Update from the Bahamas!!

Sunset in the Lake Worth Inlet anchorage Friday Night

I'm updating the blog from the air conditioned comfort of the sailboat while it's docked in Old Bahama Bay Marina.   We left the anchorage in Lake Worth this morning promptly at 4 am and headed out the inlet.  The weather was perfect.  SSW winds around 10 with seas 2 feet or less.  As we motored a mile or so offshore, we put up the main and jib and motorsailed into the morning.  The not-that-far-from-full moon helped light up our way.

Sunrise as we crossed to the Bahamas on Saturday morning

As we neared the halfway point of the 56 nautical mile crossing, the winds picked up a bit and not long after that we were sailing only and making 7.5 knots or more.  It was great to be crossing under sail power only.    The last 18 miles or so was  a bit more bumpy with waves reaching 6 feet or more sometimes.  Still, it was a fairly comfortable sail.

We arrived into West End, Grand Bahama at 1:30pm and after putting the boat securely in a slip, I went over to customs and immigration and cleared into the Bahamas.  The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning up the boat a bit (it's very salty after the crossing).   Late in the day, another boat about the size of mine was pulling into the slip beside of ours and I went over to help them dock.  They had caught a big mahi mahi just 30 minutes before and it was laying in the cockpit of the boat.  

The guy was all excited about the fish and offered us some for dinner.  Doug went over to the cleaning area and helped him filet  the fish and we just got done having a great dinner which Doug fixed of Mahi, rice and asparagus.

We'll leave the marina in the morning and head east to the Abacos.   I expect to be away from civilization completely for  a couple of days.   I'll try to update next place I find an internet cafe.

Serenity in the slip in Old Bahama Bay Marina