Crossing the Gulf Stream and checking into the Bahamas

Crossing the Gulf Stream almost proved to be anticlimactic. We were underway in the pitch black at about 5:00 AM. It took an hour or so to work our way from Lake Worth to the inlet out to the open ocean. The forecast was for winds from the South at about 10 knots, rising to 15 in the afternoon.

The sunrise across open ocean was beautiful!!

Our destination, West End, was just South of due East, but we elected to aim a bit further South than that, anticipating that when we hit the Gulf Stream, we would be set North. That is almost exactly the way it worked out. We maintained the same compass heading almost all the way across. That heading also allowed us to motorsail almost close hauled (about 35 degrees off the apparent wind) for the whole trip,.

When we started out, we were banging into left-over seas from the day before. When waves hit the underside of the deck between the hulls, it is both noisy and jarring. Fortunately, about the time we hit the Gulf Stream and the wind started to build, about 6 or 7 miles out, the waves seemed to come more from the side. As soon as the waves hit the Stray Cat at 45 degrees or more off the bow, the motion becomes much easier, with one hull rising at a time.

On the trip across, we overtook a number of monohulls, including 3 with which we were to establish firm friendships. We were later amazed to learn that although we had been travelling in waves exactly as forecast (2 and occasionally 3 feet high), and although they were a very short distance away (we arrived at West End right in the middle of their little fleet), they had done the same crossing at the same time in waves significantly larger. It is amazing how nature works!!

The help and service we received at West End was absolutely amazingly good. We radioed ahead for a dock. Someone was waiting for us. They even had all the required customs forms. We filled them out as best we could and proceeded to the customs building. There were three officials who seemed to be interested in different aspects of our arrival, sort of like our Revenue Canada and Immigration departments. They were extremely helpful with the parts of the forms that I either did not understand or had missed. They were also very, very quick. They made us feel absolutely welcome in their country, in sharp contrast with the experiences of other voyagers where Customs and Immigration officials made them feel they were a pain in the ass and a barely tolerable nuisance. The government of the Bahamas has it right. I wrote an e-mail to their Minister of Tourism stating my views. I hope it does some good.

At the time, I thought that the marina fees ($80 minimum) for a 1 night stay was a bit steep. On April 1, this will be increased to $190 until next winter (slack season). Ouch!!! Gasoline, however, was not much more expensive than in the States.

The marina was very well maintained and in the evening, we invited ourselves to a picnic table party. This turned out to be a great move as we meet two Canadian couples (Scott and Mary-Lynn as well as Brad and Karen) and an American couple (Chris and Deke) who were travelling as a group.

This was the start of a great series of friendships.