Gulf Stream Crossing
Ambler Isle
V and S
Sat 18 Dec 2010 15:54
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25 34 456N
079 18 857W
12/17/10
We got a late start for going to the Bahamas. We
worked late into the night trying to set up the weather and compressed email
programs with the satellite phone. We couldn't get it to work, and went to
bed resigned to taking the computer and phone back to the satellite phone
service company the next morning. However, it turned out to simply be a
bad phone cable, and when we replaced it with another one, the satellite
connection was perfect. To test it out, I ordered some weather reports and
printed them out to take with us. The reports showed light SE winds and
1-2' seas. Perfect. So at 10:00am we were able to leave Port
Everglades into the Atlantic Ocean. The 60 mile Gulfstream crossing was
uneventful. We fished, but did not catch. It was dark when we
reached Cat Cay, just south of Bimini, the first of the Bahama Islands. We
had to pass through a narrow, rocky cut. With the help of radar, the
spotlight, GPS navigation, and good old experience going through this
particular cut before, we passed through easily. Once through we were on
the Great Bahama Bank, and the water was smooth and calm. We drove another
5 hours til midnight, then went to bed for 4 hours. We wanted to get to
Nassau before dark the next day. That entrance is tricky, too, and the
harbour busy. Better to go in during daylight.
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