Miami to Exumas, Bahamas

Finally, on November 15th, the north winds abated and veered to the South East. Kaos and Lamb Chop elected a 6pm departure from Key Biscayne, just south of Miami, with Cat Cay as our destination, and entrance port into the Bahamas. The crossing was comfortable and uneventful, even in the midst of the Gulfstream. Winds were freshening from the South when we arrived in Cat Cay in the Northern Bahamas at 1:00am. After some assistance from the night security guard, we got tied up at the dock and headed to bed.

The Dock Master and Customs lady start work at 7:30am, so, after a kick start from our morning coffee, we head off to do our in clearances. As we passed the Nordhaven docked behind us, we realize it is “Total Return” with friends Molly & Russ aboard. While chatting and catching up, a young Bahamian approaches and asks if we want some lobster tails, so at. $70 per dozen, we decide to split with “Total Return”.

As we arrived at the Customs cottage, the agent was on her way to clear a small private plane that had just landed on the airstrip alongside a mega yacht..

Customs shares the cottage with the local police, with each having two wicker chairs on the verandah over looking the harbor. The four of us planted ourselves comfortably in the chairs to await the return of the Customs agent…….no rush, we are now on island time!
Upon her return, check-in was simple, showing passports, boat and dinghy documentation and parting with $300 for our 90 day cruising permit, which includes a license to fish. Cruising permits are now only issued for 90 days at a time, but can be renewed for up to a year in 90 day increments.

“Big Bird”, the Thanksgiving turkey, is happy to have arrived safely in the Bahamas and is currently enjoying his exclusive quarters in our ice maker. We are waiting for the two catamarans, “Toucan Dream” and “RSVP” to catch up, and since no-one had freezer space, the turkey took up residence in my ice maker. He may face eviction if the ice supply depletes. Let’s see, frozen turkey or ice for the Admiral’s G&T……no contest there, the turkey looses.

Upon completing our official business, we head back to the boat, picking up our lobster en-route.

After breakfast, we cast off the lines and head out to the Bahama Banks and Nassau. Winds and seas are calm and we enjoy a very comfortable and pleasant day cruising and re-organizing the boat. Not having enough daylight to reach Nassau, we depart the main sailing route and anchor about a mile out of the channel on the shallow Bahamas Bank. Once the anchor was down, we had just enough time for our first Bahamian swim in the cool, refreshing gin crystal waters.

Happy hour was spent watching yet another magnificent sunset, followed by something to eat and an early night in preparation for another dawn departure.

We enjoyed another great travelling day with fair winds and calm seas as we crossed Tongue of the Ocean, between the Bahama Banks and Nassau. The Bahamas Bank is a shallow body of water with depths of about 4 meters, and as one approaches Tongue of the Ocean, the depths drop off a cliff to about five or six thousand feet. In certain conditions, this can be a very rough body of water, as we have previously experienced, but today it was calm with smooth sailing.

We encountered a squall as we approached Nassau Harbor. Visibility was poor for a short while and even wearing rain gear, I was drenched as we prepared to dock for fuel. The first place was out of fuel and we were directed to Browns Marina, who helped us tie up, but would not fuel us until the rain stopped. Already drenched, we headed across the street to the City Market for a few provisions and to the cell phone store to get a Bahamian sim card for my cell phone. This allows us to make calls within the Bahamas, and to Canada and the US at a reasonable cost, and without roaming fees

We departed Nassau mid afternoon and headed to West Bottom Harbor on Rose Island, about ten miles outside of Nassau, where we anchored for another quiet night.

We enjoyed coffee prior to a civilized 9:00am departure. Having only 30 miles to cross to the Exumas, we capitalized on the last of this great weather window. Once on the Exuma Bank, weather is much less of an issue since there is reasonable protection from the islands and reefs.