April 26-30 Passaging to Miami

With clear skies, we left Nassau on Tuesday for the 60 mile run to Chub Cay. It took us about 10 hours. Upon arrival, we started talking to other boats that were also planning the long run to Gun Cay and decided to travel with them, S/V Journey ( a couple headed to Chesapeake), S/V Bye Polar (Billy, a single-hander headed to Miami, along with two dogs and a cat on board) and S/V Carmella.
We had planned to leave Chub Cay at 0500 but the winds had cranked up to 20 knots with gusts, so we hung around until 0800, listening to weather reports in the interim and waiting for the winds to die down a bit. Despite the earlier winds which quickly died once we got underway, the seas were calm and we had an uneventful motor passage. 75 miles, about 13 hours. It was dark upon our arrival and after all the hooks were down, everyone settled in for a good night’s sleep.
We decided to press on to Miami while the weather was good and left Gun Cay, in the company of Bye Polar, at 0800 for the 50 mile trip to Miami. This trip was also calm and uneventful. It was great fun to see Miami Beach and the USA on the horizon and monitor our cell phone for signal strength on local ATT towers. With great cargo ships in the channel and power boats dashing about, Craig and I began our acclimatization back to the United States.


Leaving Nassau Harbour:

After leaving Nassau, it wasn't long until we were on the fish. Our first wahoo, which is a fine eating fish, and then a dolphin. No telling how many gallons of water we burned cleaning up the cockppit after these two beasts.

Chub Cay. Enjoying our last Bahamian sunsets:

And moon rises....

Underway to Gun Cay, on the way out of Chub. S/V Carmella, under sail, quickly dusts the rest of us who have similar hull speeds.

Approaching Gun Cay. The LAST sunset.

The lighthouse leaving Gun Cay:

The government cut and Miami ship channel...Welcome to Miami!!

The wreath on S/V Bye Polar, you ask? Because he really is from the North Pole.

So here we are, in the mooring field of Dinner Key Marina on Biscayne Bay. Getting used to life back in the USA. Many fun things. Having our cell phone ring and receiving calls from friends/family watching the Spot Me and welcoming us back home, the minute we got here, was the best! Wanting to stuff our ears with cotton because everything is so loud. The guy at the marina with a gas-powered leaf-blower. Loud! Get a rake! And my favorite, walking around and trying not to get killed crossing the street because a) the cars here go really fast, and b) they come from a different direction than what we have been used to for the last year.

1200 horses. Huh?? Because I can appreciate that there is no such thing as too much speed...

Ready to cruise????

So, here we are! Heading to Marathon in the AM to see friends and hang out a couple days before moving on to Key West.