Goodbye Florida Hello Bahamas

Exactly 5 months to the day of our departure we arrived in the Bahamas.

Yesterday at 4 o’clock in the morning we set out to cross the Gulf Stream. The weather window was as good as we could get for the next week or so. Winds from the south and south east around 10 to 15 knots and seas 2 to 4 feet.

Once we left the Inlet at Lake Worth and got in the Atlantic our friends in the other Corbin boat decided to turn back 3 miles into the 57 miles crossing. They couldn’t maintain a decent speed with their smaller engine because the waves and currents were a lot stronger than forecasted.
We decided to soldier on and make the crossing alone.

The wind was actually closer to 20 knots and many waves over 6 feet. It was a pretty rough ride for 14 hours.
Before leaving we had gone through the boat to secure everything in case it was rough. No matter what you put away, tie down, tuck in, it’s absolutely amazing what will come flying out. The boat was a mess.

We finally arrived at sunset and were able to anchor before dark. What a day!!!  Totally fried. A few pints  and off to bed.

We got up this morning to heavy winds. Unfortunately we had to leave our protected anchorage to go to Customs and Immigrations to check in. Oh we had the most hairy ride to the office. The waves were the highest we’d ever had to deal with and the wind was howling. It made yesterday look like a walk in the park. You know the wave is big when the bow of your boat is straight up looking at the clouds and you’ll be looking straight down in the next few seconds. A real roller coaster. The longest two hours there and back for only 4 nautical miles.

Immigration was a breeze. The protocol is that on arrival you hoist a yellow quarantine flag up and once you’ve cleared the immigration then you hoist the visiting country’s courtesy flag. Since all the curtains on our boat are yellow and being cheap not wanting to fork out 12.00$ US for a one time use, we flew the curtain. 12 dollars is either a few nice mega coffees or if it’s later in the day, a few cocktails. We must have our priorities straight lol.

Now we are anchored in a  development that never happened. We are the only boat here. The water is the most amazing blue with palm tress all around. Beautiful and all ours for the moment.
We have arrived at last.!!
Cheers
Mike and Pierrette








Comments

  1. MarieFebruary 13, 2020 at 4:58 PM

    Wow you sure had a rough trip over but I'm glad you"re safe and enjoying the sun and gorgeous blue sea. Great pic's you both looking good !!

    ReplyDelete

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