Linda Hoists Bahamian Courtesy Flag At Old Bahama Bay

We departed Vero Beach on Monday, hopeful of an improving weather forecast for favorable conditions to cross the Gulf Sream to the Bahamas. Our 9 days there provided ample time to provision and ready the boat for the crossing. On Monday night, we anchored in Hobe Sound about 50 miles south of Vero, and on Tuesday made the short hop to Lake Worth and anchored there close the the Lake Worth Inlet.

The Bahama crossing is well known among cruisers and must be approached with caution because of the strong Gulf Stream, which flows at about 3 knots north between Florida and the Bahamas. When opposed by a wind with a northern component, the Gulf Stream riles up with sharp, steep, and dangerous waves. Thus, boaters must take this into account and wait each year for the right "weather window" before crossing to or from the Bahamas.

The prevailing winds had been consistently from the north, making a crossing chancy, but forecasts showed a "window" developing with light east to south winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, before a strong northerly wind would return on Wednesday night. The seas were forecast to be light chop with a 6 foot northerly swell.

We weighed anchor at 5 AM yesterday morning, and in darkness motored the short distance to the Lake Worth Inlet. There was a full moon and enough reflected light to avoid the myriad of boats as we left the anchorage. As we left the inlet, we faced an uncomfortable chop which began in the surf zone and persisted for several hours.

The predicted location of the west wall of the Gulf Stream was 8 miles offshore, but we began to experience noticable northerly set just several miles after leaving the inlet. The rhumb line course to West End, Bahamas is 100 degrees, but we headed more southerly at about 115 degrees to correct for the drift. Uncorrected, a 100 degree course would put us 15 miles north of our destination. It turns out that it is best to head southerly early, before the stream reaches maximum velocity, so that time spent in the 30 mile wide stream can be minimized. An ideal course would describe an "S curve" where the "S " dips to the south early, crosses the stream near midway, and returns to the rhumb line from the north, hopefully terminating at the chosen destination. As it would turn out, our course would describe a northerly arc instead of a curve, because of our delay in turning south.

As we entered the Gulf Stream, the sea turned a brilliant cobalt blue. A pod of dolphins joined us, surfing in our stern wake. The water was so clear that we could see them swimming underwater. They played with us for minutes before disappearing as quickly as they came. Later, we began to see groups of flying fish, popping out of the water ahead of the boat. They seemed to fly forever, before diving back into the water.

Conditions improved as we sailed east, towards a brilliant sun. The seas flattened and winds turned southerly. We unfurled jib and staysail, and were soon making over 7 kts towards West End. At 2 pm we sighted land, and entered the narrow channel to Old Colony Bay Marina shortly thereafter. Another new experience for us was to watch the depths decrease from over 1000 feet to 15 feet in a matter of several minutes. We could now see the bottom as we motored in....always a bad sign in New England, but a good one in the Bahamas.

Immediately after docking, we raised the "Q" flag and were handed a sheaf of papers to fill out before checking through customs and immigration. Only the "captain" may leave the boat until cleared through. The process went smoothly, even though some of the questions seemed difficult to answer, so we left them blank....the officer was quite helpful in completing our forms. We struck up a friendly banter, discussed the Red Sox v. Yankees (they're Yankee fans)....half in jest he asked me "Does your wife know how to shoot?" I truthfully answered "Yes she does." He then asked, "Well, then, do you have any firearms aboard?" To which I replied, "Of course not, she's too good a shot."

Fortunately, that got a laugh instead of a scowl, or worse, a boat inspection. (Firearms are allowed in the Bahamas, but must be documented on entry to the country.)