Bahama Bound
08 May 2014 | Staniel Cay,The Exumas
We left St. A on April 5th heading south for Ft. Lauderdale. From there we would begin our 2014 Bahamas Adventure. We are currently in Staniel Cay a little more than a month after we left St. A. I am heading out soon to start taking pictures for our blog postings and emails and then I will begin the adventures of Moonlight Shadow in traveling to and in the Bahamas.
Well, some of our first pictures are taken and I am now able to work with my new photos program and post to our emails and our blog. The picture on this blog is at our dock in Staniel Cay. Tommy, Cathy's brother, Cathy and Sassy and Tommy's dive friend Brian. Brian has been a most enjoyable addition to the crew of Moonlight Shadow.
Our travels south from St. A were somewhat slow as we always seemed to be waiting for weather windows and we needed a couple of boat repairs along the way. Our tachometer went out on an over night sail to Ft. Pierce and we lost an impeller while leaving Ft. Lauderdale on our first attempt to cross the gulf stream. Our impeller loss and engine overheating put us in a very risky situation with a strong ebb tide at the 17th street bridge while trying to exit the Port Everglades Inlet. Due to some quick maneuvers, Cathy's deck hand skills and a very experienced Tow Boat US Captain we were able to return to our marina for repairs. We located a new tachometer in Ft. Pierce and we replaced our impeller and cleaned out the heat exchanger in Ft. Lauderdale.
We enjoyed our stop in West Palm Beach. Nice parks to walk Sassy, enjoyed a wonderful farmer's market in the park across the street from our marina and I was forced to go to Starbuck's each morning for my wake up drug of choice.
Our marina in Ft. L was across the street from the beach. Cathy and I took our daily beach walks and swims while waiting for the right weather window to cross to Bimini. Unfortunately Sassy was not allowed on the beach in Ft. L. We were able to provision the boat having a large Publix and CVS near the marina and a vet not to far way to get Sassy's Bahamas health certificate completed.
We had an uneventful sail crossing the gulf stream south of Miami to enter the Bahamas at Bimini. Sailing along the Miami skyline at sunset and encountering at least 6 cruise ships added to our over night sail. It took about three hours to clear customs and immigration in Bimini all due to the efficiency and speed of the Bahamian officials. Wow.....they could all get a job in the US at any of our state DMV's. Took Sassy for some nice beach walks and swims in Bimini before heading out to Nassau on our last over night sail before our return back to Florida in June. Crossing the Bahama Banks is such a spectacular adventure being able to see all the sea life in the clear blue waters.
We are in the Bahamas. We picked up Cathy's brother in Nassau, restocked provisions at a wonderful new Fresh Market across from the Nassau Harbour Club, picked up a Bahamas phone at Radio Shack and again enjoyed my morning Starbuck's brew before heading to the Exumas.