Fort Lauderdale, FL to Staniel Cay, Bahamas

We were pulled out the Las Olas Marina at 6:15 in the morning. It was still dark, but the sun was just starting to come up. By the time we got to the cut heading south, our friends on Carleigh were approaching heading north. It was good to be underway.

 

Morning over the Atlantic as we left Fort Lauderdale.

It wasn't a perfectly calm morning, but it was calmer than our trip across the gulf last year, but like last year, it calmed down once we passed Bimini mid-day and reached the Bahamas Banks. We knew our weather window was tight, and realized that as the day progressed talking with some other boaters on the radio, that it would be best to not stop on the Bank for the night like we usually do, but to continue on through the night and reach Nassau around 2 AM.

 

Carleigh, the blue American Tug, is behind us going out the cut.

 

Carleigh ahead of us at North Rock near Bimini early afternoon.

We heard a couple of boating friends on the radio. Frances and Laurie on Glory Days called and were heading to a smaller island in the Berry Islands. They have a sailboat and with the low winds would not be able to reach Nassau with us. The other boat was Pete and Chris on Scooter. They were ahead of us, but were not going as fast and ended up reaching Nassau at about the same time.

This was the first time we have ever cruised that long into the night and we were definitely tired. Nassau, usually a very busy harbor, but was like a ghost town when we arrived. The last cruise ship in had left just before we entered the harbor. No boats were moving except for the three of us, Carleigh, Scooter, and Pretty Penny. Even the big Atlantis Resort on New Providence Island on the other side of the harbor seemed very quiet.

Obviously, at that time of night, no one would be at the docks to help us. We let Carleigh enter ahead of us and get tied up and then they came to help us. Scooter went in to an adjoining marina and ended up just across from us. The bad news is that arriving at night did not give me an opportunity to take photos of Nassau for the blog. You will just have to go back and look at our trips through Nassau from previous years!

After we got all tied up, we all headed off to bed for the night. At 8 in the morning, Clay knocked on the hull and woke us up to tell us that the Customs and Immigration Officer would be there soon. So we got up, got the forms that needed to be filled out from Vince the dockmaster and were all ready when she arrived.

In past years, we have gotten the number of days we expected to be in the Bahamas with no problem. That has not been the case last year and was the case this year as well. We were given 90 days, which means that somewhere along the way, we will have to find a customs and immigration office to get an extension. There is no charge for the extension, it is just an inconvenience.

Later in the day Chris and Pete decided to see if they could get the extension now by going to the Customs and Immigration office now, so we decided to go with them. Unfortunately, neither of us were successful. We will have to deal with it later. We spent the rest of the day downtown shopping and then headed by to the marina.

There had been another disastrous fire in the downtown area. This one burned a house thought to be the oldest on Nassau and the building next door that housed a museum of the slave period in the Bahamas. Most of the contents of the museum were destroyed, which was a shame. You could smell the burnt buildings a couple of blocks away. Luckily the fire did not cross the street and damage an historic Bahamas Hilton Hotel.

That evening we went with Clay and Rita-Kay across the street from the marina to a great sushi restaurant. Rita-Kay and Clay have eaten there so many times that they are great friends with all the waiters and the owner.

The next day we finished up our shopping. We had only a small good weather window, not enough to make it to the Exuma chain of islands, but enough to move out with Carleigh to a neighboring Rose Island. This island is mostly uninhabited and still is sight of New Providence and the Atlantis Hotel.

 

View of Atlantis from Rose Island.

After a few days, we thought we had a possible window and stuck our noses out, but ended up thinking it was too rough and went back in to the anchorage. One day we were able to get off the boat when a bar on the island was open. The bar called "Sandy Toes" is open when a tour boat company brings over cruise ship tourists for a few hours. The four of us went over to have a hamburger and get a view of the other side of the island from the top. I had been going stir crazy!

 

Pretty Penny and Carleigh in anchorage at Rose Island from the top of Rose Island

 

Bob and I enjoying Frozen Strawberry Margaritas and getting brain freezes!

 

View of beach on the north side of Rose Island from the top.

 

Rita-Kay and me enjoying a swing at Sandy Toes Bar.

Finally on the 17th, we were able to have a good weather window and leave Rose Island and head south. Rita-Kay was expecting her son to arrive with his fiancee on the 19th, so we decided to forgo stopping at Norman's Cay and go farther. We ended up stopping for the night at the Wardwick Wells Land and Sea Park. We anchored and then Carleigh came along side and rafted up with us for the night. There was a Cowboy's game on TV that night and Rita-Kay and Clay are Cowboy's fans, so they were able to join us and watch the game without either of us having to deal with getting a dinghy down.

 

Sunset at Wardwick Wells.

The next day we reached one of our favorite spots in the Exumas, Staniel Cay. Rita-Kay could now take a deep breath knowing that she would be there when her son arrived.