Wed. Feb. 15th - Checking in at Lucaya

We arrived in Port Lucaya at 5pm. The dockmaster at the harbor told  us we could stay at the fuel dock while checking in. We would then move to an anchorage.  Checking in is a two step process. You meet with immigration, show them your forms and fill out more forms. Then you meet with a customs agent.  The meeting with immigration only lasted a few minutes. When finished the gal told us to go back to the boat and wait. The immigration agent would come to us. It was now getting dark and we were still waiting. Tom approached the dockmaster and explained what we were told.  He called on the radio and told us we had to go back up to the office, that we were given the wrong information.  Now at the office, the agent is outside finishing a cigarette. He holds up a finger to tell us one minute. Finding out that nothing is done quickly in the Bahamas our minute was nearly 10.  It is now dark.  It only took about five minutes to complete the paperwork. When finished the agent told us we owed him $30.00. When I asked what the fee was for he said overtime. It's past 5pm! Tom politely indicated that the sign said that agents are on call at all times. The answer was, yes but after 5pm we charge overtime. All I had were $20.00 dollar bills. When I handed him forty dollars he indicated that they had no change. I responded with we just paid the $300.00 entry fee so the gal in the back should have change. She responded with a no, it is all locked up. Now frustrated all were quiet. Tom calmly said to the agent, it is dark out and we cannot safely anchor out. You keep the extra ten and let us stay on the gas dock until morning. The agent said No problem man, just be gone by 8am. We complied.  Once we hooked up to electricity I wondered around in the shops that were adjacent to the marina.  We were gone by 7am, headed for the Lucaya canal and Great Sail Key.

   You must fly a yellow quarantine flag until you check in then you fly the Bahamian Courtesy flag. Tom wanted to save nineteen dollars so he flew his yellow shirt as the yellow flag.

                                                                Entrance to Port Lucaya

                                                    Another view as we entered the harbor

Feb. 15th Crossing to the Bahamas

The alarm went off at four in the morning. Tom looked over and said,well, are we going to do this? I'm ready. Lets go I replied. As the words came out of my mouth I thought,did I really just say that! I would loved to have taken my blood pressure as we pulled out because my breathing was pretty quick and shallow.  Using the spotlight to guide us around the other boats and out to the ICW we were off.  It's funny as I type this from our anchorage in the Bahamas the moon is full, bright and beautiful, lighting up the sky and water. The morning we left for the Bahamas the moon was a sliver and absolutely no help to us!  I had hoped that the lights from the surrounding city would prove helpful. That hope was short lived as we neared the cut through at Port Everglades and the peripheral lights of the city disappeared. Tom was a little concerned that we would encounter a freighter, something I had not given a thought and could have gone without a reminder. Fortunately the only large boat we encountered was a mega yacht that pulled out a ways in front of us. Following his lights out the cut was a nice addition to our chart plotter. We were told that the first three miles would be bumpy but it would calm down to the predicted two to threes after that.  Well bumpy was an understatement. The waves were coming from all different directions and when waves splash over the bow and the spray hits the fly bridge, bumpy is not a word I would use to describe them. Because it was dark you had no idea from which direction the next big one would hit you. It was pretty intense. Tom did a lot of swearing, I fell down twice trying to move from one side of the fly bridge to the other and Peanut was absolutely a mess. I put her up on the bench hoping that would help. She ended up in my lap her head in my armpit shaking like a leaf. To keep from falling again and provide support for Peanut I stayed put.  The beautiful glow from the waters edge, a sign of  the upcoming dawn was a sight for sore eyes, and other parts.  We could finally see the water and adjust our angle to head into waves.  After the sun came up I took over the wheel. I announced "brace yourself" before each of the bigger waves so Tom didn't end up on the floor as I did.  For the very first time ever Peanut crawled up on Toms lap and hid under his arm pit as she had done with me.  About noon the waves subsided to the two to threes so I carefully ventured down to the galley to make lunch. It looked as if someone had come in and ransacked our boat. Anything that was sitting up was now laying on its side or worse on the floor. I have a three tiered hanging basket in the galley that was full of potatoes. The basket was nowhere to be found. I found potatoes on the floor, up in the salon, under the table and even in the sink! Guess I should be glad I wasn't down there to get one in the head! I made lunch which required good balance but didn't bother to pick up anything that fell. After all it would just fall again. By late afternoon the waves subsided to one to twos, the water turned a beautiful emerald green and we could see the bottom even at a depth of twenty feet! Peanut had calmed down and we were enjoying the ride. As we talked about the mornings events and I warned Ton about the mess below he admitted that he almost turned us around, especially when things didn't improve after traveling the three miles. Because the Gulf Stream runs North we were told to run our course ten degrees off because the stream would correct it, keeping us from overshooting our destination.  It was good advise. At 5 pm we were safely tied up at the fuel dock and heading up to the immigration office to check in. Laughter had brought us across safely to the Bahamas! We did it!

                                    Waves breaking over the bow crossing the Straits of Florida

                                                       Another shot of the waves we battled

Sunrise

Feb. 10-15th Weathered in at Lake Sylvia

The first 2-3 days anchored in Lake Sylvia were fun.  Two canals joined the lake with street levels bridges. It was an easy dingy ride down the canal, across the ICW then down another short canal to a Raw Bar.  The bar allowed you to tie your dingy up to their dock only asking that you eat or drink at their bar in return.  From the Raw Bar it was a nice walk to a local outside mall area. They had the biggest wine/liquor store I had ever been in!  I swear it was the size of a Kroger or Stracks. Great prices too so we stocked up one more time before leaving the states.  One evening we enjoyed dinner with the daughter of a good friend who lives about 45 minutes from our boat. Another evening we enjoyed the company of a couple we had met at the AGLCA  conference in October.  By Sunday the 12th we were beginning to get antsy. It sounded like the next weather window for crossing to the Bahamas would be Wednesday, the 15th but we still had not met anyone who was crossing. We had said all along we would not attempt the crossing alone but now had to reevaluate that decision.  I had even posted a note on the AGLCA blog in hopes of boosting our chances. New boats arrived  throughout the day on Monday, most of them sail. We would routinely take our dingy around, meet the new arrivals and ask their destination. No luck finding a boating buddy but we did meet a very nice couple from Manchester England who winter in Florida and spend their summers sailing in Turkey. Nice huh?! We had a lovely time talking with them and they told us to look them up when we come over to England in September.  Back to the boat, we again sat on the aft deck reviewed weather, charts and talked about what to do.  This time when we looked up to watch another boat come in and anchor we realized we knew them.It was Little Mick.  Excited, Tom hailed them on the radio. Yes, they were crossing with two other boats, yes they were leaving on Wednesday! Whew Hoo! Only one slight problem, they were going to West End. We were going to Port Lucaya. We checked out our charts and confirmed that our paths would be similar for a while so we would at least have visual company for a pretty good distance.  Port Lucaya is about 20 miles further than West End so we were happy to hear that they wanted to leave at 4:30 am. That would assure our arriving in Port Lucaya in the daylight. Little did I know that the calm that I finally felt about the crossing would be short lived.  On Tuesday we had a four way planning conversation via the VHF firm up plans. Little Mick and his friends had decided to wait until 6:30 am to leave! That would put us in Port Lucaya in the dark. So much for company. Now Tom and I had a decision to make. We either change our plans and travel to West End, wait for a few days in hopes of meeting another boat or go on our own to Port Lucaya. Tom was adameant. He did not want to pay the $100.00 dock fee to stay the night at West End and we did not want to wait for the next weather window. sooooooo we were again on our own.  I put the waypoints in the GPS, double checked them and Tom did the engine checks. We set our alarm for 4am. The decision was made!

                               A company making a commercial for jet pack tourist attraction

                                               An interesting bar along the ICW

                                              A mansion and their matching Megayacht

                                             Two megayachts we passed on our dingys each day at Lake Sylvia