Hi, Marilyn here ...

Well, tonight's the night - we're planning to leave at midnight for a 15-hour trip to the Berry Islands - heading progressively South toward our destination in the Exumas.  It looks like we've got a decent weather window for a couple of days, and then gale-force winds are predicted by Tuesday. It's blowing hard enough now that the boat is rocking in our protected harbour - but it's predicted to fall off by evening to SSW 10-15 knots - not too bad for sailing, close hauled on a starbord tack (for the non-sailors, a reasonable sail). This is our last long crossing, 80mi, with our last 20 mi “on the bank” in the light. That means clear turquoise water 12-16’ deep.

Yesterday was spent in preparing the boat for departure, including scrubbing out the bilge - a disgusting job which we shared (a-w-w-w). We also planned our route for tonight's sail with our buddy boat.

Then we had a lovely dinner on board Sea Change with our sailing partners, Therese and Denis. We're really getting to like each other, and they say their English is improving dramatically (though I'm not sure I can say the same for my French!).

So today we're just hanging out and finishing preparations to leave, including cooking chili to have in a thermos for enroute sustenance. Our weather here is as nasty for the Bahamas as yours is for Canada - cloudy, rainy, sometimes downright chilly - but no need for boots and coats - yet.

A few pics from yesterday's activities - including the sparkling bilge!!

Marilyn writing ...

After lolling around on Sea Change and in the dinghy during a beautiful, sunny day yesterday, we had a rude awakening this morning! The almost 4-foot tide had risen and somehow, with a wind shift, we were blown under the dock and the side of the boat was trapped, so that we found ourselves heeling at a 30 degree angle (see pics below). The angle of the towels is kind of neat :).

Once the tide started to recede, Jeff managed to lever us out with a plank of wood (my captain comes through, again ..) and all is now right with the world. Except that the wind shift brought a huge temperature drop, and we're wearing socks for the first time in a month (poor us!).

So we're still hanging out in Port Lucaya - but waiting around for a weather window in the Bahamas feels better than in Florida. It is, after all, where we want to be. Jeff is slowly recuperating, and we'll probably set sail again on Sunday/Monday, depending on the wind.

The first two pics below are additional ones from the Junkanoo on January 1st (that's Denis, not Jeff) - the "Bahama Mama" makes me feel better about the next pic! There's a shot of sunrise yesterday, and the rest are pics from our dock event this morning. Enjoy ...

Hi - Marilyn again ... another day in paradise :)

Well - the Bahamians certainly seem to have cornered the market on how to celebrate the New Year - what a blast! Last night we attended a Junkanoo (like Carnival on other islands) - the pics below say it all. For $10.00 a ticket we had seats on the curb beside the parade - great photo-op!

We're now awaiting another weather window to cross to the Berry Islands - about 53 miles. It's a 10-hour crossing, with a little current - but nothing like the Gulf Stream. So we may be off in a couple of days, when the winds and waves settle a bit. Meanwhile, you can check our location here - https://share.delorme.com/JeffSolway. More later ...

A Long Night’s Journey into the Day

HAPPY, HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO ALL - WE MADE IT ON TIME TO CELEBRATE IN THE BAHAMAS!! But it was definitely a long night – 20 hours in total. After delaying our departure the day before due to very high winds and waves, we determined to leave on Monday at 4:00 p.m. However at 11:00 a.m., when I consulted with the local weather “expert”, he said, “This is your window – go now!!” So go we did – by 12:00 noon, we slipped our lines and were off – in flat calm with 5 knot winds. Boy – did that change fast … by the time we reached the Gulf Stream, the winds were gusting to 25 knots, and we were tearing along at 7.3 knots at our peak (for the non-sailors – that’s about as fast as we’ve ever gone in this boat). There were 5-6 foot rolling waves – fortunately on our quarter (near the stern), so it was an exciting and comfortable sail (for the sailors, a beam reach and later a close reach all the way). Not nearly as terrifying as the Gulf Stream had been made out to be. There was a current, and the wind was North (not recommended) – but we beat the cold front that just came in – so it’s all good. If we had missed that window, the prediction was that we wouldn’t be able to leave for two weeks! Jeff did an amazing job with preparing and captaining Sea Change - thanks forever, oh Captain, my Captain.

So we sailed through the rest of Monday and Monday night, arriving at Port Lucaya, Bahamas (near Freeport) just at first light. After a somewhat bureaucratic check-in with customs and immigration yesterday, we crashed for several hours, and then greeted the New Year – Bahamian style J.

Below are pics of our departure from Florida, with our buddy boat, Dame Des Mer, our arrival in the Bahamas, and a fabulous New Years Eve party where we danced until midnight  – enjoy, and have a truly wonderful start to 2014!

Hi - Marilyn here ...

Well, the long-awaited day hasn't arrived yet :(! We were planning to be off at 5:30 tonight for the 12 hour sail across the Gulf Stream. But our buddy boat partners just came over to say they think the sea conditions aren't as good as they thought they would be - and I'd been thinking the same thing. So we decided to delay for now, and maybe go out to anchor tomorrow to assess the situation. Disappointing - but better safe than sorry.

Last night we had a "farewell" drink on our boat with our new friends  - so this just gives us a chance to do it all again (and again and again ....). I'm sure there's some important learning here for me in "going with the flow" :).

Here's Sea Change all decked out for the sail, and the other green boat - Dame Des Mers - which
is our "buddy boat" to go across.

Yesterday, Jeff announced that his boat task list was finished :) - so we're pretty much ready to roll. We're provisioned and laundered, the boat is clean and full of fuel and water, and now we're checking weather charts for the right "window" to do the crossing. It looks like Sunday, overnight is the time. We had dinner with our French "buddy boat" partners last night, and are discussing the weather patterns regularly. Here's the kind of information we get on-line ... we're looking for South winds, preferably at 10 knots or less, with seas from 2-4 feet. And here's what the boat looked like yesterday ...

Bonjour

Voici donc la mise à jour pour traverser de Lake Worth à Lucaya

GULF STREAM

BUOYWEATHER.COM Virtual Buoy Forecast
 Location : 26.6N  79.6W              
 Model Cycle: 2013 DEC 28 06Z         
 UTC - 4 Hours                        
----------------------------------------------------
                 WIND                  SEAS
DATE   HR  dir/deg  range(kt)   dir/per   range(ft)
----  ---  ------------------   -------------------
12/28 02     E  80  13 - 18      NE  4sec   3 -  6
12/28 08     E  86  15 - 20     ENE  4sec   4 -  6
12/28 14   ESE 100  14 - 19       E  5sec   4 -  7
12/28 20   ESE 106  15 - 20       E  5sec   4 -  7

12/29 02   ESE 127  17 - 23     ESE  5sec   5 -  8
12/29 08   SSE 158  14 - 19     ESE  5sec   4 -  7
12/29 14     S 180  13 - 17      SE  5sec   3 -  6
12/29 20   SSW 196  12 - 16      SE  4sec   3 -  5

12/30 02    SW 225   9 - 12     SSE  4sec   2 -  4
12/30 08   NNW 334   5 -  7      NE  7sec   1 -  2
12/30 14   NNE  24   6 -  8     ENE  9sec   1 -  2
12/30 20   ENE  72   8 - 11     ENE  9sec   1 -  2

12/31 02   NNE  12   5 -  7       N  4sec   1 -  2
12/31 08     N   6  21 - 29       N  5sec   4 -  7
12/31 14   NNE  29  15 - 21     NNE  6sec   5 -  8
12/31 20    NE  43  16 - 22     NNE  5sec   4 -  7

1/1   02   ENE  60  14 - 19      NE  5sec   4 -  6
1/1   08   ENE  71  13 - 18      NE  5sec   3 -  6
1/1   14     E  96   9 - 12      NE  5sec   3 -  5
1/1   20     E  81   8 - 11      NE  5sec   2 -  4

1/2   02     E  80   5 -  7      NE  4sec   2 -  3
1/2   08     N 358   7 -  9      NE  4sec   1 -  3
1/2   14     N 356  14 - 19     NNE  4sec   2 -  4
1/2   20     N 356  18 - 24     NNE  5sec   4 -  7

1/3   02     N 351  16 - 22     NNE  5sec   4 -  7
1/3   08     N   6  19 - 26     NNE  6sec   6 -  9
1/3   14     N   7  18 - 25     NNE  7sec   6 - 10
1/3   20   NNE  26  16 - 22     NNE  7sec   6 - 10

1/4   02   ENE  54  15 - 21       N  7sec   5 -  9
--------------------------------------------------

LUCAYA

BUOYWEATHER.COM Virtual Buoy Forecast
 Location : 26.5N  78.75W             
 Model Cycle: 2013 DEC 28 06Z         
 UTC - 4 Hours                        
----------------------------------------------------
                 WIND                  SEAS
DATE   HR  dir/deg  range(kt)   dir/per   range(ft)
----  ---  ------------------   -------------------
12/28 02   ENE  78  13 - 18       E  4sec   2 -  3
12/28 08     E  83  14 - 19       E  4sec   2 -  4
12/28 14     E  96  14 - 19     ESE  4sec   2 -  4
12/28 20   ESE 100  14 - 19     ESE  4sec   2 -  4

12/29 02   ESE 121  16 - 22     ESE  5sec   3 -  5
12/29 08   SSE 152  14 - 19     ESE  5sec   3 -  5
12/29 14     S 181  12 - 16     ESE  4sec   2 -  4
12/29 20   SSW 205  10 - 13     SSE  4sec   2 -  3

12/30 02   SSW 209   9 - 12     SSW  3sec   1 -  2
12/30 08     W 277   5 -  7      SW  3sec   1 -  2
12/30 14   NNE  16   2 -  3     ESE  9sec   0 -  1
12/30 20   ENE  78   6 -  8     ESE  9sec   0 -  1

12/31 02    SE 149   2 -  3     ESE  9sec   0 -  1
12/31 08     N   4  17 - 23     NNW  2sec   1 -  2
12/31 14   NNE  27  16 - 22     NNE  4sec   2 -  4
12/31 20    NE  44  16 - 22      NE  4sec   2 -  4

1/1   02   ENE  63  13 - 18     ENE  4sec   2 -  3
1/1   08   ENE  73  13 - 18       E  4sec   2 -  3
1/1   14     E  93  10 - 14       E  4sec   1 -  3
1/1   20     E  87  10 - 13       E  4sec   1 -  2

1/2   02   ESE 121   5 -  7     ESE  4sec   1 -  2
1/2   08    NW 321   1 -  2     ESE  4sec   1 -  2
1/2   14   NNW 343   8 - 11     ESE  3sec   0 -  1
1/2   20     N   2  16 - 22      NW  4sec   2 -  3

1/3   02     N 350  16 - 22     NNW  4sec   2 -  4
1/3   08     N   3  18 - 24     NNW  4sec   2 -  4
1/3   14     N   5  17 - 23       N  4sec   2 -  4
1/3   20   NNE  26  16 - 22     NNE  4sec   2 -  4

1/4   02   ENE  52  15 - 21     ENE  4sec   2 -  4
--------------------------------------------------

Hi - Marilyn here ...

Well, we finally slipped our lines today! But don't get too excited - it was only for a trip to the pump out, which we abandoned after the fourth time going aground. What was that about three-foot tides?
H-m-m- that must have been low tide ... another lesson learned experientially :). We now have a tide chart, as well as a membership with Tow Boat U.S. - though fortunately this time we didn't need to get towed.

The rest of the day was spent in finishing up all of the major tuning and testing jobs - the more minor tasks will get done tomorrow. One last laundry, provisioning jaunt and water fill-up, and we'll be ready to roll. No pics from today - we were too busy getting ourselves unstuck and redocked!