Weather window Saturday
Seafever
Wed 17 Feb 2010 14:13
Now we're looking further out, to determine when we'll cross from Bimini to Andros. Sunday is also a very mild day; and Monday the winds pick up a bit, but still 15 knots or under frrom the SE. But between Monday night and Tuesday, a nasty-looking storm cell seems to move through quickly, with 30-40 knot winds from the SW. So we want to be sure of being in Morgans Bluff by Monday evening, or we would just stay in Bimini for several days to let the storm pass. We'll keep monitoring the weather predictions to see how this storm shapes up.
We figure we'll get into Bimini too late to clear customs on Saturday (I believe they close at 5:00), though if we depart from Key Biscayne early enough, we may make it in time. Ideally, we would get customs and refueling all done Saturday, and then Saturday evening move the boat around to Nixon's Harbor on the south side of South Bimini to be ready to start for Andros before dawn Sunday. If we can't get all that done on Saturday, we would do it Sunday morning and begin our crossing to Andros at, say, 11 AM instead of 4 AM. If we did that, we would probably sail on through the night, or at least till midnight when the half moon will set. Since it will be a mild night, we could anchor out on the Bahamas Bank, get a little sleep, and push on the next morning all the way to Morgans Bluff by early afternoon.
In any case -- first things first. We'll finish packing the boat, then launch tomorrow . . .