We had a short weather window to transition from Palm Cay Marina to Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. Ideally, we would have preferred to stop in the Berry Islands to break up the trip, but winds were forecasted to increase by mid-day, so we elected to do a 24 hour overnight run as winds were forecasted to be light the next morning on Grand Bahama (which turned out to be not true, more on that later).

We had a great time in Palm Cay with our newfound friends, but it was time to leave. It was a bit challenging getting out of a tight slip but were able to do so. we motored around the SE corner of New Providence and elected to transit through Nassau Harbor rather than pick our way through the reefs around Rose and Athol Islands. There continued to be a large swell from the previous storm it was somewhat intimidating watching the waves break on the rocks there.

We entered to harbor along with the crowds of larger vessels and tour boats moving in all directions. It was mass confusion... Cue the "Benny Hill Music!" It was cool to pass by Atlantis and all of the cruise ships - busy place.

We contacted Nassau Harbor Control who gave us permission to exit (just as a large freighter came into the turning basin the same time as us!). We decided to put up the sails in the basin and give way to the freighter. By the time the freighter positioned to make his turn we saw an opening and started to make way out the harbor. Now we were able to observe the large swells breaking on the rocks at the main channel....we thought to ourselves "what exactly are we getting ourselves into?" Staring up at 8 foot swells in the ship channel certainly had our attention. Once out we had a 5' - 6' giant swells with a 12 second period. It was quite comfortable as we were able to sail. Terror to "we can do this" in the time it took to get out of the harbor and set course for the Berry's.

We continued on to Great Harbor in the Berry Islands when the wind died, and the motor came on. This is a very busy shipping lane and there were numerous cruise ships and freighters we had to pay attention to in the dark. We were grateful to have AIS and radar.

The idea was to time the entrance to Bell Channel at dawn.

About 6 hours out we noticed the winds picking up out of the SSW and gradually increasing. This was 8 hours sooner than forecast. This created very lumpy and confused seas (AKA washing machine)! That was not 6 hours of fun.

We were able time the entry into the channel 10 minutes after sunrise and came into the channel without issues. We were docked by 0730. Time to clean up the boat and rest. We will be here for several days waiting out other front.

We were able to meet up with friends who arrived here several days earlier, so we had a nice reunion. Met the local pig wandering around. We also met up with Shauna and Rick on Undone. We have been mirroring each other since February. We finally met at the bar our first night and the next day enjoyed getting together and sipping Rick's finest rums. What a treat!

From here, our next stop will be Ft. Pierce. We will look for a weather window for another overnight. Stay tuned....