January 11, 2018 - Off to the Bahamas

January 11, 2018 - Off to the Bahamas

Woke up at 3:15am and headed out at 4am.  The blog will not be updated for a couple of days since we will not have wifi.  Will update once we are reconnected.. 

I can't describe the feeling I get when you start the engine at 4am, it is dark , the water is calm, and you are motoring out the channel while the crescent moon is shining down on us.  So peaceful.  We can see at least half of dozen other sailboats leaving the channel including Dr Jim's boat named Aeriel who is following us.  He has a crew of at least 4.  

The temperature is 72 with a cloudy sky.  

5:00am- 26"46.741'N. 79"58.117'W is our location. 

1030am- Looks like we won't be having meatloaf for dinner.  Steve caught an 18" Mahi Mahi.  It is a little too rough to cut it up, so we put it on ice until we anchore later and it calms down.

12::00pm:  Just going by West End.  Some boaters stop in there to check into Customs.  We are going to continue and check in in Green Turtle Cay .

1:00pm- We are in the Bahamas bank and already you see bluer water and sarragasso  weed floating at the top.  Dr Jim is trailing behind us. The water have calmed down. 

Steve removed the US courtesy flag and raised the Bahamian flag.  We had to buy a new one since last years was torn up.

Dr Jim's crew wanted to continue to Great Sail Northwest Anchorage which would mean at least another 4 hrs.  Steve decided to get a little shut eye so he can continue while I was on watch.

5:15pm-  We decided to keep the fish for another night so I heated up the small meatloaf, cooked potatoes and carrot and made a delicious salad.  Thumbs up from Steve.

The great thing about being on the water is that you see so much.  The sunrise, sunset, cloud formations, stars all amaze me.  We miss out so much when living in a lit up city. 

Dr Jim's boat (Ariel) at sunset while following us.  

7:30pm-  Oh my...I wish I could take a photo of all the stars in the sky.  The only light on is our running lights and it is pitch dark.  When you look up in the sky, it is like a wallpaper full of stars of every size.  Unfortunately because we are motoring in the dark, there is no way for me to capture this on my  I wilt my camera.  It is truly a sight to see. 

Actually, motoring in the dark has a sense of thrill to it.  It is part scary since you really have to pay attention to what is ahead of you and yet mystifying and calming at the same time. 

8:00pm- After traveling 16 hrs and 98.2 km, we anchored at Great Sail Northwest Anchorage.  There were about 4 other boats.  We contacted Dr Jim's crew via radio and we confirmed that departure tomorrow morning for Green Turtle Cay is at 7:30am.