On to the Bahamas!

So the big day had finally come. We had been planning on a Tuesday crossing for 4 or 5 days based on Marv's Weather Service. The day did indeed dawn clear and calm.

I had to set my fears aside, because there was no turning back. We woke early and set off quietly from the Marina just before dawn. We crossed Biscayne Bay, aiming for Stick Village. This was a group of houses built on stilts in the middle of the bay. We were told that they were built in the 30s during Prohibition, and were used as places to party and drink alcohol. There are only 6 of these houses left. The area is now a national park and owners are not allowed to replace them or change the houses.

 The trip was uneventful. We were able to maintain 22 mph the entire 3 1/2 hour trip. Its an eerie feeling to not see land and usually no other boats for such a long time. Actually, the trip was much shorter for us than for sailboats, which can take 20 hours or so to cross. I asked Bill to not report the ocean depth. For some reason 3000 feet to the bottom is far more frightening to me than 30! We crossed the Gulf Stream, which is about 25 miles wide. The current runs at 3-4 knots and take a slower boat way off course. We noticed the current, but had no problems crossing. The ocean temperature has been 75-79 degrees since Florida.

We finally saw land, and then the water started becoming lighter and completely clear, allowing us to see to the bottom. Darker water is over coral or grass, lighter green is over sand and tannish green is 1-2 feet over sand. We went through customs on North Cat Cay, part of the Bimini Islands, where Bill was allowed off the boat, but I had to stay on. While Bill was gone, a couple motored up next to our boat, asking if they could take pictures. They could not imagine that our little Salty Paws could have travelled 2400 miles from Maine. This island is private, as are most of the Bahama islands, with a fancy club and about 30 houses. Bill was told that only 9 houses are occupied now, but the season starts after Christmas and the owners will start arriving then.

We left North Cat and slowly motored to Gun Cay where we anchored in Honeymoon Harbor. Large stingrays were clearly visible in the water swimming up to our boat. There was a sailboat anchored in the harbor and 3 women sunbathing on the beautiful beach. We kayaked to the beach and I apologized to the women for disturbing their peaceful visit on this otherwise deserted island.

As we are watching the stingrays coming to shore, I realized that I am quite nervous about getting in the water with creatures I am not familiar with.  The young woman, who is from Austria and living in the Bahamas with her boyfriend, told us that stingrays are actually quite friendly and you can feed and stroke them. We walked out into the water and were immediately approached by six of them, who swam right up to us, feeling our legs with their wings. OK, first fear allayed. We kayaked back to our boat, and within an hour or so, the sailboat left. We were alone on a deserted island for the night. We had to re-anchor twice to get into a calm spot without having to worry about the anchor dragging.

On Wednesday (12/14) we took off on the 80 mile trip to the Berry Islands, across the Bahamian plateau where the water is an indescribable color and depths range from 8 to 20 feet.   Our Internet connection is very slow right now and we will post about the wonderful Berry Islands at a later date.