Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Crossing

December 17, 2011 - Log Entry - The BIG DAY - Crossing into the Bahama
Hanging out the night before the BIG CROSSING!
0000 -  Bedtime, after last minute calls to family and stowing of gear and looking at charts and weather
0255 - Alarm goes off, ugh
0330 - Engine on, wake up Justin, say goodbye's, untie from his boat
0345 - Off to the Bahamas!!  Ballyhoo in tow (looking to catch dinner)
Life Harness on!  Safety First!
1000 - Fish On!  Not enough time to tighten the drag and it gets away with our lure, bait and all the new fishing line.  Mike sees it jump after it gets away and says it was a 4 foot Wahoo!  It leaves me a souvenir, burning my fingers on the line, ouch.
1100 - Fish On Again!  This time the other pole.  It turns out to be a 2 lb. black fin tuna that we reel in not even realizing it is there at first.  Unfortunately, we release it before discovering that it is an excellent eating fish.  Luckily our friends, Skip & Carol on Rapsody, caught a 40 lb. mackerel, so there will still be fish for dinner.
Mike with his black fin tuna
1130 - Another Fish On!  It's a Wahoo again, but it gets away, fortunately it doesn't take the lure and the line this time!
1200 - First sight of the ISLANDS!  It has been a great motor cruise across the Gulf Stream.  Very comfortable, not too rollie or choppy of a ride and NO SEASICKNESS.  Sun is out and Mike and I are lounging as the auto-pilot does all the work.
1245 - Mike hoists the yellow quarantine flag until we clear Customs in the Bahamas.  We are using Han's yellow shirt for the flag.
Mike hoisting the quarantine flag - Han's yellow shirt.
1330 - Enter channel into Bimini, crystal clear waters, can see the bottom as if you are looking through glass, cannot describe how beautiful it is!!
1400 - Arrive at Blue Water Marina.  Get help with dock lines and Mike goes in to clear Customs.
Tanqueray at the dock in Bimini at Blue Water Marina.
1600 - Walk into town, which is literally one one-lane road.  Visit beach on west shore.  Most beautiful beach and water that I have ever seen!


WE MADE IT!!!  Sun is out, water is beautiful, white sand on our feet, fresh fish for dinner, conch in the freezer and rum in our cups.  What the life!

6 comments:

  1. So Happy for you! We are really enjoying vicarious living through reading your posts. Yesterday, Marilyn and I went downtown PT Christmas shopping and had lunch at Sam's new restaurant. It was fun and we ran into about 100 people we knew,so we might have talked more than shopped. It's rainy and dreary here today. I love it! This week will be filled with Solstice celebration, cooking, delivering soup and goodies to the boat yard fellows and Christmas Eve at Joan's. I am hoping to convince Hans to spend the night on Christmas Eve so we can wake up together and enjoy the day together. I will be cooking turkey and inviting anyone who wants to have Christmas dinner with us. We'll miss you two, but are SOOOOO happy that you are where you need to be. Have a fun Christmas week! Love you, Momma Mary

    ReplyDelete
  2. WhaaaHOOOOO!

    Nice work you two. I am so proud of your cruising skills. Too bad about the Wahoo, next time for sure. The pictures are great. Glad to see you're in your harnesses.

    Are you crossing the banks today or hanging in Bimini?

    "Ah purrrrfect the old one is on line again. I can access the blog and get my two cents in. Well, it wasn't a bad crossing and it sure beat the poking and prodding I got the other day. If I ever get my paws on that vet he'll be looking for a skin graft. I was a little disappointed in my people though, after rousting me up at 0330 and dragging me out to sea for a long, long motorboat ride, the least they could have done is provided a little fresh seafood. I mean really, they actually caught one just my size and then let the damn thing go. Oh well, everyones pretty happy now. We're in the Bahamas! Whatever that means. Oh oh here comes the 'old one' I better get going so he can post this."

    That darn cat is on my comment space again. How does she do it?

    Anyway, congrats you guys, have a good trip across the banks to Chub Cay.

    Love, Dad

    ReplyDelete
  3. P.S. Foredeck stowage looks good, dinghy and the fuel jugs, but Mike where's that harness in those other pics?

    The spot was so slick! We followed you all the way across, we knew right when to shout Land Ho!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yay! Glad to hear you had a successful crossing! The water looks beautiful - crystal clear! We cannot wait to come visit! Have a very Merry Christmas down in the BAHAMAS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yea!!!!!!!! Abacos are great, ope to run into ]you giu]ys fiurter sout! ke]yboard is broken, sorr]y!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maggie - We are in the Berry Islands now and plan to cross to Nassau tomorrow to spend Christmas there. What are your plans?? It would be great to get to meet up! Mike's brother Hans flies into Nassau on Jan.7th and we're talking about making it to the Regatta at Staniel Cay for New Years and then head south through the Exumas. Keep in touch, we would love to catch up with you guys!! What's your favorite place in the Abacos so far??

    ReplyDelete

Followers