Day 289 - 291 April 5 - 7, 2023

 Day 289 Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos to Great Sale Cay

We left Green Turtle Club today hoping to move west for our weather window to cross back to Florida.  We left at 8am with calm, comfortable seas at 1-2 foot waves from the east.  The winds actually gave us a little push.  

 Hurricane damage at Green Turtle Cay

 

We passed "Center of the World Rock"!  It is an actual rock sticking out of the ocean.  You wouldn't think much of it if you didn't notice it named on the charts. 

We anchored on the west side of Great Sale Cay with Call Me Curly and 2 other boats.  Later we were joined by 4 others.  The bay is huge with plenty of room for even more boats.  

Government regulations prohibit transport of meat, fruit, produce and dairy back into the states.  This is similar to when we crossed in and out of Canada; this is to prevent the contamination of crops by invasive species.  For Canada to the states we found a list that specified the food and allowed countries of origin.  We only worried about items that weren't labeled or on that list.  We ended up cooking our eggs and frozen chicken.  There isn't a specific list for this passage -- nonspecific regulations prohibit import of meat, produce, fruit, dairy, fish ..... Needless to say we are doing a lot of eating, cooking and refreezing so that we don't have to throw food away.  Violations can result in very stiff fines.  Tonight we eat steak.

 It only took a minute...  

Our hearts go out to our friends, Patti and Corbin, on Donna Lynn.  We learned today that their boat caught on fire while in a marina in Marsh Harbour.  They have lost everything.  We are grateful that they weren't hurt and that they have the support of Tom and M.E. on AnnaDee. 

Day 290 Thursday, April 6, 2023

Great Sale Cay to West End, Grand Bahama Island

We pulled anchor at 8am; it came up clean with only a few sea shells.  We plan a 6 hour day to  Old Bahama Bay Resort and Yacht Harbour.  

While readying to leave we witnessed a dinghy race across the harbor to another boat and then back.  After we were moving a radio call went our from the sailboat "Maniana" asking for any nurse or doctor that might be in the anchorage. Later, more radio conversation revealed that they were trying unsuccessfully to reach the Royal Defense Force (Bahamian equivalent to the Coast Guard) by cell phone and VHS.  "Naut Work", the boat that had helped earlier by providing a catheter, heard the coast guard calls and was able to make contact for them using their satellite telephone.  In the meantime a medical technician in the harbor was able to help with the catheter and the coast guard wasn't needed.  

We traveled in 10-12 feet of beautiful turquoise water.  You'd think that it was thousands of feet deep considering the expanse of ocean there was; we were traveling along the Little Bahama Bank.  We only had 5 feet of water depth as we went through Indian Rock Passage at West End, near the entrance to the marina. 

 The docks are fixed and high! Check out the wind!

 The fender boards came in handy again.

Old Bahama Bay is an actual resort with rental villas, beach, pool, restaurant, tiki bar and marina.  Customs is located right next to the fuel dock; this is a popular spot to check into the Bahamas from the U.S.  It is also popular for staging a trip back since it is one of the closest places to cross.  We will leave here and head to Lake Worth Inlet, near West Palm Beach, 56 miles. 

 

 We got invited to Laura and Joe's house for Easter dinner!!  If the weather cooperates we will cross on Saturday April 8th. 

Day 291 Friday, April 7, 2023

We have been looking forward to having a cooked breakfast, eating up our bacon (so we won't have to toss it out).  Fortunately in the middle of the night I remembered that it's GOOD Friday, so no meat.  We cooked it anyway and refroze it.  I spent the day trying to do laundry.  They have 4 washers and dryers but of course, only 1 washer works and there was a line. 

 

 View of the marina from the back of our boat.

Laundry finally finished we joined Sharon and Grant at the Tiki Hut with other loopers.  Everyone was planning their trip back to the states. Our reservations for Old Port Cove Marina in Palm Beach were confirmed for tomorrow so it's starting to feel real.  The Bahamas have been beautiful and a great experience but Jerry and I are looking forward to getting back.