The Adventure Begins - Destination Bahamas

The crossing from Florida to the Bahamas is all about one thing - The Weather. The crossing is only a bit over 50 miles, but right in the middle, is the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is a warm current that moves north at as much as 3 knots. When we move at around 6 knots, that is very significant. The main concern is that you never want to have wind over the top of an opposing current. That situation will cause the waves to get very large and very steep. It is not uncommon to see 30 foot waves in the Gulf Stream off of Florida. The key to a successful crossing is to have no northern component in the wind. Ideally, we want a SW wind and fairly light. We can just motor across, but I sure would like to sail.

This image is kind of sideways, but you can see the significance of the Gulf Stream.

I have been studying the crossing for at least 3 years. I have watched to understand how it all works. But now it was different, it was not just studying, it was for real. I knew I had to get this right. I spend at least a half hour every morning studying the weather. I had been watching with renewed interest since we had the news that we were free to head to the Bahamas. I had been watching a weather window that looked very good for a couple of weeks and much to my surprise, when we got the news, it was still there. This time of year those crossing windows do not come very often. Some times you have to wait 3 weeks or more to get the right conditions for a safe passage. 

On January 10th, I asked Kim if we could get ready in 5 days. Of course her answer was, YES!

The plan was to depart Vero on Sunday, January 15. We would only have to travel about 13 miles to the inlet at Ft. Pierce. That would put us in position to do a sail on the outside on the 16th, from Ft. Pierce to West Palm Beach. We had to do that trip on the outside because a bridge across the ICW just north of West Palm Beach was inoperable, and we have to open it to get through. There were a large number of boats that were waiting north of the bridge (it had been down for 2 weeks). We would then check the weather again and depart West Palm before sunrise (5:30 am would be perfect) to catch the outgoing tide and to give us plenty of time to make the crossing and arrive at West End on Grand Bahama Island before dark. 

We did not need to depart our marina in Vero Beach early, so we took our time getting the final preparations completed. We went over our checklist again and then started undoing lines from our mooring partner. All went smoothly and we were off to the fuel dock to top up our water tank and pump out our waste tank. We left the marina just after Steve and Judy left in their boat. They were also heading to the Bahamas, but were planning a different arrival point. They had been over 5 times and I had asked him too many questions since we met about 2 weeks earlier.

This is a shot I took just as we were heading out of the marina. We were so excited!

 We made the easy 13 nm motor trip to Ft. Pierce and found a place to drop the anchor. The currents are very strong in the inlet, but we got set and were ready to get some rest.

This was our anchor spot in Ft. Pierce just as the sun sets. 

We were up before sunrise on the 16th of January. The inlet can be rough, but there was almost no wind and we had an outgoing current. The only concern was the swell forecast. They were forecasting 10 foot swell out of the NE at 11 seconds. 10 foot sounds big, but the 11 second interval should make it comfortable. Should is the key word in that sentence. 

We had no issue using the lights of the inlet to get to the outside and then make the turn south. 

It was a cool morning as we headed south. We had the sails up and we were motor sailing at around 6 knots. 

We had to keep the motor on because I wanted to get into the West Palm Beach/Lake Worth inlet before dark. The trip was right at 50 miles. As it turned out the swell was very comfortable and we had an enjoyable day on the water. We were glad to know that the conditions were comfortable because we were expecting about the same the following day.  The funny part of the day was the line of boats that were making the same trip. Our friends Steve and Judy were behind us, but so was 15 other boats. We had two more in front of us. It seems many boats had been waiting to make this trip and this weather window was welcome to all of them. We came into West Palm Beach with plenty of daylight to spare, and found a place to anchor in Lake Worth.

This is a shot of the Port St. Lucie Nuclear plant. My brother Alan, who is a Nuclear Engineer, has visited this plant. 

We were now ready to make the crossing. I was a little nervous, but mostly excited to finally be going for it. I decided to get up at about 4:45 to get the boat ready and get out of the inlet. 

I got on deck at right about 5 am and got the boat ready to go including raising the mainsail. I did not want to have to do that in the open water. It was kind of difficult picking our way through Lake Worth in the dark with the many moored boats, but with Kim on the bow with a large flash light, we got to the inlet. I was then able to keep the red to port and green to Starboard and head out to open water. In the distance I saw a lighted ship, but I did not see it on AIS. As we headed out I determined that it was actually much further out than I first thought. It was a cruise ship and it was on AIS and was not one light, but a lot of lights.

Those Cruise Ships move out at over 15 knots. We stayed plenty clear of each other. 

We had very light wind, so we motor sailed under full sails.

It was a beautiful sunrise as we passed the cruise ship

I really wanted to sail, but I thought I needed to keep my speed up to make it across in daylight.

I started out by heading SE to then give up some ground north when I got into the strongest current of the Gulf Stream. 

This was our track across. It worked out perfectly.

Just as forecast, about half way across the wind started to pickup out of the south. We were making very good speed at about 6.5 knots. Then the wind got a bit stronger and I shut off the engine. It may have been a bit of current at that point, but SHIFT took off like a horse heading to the barn for dinner. Before long we were cruising at close to 8 knots and heading directly on course. Soon we were making our approach on West End. We had planned on anchoring out in the bay, but the wind made that impossible. It was about 4 pm, so we decided to go into the Old Bahama Marina and see if we could get checked in to the Bahamas. As we came in, a guy yelled at Kim on the bow and asked if we wanted a slip and we said sure. So our first night in the Bahamas we were tucked into a marina. It felt AWESOME! We had made it!

SHIFT in attack mode. Full sails and we were moving.

I now got my paperwork together and went to check in. I had done all of the click to Clear on line and even paid the $300 fees for our cruising permit and fishing license. My first check in to a foreign country with our boat went very smoothly. 

A strange part of the crossing happened just as we were about 2 hours out of West End. We heard on he radio a dive boat operator asking for help. He had lost two divers and feared the worst. Just as we approached land we saw a big US Coast Guard C-130 aircraft roar overhead. He was communicating with the dive boat guy. In about 20 minutes the C-130 had found the divers alive on a small rocky island. The marina sent a boat out to bring them back. 

Just as I exited customs, they were bringing the guys in. I talked to them for a bit and got the entire story. Wow are they lucky. Thank God for the US Guard!

On my way back to the boat, we saw a couple that we had met way back in Washington, NC. They had also just finished their crossing an hour before us. We decided to join them at a small tiki bar for a drink to celebrate. 

Kim and a few new and old friends. That was a fun night.

Old Bahama Bay Resort is very nice

You can rent condos. It was almost empty this time of year.

SHIFT resting in her slip after the crossing. I love this boat!

Bahamas blue water. The clarity is amazing.

We were finally in the Bahamas. Now what do we do? Well, I had a plan, and Kim did not know anything about it. I will tell you all about it in my next entry.