It's Better in the Bahamas

Anyone who was in Canada in the 80s must remember these commercials:

So far I agree with the Bahamas tourism office.  It really is better here.  Such an easy place to be a tourist.  Close to home, everyone speaks English so communication isn't a problem, but clearly a different country.  Not like traveling to the US which is so similar to home in many ways that it doesn't feel like much of an adventure.

We (finally) left Key Largo on Sunday and headed out to an anchorage off Angelfish Creek just east of Card Sound.  The conditions were perfect for sailing.  We had 17 knots of breeze on a close to beam reach in the glorious sunshine.  In the anchorage there was a strong tidal current of about 2-3 knots so we had a great time floating in the river while holding on to a dock line for dear life! The boys were happy to be able to swing from the main halyard into the sea again after so long in an busy canal beside a boat yard.

Our friend Marty aboard Lucero seeing us off with a salute 

Sam relaxing at the helm on  a perfect day

After a night at Angelfish Creek we set off before first light for our Gulf Stream crossing.  The true course from the cut in the reef near the anchorage to the entrance at the Alicetown harbour was approximately 60°T but had to head for 90°T to account for the push north from the Gulf stream.  This unfortunately meant that the wind was a little too much on the nose to sail so we motored the whole way across the stream.

About an hour out from Bimini we raised our Q flag to indicate that we had not yet cleared customs and immigration.  The flag stays up until the Master of the vessel (that's me!) has finished checking in to the country.  At that time the rest of the crew is permitted to leave the ship and the Bahamas courtesy flag is raised in place of the Q flag.  The reason the flag that represents the letter Q is flown is that originally the flag meant that the ship had not been cleared medically so everyone was under quarantine until they had been deemed free of the plague or measles or whatever else used to kill hundreds of passengers in one swoop.  The process with the Bahamian officials was straight forward and by 5pm we had 90-day visas for us, a 1 year cruising permit for the boat, and 4 fishing licenses.

The water really is the turquoise I imagined it to be

As I type this we've now had 2 wonderful days on North Bimini. We've played at the beach, walked all over the island, visited the laundromat (cruising in paradise isn't all fun and games), and filled up our tanks for the next leg.  Both fuel and water are very expensive here.  The fuel because, like almost everything else, it has to be shipped in and the water because the only real source is desalinated ocean water.

The view from our cockpit

Doesn't matter how old they get, they still like to chase seagulls

My boys

Fresh pina coladas at Radio Beach 

The strip of bars and restaurants at Radio Beach

The boys finally get to use the kayaks Grandma and Grandpa gave them for Christmas

I think I have a photo just like this taken when they were 4 and 7

The boys exploring in the dinghy

Sunset in paradise

Our next stop is anchoring in the middle of the Bahamas Banks because we can't do the next hop in one go.  The water is very shallow and all our guide books assure us it is very straightforward but it is unlike anything we've done so far.  Wish us luck!

We'll be out there somewhere in the light blue between Alicetown and Chub Cay