True to our plans, we were up at 3:30am and on our way out of Hurricane Harbour, Key Biscayne along with Sam the Skull. There was a brisk wind so we motor sailed until we reached the Gulf Stream when we put up both sails and made great time. It was quite rough (Nooo!) so part way through making breakfast I took some Gravol and Bruce took over the galley while I took the helm. Because of the seas I didn’t go below for quite a while. The sea came over the deck, it started to rain and then Bruce went below to get something and was gone a little while. When he came back up into the cockpit he calmly told me that I hadn’t fully closed the hatch over the bunk in our cabin! I said “I did!” “No you didn’t!” “Yes, I did Bruce!!” “Well, not all the way then!” And I hadn’t!! Being the last one out of bed and the last one in the cabin (as per usual) the first thing I always do before I get off the bunk is to make sure I closed the hatch over the bed. I guess I had closed it to it’s first latching point that still lets air (or whatever) in and closed the latches down tight!! The seawater and the rainwater had come in, hit the wall at the head of the bunk gone from there onto the pillows and run all under the mattress soaking everything!!! OMG (as the kids say)!! What a mess! All in all Bruce was very good about it – he said very little. I felt so very bad about it. I couldn’t believe I had done such a stupid thing!! So………..a change of plans. Apart from the ‘unfortunate incident’ the crossing went very well. Instead of a brief stop in Bimini to register and do customs we pulled into the Seacrest Marina and paid for a nights stay. We contacted Sam the Skull to let them know what had happened and to ask Barbara’s advice on how to deal with the wet mattress. It was just too sodden with seawater to just dry it out, so after stripping it off, we dragged it up onto the dock. Then while I wiped out the cabin a couple of times with fresh water, Bruce got the hose out and hosed off the seawater as best he could with loads of fresh water. We were lucky in that although the wind was blowing and it seemed to cloud over the weather actually stayed dry. Then we gathered up all the wet bed linen and took it to the laundrette which we thought was on the marina property but ended up being way out on the edge of town! Poor Bruce carried that big old wet load all the way there! A really nice Bahamian lady there told us that when the washer had finished she’d put it in the dryer for us so that we didn’t have to wait around for it. Just return in about an hour & fifteen minutes. When we pulled into the marina there was another Canadian sailboat there and on our return from taking the laundry we got to talking with the couple on it. I think they must have been in their late 60’s or even their 70’s. She also had been a nurse and he was originally from Newfoundland. Anyway I digress. As we got there the Newfoundlander dumped a dirty old water bladder onto the dock and said “I don’t suppose you have a spare water tank do you?” To his amazement Bruce was able to say “Actually I do!” So for $40 (the price of our dockage for the night) we got rid of that damned spare water tank that whose sole purpose was to take up extra room! Fantastic! Everyone gained. By then it was time to make the trek to pick up the clean laundry. Bruce did the deed while I stayed at the boat and kept an eye on the mattress and the weather. Eventually I decided it was soon going to rain and my Bruce wasn’t back yet, so I asked a couple of young guys on another boat if they’d mind lifting the mattress into the cockpit of our boat which they did – no problem. Boat people for the most part are usually very helpful to other boaters. Who knows when you will need help yourself? A tired Bruce arrived back at the boat with the clean linen and we then set about moving everything stored on the bunk in the guest cabin out so that we could move the mattress from the guest cabin into our cabin which I then made up with lovely, freshly laundered linen(!) while Bruce put everything back into the guest cabin! Then, thoroughly exhausted from all that had happened since we got out of bed at 4am, we had Kraft dinner for supper, talked briefly to Kirsty on Skype (very poor internet) and went to bed!
We left Bimini about 7:45 the next morning (Sunday. Nov. 18th) with the mattress standing in the back of the cockpit and roped into place. Have bed, will travel!! We sailed all day and through the night, arriving at Normans Cay in the Exumas at about 10:30am the next day. I actually made green chili with cheese corn muffins on the way. It was a really good sail. We did 2 hour watches and were able to take turns sleeping. We found John and Barbara (Sam the Skull) at Normans Cay and were able to have a quick visit with them before they headed on towards Georgetown. Barbara said she’d been able to talk to Susan (& Barry) Wilson of ‘Nighthawk’ who are still in Titusville. Can’t wait to meet up with them also, hopefully they will soon be on their way. John and Barbara’s crossing wasn’t without it’s problems either. They blew out their jib, but luckily Barbara will be able to fix it with her sewing machine. We had a little nap, and then we went out conching and got 4 conch which Bruce cracked and I cooked up with peas ‘n rice for supper! We are definitely back in the Bahamas. Yesterday Bruce took one of the winches apart, cleaned it all up then put it back together while I made bread. We then went out in the dinghy to do some fishing. I can still row and Bruce hasn’t lost his spearing skills. Three lovely big crawfish were speared and we ate one of them last night for supper, another will be consumed tonight! Today Bruce overhauled the other winch while I caught up with this web page. Finally the mattress is dry and we can put it into the spare cabin and have our cockpit back. Out of sight, out of mind – no further mention of ‘the incident’ is necessary. We are expecting a front to pass through tonight and maybe even into tomorrow, so we’ll probably be here at Normans Cay for one more day before we move on down the Exumas towards Little Farmers Cay. It’s good to be back, but can’t wait for Christmas!