Northbound
06 April 2019
Allan Gray
We finished up our last boat chores Friday morning before our noon checkout at the Marina. We moved Dagny back to the anchorage and headed off for a few last minute items before Mark and Megan arrived. As we mentioned before one of the best things about our travels are the people we meet and today was no exception. While travelling down the Hudson River in 2016 we met the crew of Gaya, who hail from Grimsby Ontario, and shared some time with them during our first trip. To our delight they found us at the marina in Marsh Harbour where we enjoyed catching up with each other prior to us getting underway.
Mark and Megan's flight was due in at 2:30 so we headed ashore to meet them and enjoy our last shoreside Bahamian beverage at Snappa's while awaiting their arrival. They arrived on schedule and after a quick transfer of luggage we were off the hook and headed for Green Turtle Cay.
The plan with Mark and Megan is to get as far north as possible in the time they're with us. Our original goal was to head right to Wilmington NC, however, the weather window will be closing on Monday night so our revised plan is to get to either Brunswick or Savanah GA. The first step though was to get through the Whale Cay Passage on Friday afternoon, this notorious passage can be impassable in poor conditions. We left Marsh Harbour in a 15 knots following breeze and when we arrived at the passage I was relieved to find the conditions were very favourable. We transited the 4 mile passage without any issues and arrived in the Green Turtle anchorage before dark. The crew enjoyed a relaxing BBQ dinner while being entertained by the Rake and Scrape music rolling out of New Plymouth.
The alarm was set for 5:15 Saturday morning to give us an early jump on the day, with exception of stopping for our last swim today we will be going non stop until Monday night. We won't have any cell coverage for a few days but you can watch for an update sometime Tuesday.
The last couple of days Bev and I have both been a little melancholy as our departure approached. We are looking forward to getting home and seeing family and friends and enjoying our house. However, at the same time we'll miss the simple lifestyle of cruising in the Bahamas. We have made some great new friends and rekindled past acquaintances and look forward to our return. However, one thing we not looking forward to is the bombardment of negative news. We quickly developed a dislike for it and rarely even check to see what's going on in the world, and you know what, we sleep better. The only exception of course are the hockey scores which I check regularly, but lately they haven't been the best.
Today's picture was taken by Lana as Bev and I relaxed on Tahiti Beach.