Finally Leaving Florida

So I’ve been told I’m not updating enough so I will try to do better.

Currently sitting in a Farrington's Boater's Haven cruiser bar and grill in Hatchett Bay, Eleuthera. Last night we were the only boat here. Two boats arrived today to ride out a norther tonight. Pretty sad how few cruisers there are this year. The locals are very happy to see us roll in for a beer and wifi.

So what have we been up to. Well we finally left Florida. After a few days in the marina so we could get some electrical problems fixed (a huge thanks to Area 51 Logistics) we are finally ready to go. We got our Covid tests, filed for our health visas, and got the dog to the vet to complete his mountain of paperwork to enter the Bahamas. The weather pretty much sucked for crossing the gulf stream for about two weeks straight. For all that have done it, the gulf stream can suck in the wrong weather. We finally found a decent window of SE winds on Christmas Eve.

We left the dock just after 4 am in the dark and headed out of the jetties heading for West End, Grand Bahama. To say the passage was rough would be a huge understatement. We had southeast winds which is good, but 20-30 knots was not. We also made the mistake of overloading the bow locker. The boat was not happy. Bullet was definitely not impressed and stayed in our bed the whole trip. Somewhere along the way we realized we had water in the boat. The port side bilges were full. The emergency bilge pump lasted about 3 minutes, so it was a manual pump for us. Mikey and I swapped off while Mike and Katie drove. It took forever and Mikey and I were soaked by the time we were through. Not quite sure where it all came from. That will have to be investigated.

Arriving West End to nice Southerly Winds

We arrived Old Bahama Bay Marina before sunset. The Marina and Resort were beautiful but empty. Dorian and Covid have taken their toll here. We spent two days inthe marina due to a big norther rolling through. Christmas was cold and windy. We spent the day in the boat hiding from the winds cleaning the boat, exchanging our gifts, having a nice dinner and watching movies. A perfect family day

Christmas Day Norther