Bahamas Bound

On Thursday, January 31 we moved to just south of the Lake Worth inlet to stage for our departure. We went early so we could visit Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to register for the Friendly Boater Program. This is available in Florida, whereby presenting our passports and ship's documentation we are issued a card with a number we report in with on our return to the U.S. When we return we can clear in by calling a 800 number and should avoid a visit to CBP offices. The radio was busy all evening as we made plans for the crossing. We all finally agreed on a 5 am departure and about 8 or 9 boats would be in the group. We decided on 5 am based on the latest weather report from Chris Parker of the Caribbean Weathernet. The winds picked up substantially during the evening and night as predicted and when we got up at 4 am they were still blowing hard so we delayed departure. After getting a new weather update at 6:30 am, with the winds finally falling off and allowing time for the seas to settle we set a new departure time at 9 am. We counted 9 boats leaving the inlet at 9 am. The day was just wonderful with good sailing and a very tame Gulf Stream. One exciting new experience as we approached the Little Bahama Bank was to see flying fish. I never realized how well they can control their flight and how far they can travel, staying in the air for several seconds. Since we were delayed 4 hours on our departure we could not make our original planned destination in daylight so at 5:30 we dropped anchor where we were. We were the lead boat so all trailing boats sighted on us either visually or by anchor lights. The last boat arrived at 8 pm making 7 boats anchored in our little cluster. It was a new experience anchoring without any land in sight. While the depth was 15 feet the water was crystal clear so every detail of the bottom was visible. We watched our anchor descend and then the chain pay out across the bottom. On Saturday all of the boats in our group left at
9 am bound for Great Sale Cay about 40 miles across the bank. The wind was light and on the nose so it was a motoring day. We had a small very tired bird join us for awhile. He checked out the entire boat and spent time in the cockpit with us and perched briefly on my knee. Great Sale Cay is just some sand and brush but in a great location for a stop. Several of us will continue on to Allans-Pensacola Cay tomorrow. We have not cleared in yet so we are flying our Q (Quarantine) flag. We will clear in when we arrive at Green Turtle Cay sometime next week.