Bahamas Bound

2006 - 2007

Another Adventure is leaving the Bahamas enroute to the US east coast. We will be working our way north the next few months while visiting places we rushed by on other trips.

Updated on 01/20/2008

3/25/07 - Woke up Sunday to 20 -25 knot winds while listening to the weather. Looks like we'll have to start back to the western Bahamas in this stuff. Along with the weather they broadcast a watch for a tan 43' sailboat, Misty, reportedly a week overdue. We crossed the Bank to Nassau in 20-25 knot winds - it was a nice ride in 4-6' seas. Nassau is like the Atlanta of the Bahamas... you have to pass through it to go anywhere. We anchored just east of Nassau Harbor Club for the evening, trying in vain to pick up a WIFI signal. Tomorrow we'll head west, positioning ourselves for the next weather window to Miami. 3/26/07 - Monday's dawn was punctuated by light showers - wisps of mist that swept through in minutes. The winds remained strong, 12-15 knots ENE. We listened to a couple of boats that headed out, found 8-12' seas and turned back. We moved into the Nassau Harbor Club Marina to get water, wash, and do some provisioning. Something for everyone. For Buddy, a marina filled with people. For Ruth, a town with a casino. And for Barry, fresh water to take the salt off the decks and hardware. I accepted and invitation to get together with a group of boaters that have been wind bound in the marina for the past 4 days. It was interesting listening to the places they've visited, the boats they own and their take on cruising. Enough material for a book! 3/27/07 - After some minor provisioning and a little business via WIFI we headed for Chub Cay. Several boaters questioned our departure in 15 knots of NNE wind but we felt comfortable with our decision. After we exited the harbor two boats radioed us to see what conditions were. We were in 6-8 seas with a 3 second period, about what we had expected for our broad reach. Our trip to Chub was actually pretty smooth even though we experienced 8 foot seas regularly and a few 10' waves. We had only one wave board us - setting a new record for the most water dumped in the cockpit, over a foot. As we got in the shelter of Chub the seas moderated and we glided into the anchorage. Our average speed was over 8 knots. Nice ride! 3/28/07 - We spent the day exploring around Chub Cay. They are spending a lot of money making this into a mega yacht and sport fishing destination. When completed it should be a first class marina. We snorkeled the point looking for lobster - no luck. I think we need lobstering lessons. We did see a nurse shark, a ray, sea urchins, a barracuda and a lot of reef fish. Ruth hoisted me to the top of the mast for antenna work. Our VHF transmit signal is poor and I've spent a few hours soldering a solderless connection (it doesn't work otherwise) and cleaning contacts. Hopefully the issue is resolved. A steady stream of boats passed headed west today. The herd got a good day to get out of Nassau and took it. We felt like a wounded goose unable to join the flock. Today we withstood an assault of 50' + sport fishermen coming from the states. April 2nd a big fishing tournament starts and the marina is filling with boats in preparation for it. This is big business down here! 3/29/07 - Ruth doesn't want to leave the Bahamas, I don't blame her. The paperwork and regulations in effect to get back to the US are onerous if you live by the letter of the law. We have to notify the fish and wildlife dept. 96 hours before re-entering, the USCG 72 hours. Do they figure we all have satellite domes, internet, sat phones and unlimited budgets... not to mention a direct line to God so we get good weather for returning on a schedule. Somehow I figure terrorists have this all figured out and do it much more easily. We saw a dolphin and had a small nurse shark ride in the back draft of our transom for a while. By dusk we had threaded our way through Gun Cay Pass and were anchored in the wind shadow of Gun Cay - waiting for 1 am to begin our gulf crossing back to the US. 3/30/07 - We crossed with a 15-20 knot wind to our back... and easterly. The seas were running 4-6 feet with some 8's. It was a following seas so we motored sailed - surfing most of the way. We averaged over 8  knots over the ground. Leaving after dawn we arrived at Coconut Grove (Dinner Key Marina) by 2:30pm. Big surprise - the feds didn't want Buddy in their office (fear of avarian flu)  so they sent a team to process us. NEAT! By 3:30 we and Buddy were legal. The price was right - nothing, no travel, no rental car, no $250 fee for a vet. We moved to the anchorage outside Dinner Key (no slips available) for the night. The gentlemen from Customs were BIG, imposing and very accommodating. We learned a lot from them. Nothing about our return was as expected from reading the cruising guides. Wasted a lot of tension on that one. While at Gun Cay we satellite faxed the announcement of our return to the Miami Harbormaster and the USCG-Miami (Homeland Security). 25 miles offshore we made radio contact with the USCG and received permission to enter US waters and were advised to contact Customs and Immigration (Homeland Security) upon docking. We phoned Customs and they gave us directions for getting a cab and appearing with our passports and ship's papers... until Ruth asked if we needed to bring Buddy and his passport. On learning he was a bird they said stay where you are, we'll send a team. Ruth found a source for a couple of excellent bottles of Pinot Grigio and we celebrated our return. Not sure celebration is the right word - neither of us wanted to leave the Bahamas. 3/31/07 - Officially the last posting for Bahamas Bound. We are back in the US and will start a new log series as we head north... hmmm, Snowbound? Our first reaction to Miami is that there are too many people here. If this was California we'd describe the air as smog. I spent a couple hours disassembling the navigation light bases, cleaning them and putting them back together. My one good bulb works in all of them so new bulbs should put them back in service. The bulbs in our lights constantly break filaments even though they are seldom used - most of our running is during daylight. We returned from the Bahamas with our dinghy running lights taped to AA to stay safe and legal. Tomorrow we'll (note the WE) head up to Boca Raton to meet Sampatecho. Ruth has decided we can make cruising work (she wants to go back and see more of the Bahamas in the future). We'll file an extension on our taxes so we can take care of them when we can find a safe place for the boat to make a WI visit. Meanwhile we have WIFI, cells and internet. The essentials for her biz. Ruth wants to close a large deal she's been working on for a month so we have an expense kitty again.

Chubb Cay Marina, very nice! Fuel ship - moored and unloading Sport Fisherman heading into Chubb Trust me Captain... Gun Cay lighthouse - Good Bye for now Miami's Vice (finally air you can see again?)

Visit earlier portions of the Bahamas Bound trip log...