On Tuesday, February 12, at 3:30 P. M., we left Marathon City Marina at Boot Harbor in the company of High Spirits and Southern Cross. We met these folks and several others at a meeting at the marina on the previous Sunday afternoon, at which time we decided to cross together to Bimini.
Monday we spent the entire day traveling to Ft. Lauderdale (by rental car) to purchase a 9.9 hp outboard for our dinghy. After talking with many experienced cruisers, we had decided that our 4 hp just wouldn’t do what we needed it to in the Bahamas. Took advantage of the availability of a Sam’s to stock up on a few items, mainly my Mini-moos, the little individual coffee creamers that need no refrigeration. They are not readily available in grocery stores, and I was down to my last half dozen. Now Captain can head for the islands with a happy First Mate.
Tuesday morning I returned the rental car while Johnny took care of the new motor and stowed gear aboard ‘Bout Time. We met with our buddy boats at 11:30 for a final briefing and determined that we would try to leave at 3:00 rather than the previously determined 4:00. We had so much to finish up before departure. Hate having to hurry before leaving, but we really wanted to make the crossing in the company of other boats.
So, we grabbed quick showers at the marina and headed to the boat to lift the dinghy. Back to the marina in the big boat to top off the water tanks. Murphy then reared his ugly head as the same problem we’d previously experienced with the forward tank overflowing occurred again. We caught it sooner this time; thank goodness for the bilge!
Left the dock and radioed our buddy boats that we were underway. Met up with them in Hawk’s Channel and headed out.
The crossing was a bit rougher than expected (she says with more than a tad of understatement.) Seas were 3-5 ft. instead of the 2-3 ft. in the forecast, and the wind did not clock from E to SE, so we had it on our nose most of the time. This necessitated much more motoring
/motor sailing and much less sailing than we had anticipated or wanted.
Now for the dreary details. In our haste to depart, I made several rookie mistakes for which we paid dearly. First, we had skipped breakfast and lunch. Once underway, I went below and fixed a couple of hot dogs. Seemed like a great idea at the time. Seas were what I call “wallowy,” and not long after dark, I grew really seasick, in spite of my Sea Bands. When I feel like that, the best thing I can do is go below and go to sleep, so that’s exactly what I did. As I was drifting off to sleep, I felt just the tiniest bit of spray in my face, so I sleepily rose and closed the porthole near our berth. What I didn’t realize was that we were getting into rougher seas and every hatch and port on the boat should have been secured. (Actually, this should be done before traveling any real distance as a precaution. Again, a rookie mistake.) When I awoke about 3 hours later and entered the main cabin, my mistake became immediately apparent. Water was all over the floor and several other surfaces. I did what I could to effect a hasty clean up before seasickness again overtook me. I hurried to the cockpit for fresh air. The negative aspects of choosing of a hot dog for our earlier meal then became all too apparent and I found myself leaning over the lifeline in the most humiliating of poses. The only good thing was that afterward I did feel much better and was able to stand watch for a while so that Johnny could get a much needed nap.
Seas had settled a bit, and I actually enjoyed the solitude under a peaceful, star-filled sky. I maintained radio contact with our buddy boats, and we kept track of larger commercial vessels, including a brightly-lit cruise ship, by means of our AIS system.
We rotated watch one more time, and I was on to see the sun rising, a most welcome sight.
We began checking in with High Spirits and Southern Cross as we planned our approach to Bimini. High Spirits contacted Blue Water Marina, our destination, and all three boats entered safely.
We had a quick bowl of cereal and fruit, then while Captain cleared customs, I did a minimal clean up below before crashing for several hours sleep.
After a nice long nap, I began to feel human again, and we went with our buddy boaters to a little local place on the beach that Joe and Joy had been to before for conch. Delicious food, beautiful outdoor setting on the beach at sunset, new friends…. what a delightful way to begin our Bahama adventure.