We do a 'Sailfy' across the Gulf Stream

     February 20, 2014

     The day finally arrived.  Tension built.  Laundry and last shopping was all done.  Weather guru Chris Parker was off the air for a couple of days, but the wind and waves on 'Passage Weather' looked fine. We hadn't managed to find a 'buddy boat' to accompany us on the crossing, so decided to do a 'sailfy'! We left our float plan with our daughter, Charlotte, in Victoria, with instructions to call the coastguard if they received a 'Help' message sent from our 'Spot' satellite positioning system. I think they checked their smart phone every hour!  Thanks guys!

     Even though we got up at 4 a.m. there was a small moment of panic when we almost missed the 5 a.m. 17th Street bridge opening.  Then the moment of panic returned once we were through the bridge when, what we had thought was a well lit highrise building, seemed to be moving our way.  As we moved out into the entrance channel we realized that it was a cruise ship coming home to roost!
We scuttled over to the south side of the channel and watched with awe as this vast liner slid by only about 50 metres to our port side without leaving any wake.  This was only the first in a line of six huge ships coming in close on each others' tail to disgorge their thousands of sleeping (at the moment) passengers. No one seemed to be on the decks or watching from their balconies to wave to us! We picked the beautiful "Allure of the Seas" for our next cruise!

     Our crossing to the Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End, Grand Bahama Island, took 10 1/2 hours. It was cold to start with and we were well wrapped up. For the first half of the trip we motor-sailed in 3 - 5 foot waves with 16 knot winds.  Once we caught the Gulf Stream current we were doing 8 1/2 knots - really fast for us.  Then, in mid-passage, the wind turned on the nose and waves went down to almost nothing.  We made landfall at 3:45 p.m.

     The weather forecast was set fair for days ahead so we set off the next morning to head for the anchorage at Great Sale Cay - the halfway point to Green Turtle Cay.  The tide was right for us to take the Indian Cay Passage instead of going around Memory Rock. Indian Cay is a rock strewn, shallow passage just to the west of West End. It is a good short cut for those with strong nerves!

      The wind, what there was of it, was on the nose, so we motored across the Little Bahama Banks for 8 hours and arrived at the anchorage just before sunset.  The water on the Banks was crystal clear and bright turquoise and the sky a clear and shimmering blue.  We were the only boat to be seen, though we met up with three other boats at Great Sale.  We celebrated our half-way point with a delicious BBQ of lamb chops.  The next day we meandered more slowly, and, as the weather was so perfect, explored another anchorage area at Crab Cay, beside Angelfish Cay.  It was shallow and very quiet.  The moon was full and we played music to keep ourselves company - 'Moonlight Sonata' floated out across the deserted water and neighboring islets, followed by the 'Warsaw Concerto' - the wonderful theme from the old movie "Dangerous Moonlight".

It took us three hours to get to Green Turtle Cay the next day.  The weather is still beautiful, and we will spend a few days here 'eating our dock' - offsetting our restaurant bill against our dock fee.