level, in somewhat lively conditions & waited for daylight. Five hours later wind & sea had moderated & we sailed gently into Sapodilla Bay & checked in.
Although the Turks & Caicos are only 50nm SE of the Bahamas & are geologically very similar, the people share nothing culturally. Political attempts to merge them failed long ago & following a corruption scandal in 2009 the Turks & Caicos are now ruled directly from London while the Bahamas have their independence. Most of the dozen or so islands are sparsely inhabited low lying scrubland, except for Grand Turk the administrative capital where time has stood still for many years, & Providentiales with its sugar white sand, turquoise water & spectacular coral reefs where resorts, villa estates, mini malls & investment banks are springing up. A day out with a hire car was quite enough ashore.

With love from Peter & Christene

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