On the move again.......

Can you believe it ? We are on the move again !!

We spoke to our weather router this morning and he was still predicting snotty weather for later in the week; so we decided to leave tonite for the Berry Islands.

First things first, Lucaya was nice....the people could not have been nicer or more helpful. We would definitely recommend using Lucaya as a point of entry into the Bahamas. (Although, the "officials" that did our paperwork granted Persephone one year to remain in the Bahamas, but THE CREW was given only 100 days !! Go figure....that is just the way it is in the islands !!) The main attraction in Lucaya is the Market Place. Sort of an assortment of tourist-type duty free shops catering to the cruise ships which frequent Freeport. We saw lots of "condo commandos" today complete with matching belts and shoes. Just made you proud to be from the states !! So, 36 hours was enough for us in Lucaya.

Again, we are doing a night passage...guess we don't sail during the daytime anymore. We didn't want to get stuck for days in Lucaya waiting for weather to continue our trek south, so that also factored into our decision to leave tonite. In addition, if we left in the morning we would arrive at our destination in the evening...or after dark; not good in the islands.

Tonite is even nicer than our passage on Sunday nite. The weather is almost identical, but the sea is table top flat. There is very little wind, so we are again motorsailing. We are bypassing most of the Berry Islands tonight as we don't want to get caught out if the weather is as nasty as predicted. The Berry's are sparsely populated, and there are very few deep, protected anchorages. Most of the anchorages are just tucking up behind a cay out of the prevailing easterly winds. However, it is no place to be in a gale or heavy squalls. So we have opted to go to the bottom of the Berry's to Frazier's Hog Cay. (Gotta love the name) We can snug up to the island, perhaps get a mooring and have relative protection. Frazier's Hog is just short of 100 miles south of Lucaya, so we won't be arriving till around noon tomorrow.....perfect time to "read the water" going up the channel next to the island. (The charts of the Bahamas are sketchy at best, lacking the detail that we are used to in the states....so you have to learn to read the depth of the water by its color.....it is all on the job training...a passing grade is not hitting a reef, or coral head. You can guess a failing grade :(

So, I have to go take a look around....I'm looking at the radar as I'm typing and all is clear 6 miles around us.....but it never hurts to take a look-see (or is that sea ??) Later...........

On the Move.....

Hi all........

We hve decided to leave Lucaya tonite and head for the Berry Islands in advance of a potent cold front which may bring gales to the area.  We will be leaving around 5 pm to get out to sea before dark.  Will update post via ham radio while at sea.    THE CREW

Arrival

Well, we got into Lucaya just before 9am. The water at the approach went from 500+ feet deep to appx 10 feet deep in about a 150 yards !! (Just a bit disconcerting...) The water color and clarity is post card pretty. In 20' of water you can clearly see the bottom and fish swimming around....

We got tied up promptly and had to take a water taxi to Customs and Immigration. Another boat ("Stolen Moments") arrived just before us, so we all went together. Craig kept humming the Crosby Stills tune "Immigration Man" (Half way through the song the lyrics change from Immigration Man" to "Irritation Man"...will you let me in ??) As in the song, we we spent 4 hours waiting to get cleared in (which included going to lunch to wait for a second person). A couple of Kaliks (Bahamian Beer) eased the process.

We got back to the boat, got her squared away, and Trudie went to the pool to get cooled off and work on her tan and I gave Persephone a bath. I got as much spray on me as the boat 'cause it was so hot.

We are hanging at the dock tonite, and crashing early. We haven't yet figured out when or where we are going next ! We'll let you all know.

THE Ex-Pat CREW

Arriving....

We are off Lucaya with about 4+ miles to go. We should be arriving at the channel entrance in less than an hour. Easy, uneventful passage. We both were able to get some sleep, and are rested. Simply, couldn't have been a better passage.....(except we could have used a bit more wind). All is well aboard...and looking forward to our arrival in port.

26 26.93 N X 078 41.25 W at 7:20

Beautiful night

We just had a change of watch here on Persephone. I hit the bunk at midnight, and just got up at 3am for the remainder of the night. Trudie had a busy watch "dodging" commercial ships traversing between Bahamas and Florida. The electronics on-board are a real help in identifying the ship, its speed and direction...they even tell us how close the ship will pass us. So, Trudie altered our course to stay out of the way. (I have what is known as the "tonnage rule".....if it is bigger than us, keep otta the way...even though we are a sailboat !

The stars are incredibly bright without the moon, and there have been a great number of shooting stars. It is very warm, with flat seas making for a great motorsail; although I would like a bit more wind so we could shut down the engine. Oh well, can't have everything.

Back to my "watch"....(not like there is much going on here :) )

Underway

This is being sent by ham radio. We are underway from Lake Worth to Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island. It is a beautiful nite with warm temps and lots of stars (but, no moon). We could use a little more wind to help push us along. Right now we are motorsailing as there is not enough wind to keep us moving. All OK aboard... Trudie is sleeping, and I have to get back to my watch. More to follow.

24 Hours and counting.....

The last 24 hours has been a whirlwind.  Completing our lists, finishing shopping/provisioning, 2 trips to the pharmacy, water, fuel, weather checks.......wow !!.....our heads are spinning......

The Christmas festivities started last night in Vero Beach Marina.  There was a parade of boats decorated in holiday lights, illuminated santas and of course tacky reindeer complete with blaring music.... The parade ended next to Persephone:

To add to the festivity, there were about 15 kayaks (all decorated with lites) paddling around the anchorage singing Christmas carols at each boat.   We joined in by putting up lites in the cockpit and blowing our horn as each boat passed.  It was great fun and got us in the holiday spirit !!                                                       

I was up at 6:45 this morning to listen to the weather forecast, and speak with our weather router.  We wanted to head over to the Bahamas in the middle of next week.  The weather guru said no way....a major front is forecast to cross the Bahamas from Tues until later in the week making a crossing unwise.  He said go and go NOW, he gave a window of Sunday night into Monday morning.  So, we immediately started to prepare the boat to get underway today down the remaining 60 miles of the ICW.                                     

What does this all mean ??  We will exit the ICW via the Lake Worth Inlet late tomorrow afternoon and do a night sail across to Grand Bahama Island arriving on Monday morning.  We will be going to Lucaya to clear customs etc and wait for the front to roll through.  Once we are in the Bahamas our cell phones will NOT work.  You will only be able to contact us via email and then only if we have access to the internet which may be spotty in the outer islands.                                                                                              

So wish us luck, and follow along on ShipTrak as we cross tomorrow nite  (D +T soon to be X-patriots)