Bahamas

Saturday April 4, 2009 Today we spent doing a few boat chores in the morning and then strolled around the Bayside Marketplace. Had dinner at a Cuban restaurant and then listened to some guy playing a flamenco guitar (is there such a thing?) in an outside pavillion overlooking the marina. It didn't take long to realize that we were the minority in this crowd. Everyone around us was speaking Spanish. And here we thought we were in Miami. Turns out we were in Miahavana. Nice people none the less. Back to the boat to check weather for crossing the Gulf Stream on Sunday and then bed.

Sunday April 5, 2009 Up early to check weather one last time. All looks good so we cast off the lines and headed out. The plan was to go out through Government Cut past the cruise ships. That got dashed the minute we turned into the cut. A police boaat came flying towards us with the lights flashing. Friendly folks, no guns drawn. They informed us that when the ships are in port NO pleasure craft are allowed to pass through the cut. We had to go back and pass out to the ocean on the other side of Dodge Island past the container ships. Go figure! When we got into the ocean we found seas to be1' to 2' of chop on top of a 2' to 3' swell. Not bad! We also found the deepest blue color of water that we've seen on this trip.

The weather was so good that we decided to bypass Bimini and continue on to Chub Cay arriving there at 2:45 pm. We pulled into the marina and tied off to one of the docks. An employee came over to us and brought us the paper work to fill out to gain entry into the Bahamas. Once filled out I was transported to the airport by bus (15 passenger van) to the customs office. $300.00 later I was given a ride back to the boat. We put up our Bahamian flag and went to the fuel dock. Ouch! $4.10 a gallon. Needless to say we didn't top off the tanks. From Chub Cay we went another 4 miles to Bird Cay and anchored for the night. 155 miles for the day. Not bad.