Bahamas 2018

Friday February 2, 2018 - No Name Harbor to Bimini

It was up at 1am sharp, coffee, a few boat checks and then up anchor at about 1:40am. I motored out of the small anchorage (the first one out of about 4 or 5 boats leaving). There was a slight breeze in the anchorage. It seemed perfect. It was about 3 or 4 miles motoring out a channel that went to the inlet. As I motored out, I raised the mainsail (with a single reef for safety). Since the wind was almost due east, I had decided to motor south to Foweys Rock Light which is about 6 miles SSE of the southern tip of Key Biscayne. It was fairly bumpy going out the inlet. There was a full moon and I could see some of the incoming waves breaking not far away. That lasted only 15 or 20 minutes and then it was a little better the last 2 or 3 miles to Fowey Light. As I neared the light, I could tell I was getting some opposing current as my speed slowed a little. I figured it was time to head east. The wind was slightly to the south of east at about 10 knots. So there was some chop to motor into but I did my best to keep the main filled a little - to help power through the oncoming waves. For the first 10 or 15 miles, I adjusted to being offshore - watching the shipping traffic on my AIS chart plotter and looking back at the Miami skyline. It was pretty cool. It was easy to tell when the current was carrying you north. My friend Bruce had warned me not to head into the current since that would really slow you down. He was exactly right. Another (larger/faster) sailboat left just ahead of me and went directly out from No Name. He had a heading of about 125 to 135. I kept my heading at about 115 to 120. My goal was to head right as long as I could stay above 5 knots. I could see the other sailboat on my AIS and his speed was between 4 and 4.5. By the time I was 2/3 of the way across, he was almost 2 miles behind me. Thank You Bruce! Then, just as Bruce had said, the current started dropping and I was able to point further south to Bimini. As it turned out, I could have kept going NNE a little longer because, for the last 10 miles, I was able to maintain a straight line.

I had hoped/planned on getting to Bimini around 10 but didn't get there till about 11. I concluded the delay was because I had the wind nearly on the nose most of the trip. Also, from about 6am on, the seas flattened out quite a bit which made for a very pleasant crossing. The last 5 miles was pretty amazing. The water turned from a deep blue to a beautiful terquoise that (to me) the Bahamas is known for. Of course, the entrance markers were a little tricky and I got a little nervous when I crossed an area that showed 10' on the charts but just 6' on my depth meter. And then the two to 2.5 knot current coming into Bimini was my last challenge.

I stayed at the Bimini Blue Water marina. The price was right and the Harbor Master/Dock Hand JR was truly amazing. He was a master at getting people in and was "working" 3 boats at the same time. And he did it ALL - PR, line handling, refueling, etc. You name it and he did it. And was a super nice guy. After I was in my slip, I dutifully raised my (Fred's) quarantine flag and went to the marina office. After I got the boat secure, I went to the Customs office to clear in and then to Imigration. Customs was time consuming and my fee was just $150 (I was worried it would be 300). Imigration only took about 10 minutes. I have 90 days before I'll have to leave or request an extension. Then, it was off to the BTC phone office for my Bahamas phone. They were closed for lunch so I took the opportunity to have lunch myself ( a huge portion of spicy pork, corn, and rice) from Sam's outdoor diner.

Once I was back to the boat, I lowered Fred's quarantine flag and raised my Bahamas flag. I made it and immediately went below for a beer.