Gulf Stream Crossing and Lazing around da Islands, mon.

Greetings from Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, The Bahamas!

This is a guest post by Andy, who has been recruited as head bilge-cleaner and electronics fiddler for a couple more days.

I joined the boat in Palm Beach, which is like West Palm Beach, but all the property and cars have an extra zero on the end of the price tag. We set out for our trip across at 6:00 am on Monday morning in a building southeasterly breeze. As we came through the inlet, we met a strong SE swell that was breaking green water over the bow, but as we got out of the tidal current, the seas settled down, and we set the autopilot at 115 degrees to reach West End, at a heading of 85 degrees. A four knot current is serious business!

We had an uneventful but generally uncomfortable crossing, but the broad reach made for a quick trip, so that we arrived in the Bahamas after about 7 hours. We cleared customs and spent a sleepless rolling night at anchor just north of West End. So far, I was starting to question the wisdom of joining up! The next morning didn't do much to quell my fears (or my stomach), as we headed out for another 60 mile trip to the Sea of Abaco, which is between the Bahamas out-islands and Great Abaco Island. The first 15 miles were a northerly beat in to 6-10 foot seas and 25 knots, which is sort of like being on a tilt-a-whirl for 2 hours. One that stops periodically to throw you off your seat.

As we made the right turn on to the shallow banks that make up the Bahamian islands, the waves calmed down, and we set a full genoa and reefed main for a 7.5-8 knot reach to our anchorage for Tuesday night-- Great Sale Cay-- which was quiet and peaceful. The water here is clear and shallow, and its surreal to see the earth glide noiselessly under your keel for hours at a time. We didn't touch a sheet for 5 hours of sailing, and just enjoyed listening to the water flow around the hull and fade in to our wake. To those of us on the boat who *aren't* retired, it felt like the more miles we put between ourselves and the States, the more simple everything became.

From Great Sale, we headed up to Spanish Cay yesterday, via a few stops for hiking and snorkeling. Last night, we anchored in 7 feet off of New Providence, a small town on Green Turtle Cay. They're having the Roots Festival here, which you might think is a Reggae thing, but you'd think wrong. "Roots" here refers to the British history, and the island is decked out in the Union Jack!

I'm out of battery, but check the flickr page for pictures soon!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandjcornwell/sets/72157604445971208/

We're having a great time-- check for us on Skype and say hello!

Andy