{"id":5229,"date":"2016-01-23T17:23:21","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T17:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=5229"},"modified":"2016-01-23T17:23:21","modified_gmt":"2016-01-23T17:23:21","slug":"bahamas-bound-and-fingers-crossed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=5229","title":{"rendered":"Bahamas bound and fingers crossed"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Saturday mid day and it\u2019s blowing like stink here in Ft Lauderdale.\u00a0 We have now been here for ten days waiting to cross to the Bahamas and while there was actually a weather window a few days after we arrived, \u00a0we just weren\u2019t quite ready with provisioning the boat and were still collecting all of the items that we had shipped here in advance of our arrival.\u00a0 As we flew down this year, instead of driving, we had to send things ahead as we wanted to limit the number of bags that we had to schlep on the plane.\u00a0 That meant that we had a parade of stuff arriving at the local UPS store.\u00a0 They sure loved us at $5 per package.<\/p>\n

Anyway, we are ready now and all that has to happen now is for the wind and seas to settle down following the cold front that\u2019s passing through today.\u00a0 According to Chris Parker, the weather router, we expect that things will improve sometime tomorrow, Sunday afternoon..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The best departure time is a bit fuzzy as if we leave when the wind drops on Sunday afternoon we will still have to contend with some residual seas in the Gulf Stream as it takes some hours for the wind driven seas to subside once the wind drops.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Monday morning departure would actually be a lot more settled but there is a risk that we will then have to contend with building east winds as we cross the Bahamas Banks, on Tuesday before we reach our destination about 20 hours after we leave Ft Lauderdale.<\/p>\n

So, the choice seems to be rough seas in the Gulf Stream with a Sunday departure or building head winds in the final 6-8 hours of our crossing the Bahama banks if we leave on Monday.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tough call and I am not sure which will be the most comfortable or should I say, least uncomfortable for Brenda.\u00a0 Perhaps taking our lumps in the early hours of the trip and having the rest be more settled is the best option but Brenda\u2019s surely not going to like a \u201cwashing machine\u201d at the beginning. \u00a0One way or the other, we have to move or we\u2019ll be here for yet another week, something that neither of us wants.<\/p>\n

Today is a terrible day in the Gulf Stream with seas running in the 15\u2019 range with gale force winds.\u00a0 Now that would be horrible and something that I don\u2019t even dare contemplate, with or without Brenda aboard. \u00a0\u00a0Here in the harbor, sustained westerly winds are expected to peak around mid day at nearly 30kts.\u00a0\u00a0 We are paying very close attention to everyone around us to be sure that we don\u2019t end up tangling with another boat.<\/p>\n

There is one big ketch in particular, with nobody on board, that I have already had to up anchor to get out of his way at least once.\u00a0 He has a small anchor and short scope so he\u2019s been dragging slowly around the anchorage with each wind shift.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing how cavalier some people can be about leaving a boat unattended.\u00a0 \u00a0I sure hope that I don\u2019t end up my dink pushing him away from us if he drags yet again. \u00a0I guess we\u2019ll have to keep our fingers crossed and dink ready.<\/p>\n

Anyway, how about this? \u00a0 What\u2019s a post about Ft Lauderdale without a few shots of some of the \u201cbig boys\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0Nice “dink” aboard this one. \u00a0“Off to the market James and quick. \u00a0We are just about out of Grey Poupon.”\"OLYMPUSOf course, if you\u2019re yacht is \u201cmega\u201d it just has to have it\u2019s own garage for your toys.\"\"How about a peek inside?\u00a0 Amazing display of wealth.\"OLYMPUSIn a post recently I mentioned that I was submitting what I believe is the last item needed to complete my approvals to go to Cuba, a form required by the U.S. Coast Guard.\u00a0 I filled it out with the date of my departure port in the US, my plan to visit the Bahamas, when I\u2019d be arriving in Cuba and where I would clear in.\u00a0\u00a0 I also indicated when I\u2019d be returning to the U.S. and what my arrival port would be.\u00a0 The next day I received a call from a USCG officer stating that I must submit the form a minimum of two weeks prior to departing for Cuba.\u00a0 Oops, I was leaving in four days.\u00a0\u00a0 However, with further discussion she agreed that my actual date of departure was the date that we will be leaving the Bahamas, over a month from now, to head to Cuba.\u00a0 All well and good but I still had to resubmit with corrections.\u00a0 Great!<\/p>\n

The problem is that the form isn\u2019t up to date with the current laws, which are changing quickly. \u00a0So, like a good law abiding citizen, I filled out the form again and sent it in a second time.\u00a0 And, that might not be the end of it. \u00a0If any of our dates vary from those on the form by more than 5 days, I have to do it all over again, and two weeks in advance of those dates.\u00a0 Yikes!\u00a0 It\u2019s nearly a \u201ccatch 22\u201d.<\/p>\n

Are you kidding me? \u00a0I have submitted each form at least twice and it\u2019s taken months to sort through everything. \u00a0 And, it’s not over yet…<\/p>\n

A few folks have commented on all of this, both on this blog as well as my posts on Facebook, stating that I should \u201cjust go\u201d.\u00a0 I have asked officers in the various departments I have been dealing with what they thought of that and the answer is universally, \u201cgood luck with that\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 The fact is that Cuba is still off limits to us and the only way to be sure you won\u2019t get in trouble is to carefully follow the ever changing rules, as annoying and tedious as the process may be.<\/p>\n

So, as we prepare to head to the Bahamas I am hopeful that I have indeed \u201ccrossed all of the T\u2019s and dotted all of the I\u2019s. \u00a0Well, for now fingers crossed that I have done this right.\u00a0 If not, it won\u2019t be for a lack of trying.<\/p>\n

I expect that the next post I do will be from the Bahamas.\u00a0 Until then, I\u2019ll close with a shot of some of the locals listening with rapt attention to my every word as I described the approval process to them in the park the other day. \u00a0\"\"Ok, ok, one more photo. \u00a0This one of of a lovely sunrise a few days ago. \u00a0Yes, this is the mood I am looking for.\"OLYMPUSFor now, it\u2019s blowing like stink but here\u2019s to a \u201creasonable\u201d crossing.\u00a0 Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Saturday mid day and it\u2019s blowing like stink here in Ft Lauderdale.\u00a0 We have now been here for ten days waiting to cross to the Bahamas and while there was actually a weather window a few days after we arrived, \u00a0we just weren\u2019t quite ready with provisioning the boat and were still collecting all […]<\/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-5229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229","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=5229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5237,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229\/revisions\/5237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}