Another Milestone

   Sun in our eyes as we enter the Atlantic.

Wow!  It is our fifth month of cruising.  What better way then to skip into another country?  We will leave the USA  to boat on the Atlantic Ocean and cross the Gulf Stream to reach Bahama.

Serious depth here.

We crossed from Riviera Beach, Florida to West End, Bahamas. It's only a 66 miles journey but it seemed a lot longer.

Bahamas is all islands, three main one and the rest are small to larger.  There are almost 700 islands. We will spend two months exploring it.

Another milestone for us, it's our first time boating on the Atlantic Ocean! We

were prepared for this voyage. Just as we neared the ocean and I spotted the waves my stomach lurched. Oh no! Seasickness is unusual for me but there is always a first time.  As we crossed those first waves the boat instantly started rocking and stuff that wasn't secured started sliding. It was the most rocking we have ever experienced.  We should have done a double check. Especially in the engine room. If anything isn't secured as we are pounded by those waves, it could be disastrous. The roughest seas we have seen up to now.

Lil Hide Away is also rocking. 

We travelled like this for a couple of hours. My stomach was still queezy but I wasn't sick. I even was able to sleep a bit. As we left the Gulf Stream which is a river on the ocean the waves calmed. It turned into slow swells. We saw an ocean tanker coming towards us and we thought we would have to adjust our route but no. It was going faster then us.  Luc and Sylvie our buddy boat had to avoid it. It pays to be slower sometimes.

Lil Hide Away adjusting her course

We arrived safely, no rain, no problem to the Old Bay Marina. It's a nice marina in the middle of nowhere. Our check-in at Customs was uneventful. Fill-in several forms, pay $300., and followed by a short boat inspection.

Time for "The Master" to crack open a beer.  That's what they call the captain at Customs here and Yvon loves it. Will let him enjoy it for a day or two.

Kalik beer for The Master

Meanwhile I'm cleaning-up the stuff that went sliding everywhere on the boat. So much for everything in it's place.  Then I noticed the front berth floor was wet. Oh no! Trying to find what spilled, I found a big problem.

As"The Master" come responsibilities. So much for relaxing!  The compartment under the floor was full of sea water and all the boat supplies stored in that hatch were floating or under water. So much for spare parts. Where is this water coming from?

Well it's from a bad design.  The two horns casing in the front broke and it left two holes the size of pop cans open on the bow.  This water filled the anchor well and spilled in the storage compartment.  What a mess!

Not supposed to see the sea.

Change of plan! We will go to the Ocean Reef Resort close to Freeport as we can go to a Marina, or hardware store and possibly fix this.  Meanwhile we did a Maciver fix, but it didn't last the thirty mile voyage to Freeport. Now some more serious fixing and more cleaning.

It's a messy cleanup but the we were not in danger. The boat is built with pumps to remove water.  We have three on ours. Nothing like a good backup. Everyone is very helpful here so we are fixing it ourselves.

We will stay here at Ocean Reef for three or four weeks so it will be busy. This marina and resort is 80% Canadian. They have a lot of activities, a beautiful beach and a daily shuttle to town or for shopping.

Yesterday we took the shuttle to the Lucaya Market. It's a nice stop with restaurants and boutiques. It is a bit touristy but worth the visit.

Moose Mobile. The door closes with a bungee cord.

Shopping for New flip flops.

Did I tell you that the water is a beautiful aqua blue, clear and the beach sand is white?  It is full of fish.  We saw bull sharks swimming at the first marina. At the second marina, Yvon slipped on the dock and fell in the water. As he reboarded the boat he said: "all he could think of was he hoped there were no sharks.' A few scratches but nothing broken. It's  part of the adventure.

Well this will be my post for now.  Will let to know where our next Bahamian adventure brings us.

Grace Hopper: “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”