Turf to Surf

We left early morning on a perfectly calm day, like glass, no wind, no ripples…..we saw sea turtles last night, one came close enough to the boat for us to see him through the water…so clear. Straight shot, southeast for 5 hours.  Approaching Nassau Harbour…this harbour is so busy you have to radio in to request permission before entering the harbour.  They want to know your registration number, where you’re parking the boat and your last port of call.  The lighthouse at the tip of Paradise Island  Pretty cool to pass by the cruise terminal as we have been here on cruise ships before.  Only one ship in port today and the harbour was reasonably quiet, 😅 Cruised by mega Yatchs, mansions, the Atlantis Resort and Casino and under 2 bridges…. Tucked in between the sailboats and large Yatchs. We 🚕 over to the casino for a few hours and these were lined up out on the dock. 😳 We did donate to the casino Pete, but I’m thinking not as much as these guys. We picked up a...

 Early morning departure, we have a 10 hour run today. This is our track for the day. A lot of blue meets blue horizon today, in this picture fish were jumping attracting this flock of sea birds. We tucked in beside these other boats and dropped the anchor. Time for the crew to relax with a cocktail. We our staying here 2 nights, those long travel days always wear us out.  Took advantage of the down time to do some boat stuff/chores. ~~~~~~ Tomorrow we head to Nassau 

  It is beautiful here on this outer island. It is small and less travelled…the water is crystal clear and so blue… Just a great island vibe. We were dock on the south end of the north island, beautiful beach a short walk away.  Wednesday we rented a golf cart and toured the whole island.  We stopped at a local Conch Salad stand, we enjoyed this local specialty. We also picked up a loaf of Bimini Coconut bread….good, sweet. Thursday we took a ferry to the South Island to visit a Shark lab…these young ladies are doing internships in their field and gave a presentation on the study of sharks; mostly lemon sharks which are the most populous here, but also the hammerhead, nurse, bull and tiger sharks.  Tomorrow we travel east to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands, 9 hours if all goes well. We will be crossing the Grand Bahamas Bank; very shallow area, visibility of marine life should be excellent if winds are low…. We will anchor there a day or two before moving onto Naussa.

A lot of very blue, very deep water….our depth finder kept trying but couldn’t get a reading on how deep it actually was. A little rougher then we would have liked for the first half;  uncomfortable, not dangerous, and it calmed as weather predicted by late morning.  Bimini is the closest Bahamian island from Florida, 50 miles from Miami, 90 miles from our jump point Key Largo..going with the Gulf-stream gave us an extra 2 knots per hour. Our usual track stopped just off the coast of Florida when we lost all cellular service. Approaching the inlet into Bimini.  We got tied up at Brown’s Marina. Notice the yellow quarantine flag we had to put up one mile from the Bahamian coast. Now the captain walks to immigration and customs and gets us cleared for entry and I stay on the boat. It is just down the street.  That went well, we now have our permit to cruise and fish for 3 months. After drinks and dinner on the boat, it was an early night for us…..long travel days alway...

First attempt to cut the line loose by the Captain. He couldn’t hold his breath long enough to get the job done, but he tried. Second attempt by a paid professional.   Success….and no apparent damage to prop or shaft….That is relief you see on that smiling face.  Made our way back out of that lovely canal, and everything seems to be working great. Anchored out for the night, the boats in the last picture are docked on a sandbar….partying for the afternoon. Hear the beats!!  Tomorrow we make the crossing to the Bahamas…9 hour day without the push from the Gulf-stream.   6.45 a.m. departure, 👀 to be a nice day to cross.