12/09 West End Grand Bahama Island!
I can't believe we are finally here!! It feels so great after
over 1000 miles of motoring and years of anticipation to have
made our first foreign landfall in paradise.
We had to wait for a weather "window" to cross the
Gulf Stream and one narrow one finally was forcast on 12/7 for
the 8th so we prepared to go...as did several other boats in our
anchorage. With dinghy hoisted on board and all tanks filled and
everything stowed away we left the anchorage at first light
(6AM) and exited Lake Worth inlet at about 6:30. With the wind
continuing to blow out of the East at 10-15 knots...just getting
out of the inlet was a roller coater ride through some pretty
huge swells (but no breakers). We progressed at about 2 knots
but when we got past the last sea buoy things calmed down a
little bit as we entered deeper water. Nevertheless...both wind
and waves were against us and we only were making about 4 knots
over the ground. A quick calculation showed we had 55 miles to
cover and at 4 knots we wouldn't arrive till well after
dark....a major no-no in the Bahamas reefs...so we were faced
with the prospect of standing off shore for the entire night in
these seas with a front forecast to move in! What happened to
our window???? Well...as it turned out, about halfway across the
winds finally shifted to the southeast and the waves calmed down
a bit allowing us to power at 6.5-7.0 knots and arrive just
before sunset. I felt good about my navigation which put us
right at the marina entrance despite the Gulf Stream
effects...(I had to steer 125 degrees to make a course of 99
degrees! ) What a feeling to take that first step onto a dock in
a foreign port! One of the guys at the dock said he was watching
us come in and couldn't believe how much we were getting rocked
back and forth by wind and waves. We both felt a bit like pin balls
I must admit, but the other boats that had left Lake Worth with
us has all turned around in the inlet and headed back so I
figure Jan and I accomplished something in making the crossing.
Camaraderie took it all without complaint and got us here safe
and sound.
The marina people and the customs people were all very nice
and most friendly. The customs guy stayed till 6:30 PM to get
our paperwork done and wouldn't even take a beer for his
trouble. The marina is beautiful and is part of a resort with
homes, condos, snorkeling trails, water sports equipment and
even a freshwater pool but there is not much else at this end of
the island so we'll be moving on tomorrow to Port Lucaya Marina
near Freeport where we'll meet our kids in a few more days. It
is simply awesome to be here!
Internet Access will be spotty from here on in but we'll try to
keep things reasonably up to date! //GB
DEES IS DA LIFE MON!!!
This is the Bahama mama writing. When I
was in high school I made a list of things I definitely wanted
to do in this life-get married, have 3 children, see the
pyramids etc. Well, this week I got 2 check offs on the list! I
saw the space shuttle Endeavor going up into space and I sailed
to a foreign country! Just arriving here with George was like
the pilgrims setting foot on Plymouth Rock-an accomplishment for
us that has been 30 years in the making! I can't even imagine
what beautiful places we are going to see and what incredible
people we are going to meet. Florida was very nice-but not for
me. Palm Beach by way of water is something else-if you're into conspicuous
consumption and keeping up with the Jones-this IS the place. As
George mentioned-the updates may be farther apart but we're
thinking of all of you. We wish you PEACE at Christmas and in
the New Year. Love, JB
