We moved Sunkissed to the east side of Biscayne Bay at No Name Harbor on Tuesday the 15th to be ready to cross the Gulf Stream with Allure as soon as the weather was right. We spent two days at anchor there along with about 10 other boats with the same intention. Crews dinghied from boat to boat to discuss the weather and routing with one another and determine whether anyone else had better weather information to plan with. John and Ken (from Allure) had been listening on the Single Side Band radio (SSB) or webcast every morning at 6:30 to Chris Parker who is a weather router. Each day they would discuss what the forecast meant for us and when we might leave.

Finally, the forecast seemed to be good for a crossing on Thursday, and at 3 AM, 10 boats pulled up anchor to go. For the first hour, there was a lot of rock and roll. In fact, one of the boats, a catamaran, decided to turn around. We continued, and as the water became deeper and we put the main sail out, it settled quite a bit. We motor sailed with the main only as the wind was a little too much on the nose to put out the genoa or use sail alone. We arrived in Bimini in time for lunch. How civilized!

As we approached Bimini and the water became shallower, I was amazed at how clear the water is. The depth sounder showed 30 feet, but the bottom was so clear it looked like we'd run aground! At the entrance, the chart plotter showed various (and shallow) depths, so John moved up to the bow to spot the water for me. But it's clear that the two of us need to learn how to "read the water" to use "VPN" (Visual Piloting Rules) as we weren't sure if the dark spots were coral heads or grasses. Did it mean the water was getting shallow or not??? Everyone assures us that we will get the knack of reading the water. I hope so. How long will it take??

We stayed at the Blue Water Marina, "Home of the Hemingway Fishing Tournament". Not too much there, but they had showers and Wi-Fi. Who needs more than that? The guide said there was a pool, but it was empty, cracked, and generally looked pretty abandoned. At the office, they said they only emptied it a few weeks ago. Too bad.

John and Ken went to check us in with Customs and Immigration, and then we all went to get some fried conch and French fries at the best place in town. While they were good, I'm not really a fan of conch. I just think the shells are pretty. The following day, we got our new SIM card for our unlocked phone. The rates locally are about $0.40/minute, but to the US and Canada the rates vary from a $0.80 day rate to $0.64 at night. Clearly we won't be talking a lot on these phones! They told us that texts are $0.15, so John and I will need to become more comfortable with that. We also visited the Dolphin House Museum. It's a home owned by a man who has spent the last 20 years building and decorating it. He pretty much uses all found materials, from beach glass, liquor bottles, shells, coral, tiles from houses being demolished, etc. When you first look at it, it seems quite a hodge podge. But as we began to walk around more of the house, it's clearly pretty amazing what this man has accomplished. Friday was also John's birthday (!) so Ken and Deanna joined us for dinner and cake (yes, made in my oven).

On Saturday, Sunkissed and Allure set off (just after Chris Parker's forecast) to cross the Great Bahama Bank, a 50 mile wide tableland of water that's about 15-20 feet deep. The wind was just off the bow (again!) so we motor sailed. John put his new fishing rod out and experienced good luck; he caught a 20 inch fish! We think it was a Jack, at least that was the closest to the picture in the fish book we have. Ken gave John some filleting instructions via VHF. John skillfully filleted the fish (John says butchered) and we had fresh barbequed fish for dinner. It had a delicate flavor, but needed something more than its own self. We will need to experiment with recipes.
There was a 2-4 foot swell that slowed us up a bit, so we anchored as the sun set in 20 feet of water on the Bank. It's very strange to anchor with no land visible at all, nothing but water all around you. While the forecast called for light and variable winds, the wind seemed to pick up at dark and the swell was at least 4 feet. What made things wonky for us was the combination of wind and swell with the tide; the tide positioned Sunkissed broadside to the swell which made for lots of rolling around. Thankfully, by 1 AM the seas calmed down so we were able to get some sleep.

Now we are on our way to Chub Cay to refuel, water up, have a beer and grab some Wi-Fi. We should have a day's R&R here before moving on to either Nassau or direct to the Exumas. Details at 11!