I’m happy to say our nerves have calmed down after our tumultuous crossing, but the winds have not. To summarize our crossing, and add a bit of detail, I’m turning this discussion over to Tom, then I’ll catch back up with you shortly.

Hi, this is Tom, occasional guest writer for the blog. To recap a bit, we were sort of stuck in South Florida for a few days, waiting on a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini. We kept ourselves occupied with many many boat chores, most of which we could have and should have done back at Mariners Cay Marina before we left.  I take weather seriously, and I look at three or more sources, and write down the wind and wave predictions from each source for, say, the next three days. In this case I used Passageweather.com and the apps Windy and Predict Wind. All three agreed that Wednesday March 3rd would be the day to go with 3’ seas predicted. Winds were to be fairly lively at 15-16+ kt, but from the south to southeast, which is good for crossing the north-flowing Gulf Stream. Not perfect but certainly doable. My research showed that the next few days after Wednesday would be worse, and we were ready to go. So we did.

The first few miles out of Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale were beautiful in the early morning light, a clear day, a warm gentle breeze and not a whitecap in sight.  A few miles out, though, it picked up a bit, and I’m not great at estimating wave heights but   it was more than the predicted 3’. Some cabinet doors flew open and some stuff bounced around, but that’s our fault. We should have taken more care to secure our ship for ocean conditions. But in summary it was fine, the boat did great and we made it into Bimini on schedule. I’m attaching brief videos, one as we are going out the inlet, and one an hour or two later.

So, as Robin titled this blog entry, we are now “stuck” again waiting on weather, but this time in the islands, enjoying the warm sun and awesome Bimini waters. I don’t expect any sympathy, just sayin.

Oh, and one more thing.  On our last Bahamas trip in 2015 we caught a few fish trolling artificials on the offshore passages. Our boat is designed for cruising comfort, not for fishing! The aft deck is pretty high up off the water and it’s awkward and challenging to land a good size fish.  So this time I wanted to have a nice long gaff onboard. I got a little creative and made one, painted the Bahamas flag colors of course. See pics. It’s 8’ long with nylon grips, all coated with two coats of epoxy followed by two coats of paint. Not field tested yet. Fingers crossed!

Now, here’s another project.  A very handy tool. Anybody know what this is used for? No Billy, it is not a finger mullet gaff.  See pics below.

Hi, this is Robin again to finish things up! Doing laundry while cruising, is always an adventure. Here are the boys helping me get ready to stroll to the laundromat, and then a shot of a very calm and mature Robert Earl, while he waits patiently for me to finish this necessary task.

Yesterday morning we decided to venture out to find breakfast. We asked a local for directions and he said “Take de Hill Roy-Ad, and go up to de place way you ohdah up front and go round to de bak for de view”. Translated as: Go up the hill and find C. J’s Deli. What a delight! Who needs linen table cloths and sterling flatware, when you have a view like this !

We had a nice little rain storm, just in time to make for cozy onboard nap conditions. After nap & a tea, Tom put on his contractor’s hat and installed our TV, while Robert Earl looked on, awaiting a new season of Animal Planet.

The late afternoon skies cleared, so we took another walk-about, and read some of the “Hemingway” legacy and history that is steeped in the ruins of these islands.

Thirst and a very well behaved dog, prompted us to return to the beach area to let Robert Earl romp. Tom and I bought rum runners from his new friend, “Coconut Brain” .

It looks like we’ll be here at least until Tuesday, when the winds are predicted to be safe for moving on. No worries, or Irie Mon. This is the way they tell time around here. Look always to the cross, and consult the clock that has no hands ! As Buffett says, “The time is always now”.