The picture above is of the Bahamian Courtesy Flag flying from Grace's starboard spreader. When you enter a new country, you fly a yellow flag called a Quarantine flag. After you clear Customs and Immigration, you take it down and raise that country's courtesy flag - in this case, the Bahamas.

Yup, Grace and I are in the Bahamas!

Two days ago, I was in No Name Harbor at Key Biscayne, watching the weather forecasts like many other boats there. I'd been eyeing Thursday as a good day to cross the gulf stream. On Monday, we had a captain's meeting to talk about the weather, crossing plans, and a bit about the Bahamas. One person - Alex from Meridith II (who is here with his family from Three Rivers, Quebec), said "tomorrow looks good, and I know other boats planning to go." We all consulted our weather apps and websites, thought about needed preparation, and, at 5:45 pm, decided we would go the NEXT DAY, leaving somewhere between 3-5 am. We all rushed back to our boats to prep.

I awoke at 4 am, planning to leave at 5. Feeling pretty pumped and confident, I started the engine at 4:45. The new alternator (I'd purchased on Monday) wasn't working - it wasn't outputting voltage. Mad scramble, seeing if I could use my backup alternator (I couldn't), thinking 'crap, I'm not going', sending texts to all the people I had earlier sent texts saying I was going. And then at 5:20, I figured out a workaround so the alternator would work! (for those interested, it seems my Sterling Smart Charger decided to stop working. The Smart Charger optimizes battery charging, but is purely optional. Taking it out of the charging path made the alternator work. No idea why.)

Heading out in the dark, intending to go 45 miles across the gulf stream, is not for the timid. You follow the channel purely by chartplotter. You use a flashlight to see marks, and use radar to look out for other boats. As you leave the land, the boat starts rising and falling from the waves that you can only see when the bow lights illuminate them. The east sky starts to slowly lighten up as you head out into the deep blue.

Our crossing was somewhat, but not too rough. It was a gray overcast day, and we'd have periodic downpours of rain. Several times we saw flashes of lightening, followed several seconds later by thunder. In the intense rain downpours, we could only see about a mile. I got soaked. Grace kept forging through the waves, as spray and water flowed over the deck. My friend Tom and his son Luke on their boat Faith Afloat was my buddy boat - we kept within a quarter mile of each other and periodically talked on the VHF.

Two impressions from my crossing. First, when we were about 15 miles from Bimini and the Great Bahama Bank, the distant clouds had a faint turquoise tint to them. I thought it might be the turquoise waters of the Bahamas reflected off the clouds. It may not be the truth, but it was a real motivator! Second, you know how sometimes a song will keep running through your head? Well, during much of the crossing, this song for me was Talking Head's "Stop Making Sense"...

We arrived in Bimini before 3:00, hailed the first marina on the channel, and were tied up in a slip by 3:00. Exhausted. After a short walk into town to Customs and Immigration, we stopped at a liquor store to buy some Bahamian rum (and rum really is cheaper here). Then back to the boat, dinner, and going to sleep.

Today was my first full day at Alice Town on North Bimini island. Alice Town - and all of North Bimini as far as I can tell, is a typical, somewhat run down, Caribbean town. Tiny grocery stores, bars, etc on one side of the main street, and some marinas, resort marinas on the other side of the street. Bahamian bread is excellent - baked and sold, still warm, from people's houses. There's a really nice beach facing the Straits of Florida on the west side. The waters are turquoise, glass-clear, full of fish and warm.

My first day here was spent cleaning up the boat, going to the top of the mast to install an LED anchor light, going for a snorkel by a wreak, and exploring the town. I bought a loaf of bahamian bread from a man who cooks and sells it from his house. Excellent! And that evening, after a light rain, a double, full across rainbow appeared - a great omen for the rest of my Bahamas stay.

I plan to spend two more nights here, generally relaxing. After that, who knows? My only deadline is to be at Nassau Jan 26 to meet my sons.