31st December 2019                                  

It always amazes me how we can lift the anchor so easily even after it has been embedded in the sand for weeks, our stay in West Palm Beach ended up being for 18 nights.

To lift the anchor we did our usual process, myself on the helm and Craig using the electric winch to wind it up, all the while giving me hand signals so I can steer the boat in the right direction so that we are positioned above the anchor and it lifts straight up and in.

Our patience paid off, the course we set to Lucaya ran 70 nm in a straight line, allowing the winds to push us southwards and if we had any pull from the Gulf Stream pulling us back Northwards we could reset our course once we were across the Gulf and the winds were behind us.

After and early dinner while we were still anchored in the shelter of West Palm Beach we headed back out through the entrance, passing all the families playing on the beach and the fishermen fishing of the harbour rock walls, there are surfable waves a little bit past the entrance, we could see the surfers floating on the water waiting for their next wave.  It was a bit of a feat motoring out over the incoming swell, dealing with the outgoing tide clashing with the incoming waves, it was fairly turbulent with salt water crashing over our bow.    

Before we left we had gone through the boat and tidied everything either into cupboards or made sure the things on the shelves were wedged in or behind the lip of the shelf, that helps hold everything in place.  We have to ensure all the windows and hatches are closed and locked and all the cupboards and drawers have the button locks engaged.  its quite a process.

Our friends on Doriana Peter and Joyce were unable to join us on the crossing as they have encountered engine trouble and instead of crossing to the Bahamas had to be towed in to a marina.

We seemed to arrive straight into the gulf stream apparently the gulf stream is constantly changing either closer or further from shore and tonight we seemed to hit it almost straight away, you can tell you are in the Gulf Stream as the water changes to the most incredible deep blue and the water temperature rises, tonight it is sitting on 28c !!

A huge cruise ship exited just behind us, we were directly in its path, these cruise ships can average 25 knots we do about 8 but this one changed his course and veered off to the left and around us  the ship was with us the whole trip, and actually went really slow.  I guess their schedule allows them all night to reach their destination and its not that far.  At one stage looking on AIS we were going faster than them.

Apart from the cruise ship we also had some other boats for company and as soon as the lights faded from Miami we could start to see the navigation lights on Grand Bahama Island, we did not feel alone on this passage not like some of the others we have done.

The white boat us Adriana, this is fairly zoomed in the other boats were not as close as it looks here 

A couple of the boats were talking to each other so we were eavesdropping on their conversations to keep us entertained on our passage.

We flew across with absolutely no issues, we averaged about 7.5knots with the main sail and the foresail up . Adriana heels over as monohull yachts are meant to do and we have to brace ourselves with our legs, you are almost standing leaning back on the seat it sounds more uncomfortable than it is but it does make going below a bit of an adventure, we took it in turns to have 2 hour sleeps but the boat traffic was really busy and I know I had much more sleep than Craig. 

We wear our life jackets and strap ourselves on to the boat using stretchy life  lines.  The chart plotter and radar screen were pretty hectic with traffic.  We did have to put on our warm fleecy jumpers during the night but Craig wore shorts all night, we marvelled at how warm it was even out at sea in the middle of the night.

We had to bypass the top of Grand Bahama Island as it is still recovering from Hurricane Dorian, Lucyca is way south of the northern most tip of the Grand Bahamas.  Adriana was going so well that we had to pull in the foresail and reef in the main to slow her down so that we didn't arrive before the sun came up.

As the cloudy pink skies brightened to daylight we could see the channel markers leading us in to Lucyca entrance.

Sunrise in a new country

The clouds were so dark and full of rain

We were more than a little bit excited to be landing in another country, Craig has dreamed of this for at least 10 years, going to sleep at night visualising this very moment.

We made it !!

  

Its a funny narrow entrance and as the water is sooooo clear you can see the bottom which is very disconcerting as it makes it look too shallow, there were rocks and some debris underneath us that we could clearly see.  A right turn and there in front of us was Lucyca Marina with someone there to catch the lines and help us tie up.

Some photos of the passage into Lucaya

We had done plenty of research and spoken to lots of people who had recommended Lucaya and it certainly was a very easy place to check in.
We topped up with diesel $80, not a bad price to get to the Bahamas on.

The customs office is right there on the dock.  Craig went ashore but law states that other crew and passengers must wait onboard.   Craig was allowed to come back onboard to complete the paperwork.

We have a 3 month visa for The Bahamas, check in was really easy 

Before we are checked in we have to fly the yellow quarantine flag, its always exciting checking in to a new country

The customs lady was great and the whole process was very easy.  I tided up and literally sat and marvelled at the clear water with the tropical fish swimming around the dock.  

We had planned to anchor around the Marina area but it all looked too closed in and the Marina man (I never did get his name) explained that there is no longer anchoring around here plus its New Years Eve and he will take us into town for the music and the street party if we stay at the Marina.  OK,he talked us into it, but really we were hustled,  we decided to take a berth just for the night, he was very nice and only charged us for 42 foot instead of our 50 feet but it still worked out to be US$100 after adding taxes.

Once we had tidied up and had showers we decided to walk the couple of km into town to stretch our legs and have a look around.  There is evidence everywhere of the hurricane damage whether it was from Dorian or one of the many other hurricanes that hit The Bahamas most years.  There are broken empty buildings, lots with their roofs ripped right off or just the corners showing damage, the roads were uneven and no real footpaths, still with palm trees and lucuous undergrowth it was a mixture of run down and pretty.
Again we picked the worst place for lunch we always seem to go to the most touristy unedible rip off places on our first day !!  But we did try Conch and as the waitress said it does taste like Calimari, we are looking forward to finding and cooking our own.

Conch (pronounced Konk) produce and live in these beautiful shells, so hopefully I can find one and clean it up enough to keep as a souvenir.

We returned to Adriana and had a restful afternoon, I walked over to a little wooden tug boat called "Rosie" that had crossed at the same time as us and was also in the Marina, to see what (Steve and Kate) were doing for the night, they were planning to go into town

too.  

Our water taxi 

Our dockmaster picked us all up at 8pm and ferried us in the marina boat around the corner to the town square, there was a huge Christmas trees, lots of tables and chairs set up in front of the stage with bars and restaurants all around the outside.

The band was great we sat and enjoyed the festive atmosphere, Kate and Steve went off to have something to eat and we sat and enjoyed our BYO beer and champagne.  Once Kate and Steve had eaten they were ready to go home, it was actually getting a little chilly so we headed back too.

Lucaya Town Square

New Years Eve and we were in bed by 10pm, Craig heard the midnight fireworks they were right above us but didnt get out of bed.  Me I didnt hear a thing, remember we were catching up on the previous nights broken sleep from being on passage on passsage.

We are here in The Bahamas and cant wait to explore this amazing country.