2-12-17 Miami to The Bahamas

2-12-17 Miami to the Bahamas.

This is a big step for us to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream to get to the Bahamas. The trip to Miami was rough we had waves hitting us on the beam (side of the boat) That made us rock bad from side to side. We did this for 8 hours. Ugh. Why you might ask?

When crossing the gulf stream there can be no north component to the wind. Why? Because the Gulf Stream is like a giant river out on the ocean running north at around 2.8 knots which is just over three mph. If there is any wind out of the north it collides with the stream and makes waves the size of an elephant even if it is a light breeze. We had been watching the wind modules and originally it looked good to go on Tues. As usual things changed and Sunday was the only day with mild winds out of the East. We endured the rough day to Miami so we could cross Sunday morning.

We got up before dawn and headed out into the ocean in the dark. Once we got out of the channel we cruised for a bit only to decide it is too rough to go. We aborted the trip and went back to Miami. The waves were supposed to relax throughout the day. We waited until 6:45 and gave it another go. Yes, it was still rough with 3 to 4 foot waves, but somehow it felt better during the daylight when you could see what was hitting you. We both were feeling okay but were both willing to abort again if it didn’t get any better after 2 hours. Four hours would be better than the predicted 8 hours. After two hours, it got a little better. We thankfully continued as it got better and better throughout the day. By the time we got to the Bahamas, we had a nice smooth ride with only 1 foot waves. It is a good think we made it because we would have sat in Miami forever waiting for weather.

At one point during the trip, I was driving and Scott was taking a snooze when right in my path on the charts is an area designated as an explosives dump site. I didn’t know if he had ever seen anything like this before so I woke him up. We quickly started reading charts and seeing it was 2400 feet of water we were in no danger.

What do you do when this is right in your path. Yikes.

The other thing that happened was a huge 1000’ freighter called us on the radio. We were the only two boats visible on the ocean and were on a crash course. Of course we are many miles apart. He asked if we would cross his path on his stern. It was cool to have a freighter call us by name (they could see our name on their AIS).

This is the ship that called us on the radio.

It felt like it was just us and these to freighters out on the Ocean.

Other than that, we caught no fish and had a boring day. I have never been to thankful to be bored. If we weren’t bored, we would have been having issues.

We knew before we left the States that Tidings of Joy would be in the West End Area. They hailed us on the radio and it turned out the only boat we could see was them anchored.

We were like giddy children. We had done some much research, we couldn’t believe we were about to land in a foreign country with our own boat. Up went the yellow quarantine flag. You must fly a yellow flag until you have been cleared by customs.

Scott Raising our quarantine flag.It was Sunday just after five when we arrived. Jeff told us the customs office stays open different hours than are posted. We hailed and hailed them to no avail. The “rule” is you are not to enter the harbor without permission. Jeff said go on in. They never answer the radio. He was right. We went on in, tied up and Scott got off the boat with mountains of paperwork needed. There were two boats checking in ahead of us, but we had printed it all out ahead of time and had it all filled out so we got to go first. There is no power at the marina and Customs ever since Hurricane Matthew. We could hear generators running. We were a bit surprised to see the customs office still had blue tarps on the roof. Scott said he and Larry would have that reroofed in a day. But it’s the Bahamas where money is scarce and time is plenty.