Sailing, sailing . . . . .

Our last post was from Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, where we waited for a couple of days until the weather was right to go across the 53 miles across the Atlantic to a waypoint, Memory Rock, before sailing another 20 miles to our anchorage at Great Sale Cay.   (Cay is the term for an island here.)

Below is a cruise ship that we saw leaving and entering the harbor, maybe the same one, while were at Lake Worth.

It was early morning when we left, just at sunrise.

As we crossed the ocean, the water got as deep as 2,500 feet and became a deep navy blue.

When we came upon the Bahama Banks, the water was turquoise, but varied by what was underneath.  The darker water below is probably strips of grassy areas.

It took 8 1/2 hours to sail  and motor to our anchorage, faster than we expected.  Barry had headed us south of our course at the beginning of the trip so that when we headed north again, we would be carried by the gulf stream that is typically about 14 miles offshore at Palm Beach.   And that worked great.

When we entered the Bahamas, Barry put up the yellow quarantine flag.  We were not allowed to set foot on land until checking in at Bahamas customs and had up to three days by law to do that.

The sails on Imagine are huge and they took as as fast as 8.8 knots at one time.

At Lake Worth, we had talked by radio with Ron, who with his wife Gayle, had left Ladys Island a little ahead of us and who were also waiting for a good weather window to cross to the Bahamas.   We headed out the same time and stayed near each other at anchorages.  The wind was high and coming from the wrong direction to make a pleasant arrival at Green Turtle Cay where we planned to clear customs.  So the one night out, we anchored in a bay on Crab Cay, just a few miles from Green Turtle.  The next day was calm.  Ron and Gayle took a dock at Green Turtle Cay and we anchored out there.  Both boats checked in through customs there.

From Green Turtle Cay, we sailed over to  Manjack Cay and anchored.    The next day, we dinghyed in to the beach om the inland side there and took a path through the mangroves over to the other side where there is the beach on the Atlantic.

That afternoon and the next day it was windy and rainy.    Tom and I stayed inside reading, while Barry worked on books he is writing.

We saw on weather that a storm system was coming and would be here a few day so Thursday afternoon we put out the foresail and came back the few miles to a  protected mooring at Green Turtle Cay.  This is Friday and it's raining gently so we are all settled in.  I'm reading while Tom is working at the computer and Barry is working at his book. 

This harbor is surrounded by colorful Bahamian houses and a couple of marinas.    I have been trying to draw a couple of hours each as prescribed by Tan, a new friend.  Below is a picture of one of my subjects.

It may be a few days before this front breaks up or passes through.   When it does, we plan to go south, stopping at  couple of islands before coming to Marsh Harbor, where Tom and I will catch a plane back over to the states.   By then, we will have a great sampling of what the northern Bahamas have to offer, beachs, a couple of small towns and some great areas for sailing.