Hello from the Bahamas

We are in the Bahamas. We had a good crossing. Left Palm Beach at five thirty AM on February 12th and stopped for the night at 8:30 pm on the little Bahama Bank off Mangrove Cay which is just north of Grand Bahama. It was a long day, but very nice to cross in daylight.

Friday, February 13th was sunny and warm and a very light fog gave the Banks an etherial charm. Two dolphins greeted us as we sailed about 25 miles to Great Sale Cay. Stopping for the night, we hoisted the dinghy off the deck and stowed the crossing gear. Several boats who also made the passage shared the anchorage at Great Sale. If you look closely, you can see the dolphins just below the surface.

On Saturday, we sailed about 45 miles to anchor off Cooperstown, a village on the eastern shore of Great Abaco Island . We were so close to shore we could hear the children playing in the schoolyard and watch the cars go by on the Bootle Highway.

Sunday morning we left Cooperstown and made a 10 mile sail to arrive at Green Turtle Cay around high tide. We planned to stay at the Bluff House Marina where we hoped to check in to customs and immigration. The dock boy told us we could check in at the marina, but as it turned out, he was wrong. So on Monday morning Peter donned his foul weather gear and took the dinghy to the western end of the island to go to the customs house in the village of New Plymouth. Finally we could take down our yellow quarantine flag and hoist the Bahamas courtesy flag, all nice and legal. This was the first time we had bypassed the usual customs stop at West End. The dock fees there are very pricey. At Bluff House, we not only had a reasonable rate, but were able to spend our dock fee at the marina. So we had several tasty meals at the Jolly Roger Bar and Bistro, essentially for free!

While Peter was ashore, a cold front blew through the harbor dragging loose a lovely little Ketch from Halifax named Annie Laurie. Several cruisers hastened to help the young lady who is single handing the vessel. Withing about 20 minutes she was all once again secure.

Our next leg of the journey would take us out and around the Whale Cay. So we stayed about a week at Bluff House to await favorable conditions to make the passage.