Up at 3:00 am, we were off the dock and underway in the darkness within a half an hour. The wind seemed to have diminished, but as soon as we were out in the ocean, we were met by the same brisk norther that had brought us here. This didn't bode well, although one of the reasons for leaving when we did was that we would have plenty of time to pull the chute and turn back to Miami if things got too scary. We set both sails to take advantage of the wind, but kept the motor on to make sure we'd arrive in daylight. As we approached the western wall of the Gulf Stream we started to notice the northward push of the current and began to see the very confused seas that make the Gulf Stream notorious. Then we hit the most abrupt wind shift I've ever seen. Instantaneously, the wind swung from northwest to due east. Both sails backwinded and the temperature increased by about 10 degrees, within seconds. With the wind now more-or-less on our nose, the jib had to go away, but we left the main up for a little help and a lot of stability. As we worked our way into the Gulf Stream the seas did get a little bigger and a lot more random, but nothing like the horrific battering we were prepared for. In fact, with the warmer wind and the bright sun out, it was a downright pleasant crossing. The closer we got to our destination, the flatter the water got, and the brighter and warmer it became. We started seeing more and more boats joining us, and by lunch time the trees of North Bimini Island had peeked over the horizon. The bright light was very helpful in picking out the deep azure water from the shallow sandy shoals as we tentatively picked our way into Bimini Bay. My piloting skills were put right to the test as we narrowly missed one sand bar at the harbour entrance, just in time to watch another sailboat run right up onto it under full power. It wasn't long before we were tied up and filling out papers. The Bahamians are big on formality, and had a sheaf of forms to complete before checking in. Clearing customs went smoothly, and we had our Bahamas courtesy flag flying by early afternoon. Because of our delay in Miami (we essentially lost a travel day) we already knew that we would be unable to reach Nassau by New Year's Eve, so we chose to spend a few days in Bimini and to celebrate New Year's and Junkanoo here. Once cleared, we took a little walking tour of Bimini, asked some questions, and figured out how we would entertain ourselves for a few days. There are lots of marinas here, and reasonably priced, but they charge extra for power and the water is metered. We were still stinging a bit from the overpriced marina in Miami so we weren't keen to tie up for four days. Fortuitously, there is a nice anchorage right in Bimini Bay, and everything is within a dinghy ride away. By sundown we were sipping gin and tonics on the deck, enjoying the Bahamian sunshine.