These next few blog posts will be individual to each of the passages during recent days; the map feature on the right side of the blog will show each stop we have made.

Since our last blog post, after moving again to anchor for a few nights near the Venetian Causeway islands to top off water with jerry jugs, get rid of trash, and replace some food supplies, and then moving back to the Marine Stadium anchorage for the remaining nights, where we were joined by Ken, Francie, and Skipper on s/v Release as well as their buddy boaters Bill, Barb, and their dog April on s/v Wishbone.

On Monday December 30th at 4:00 AM the weather window for Grace's second crossing to the Bahamas was upon us. Outbound to sea through Government Cut went smoothly. Although we tried using the genoa for a bit, there was not any wind to provide assistance. We were able to be in VHF radio contact for much of the day with s/v Release and many others we had met. We heard more than 20 boats hail the marinas in Bimini to check in after a mildly rolley gulf stream crossing. Our quarantine flag was raised. As we continued north of Bimini onto the much more shallow water of the Great Bahama Bank the waves smoothed out. A dolphin and numerous small fish came out of the water surface. Rain showers in the distance brought along a rainbow. During the afternoon hours another sailboat nearly ran Grace down as they overtook us while those onboard were lounging on the bow and probably had the autopilot on; fortunately, Kevin veered out of their way just as the man on the other boat was running back to the helm. Shortly after the sun set, with no land in sight, at 6:00 PM we dropped the hook near Mackey Shoal in hopes of getting some rest before continuing; the rest came intermittently; the anchorage on the bank became more and more rolley as the winds eventually picked up to about 10 knots.