Seasonal· San Salvador· Bahamas — Eleuthera, Andros & the Out Islands
Northerly swell at the Cockburn Town roadstead
24° 3.1′ N · 74° 32.3′ W · approximate
Cockburn Town is an open lee roadstead on San Salvador's west coast: fine in the trades, but every winter front that swings the wind into the west and north sends swell rolling in, making the anchorage untenable and the Riding Rock entrance dangerous.
Practical
Noonsite (2013) warns there is normally quite a swell in the anchorage even in settled weather. The anchorage is open to the west; as a front approaches the wind backs S-SW-W, then the NW-N swell that follows wraps around the north end of the island and runs down the west coast. The Gerace Research Centre notes that winter northwest fronts can bring up to a week of cool, rainy weather. noforeignland reviewers describe the south-coast alternative, French Bay, as sheltered in east winds but rolly when waves come from the north - so in a northerly there is no good anchorage on this coast. Options: get into Riding Rock Marina early, while the entrance is still calm (it becomes dangerous in west swell), or leave for Long Island or the Exumas before the front. Graham's Harbour on the north coast is wide open to the north. Watch fronts every 7-10 days from November to April.
Best for
Knowing when to leave the roadstead
Season
Fronts Nov-Apr; leave before W or N wind
Nearby
- Cockburn Town Anchorage (San Salvador)Right here
- Cockburn Town government basin0.2 NM away
- Cockburn Town Fossil Reef0.3 NM away
- Riding Rock Marina0.3 NM away
- Riding Rock Marina laundry room0.3 NM away
- San Salvador sport fishing0.3 NM away
- North Pole Cave (San Salvador)0.4 NM away
- Cockburn Town clinic0.5 NM away