As promised, my friend Captain Bob came through again. He arrived on Thursday and we finished provisioning the boat. Our friend Jo Anne had arrived earlier in the week. We began looking (and looking and looking and looking.....) at weather windows and ultimately decided that Friday night / Saturday morning looked like the best time for a crossing.

In the mean time, we met a Canadian couple on a Bennetau 36 that were also planning to cross. We got our heads together and decided to "buddy boat" accross.

We left at about 0300 and headed down the channel to the inlet. Once there we entered the Atlantic. Judging from the lights of other boats in the distance, we weren't the only ones who thought the weather looked right for a crossing. It was very dark as there was no moon, and we were able to see the green bioluminescent "sparks" in the water caused by our wake.

It was a fairly calm and relatively warm night. There was about a 2 foot swell on the ocean. This continued until we got to about the middle of the Gulf Stream where the waves built to about 4 feet. We watched a beautiful sunrise and Jo made breakfast.

About 8 miles from West End, our Canadian friends began experiencing engine problems which forced them to reduce speed. We turned to go back to them but they assured us they were fine. They were able to continue and made it into the marina not long after we did. Luckily it turns out that their engine was fine and that they had picked up a large sheet of black plastic with their prop shaft.

We got into the marina about 2:00 in the afternoon and tied up at the marina. I then completed the check-in work with Customs and Immigration and we were then able to hoist the Bahamian Courtesy Flag!

A big thanks to Captain Bob and Jo Anne for making the trip!