Bahamas Here We Are!

Before beginning this, I thought I'd look to see when I last posted. Wow! I am not doing such a good job. At least I've done with better on the Aboard 'Bout Time Facebook page. If you've been following us there, you know that things are going well. We've reconnected with old friends and made many new ones, and that always make us happy.

We spent several days at Sundowner Marina in Mobile and managed to catch up with some family and friends there. We reconnected with George and Barb aboard "Providence," whom we had met at Bimini in 2013. It worked out for us to travel together for a couple of legs of the trip from Mobile to Marathon, including a stop over at Apalachicola, one of our very favorite spots on the Gulf. We also stopped in at Palm Isle Marina near Venice to say hello to old friends Bob and Carol who have gone over to "the dark side" with their new trawler, "Rhum Line."

Once we got to Marathon in the Keys with familiar places and routines, we bagan to get back in the live aboard mode. Last time we stayed in the mooring field at City Marina, but this year we opted for a slip at Dockside Sombrero Marina. It turned out to be a wise decision, both in terms of convenience and the opportunity to make new friends. There's a gathering on the dock every afternoon, and if you have a question about most anything, these folks have an answer. It didn't hurt that one boat was from Biloxi and one from Jekyll Island. We felt like we were among our own.

An added treat during our stay in the Keys was a visit from my cousin Sandy and her husband Wayne. We took a little road trip down to Key West and enjoyed three days there. Lots of sightseeing and good food and just being together.

Once back at the boat, we spent just one night before renting a car and driving to Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi for the Thanksgiving holiday. Johnny hunted in Alabama with his best buddy while I drove to Kentucky to visit my best friend who had just received a cancer diagnosis. Then we went to my home in Mississippi for Thanksgivng and the annual James Family Reunion.

So many things that happened during this time away from the boat reminded us of how fortunate we are to be spending our days together doing something we both enjoy so much. It's hard to explain, but for some reason this trip has not had the same adventurous feeling as the one in 2012-13. Maybe it's because we were true rookies then, and now so much is familiar. But we've both decided that it's not so much that as it is the knowledge that it's truly not about what we are doing, it is about the health to enjoy whatever we choose to do and the pleasure we take in just being together.

Friday, December 5, we left the marina and anchored out so we would be ready to take advantage of first light to get underway. The plan was to head up to Rodriguez Key, anchor Saturday night and leave early Sunday morning for Bimini. And that's exactly what we did, with only one "small" glitch. We got up early Saturday morning and turned on the SSB radio to listen to the 6:30 weather broadcast, but before we could pickup the broadcast, the radio went completely dead. I should probably point out that the SSB is our major, and at times only, source for marine forecasts. We had been listening faithfully for several days to the long range forecast and it was favorable for crossing the Gulf Stream Sunday. We expected wind on our nose, but fairly mild seas, 2-3 ft. Would probably mean motoring, but we have a destination in the Exumas for Dec. 18, and we didn't want to take a chance on a long delay. So, we made our way to Rodriguez Key without incident and set our alarm for a 5:00 A. M. departure. By the time we were on course for Bimini, we realized that the wind was not put of the east, but rather from the northwest. Normally you don't cross the Gulf Stream with the wind out of the north, but seas weren't too heavy, so we figured at the worst we'd motor for 12-14 hours. I lay down in the cockpit and settled in for a nap before dawn. Before long, Capt. says, "Wnenever you feel like it, we can put up some sails and see what she does." A few minutes later we had full mainsail and 2/3 headsail and were moving at about 8 mph. Seas were building, but nothing uncomfortable. When we hit the Gulf Stream we picked up speed to 9.4 - 10.1 mph. Seas were 4-5 with occasional 6, but 'Bout Time was riding beautifully.

Twelve fairly uneventful hours later we arrived at Bimini Bluewater Marina, our stop of choice for clearing customs and getting our first "crack" conch of this trip. A good night's rest with no alarm to awaken us and we both felt renewed. We've been out and about a bit, and as I sit outside the marina I. Order or pick up what wifi signal, JR is aboard troubleshooting the problem with the SSB. We really don't want to leave here without it working, so wish him luck.

( I'm going to try and add the photo I took through the galley porthole this morning. I've had varying degrees of success with photos, so we'll see.)