{"id":2727,"date":"2014-02-08T21:34:26","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T21:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=2727"},"modified":"2014-02-08T21:34:26","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T21:34:26","slug":"bahamas-at-last-motor-boat-ride-all-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=2727","title":{"rendered":"Bahamas at last. Motor boat ride all the way."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Saturday morning and we are here in the Bahamas at last.\u00a0\u00a0 We are anchored in a little harbor on the western side of Chub Cay,\u00a0 an island in the Berry Island chain, about 40 miles northwest of Nassau.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful cove with clear water.\u00a0 It\u2019s great to be here, finally.<\/span><\/p>\n

We left Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday afternoon and headed out into the Atlantic and Gulf Stream headed over to the Bahamas.\u00a0 The conditions were very benign with calm seas and only a light wind on the nose.\u00a0 I would have preferred to sail and avoid 19 hours of motoring but it\u2019s hard to get good sailing conditions that aren’t a a bit too exciting for Brenda. \u00a0Further, we would have likely had to wait a week or more to find an opportunity to cross with favorable winds. \u00a0Given those options, we bolted. \u00a0Good choice as here we are.<\/p>\n

Last year, we were able to sail and it turned out to be a bit much for our first run to the Bahamas with fairly rough conditions and certainly more than Brenda had signed up for. \u00a0 We had too much wind much of the time and were hit with a number of thunderstorms overnight. \u00a0Not great. \u00a0So, this year I promised her that we would try for an easy crossing and that\u2019s what we got.<\/p>\n

In crossing the Gulf Stream, you have to compensate for the current that pushes you north by steering toward a point south of where you want to end up and let the current sweep you north.\u00a0\u00a0 That point is calculated based on how much time you expect to be in the gulf stream and then estimating the average speed of the current.\u00a0\u00a0 So, I calculated a spot and adjusted our compass heading and off we went.<\/p>\n

“So, what happened, where did you end up when you exited the Gulf Stream?” \u00a0Thanks for asking.\u00a0 Actually, we came out within a 1 \u00bd miles of where I had hoped, just about perfect.\u00a0 And, that\u2019s after running about 8 hours and about 50 miles.\u00a0 Pretty good, I think, actually. \u00a0At the center of the stream the current was pushing us north at about 5 knots. \u00a0That’s a huge amount of water moving north.<\/p>\n

After crossing the stream, we entered the Grand Bahama Bank around 9 pm on Thursday.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty amazing to be running along and see the depth go from about 2,500 ft deep to 25 in less than a mile which is what happens as you enter the banks. \u00a0So, after crossing onto the banks, we headed the rest of the way overnight in water that varied from 25\u2019 to\u00a0 15\u2019 deep, typical depth for much of the Bahamas.\u00a0 The water is so clear that you can easily see the bottom much of the time. \u00a0 The moon was half full so the night was bright. \u00a0However, once it set, the stars were out in full splendor. \u00a0With no city light around you could see many more stars than what you’d normally enjoy.<\/p>\n

We were also treated to a wonderful sunset and sunsets are typically pretty amazing here in the Bahamas, as we crossed the gulf stream.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, we were out of sight of land so to see water all around you and these amazing clouds was a treat.<\/p>\n

A very important event for us, especially for Brenda, was to spread her father\u2019s ashes in the Gulf Stream.\u00a0 Brenda\u2019s father died three years ago this May and it was his wish that his ashes be spread out on the ocean.\u00a0\u00a0 Jack, Brenda\u2019s father, loved the sea but he really didn’t like cold weather so it was very fitting that Brenda released his ashes in 80 degree water on such a beautiful day.\u00a0 Brenda wrote a very touching post<\/a> that says more than I can say about this special moment.<\/p>\n

On a more pedestrian note, along the way we spied many Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish.\u00a0 These are very unique jellyfish are about 6″ long and float along with a \u201csail\u201d that pokes above the water.\u00a0\u00a0 I am unaware of any other jellyfish quite like these.\u00a0\u00a0 As pretty as they are \u201cdon\u2019t touch\u201d is the word as they are quite venomous.\u00a0 The \u201cbusiness end\u201d is below the surface with yards of poisonous filaments that catch small fish and other little creatures that the MOW feed on.\u00a0 Even washed up on the beach, to touch one of these will cause a nasty sting.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what they look like drifting along.\u00a0 Quite pretty actually, like a translucent bubble.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>The entire run from Ft. Lauderdale to here at Chub took about 19 hours and Brenda and took turns keeping watch as we motored along.\u00a0 We took turns throughout\u00a0the night but there\u00a0<\/span>wasn’t\u00a0much to watch for as we\u00a0<\/span>didn’t\u00a0pass a\u00a0single\u00a0boat\u00a0overnight once we were on the banks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We checked into customs in Chub.\u00a0 I took our dink ashore to a local marina where I retrieved the paperwork.\u00a0 After filling it out I got a ride in an old pickup truck to the airport where I met with the customs and immigration officers.\u00a0\u00a0 To call it an airport is different than what we have in the US.\u00a0 The \u201cterminal\u201d was a very small building on a single runway.\u00a0\u00a0 There is no control tower and the terminal is just for customs.\u00a0 No snack shop or Starbucks here.\u00a0 The process of clearing in was pretty straight forward but did involve lots of forms and plenty of loud \u201cstamping\u201d with ink pads and official looking seals.\u00a0\u00a0 $300 later we had our cruising and fishing permits and our three month visas and I went back to the marina with my \u201cguide\u201d Dave, a local Bahamian.\u00a0 Pretty simple actually. \u00a0\u00a0I should also mention that the airport has only one paved strip and its only long enough for small planes to land.\u00a0 While I was there a great looking float plane landed.\u00a0 The owner came in to clear customs too and then flew out again to head to his own private island in the Exumas, about 75 miles south.\u00a0 We have visited near his island, Over Yonder Cay.\u00a0 A pretty wealthy guy I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n

Last evening as Brenda and I were sitting up on Pandora\u2019s fore-deck enjoying \u00a0an \u201cadult beverage\u201d, a gin and tonic, actually, a small boat with two Bahamas fisherman motored up to sell freshly caught lobsters and conch.\u00a0\u00a0 The Bahamas lobsters are very similar to our Maine lobsters, but without the big claws and conch are a really big snail.\"\"<\/a>The fisherman stay out for weeks at a time and live on a somewhat larger boat while fishing during the day.\u00a0\u00a0 They catch lobster and chonch buy diving down in the clear water to find their catch on the bottom in the clear water.\u00a0\u00a0 They don\u2019t use air tanks, just free dive down to grab their prey.\u00a0 Believe me when I say that this is hard work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pretty tough guys.\u00a0 \u00a0We were happy to buy three lobsters and baked them for dinner.\u00a0 They were delicous.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having not gotten much sleep the prior night during our crossing, Brenda and I crashed early.\u00a0 We were plenty tired.<\/p>\n

Well, we\u2019re finally here and the weather is terrific.\u00a0 Our plan today is to visit the BATELCO (Bahamas Telephone) office today and sign up for a Bahamas cell phone to use for the time we are here.\u00a0\u00a0 Land lines are not used here and everyone has cell phones.\u00a0 In many ways, the service here is better than in the US.\u00a0 We will also get a chip for our i-pad so we can receive and send e-mail.<\/p>\n

I had better sign off now as I think I need some coffee to wake up<\/p>\n

Oh yea, as I was finishing up this post we had a mild rain squall that lasted all of 10 minutes. \u00a0The squall featured a neat little funnel cloud, sort of like a miniature tornado but over water. \u00a0\"\"<\/a>They are generally harmless. \u00a0 The rainbow left behind after the squall lasted longer than the rain.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Perhaps we should head over to that island to retrieve our pot of gold.\u00a0 If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Saturday morning and we are here in the Bahamas at last.\u00a0\u00a0 We are anchored in a little harbor on the western side of Chub Cay,\u00a0 an island in the Berry Island chain, about 40 miles northwest of Nassau.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful cove with clear water.\u00a0 It\u2019s great to be here, finally. We left Ft. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2732,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2727\/revisions\/2732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}