25:49N 77:55W

 

After an uneventful day/night/day passage from Florida to the Berry Islands in the Bahamas, the first thing on the agenda was a swim.  The beautiful Berry Island anchorage obliged with crystal clear tepid (31degree) water.  We’d been looking forward to this for seven months – our last “proper” swim was in the Bimini Islands in April as we don’t count the odd dips in murky jellyfish riddled water we had in Chesapeake Bay.

 

Our passage began with a bash to windward down the Florida coast in a dying easterly and once we tacked over to tackle the dreaded Gulf Stream, the wind completely died and we motored.  It’s not something we enjoy but if it means getting across this notorious strip of water then we’ll do it.

 

It was wonderful to be back in the warmth of the tropics.  The new toys came out and all three of us (we have David’s daughter Anna on board) had a go at stand up paddleboarding and kayaking.  Stand up paddleboarding is easier than we thought – although maybe that’s due to the yoga we all do.  Saying that – we’ve only managed a brief paddle around Bandit in flat calm conditions!

 

We plan to keep trucking south through the Bahamas.  While they are beautiful and it would easy to spend months here, we need to get to Jamaica by mid December for Anna’s flight out.