Bahamas at Last

Bahamas at Last   ...   Wednesday 2 Jan 2013

We got up at 3 am to get an early start on our trip to West End.  After a quick breakfast, we had the anchor up by 3:45 am and the adventure began.  The transit of the inlet was straightforward even in the dark and by 4am we found ourselves on the open sea in light winds.  After a short while we raised the mainsail and continued to motor-sail. We did see another sailboat quite close to us and at one point we had to change course to maintain a safe distance.  At about 6:30 am it became light, but it was nearly an hour later before we saw the sun rise.  Shortly after that, we decided that we should get fishing before we were all the way through the Gulf Stream.  After a few attempts Mike and Paul arranged a system that would keep the lure down in the water without putting lots of strain on the rod and line. This involved tying the "planer" (a gadget that uses drag to pull the line down into the water) to a length of thin rope attached to the back of the boat, and having the fishing line flow freely through a hole in the middle. In this way you get the sinking without the drag on the line. Shortly after nine thirty we got a fish on the line.  Slowing the boat allowed Mike to land the fish.  We think it was a "blue runner" but aren't completely sure.  As it clearly wasn’t large enough to feed us all, we threw it back. 

Having slowed down it became more evident that there might now be enough wind to sail, so we pulled out the genoa and after a bit of adjustment were sailing along nicely at about 6 knots.  Everyone was happy to turn the engine off.  We continued to sail for about 3.5 hours until we were off Grand Bahama Island at which point we dropped the sails and negotiated the channel into the marina.  The docking went fantastically and by 2pm we were all tied up at slip in the Old Bahama Marina. Clearing customs and immigration also went smoothly and as the afternoon progressed it was fun to see all the other boats arrive. The crossing turned out to be quite magical and not the scary experience we feared. I think this is all down to having near perfect weather conditions. The color of the water in the gulf stream is amazing - the deepest blue - almost purple - then as you close on the Bahamas it turns to a fantastic turquoise. During the passage we saw lots of flying fish - these little creatures take off and see to be able to glide great distances - perhaps 100 yards. Quite impressive!

26 42 05.2 N, 78 59 28.4 W

3 am Breakfast under the glow of our "red light" to preserve night vision

Motor sailing into the dawn

Looking back west just after sunrise

Gulf Stream sunrise

Old Bahama Marina - West End

The Beach behind the Marina on the Bahama Banks side