Stella Blue has been tugging at her dock lines. She’s eager to break free from the comforts of a marina and sail out into the open ocean…and so is her crew! We have been waiting for what feels like longer than three weeks for a seemingly impossible weather window to cross that nasty piece of water called the Gulf Stream and make landfall back in the good ol’ US of A. Waiting has finally paid off and we are prepping for a two day sail back to Marathon, FL.
We have crossed the Gulf Steam (I’m still trying to come up with a more creative and appropriately angry nickname here…) three times during our year-ish long adventure and each time the conditions have escalated to worse than forecast AND worse than the previous crossing. After we survived our trip to Bermuda last November, I vowed that I would NEVER be aboard a vessel in the Stream again. Well, time and a bit of perspective have coaxed me back in, but only if certain conditions presented themselves. I wanted that darned Gulf Stream to be GLASSY – as close to zero wind as possible without a squall on any horizon. I know this makes me a wimpy sailor…not much of a sailor at all actually since we need wind to sail…but so be it. Stella and Logan were definitely prepared for more, but have been sympathetic to my irrational desires and waited with me for these mild conditions. We should have less than 10kts and 2’ seas for the whole trip. Time to pick up some bait and hook one of those beautiful Mahi.
Our time here in Nassau has been filled with boat work and a busy social calendar. We have reunited with so many of our cruising buddies that are also making the trek back to the states for hurricane season and met lots of new friends here at the marina. We buzzed over to Rose Island for a picnic on the beach. We spent a lot of time with Tom and Sandra aboard Lady G – even took a boat trip around the island to the Atlantis Marina where we indulged in some waterpark fun. We spent an evening at Potter’s Cay eating conch everything and catching up with Bill and Phyllis on Oh My! and Dennis and Leslie on Spitfire. We shared pizzas and cocktails here at the marina restaurant with Sheree, Richard, their son Adam and his girlfriend Elena. We had Johan, our South African neighbor, over for dinner and some of the wildest stories we’ve ever heard. We caught up with our Salty Dawg buddies Debbie and Chuck on Brisa – we can’t get enough of those guys! And of course we spent many nights with our favorite Bahamians Sheree and Richard – this place wouldn’t be nearly as great without them. It’s been a groovy few weeks.
It’s been great fun, but we are pumped to get back to Florida where this journey began over a year ago. We will use the Spot Connect to track our trip. We plan to leave the dock at 10am Thursday morning and arrive in Marathon, Fl sometime Saturday morning – maybe we’ll get to pick up our old friend Mooring Ball O1! Here we go again!
Charles’ neighbor here in Carrabelle was a former state of Florida Marine Patrol officer and went after smugglers. They used a Cigarette high speed boat. They could go from Nassau to Miami in one hour (75 mph). Too bad you can’t get you diesel up to speed.
HAH! That kind of speed would make it hard to fish 🙂
Sandra Glodek has some pictures to share with you, her email is zada50@aol.com