Goodbye Bahamas

Hi everyone,

It was a sad day yesterday as we watched the island of Bimini disappear below the horizon. We had left Morgans Bluff the day before and made the long passage across the Great Bahama Banks. That was close to 80 miles and we anchored near the north end of Bimini at about 11PM, after 16 hours underway. It was a rather miserable nights sleep as the boat rolled around restlessly. I had taken advantage of a 2 day weather window which provided stable conditions but light wind so we ended up motorsailing the entire way both days. Day 2 was much better because we had the giant conveyor belt known as the Gulf Stream in our favor. 16 hours for 80 miles on day 1, 11 hours and 75 miles on day 2. At times in the Stream we were making in excess of 9 knots! And it was probably the smoothest crossing I've ever made. There was a storm as we approached Palm Beach and we did see a waterspout so we doused our sails and used the motor solely the last 3 miles.

Coming in the inlet resulted in serious sensory overload. A cruise ship was coming out and a plethora of smaller craft were speeding to and fro in the choppy waters. The VHF radio was crackling with voices, and truth be told a number of them were rather snooty sounding, with one person yelling at another, threatening to report the evil doer to the Coast Guard for some perceived transgression. One thing that we noticed as we came in was the smell of the land. It was a potpourri of scents, a whiff of various pollutants and other toxic substances for sure, but mostly a smell of rich soil. After having spent a bunch of time on what are essentially desert islands and on the water, you really notice the difference.  Today, we don't notice it, but yesterday, we did.

After anchoring, the first thing we needed to do was to clear in with customs. This was the beginning of what was to prove a really miserable experience that consumed many hours, and the wasting of money on Uber and taxi rides. We were both pretty disappointed in the whole process. The next time I am not even going to bother. I mean, millions of people don't bother already. The entire thing was a farce, involving failed apps, buildings impossible to find, Customs officials whose English was extremely difficult to understand, endless phone trees, etc. I thought Mary was going to lose it, and I was not far behind. But, we are in.

Enough ranting! We were so delighted to be back in the land of cheap, plentiful food that we went a couple of miles north and anchored near a big Publix supermarket. Talk about sensory overload! But first, a trip to a Starbucks,  so Mary could procure some coffee and wifi to catch up on errands.  While  there I noticed the sky getting dark,  and looked up the weather. In an act of downright negligence, I had failed to check the weather forecast this morning. Yesterday things had sounded pretty benign, so I had not given it any attention. But this report really opened my eyes.  A special alert was calling for a severe thunderstorm,  with a chance for a tornado in our area. As I was reading this, the storm hit, and it was a doozy.  Winds were supposed to reach 60, and it appeared they did. Hailstones were part of the mix, along with torrential rain. All we could think of was the boat. Would she be OK? After the storm blew itself out over the course of an hour, we made our way back - and she was fine! I had forgotten about these Florida thunderstorms, but I will remember now! There was a good bit of flooding, debris everywhere,  and we saw a large palm tree snapped off at about 10 feet off the ground.

We will make another trip ashore for provisions in the morning, then make our way north for a few miles.

Best to all, Charlie