Leaving Ft. Lauderdale at 7 am Monday Feb 28, 2011 headed for Great Sale Cay wasn't my first choice. I'd rather leave at night, spend the dark hours crossing the stream and traveling the banks during the daylight. But as luck would have it, a cold front was nipping at our heels. Thus we left Monday morn. pThe stream crossing was somewhat uneventful (except for the autopilot failure) with wind and waves somewhat greater than forecast. It ended up at 20+ knots of wind out of the southeast with 5-6' waves somewhat closely spaced. That made for quite a bit of spray but a great sail throughout the day and night under a deeply furled genny and main. Now, I don't want to say that we were a bit unprepared but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner as we passed Memory Rock was a little tacky…but delicious! Anyway, it took just over 14 hours to cover the 120 nm. Not a bad average of 8.4 knots (thank you gulf stream - even though you'll make me pay on the way back!) Memory Rock's shallow area is always a stark transition from the depths of the Florida straits. Thanks to Joe on Onward (a fellow Catalina 470 owner) I took a slightly different course through there and only saw depths in the 10 foot range. From Memory to Great Sale it's 10 to 15 foot depths, sometimes with variations of only 0.1 feet for a mile or so.

Hand steering the remainder of the way was a little tiring but fun. Great Sale Cay's southwest anchorage IS "great" but not for SW winds. None the less, it was easy to enter in the dark, with great holding. After a short sleep, Green Turtle Cay was in our sights for customs check-in. So up at 6:30 to catch Chris Parker's SSB weather net and then off for some sailing. Again, another day of great sailing with an average speed in the mid 7's. How can you beat the fantastic sun and the emerald green waters of the Little Bahamas Bank!!? It was mostly a beam reach for 50 miles - pinch me, I must be dreaming.

We made Green Turtle Cay by late afternoon just as the winds were calming down to the low teens. Finally the hook was down and the crew was fed and sound asleep as the front made its presence known with gusty 20-30 knot NE winds around midnight Tuesday. But we were safely anchored to the west of the Bluff House where the water depth (min 7') and holding were just what the crew ordered. A 9am trip to the Green Turtle customs office in New Plymouth brought me back to the pleasures of entering another country. The customs woman was very polite, stoic, and official as she handed me the stack of forms to fill in. So back to the boat for an hour or so (wet dinghy rides included - as it was still blowing strongly Wednesday) to complete the forms. Fortunately on my return no lines had formed at the customs office and I was able to finish the process without delay. All the way through the process the customs officer never smiled or cracked a joke until she looked at Evan's passport photo ..."why is he so mad!? He looks so mad. That's not a good photo." and then she smiled and talked about her experiences with her passport photos - the ice was broken :>) All said and done, we were granted a 90 day cruising permit without any problem or having to beg for more time.

With the business taken care of, Evan and I took a short hike up the road to the east end of Green Turtle to Gilliam Bay. A beautiful and somewhat secluded area with crystal clean, light green waters away from the rush of the angry Atlantic surf. It was a short hike because when walking the streets of New Plymouth you'll notice house after house with a sign out front advertising their food specialty. Lunch ashore was definitely in my future and it wasn't long after Gilliam Bay that my pace picked up and my destination was fixed. Along the main street in town we met a woman hanging out on her porch and her name was Shirley. She was a charter pilot for 20 years and flew all over the Bahamas in her Piper Aztec and Cessna 303. Born in Nassau, she moved back to Green Turtle where her grandfather had a home and where her father was born. She knew all the local goings on and recommended a place to eat - the Plymouth Rock Café. When Evan and I walked in, the five other people at the counter had to scrunch together and they had to find Evan a chair to sit on. Small? Yes. But the food was quite good.

With the winds forecast to be strong out of the easterly quadrant, Whale Cay passage is not likely to be fun or passable. So we'll probably stay to the north side of the central Abacos with another day spent on Green Turtle before heading to Manjack Cay for awhile.