Feb 15 - Nassau Bahamas

This is just a quick blog entry to let folks know that we have safely crossed the gulf stream and we are in Nassau in the Bahamas. We left from Marathon at 11:00am on Thursday, Feb 12. It was a bit sloppy for the first few hours of our trip. We saw a sea turtle as we crossed the reef that is a few miles off the Florida Keys. The seas calmed down as we got into the gulf stream. The water is a beautiful dark blue. We arrived at South Riding Rock that is on the edge of the Bahama Bank at 3:00am. We could make out the rocks with the aid of the radar and the moon. We checked out the chart and it looked like there would be enough water for us to continue onto the banks, with nothing less than 10'. As the sun rose we looked over the side of the boat and could see bottom! The water is so clear and such a beautiful blue. Over the course of the morning the girls kept watching the bottom and saw many starfish, some normal fish and a shark circling around! At one point we had eight dolphins swimming with the boat. We had been in touch with the folks on Side By Side, a catamaran with two kids on it through the night and followed their lead in a decision to anchor near Chubb Cay. We had a bit of a time finding a good place to anchor, but we were finally set around 3:30. The swimming and snorkeling was great. Marc and Sabrina kayaked over from Side by Side to give us some Mahi Mahi that they had caught. In the morning we had a quick swim and then pulled up anchor and set off for Nassau. We arrived in Nassau in the Nassau Yacht Haven Marina by around 3:00. We were cleared in through customs within about 30 minutes. Nikki May, another boat we talked to as we traveled across the gulf stream was already here. Shortly after we arrived, folks from another boat came over to ask about our Nova Scotia flag. They are from Baddeck! The boat is Warm Rain, and their mooring in Baddeck is very close to ours, but we had never met them before. It sure is a small world!