Chapter 13 New Providence and beyond
On Monday, April 24th we left New Providence at sunrise. We had an 8 hour sail to the Berry Islands. We were pleasantly surprised at how much we liked Nassau Harbor Marina. It was older and not fancy by any means but extremely secure. We had heard so many bad stories and very few good ones, about Nassau Marina’s. Many Sailors reported getting robbed and even attacked in the Marina’s. It is a large City, and where the Marina’s are it is a little bit more commercial and dirty. Peter the Dock Master told us that a couple of years ago things were bad but now ”just treat your boat like you do your home, if you lock your home then lock your boat”. We had no issues. On our way through the 8+ mile Harbor, which was another new and scary endeavor for us, with large Barges , Ships, Tankers and traffic coming and going, everything went well. We also saw two Royal Caribbean cruise line ships. These ships were incredibly large to pass by! On the “Allure of the Sea” Vessel a family on one of the upper decks noticed our flags and hollered out fondly “COLORADO”!! We hooped and hollered a little and moved on. It was fun to see the beautiful Atlantis Resort and many other beautiful homes and resorts on paradise Island and further West on Nassau.
Our sail to the Berry’s was interesting. We had to sail along a bank between what is known as “The Yellow Bank” and “The White Bank” . We saw areas that were somewhere between 7 and 15 feet deep out in the middle of nowhere. They never recommend this voyage at night for this reason. About 10 miles into the trip, we realized that we had a stow away. We had a tiny finch like bird that stayed on our boat until we got to the berry’s. I guess we helped him migrate to a new Island. We named him “Tweety”? Initially we had good winds out of the Southeast that moved us along. Once we turned to go through the banks, the winds were straight out of the north and very strong. "This made for a somewhat uncomfortable sail with all of the Spring Breakers at it again. However we have gotten much better at preparing for them!
We knew that based on our initial trials with weather and trying to get out of Florida, that we needed to work hard on the best window to return to Florida even if it means getting back earlier than expected. Steve was looking at the forecast and based on it, the best day to get from Grand Bahama to Florida was on Friday. After that time we may have to wait an additional week? As much as we were loving being in the Bahamas we felt this was the right thing to do!. Responsibilities at home!
We saw just enough of the Berry’s to know that we really want to go back there next year. This Island was one of them that got hit very hard by Hurricane Matthew last year and still has not recovered. The Marina’s are not yet open for service. On the North end of the Islands is a Cay called little Stirrup Cay. We anchored on the back side of this Island our last night on the Berry’s. This is where several cruise lines take their passengers to CoCo Bay for a day of Beach time and souvenir shopping. This is private and was very busy while we were alone on the other side of the Cay.
On Wednesday the 26th we set sail for the Grand Bahamas. This was our longest sail so far. We sailed for 10 hours straight. We couldn’t fish along this stretch because we needed every minute to get us to the inlet before dark. We are not yet ready for a night crossing! We sailed into Lacaya Harbor, through the Bell Channel. On this side of the Island there are no places to anchor. The Atlantic ocean with lots of reefs is what you enter from. We reserved a slip in the Grand Bahama Resort Marina. This is another Marina hit hard by the hurricane but they have really been working on things and have a beautiful Marina. Again we were amazed at how friendly and helpful the Dock staff are. Everyone is happy and so willing to help in any way possible. We stayed one night with the plans of heading for West End in the morning. Again at this point the winds looked very favorable for us for the next 48 hours, after that it is anyone’s guess. We had a nice dinner of Mahi-Mahi again and got the boat in ship shape for tomorrow.
We left the Marina for West end by 9AM. This was a great sail with favorable winds. We had plenty of time so we put out the line on our way. Low and behold we caught more Mahi-Mahi. It is definitely the season for Dolphin! What a beautiful fish!
We arrived at West End by 4 PM. We had been hearing of a fish tournament that was going on at the West End Marina and that all slips were full. There is an anchorage on the outside of the Marina. This is what Steve had planned on so we would be able to leave at sun up. However there were boats in the anchorage when we arrived and the area that we tried to anchor up in, had was terrible surge with the tide changes. We thought this would be awful for our last night in the Bahamas if we had a disaster. Steve called the Dock Master at the Marina and he so nicely made room for us. Again West End has not fully recovered from the Hurricane. They still did not have power or other amenities but their staff and slips made for a very comfortable stay. We can easily survive without all of the amenities.
The fishing tournament that was going on had fishing boats and yachts of all sizes coming in, into the evening. The was a Tuna caught that weighed 126 pounds. We saw many Dolphin. We were lucky enough to see a Manatee.
As much as we wanted to “Turn around and Run”, when the sun came up we knew this was our best opportunity for a great crossing to Florida. We were looking forward to” Bliss” rather than “Terror”. We left at 630 AM as soon as several boats had cleared out of the Marina. It was the calmest departure yet. We handled the lines and the push off independently. We headed out to the open seas and had a wonderful tail wind and anywhere between 8 and 15 knots. We were able to sail at between 6 and 7 knots. On this crossing we had to cross the Gulf Stream. The Gulf stream is like a 46 mile wide river, running from the south around Florida out of the Gulf of Mexico. It always runs South to North. If there is ever winds coming out of the North, you don’t want to cross the Gulf Stream. This makes for extremely violent rough seas because the wind clashes with the ever constant Gulf Stream. Once you are in the Gulf Stream you have to use a
Calculation to determine how fast you are traveling. If you are not conscious of things the Gulf Stream can take you way off your course.
We decided to fish along the way. We ended up hooking 3 separate Dolphin. Of these 3, 2 of them proved to be too big to land on the boat. We did land one beautiful fish. It definitely takes both of us. While I am managing the Rod and trying to keep the fish on, Steve is managing the sails and slowing down the boat. These fish take so long to tire that you have to keep turning the boat and chase them until they tire. Meanwhile every time we catch a fish the Gulf Stream is taking us further North. We finally had to quit Fishing and concentrate on getting into the Inlet safely. When you enter any inlet you have to look for channel markers. You want to make sure the Red one is on your right when you are returning to assure you are in the deepest part of the channel. You keep the green marker on your left and both are opposite if you are leaving the channel. We made it to our anchorage just at Sunset. We got anchored safely for the night.
This is where it gets interesting! We came in with our Quarantine flag on the Starboard Halyard. Steve made the call to Customs. There were at least 5 boats coming in the inlet at about the same time as us. Weather was good and several made the crossing. When we first landed in the Bahamas, their Customs is pretty simple. They have an agent at the Marina that fills out all of the paperwork and takes your money. We always felt safe and secure. Steve did his research and found that if we purchased a Customs sticker and paid money it would simplify the procedure? We were to call this 1-800 number and that was supposedly all there was to it? The person he spoke with, indicated he was actually in Miami. The office that is in West Palm Beach, where we were was currently closed (As of 5 PM) so this guy over the phone, was able to clear our boat and gave us permission to take down our Quarantine flag. However, this agent indicated that within 24 hours we would have to go into the West Palm Beach customs office (which he said would open at 8 AM) to have our Passport stamped and cleared or to the Palm Beach airport? We decided to stay on anchor through the night and go to the Customs office in the morning at 8 AM. We launched the dinghy first thing in the morning. We had our coffee and headed to the customs office. As it turned out there is no public dinghy dock near by. We had to pay $16 to tie up our dinghy at the dock at Riviera Marina. There were no Public Dinghy docks here. Anything to make a buck? We then walked to Customs. There was a Cruise ship loading up and thousands of people milling around trying to get boarded. We were then told by an official that Customs would not be open until 1PM and we would need to wait or go to the airport? We would go to the Airport but this would probably be a $50 cab ride, so we wait. While we were off the boat we decided to find a liquor store for beer. We only had a couple left and it is in the 90’s today! The closest liquor store was in a pretty rough area. We kept walking, over 10,000 steps. We finally found a small grocery//liquor/ gas store (Convenience store). While we were in the store, we heard a ruckus up front. 5 police cruisers showed up with full guns on, the cashier had called them because someone had threatened him with a knife and then ran from the store! We paid for our items as soon as possible and got out of the store quickly. The Police had a guy spread eagle on the ground in handcuffs? It was just a little freaky and we knew “we were not in Kansas anymore, Toto”! We left quickly, so no pictures to insert here!
We returned to the dinghy and back to the boat for some breakfast and waiting for Customs to open up!
At 12:30 we boarded the Dinghy, we arrived at the custom office at 5 minutes before 1:00. We went to the 3rd floor and an officier that barely spoke english told us their offices were closed on Saturday and Sunday. We told him that his Customs Employees told us to be here at 8 today and then again at 1, he informed us that we should have done more research? After telling him that we had been instructed by other customs officers, he said that we have to go to West Palm Beach airport to check in before the 24 hours was up. So, we hailed a cab to the airport, 25 minutes and $50 later, we were there. He dropped us off at a sign that said US Immigration and Customs. Seems appropriate, but no, the Customs office we needed was about 7-8 miles away, still on Airport property but off site nonetheless. We hailed another Cab. We explained that we needed to go to the Customs office off site but still on Airport property. With the help of the person hailing cabs, he was able to translate to this very nice but illiterate haitian man. He took us to the office and waited for us. We would never get a cab in this area? We walked up to the doors. There was a window with a buzzer and paperwork taped all over the window.. We pushed the button and after about 5 minutes a uniformed man showed up. We told him why we were there. He took all of our paperwork and left us on the porch while he did whatever he needed to do. After about 5 minutes a woman officer appeared with our passports and told her everything was complete. Our Passports did not get stamped, but we left with our nice Cab driver and after another 25 minutes and another $50 we found our Dinghy and proceeded back to our boat. So the Moral to this story is we should not have been so honest. I guess seasoned americans that have done this in the past, just wait until Monday to say they are back even if that is not true? We were concerned that they may stop us in the future when we wanted to travel. We will find out if our documentation and passports are really in order when we fly home in a couple of weeks.
So, we are back on the boat, safe and sound. We have a lot of thoughts to include on our next Blog about what we might have done different or better but all in all, it was an amazing trip.
Our sail to the Berry’s was interesting. We had to sail along a bank between what is known as “The Yellow Bank” and “The White Bank” . We saw areas that were somewhere between 7 and 15 feet deep out in the middle of nowhere. They never recommend this voyage at night for this reason. About 10 miles into the trip, we realized that we had a stow away. We had a tiny finch like bird that stayed on our boat until we got to the berry’s. I guess we helped him migrate to a new Island. We named him “Tweety”? Initially we had good winds out of the Southeast that moved us along. Once we turned to go through the banks, the winds were straight out of the north and very strong. "This made for a somewhat uncomfortable sail with all of the Spring Breakers at it again. However we have gotten much better at preparing for them!
We knew that based on our initial trials with weather and trying to get out of Florida, that we needed to work hard on the best window to return to Florida even if it means getting back earlier than expected. Steve was looking at the forecast and based on it, the best day to get from Grand Bahama to Florida was on Friday. After that time we may have to wait an additional week? As much as we were loving being in the Bahamas we felt this was the right thing to do!. Responsibilities at home!
We saw just enough of the Berry’s to know that we really want to go back there next year. This Island was one of them that got hit very hard by Hurricane Matthew last year and still has not recovered. The Marina’s are not yet open for service. On the North end of the Islands is a Cay called little Stirrup Cay. We anchored on the back side of this Island our last night on the Berry’s. This is where several cruise lines take their passengers to CoCo Bay for a day of Beach time and souvenir shopping. This is private and was very busy while we were alone on the other side of the Cay.
On Wednesday the 26th we set sail for the Grand Bahamas. This was our longest sail so far. We sailed for 10 hours straight. We couldn’t fish along this stretch because we needed every minute to get us to the inlet before dark. We are not yet ready for a night crossing! We sailed into Lacaya Harbor, through the Bell Channel. On this side of the Island there are no places to anchor. The Atlantic ocean with lots of reefs is what you enter from. We reserved a slip in the Grand Bahama Resort Marina. This is another Marina hit hard by the hurricane but they have really been working on things and have a beautiful Marina. Again we were amazed at how friendly and helpful the Dock staff are. Everyone is happy and so willing to help in any way possible. We stayed one night with the plans of heading for West End in the morning. Again at this point the winds looked very favorable for us for the next 48 hours, after that it is anyone’s guess. We had a nice dinner of Mahi-Mahi again and got the boat in ship shape for tomorrow.
We left the Marina for West end by 9AM. This was a great sail with favorable winds. We had plenty of time so we put out the line on our way. Low and behold we caught more Mahi-Mahi. It is definitely the season for Dolphin! What a beautiful fish!
We arrived at West End by 4 PM. We had been hearing of a fish tournament that was going on at the West End Marina and that all slips were full. There is an anchorage on the outside of the Marina. This is what Steve had planned on so we would be able to leave at sun up. However there were boats in the anchorage when we arrived and the area that we tried to anchor up in, had was terrible surge with the tide changes. We thought this would be awful for our last night in the Bahamas if we had a disaster. Steve called the Dock Master at the Marina and he so nicely made room for us. Again West End has not fully recovered from the Hurricane. They still did not have power or other amenities but their staff and slips made for a very comfortable stay. We can easily survive without all of the amenities.
The fishing tournament that was going on had fishing boats and yachts of all sizes coming in, into the evening. The was a Tuna caught that weighed 126 pounds. We saw many Dolphin. We were lucky enough to see a Manatee.
As much as we wanted to “Turn around and Run”, when the sun came up we knew this was our best opportunity for a great crossing to Florida. We were looking forward to” Bliss” rather than “Terror”. We left at 630 AM as soon as several boats had cleared out of the Marina. It was the calmest departure yet. We handled the lines and the push off independently. We headed out to the open seas and had a wonderful tail wind and anywhere between 8 and 15 knots. We were able to sail at between 6 and 7 knots. On this crossing we had to cross the Gulf Stream. The Gulf stream is like a 46 mile wide river, running from the south around Florida out of the Gulf of Mexico. It always runs South to North. If there is ever winds coming out of the North, you don’t want to cross the Gulf Stream. This makes for extremely violent rough seas because the wind clashes with the ever constant Gulf Stream. Once you are in the Gulf Stream you have to use a
Calculation to determine how fast you are traveling. If you are not conscious of things the Gulf Stream can take you way off your course.
We decided to fish along the way. We ended up hooking 3 separate Dolphin. Of these 3, 2 of them proved to be too big to land on the boat. We did land one beautiful fish. It definitely takes both of us. While I am managing the Rod and trying to keep the fish on, Steve is managing the sails and slowing down the boat. These fish take so long to tire that you have to keep turning the boat and chase them until they tire. Meanwhile every time we catch a fish the Gulf Stream is taking us further North. We finally had to quit Fishing and concentrate on getting into the Inlet safely. When you enter any inlet you have to look for channel markers. You want to make sure the Red one is on your right when you are returning to assure you are in the deepest part of the channel. You keep the green marker on your left and both are opposite if you are leaving the channel. We made it to our anchorage just at Sunset. We got anchored safely for the night.
This is where it gets interesting! We came in with our Quarantine flag on the Starboard Halyard. Steve made the call to Customs. There were at least 5 boats coming in the inlet at about the same time as us. Weather was good and several made the crossing. When we first landed in the Bahamas, their Customs is pretty simple. They have an agent at the Marina that fills out all of the paperwork and takes your money. We always felt safe and secure. Steve did his research and found that if we purchased a Customs sticker and paid money it would simplify the procedure? We were to call this 1-800 number and that was supposedly all there was to it? The person he spoke with, indicated he was actually in Miami. The office that is in West Palm Beach, where we were was currently closed (As of 5 PM) so this guy over the phone, was able to clear our boat and gave us permission to take down our Quarantine flag. However, this agent indicated that within 24 hours we would have to go into the West Palm Beach customs office (which he said would open at 8 AM) to have our Passport stamped and cleared or to the Palm Beach airport? We decided to stay on anchor through the night and go to the Customs office in the morning at 8 AM. We launched the dinghy first thing in the morning. We had our coffee and headed to the customs office. As it turned out there is no public dinghy dock near by. We had to pay $16 to tie up our dinghy at the dock at Riviera Marina. There were no Public Dinghy docks here. Anything to make a buck? We then walked to Customs. There was a Cruise ship loading up and thousands of people milling around trying to get boarded. We were then told by an official that Customs would not be open until 1PM and we would need to wait or go to the airport? We would go to the Airport but this would probably be a $50 cab ride, so we wait. While we were off the boat we decided to find a liquor store for beer. We only had a couple left and it is in the 90’s today! The closest liquor store was in a pretty rough area. We kept walking, over 10,000 steps. We finally found a small grocery//liquor/ gas store (Convenience store). While we were in the store, we heard a ruckus up front. 5 police cruisers showed up with full guns on, the cashier had called them because someone had threatened him with a knife and then ran from the store! We paid for our items as soon as possible and got out of the store quickly. The Police had a guy spread eagle on the ground in handcuffs? It was just a little freaky and we knew “we were not in Kansas anymore, Toto”! We left quickly, so no pictures to insert here!
We returned to the dinghy and back to the boat for some breakfast and waiting for Customs to open up!
At 12:30 we boarded the Dinghy, we arrived at the custom office at 5 minutes before 1:00. We went to the 3rd floor and an officier that barely spoke english told us their offices were closed on Saturday and Sunday. We told him that his Customs Employees told us to be here at 8 today and then again at 1, he informed us that we should have done more research? After telling him that we had been instructed by other customs officers, he said that we have to go to West Palm Beach airport to check in before the 24 hours was up. So, we hailed a cab to the airport, 25 minutes and $50 later, we were there. He dropped us off at a sign that said US Immigration and Customs. Seems appropriate, but no, the Customs office we needed was about 7-8 miles away, still on Airport property but off site nonetheless. We hailed another Cab. We explained that we needed to go to the Customs office off site but still on Airport property. With the help of the person hailing cabs, he was able to translate to this very nice but illiterate haitian man. He took us to the office and waited for us. We would never get a cab in this area? We walked up to the doors. There was a window with a buzzer and paperwork taped all over the window.. We pushed the button and after about 5 minutes a uniformed man showed up. We told him why we were there. He took all of our paperwork and left us on the porch while he did whatever he needed to do. After about 5 minutes a woman officer appeared with our passports and told her everything was complete. Our Passports did not get stamped, but we left with our nice Cab driver and after another 25 minutes and another $50 we found our Dinghy and proceeded back to our boat. So the Moral to this story is we should not have been so honest. I guess seasoned americans that have done this in the past, just wait until Monday to say they are back even if that is not true? We were concerned that they may stop us in the future when we wanted to travel. We will find out if our documentation and passports are really in order when we fly home in a couple of weeks.
So, we are back on the boat, safe and sound. We have a lot of thoughts to include on our next Blog about what we might have done different or better but all in all, it was an amazing trip.
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