The picture is a beautiful and kind family that we had the privilege of buddy boating with for awhile. Thank you to the Grays (SV Jazzy Lady)!!!!!
_______________________________________
We got up early Friday morning and headed out in the dark from Noname Harbour toward the Gulf Stream and then Bahamas. Unfortunately there was still some northerly in the wind (the direction you should not cross in because the wind blows over the waves from the strong current making the waves choppy ) but all forecasts had the wind swinging to the east after a couple of hours so we headed off. There were 4 boats that left an hour ahead of us from Noname Harbour. As we were just coming out of the channel, 3 of them were headed back through the channel. We got a little apprehensive then...We knew sailing vessel Jazzy Lady (Mark and Megan and children) was still out there so we radioed them to see what the seas were like. After hearing from Mark we decided to carry on. I am so glad we did. It rolled back and forth with 7-8 feet rollers on our side occurring about every 5 sec or so. Then we would get a minute or so of only partial rolls and the sequence would start again. Needless to say it rocked and rolled a lot but we have experienced that before crossing the infamous Cabot Strait between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. It is always scarier in the dark so once the sun came up our (more like my) nerves settled a little!!! The water temperature in the stream reached 32.1 Celsius.
All was worth it when the water depth went from 3000 feet to 6 feet. The colour of the water was definitely a WOW moment. The beautiful aqua water was breathtaking but unfortunately at 6 feet we went aground!!!! All we could do was chuckle🤣🤣🤣. Nothing surprises us anymore.
Once we got off the shoal area we put up our yellow quarantine flag and entered North Bimini and went into a marina. Once we got settled, Byron went to check in at Immigration and Customs. This process did not take long and we happily changed our flag now to Bahamas Courtesy Flag.
It was a special moment as we have been planning this before we bought C Whisper in 2012. That night we celebrated with Mark and Megan on Jazzy Lady with Rene and his wife. It was such a beautiful evening as we were all so excited that we were now in Bahamas.
The next morning we headed off at sunrise with Jazzy Lady. Crossing the Bahamas Banks was extraordinary. In 20-30 feet of water you could still see the grass, fish, brain coral and starfish. We settled on the bow of the boat in amazement. The color of the water is mesmerizing!! We motored for 12 hours like this. Finally before entering the Northwest Passage we anchored. We anchored in 15 feet with only water around us. The closest land was 20 miles away.
We left the next morning to head through the passage and toward the island of New Providence (where Nassau is located). That sail was definitely spirited with waves every 3-5 sec of about 6 feet. After 8 hours we made it to West Bay... thank god!!!!!The anchor set well and now we start to relax a little.
We spent a beautiful evening on our boat with Mark and Megan and their 2 beautiful children. It is so funny ... we had no idea about this lifestyle at their age and I believe they are doing it right. Their children are shining!!! Mom and dad focus on them and the children are learning so much. They are all such amazing people!! They even took Byron snorkeling!!!
Our 2 children are flying into Nassau December 16 and we are trying to decide if we shall wait here or if we will head down to Georgetown and they can fly there... I guess it is up to Mother Nature and what weather she brings us.
To see our location look under the favorites link
Comments