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Port Lucaya
Entry 4 of 8 | show all | print this entry |
Well we finally made it to the Bahamas! We arrived on the 22nd into Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island at around 8:30 a.m. and had an incredible experience crossing the Gulf Stream. After leaving Delray Beach, we headed to Fort Lauderdale to have a decent angle, heading slightly East/North East, in order to avoid fighting the Gulf Stream current too much. We stayed at a wonderful marina located right on the Intracoastal, so we could have easy access to the inlet when ready to depart. The marina was HUGE and the boats, actually MEGA yachts, dwarfed Respite. I think the largest had to be close to 200 ft, and there were about four or five of these, and the others ranged from 50-150 feet! Respite was definately the smallest, but the funny thing was that we had a number of people take pictures of her. I was shocked at first, wondering what the people we doing getting so close to her. So after a couple of long bike rides to good ole West Marine, we finally had all the supplies needed to cross. We met a couple that were leaving the same day as us and decided to try and stay in radio contact with them throughout the trip. They had come all the way down from Canada on their hand built sailboat, that took him 15 years to construct; and we thought we had put some time in! So the day came to cross and we left around 12:30. We had initially planned to go into West End, but the inlet was fairly shallow and difficult to navigate so we just decided to go a bit further to Port Lucaya. Leaving the inlet out of Fort Lauderdale proved to be more wavy than expected, and the bow of Respite was just punching through the 4-7 swells and proved to be a rough start. Once through the inlet we hoisted the sails and got up to a good cruising speed of 6 to 7 knots. About an hour or two after setting sail we saw the Canadians we met in the marina sailing off in the distance and talked over the VHF for a bit with them. They had a little different sailing strategy than us so our paths quickly widend while they headed SE and us E NE sailing close hauled. The first couple of hours went great and besides the 4-6 foot swells, everything was going good. We put out a couple of rods in hope of catching some fish, and we actually landed a small tuna. aAs soon as we got it by the boat, however, the fish spat the hook out and darted back into the blue sea. Pretty disappointed, we figured it would have been a chore to try and clean it in the seas we were in, and plenty more fishing to come. About an hour later, we saw a storm about to come through, so on went the rain gear and life jackets. The winds picked up and we took in one reef of the main sail. By the way the boat was heeled over to the toe rail most of the whole trip across, and you get pretty used to standing at crazy angles. The rain passed over in about 30-45 minutes and was not nearly as bad as it had looked. After the sun went down the moon came out and lit up the water beautifully. We took turns at he helm, each lasting 2 hours. We were very glad it is warm down here cause about every couple of minutes you pierce through a big roller and get a shot of salt water to the face! First couple of times were abrupt, but soon it becomes very common almost funny. Around ten at night, we noticed that the bilge pump was working quite a bit and pumping out ALOT of water. I managed to climb inside to the front of the boat and notice that as we punched through the waves, a surge of water would pour down the inside of the bow of the boat. . The boat was steadily getting heavier in the front and something needed to be done to limit the water getting in. Austin and I clipped into the jack lines and battling the waves, we made it to the bow to realize that the anchor locker was completely full of water and was over flowing into the front compartments of the boat. We used the forward cabin's v shaped plywood to try and deflect the water from entering the anchor locker. Securing this board was a crazy endevor. Austin and I went to the bow again and pumped out as much of the water as possible before we latched the board down with some ropes, all the while waves crashing over the bow. It was pretty discouraging though after pumping like crazy, and then have a huge wave just fill it up in one big crash. Once the board was secure, it limited the amount of water pouring through the front and we were good to go once again. The winds stayed pretty constant throughout the night around 15 knots with gusts of 20 knots. At around 2 a.m., I wake up to the sound of the engine dying... not such a good sound to wake up to. After taking off the engine cover and doing some surveying we discover the coolant leaking a bit, so we thought maybe the coolant was too low and shut down. The engine was too hot to check the coolant at the moment so we continued on with the sails and did not loose much speed, about a knot or two. The only real worry was how we were going to get through the very narrow, rock-lined inlet once arriving at Port Lucaya. Around 4 or 5 am we could see the lights from Grand Bahama Island, a very good sight,and we sailed around Free Port, dodging cargo and cruise ships. Soon the sun rose around 6:30 and we could see the inlet in the distance. As we neared the entrance, we decided to take another look at the engine to see if we could get her running, even though the seas were still 4-6 feet. The coolant level was fine and so I figured maybe the fuel filter was clogged and changed it. She cranked right up thankfully and we took the sails down. At about 8, Brayden navigated us through the inlet and finally we were in some calm water! We put up our yellow quarantine flag, required for visitors who have not passed customs and immigration yet, and headed for the marina with smiles from ear to ear, extremely glad to be there! We pulled into the slip and was greeted by the staff with customs and immigration papers. Since we had an hour before the office opened, we went poolside for some breakfast. There was nothing better than a prepared meal after the LONG night on the sea. After breakfast Brayden went and dealt with customs as Austin and I washed and cleaned the boat. Everything that wasn't securely tied down had fallen and seat cushions were everywhere. While cleaning we met a lot of our neighbors, who were really nice, asking how the trip across was. We even got invited to a BBQ later that night, and even though we were extremely tired, we thought we could get some great ideas of where to cruise. The BBQ was great and we got alot of good information on which places were the highlights for some people. So currently we are just working on sealing up the anchor locker, changing the oil, blowing up the dinghy, and other small tasks before heading down to the Exumas. From here we head to the Berry Islands, about 50 miles south of us, to spend a week before heading to Nassau. From there we will begin our journey through the Exuma Chain. We are really excited to start kiteboarding and diving with the air compressor. We got some great tips on spear fishing, and are very eager to try our hand at it as well as find some conch and lobster. As soon as we get some more pictures we will put them up, hopefully of our catches! We are extremely excited that we finally made it down here after going through some much during the refitting, researching, and planning stages. Definately ready for all the fun advetures that await us! Thanks for reading,
Michael
Latest Comments (5)
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yay made it !!!! (reply)
Mar 5, 2008 19:29 EST by greg.w
glad to hear all about your trip crossing, sounds so exiting. keep leting us all know how it is all going love the watson's
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Ahoy its cousin Scotty (reply)
Feb 27, 2008 08:37 EST by skojah
feeling a bit jealous at the moment. I had some good visuals of you guys from the update, hanging off the bow, Braden manning the helm in full rain gear, tunas flying out of the water! Sounds like an epic adventure. I have been to the Exumas, and I can tell you that they are incredible! You are in for a treat! Keep the updates coming I enjoy reading about you guys. Safe travels
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what up? (reply)
Feb 25, 2008 19:01 EST by jwilldcso
Glad to hear everything is going good for you, just keep an eye out for those pirates. I hope you guys are taking alot of pic to show us when ever you get back. I just joined the Sheriff's Office dive team and got all my gear for free so when ever you come back this way we will have to go some where and dive.
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Amazing Accomplishment (reply)
Feb 25, 2008 14:03 EST by trudypitcairn
You guys are amazing! What you have accomplished so far is truly impressive. I felt like I was on the boat with you without the sea sickness and scared silly!
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CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!!! (reply)
Feb 25, 2008 10:17 EST by dionthego
An amazing accomplishment !!! I am so proud of you guys, !!!!!Hope you have calmer waters from now on... but some wind anyway !!!The write-ups are great, and make us feel like we are on the trip with you !!!!
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