We made it! Nearly a month after departing Charleston, we find ourselves in the turqouise waters of the Bahamas.

Over the past few days we have been carefully studying the weather, diligently listening to reports 4 or 5 times a day trying to decipher whether the conditions were right. We held off for two days when we probably could have made the passage and were kicking ourselves for not going. Basically they say that you do not want to cross the Gulf if there are any Northern wind components present. The Northern wind counteracts with the northern flowing Gulf stream and creates choppy and dangerous seas if the winds kick up above 10 knots or so. The forecast had been saying East winds all week...basically beating dead into the wind if we were to go. And now it has been Northern. Fortunately the seas were settling and the winds were forecasted to be about 6 knots. After weighing all our options and discussing with numerous people, we decided to leave last night (Dec 30).

We pulled up the anchor around 11pm and took off into the night. The 45 mile crossing would take us 9 1/2 hours. The light pollution of Miami led the way for almost half the trip. We had a nice NorthEasterly breeze and were able to put up some sail. After we were about 1/3 of the way in, we pointed a little North towards Bimini and started making 7-8 knots with the pull of the Gulf Stream! First light came at 6am and we spotted land soon after. We pulled into Blue Water Marina in Bimini at around 8am. The crew was tired, but oh so happy to have made this monumental crossing. We are so proud of ourselves for setting our goal and accomplishing it...even though we have lots more to see, the big step was hopping across from the safety of mainland US.

We took short naps and then took the dogs to the most beautiful beach. We packed a picinic lunch with fancy cheeses, salami, crackers and smoked oysters courtsey of of my mom. We opened our special Banyuls French wine that we brought back from France to celebrate.

People have told me how amazingly clear the water is here, but it is impossible to describe it until you actually see it. When we first pulled out of the Gulf Stream and the first time I could see the bottom, I asked Dave how deep it was and he replied that it was 28 feet. It felt like we were floating in air. A surreal experience. When we were hanging out on the beach, dark storm clouds rolled overhead revealing the most amazing shades of electric greens and blues. Tomorrow if the weather holds, we are off over the Great Bahama Bank and headed towards Chub Cay and Nassau area. So much more to see!