A bake sail near Mayaguana Island Lindsay McRory July 3, 1996 Leaving Abraham Bay was a picnic compared to our wild ride in. The absence of onshore swells kept the cut's personality to a nice Dr. Jekyll. We wish we hadn't met Mr. Hyde. (See previous entry.) The sail to Sandbore Channel in the Turks and Caicos was only 38 miles. It's best to be at the entrance of the channel before 10 a.m. Our original plan had us anchoring out in the open on the southern tip of Mayaguana Island and then leaving at 3 a.m. A moderate onshore swell told us that anchoring wasn't such a good idea. A light breeze was filling in from the East, so we unfurled the No. 2 genoa and raised the mizzen. Hakuna Matata was terribly under-canvassed, but we only needed two and a half knots to make Sandbore Channel for dawn. We quietly ghosted across Caicos Passage under a full moon and a blanket of stars. This was true leisure sailing. We need more passages like this. Everyone needs more passages like this. The highly visible wreck of a freighter marked the entrance of the channel, as promised by the guidebooks. It was straightforward entrance and an easy 10 miles to Sapodilla Bay on Providenciales Island, locally known as Provo. After clearing customs we stocked up on groceries and a few other supplies and did a little boat cleaning. Most businesses that cater to boaters in the Bahamas and the Turks use marine radios to communicate with their customers. You can order bread, call a taxi, make dinner reservations, all on channel 16. It's a nice luxury to be 10 miles out of an anchorage and have a fresh-from-the-oven loaf of Bahamian bread ready for pickup. The intense heat at Sapodilla Bay was nearly unbearable. We tried to think of reasons to stay in town while the sun was up. It was tempting to bring lawn chairs to the air-conditioned grocery store and hang out, Al Bundy style. Come to think of it, shopping for our little bit of groceries took an awfully long time. We had to compare all the prices. For the first time in my life, I didn't mind shopping. We met a couple who just arrived from Luperon in the Dominican Republic, our next major destination. They thought Luperon was a great place and informed us that we should not expect any problems. They did say the typical gratuity for the Comandacia (customs officer) boarding your boat is $3 and a small bottle of rum. We picked up a couple of small bottles just in case we need it, but plan to play it by ear when we arrive. So far we've only used our rum to pickle barracudas, so the notion of having to pickle the Comandacia doesn't really bother me. He will actually get less than the first barracuda we caught. For a small island, we found an unusually high number of lawyers and financial institutions. There is a strong Canadian contingent in the business community. The Turks and Caicos have become to Canada what the Cayman Islands are to the United States: remote piggy banks for politicians, family trust funds, and large company executives. Isn't it odd that all the large Canadian banks are so well entrenched throughout the Bahamas and the Turks? That afternoon we went to customs again and received our clearance papers. Some countries require that you check in and check out. Today we started at 5:30 a.m., did the weather thing, and weighed anchors shortly after dawn. The summer trades blew full in our face the entire day. The breeze felt good, so we didn't mind the short chop. Caicos Bank is eight to 20 feet deep, generally flat as a pancake. There are scattered patches of black coral heads to keep you on your toes. It's just like peeling potatoes ... avoid the dark spots. Night-crossing the banks is a taboo, although the Haitians seem to get away with it. With all the flotsam on the beaches on certain days, it's a good guess some of them do not get away with it. It's impossible to say because the Haitians don't file sail plans. We are currently anchored between Big Ambergris and Little Ambergris Cay. It's a strange spot because more than three miles separate the two cays. It looks like were completely exposed, but we're only experiencing a mild light chop even though it's blowing 20 knots around the corner. The current plan is to leave around 10 a.m. tomorrow and do a final five-mile trek though fairly dense coral heads until we're in deep blue water. Another 20 miles will prepare us for an easy approach at Sand Cay. Then it's off to the Dominican Republic.