The Crossing, Day 1

Sunday, April 1st was a little on the hetic side, with final preparations and goodbyes... It got all the more hectic for me, when we woke up and saw the mess in our bed.  Nope, it wasn't Willis.  It was Cap'n.  It seems he went to bed with an ink pen and paper to make 'notes to self' before he fell asleep.  In the end, he slept very little, as his mind was going in a whirl, hoping that he had not forgotten anything too important.  Well, the cap was off the ink pen, and Donnie wallered the bed, tossing and turning all night long.  He never did sleep well.  But when he got up in the morning, it looked as if he had written a book all over the bed, and all over his a**!  It was funny at the time, but a bit exasperating, too.  I was not  planning on another load of laundry before casting off. No, I am NOT providing you with photos.  You'll just have to trust me and take my word for it!  A bit of rubbing alcohol, a lot of rubbing, and he was fit to be seen, lol.

It looked like he wrote a novel in bed last night :/

Kenny and Fran came over at about 11:30am.  She took me to go get block ice, and we delivered Willis T and all of his toys, treats, litterbox, and food to their condo.  He immediately scoped their place out, and hid under their bed.  I am not at all worried about him, as I know they will spoil him rotten.  My only worry is that they will decide to take him home with them when they leave on April 15th!  He is supposed to be delivered to Dan & Biddi's for the last two weeks of the month, until we return.  They have joint custody of the furry beast. 

Uh- oh, something's up.  I'm back in the cat carrier for some reason.
Unbeknownst to him, I had to sign papers to turn over parental rights.
I think he will be much happier this way- I wouldn't want him seasick for a month.

We had a little picnic lunch out on the pointe with Biddi, Kenny & Fran.

We had some last laughs when Kenny pulled out a pie that he "made
especially for us."  If any of you have read or seen The Help, you get the drift, lol.
After lunch, Fran and Biddi delivered our bikes to Dave for safekeeping while we are gone.

I packed most of my herb garden onto the boat.  I left the tomato plant,
parsley, cilantro and flowers for Biddi to enjoy while we're gone.

Donnie disconnected cable, water, and shore power.  We both grabbed a quick
shower and casted off the docklines at 2:20pm.  Matt and Karie were
in the lead on their 34' catamaran, Plan Sea.

We had a more auspicious beginning....dang near clipped the dinghy
on Biddi and the Beast as we left the dock- OOPS!

OMG, honey, can you believe we're really going to do it?!  SO EXCITING!!!

As we left, there was a rainbow around the sun- I hope that's a good omen!

Oh dear, I found Willis' food bowl on the boat.  Sad face.

We thought it would take us about 5 hours to get to the channel five bridge and cross into the Atlantic, but we made good time.  We still had to dodge lobster pots like crazy, and I didn't understand that.  The lobster season ended on 3/31.  Maybe these were crab pots instead?  I don't know, but at times it was like picking your way through a mine field.  I'm glad we were doing it before sundown.  By the time the sun set at around 7:45pm, we were well into the Atlantic side, and cruising right along in over 100 ft. of water.  The wind was light and variable, so we mostly motor sailed.  A few times we were able to give Bessie a break, and still sailed at 6 knots.  I didn't think we'd see those speeds as loaded down as we were. 

I didn't fix dinner until around 8pm.  We were so wound up, we really weren't hungry before then.  I made a quick chicken stir fry and rice, with all the fresh veggies I got at the farmer's market.  I gotta say, it was delicious.  I plan to keep my Cap'n well-fed on this trip :)

We entered into the Gulfstream after midnight.  You could actually feel it.  The motion of the boat reminded me of going white water rafting, where you pick up speed in the little Class 2 rapids just before you hit a hydraulic!  It was really fun, actually.  The wind was light, and the stream was never over 2's and 3's.  I didn't need any dramamine afterall.  We really made good time in the stream, cruising steadily at 7.0 - 7.5+ knots.  That was with Bessie turning only 1500-1800 rpm's.  We cruised right along, no problems, no mishaps...

...until we crossed paths with a freighter.  It was very disorienting in the dark.  He was running nearly dark, and he was hauling you know what.  He flashed two quick strobes from the bridge, but we could not make out the course he was on.  We do not have radar on Marquesa, but we do have a radar reflector so those ships with radar can 'see' us.  We know it works, as Matt and Karie pick us up on their radar.  Anyhow, Donnie did a complete 180, slowing us to 2.5 knots, into the current.  I was trying to hail the freighter on the radio repeatedly (of course, he never answered), however, Matt and Karie found themselves nearly broadside to him.  Karie was on watch and also was having difficulty making out the frighter's lights and which direction he was travelling.  She woke Matt up just in time to be looking into the hull of the ship directly in front of them.  Matt had the good sense to immediately throw both of his engines into reverse.  The freighter literally passed about 50 ft. in front of them and they got sucked in his prop wash, then bounced in his wake and foam.  It scared the bejesus out of both of them, no doubt.  Nothing like a surge of adrenaline to wake you up!  It's crazy to think that of the miles and miles and miles of ocean, two ships can nearly collide- craziness.  Thankfully, no harm, other than a quick case of nerves.

Donnie and I traded off at the helm, for the most part.  He definitely was at the helm the majority of the trip. He only went down below twice to cat nap.  It's a good thing we have Agnes, otherwise, it really would have been exhausting to hand steer.   Donnie watched the sun come up, and I slept really well from 6:30-8:30am.  When I got up, I made the Cap'n some more coffee, and got us a bowl of cheerios with strawberries. 
We saw "Land, ho!" about eight miles out, and by 10:30am, we were pulling into Bimini Sands Resort and Marina on South Bimini.  We again tried repeatedly to hail a dockmaster on the radio to get directions for entering into the marina.  It would have been nice to know if we needed a port or starboard side tie up so I could get the lines and fenders out.  No answer.  Matt tried again, and again.  No answer.  I guess everybody is on island time! 

As it turned out, it wasn't an issue at all, as there weren't more than ten boats
in the whole marina.  Bimini Sands looks to be a beautiful place!

Donnie hung our yellow quarantine flag, then left with
Matt on a cab ride to the airport to clear in with
Customs and Immigration.  Once cleared, the yellow
flag comes down, and we fly the Bahamas flag for
the remainder of our stay there in the islands.

...the guys are now back.  Time to fix their lunch.  After a nap, we plan to take a dinghy ride to Alicetown on North Bimini island.  Hemmingway had a hideout there, but it burnt to the ground several year's back.  Donnie and I have been there before, when we took a scuba dive trip to Bimini not long after we were married.  For now, we are happily safe and sound, and cleared in with our cruising permit for the Bahamas.  Time to go make more memories...