Bye bye USA, hello Bahamas!
13th December 2010
We don't know how, but we made it. Crossing over the Gulf Stream between West Palm Beach and the Bahamas was definitely our most extreme experience yet. It's only a 70 mile (125 km) crossing, but because the current is so strong you have to sail South first for about 35 miles in order to make it East. Altogether it was a pretty long cruise (22 hours) again, our fourth overnighter in the past 2 weeks. We saw hundreds of flying fish along the way and whenever we'd get splashed by a wave it would be a warm sensation, as the water here is much warmer than the air. The meteo-predictions showed a good but short weather window. For the non-sailors, this means that winds are not too strong and blow from a favourable direction. In this time of year it's quite uncommon for our trip, and you have to time it right. With our USA visas expiring today, this was the moment to go. We left too late.
We left at about 21:00, in calm conditions. Most of the night went by this way as we sailed South, only to be disturbed by scores of cruise ships (ten in six hours) as we passed Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the day the wind started picking up, announcing the approaching front and coming straight from behind. The waves were pretty wild at the end of the day, but nothing like the terrible square waves many sailors had warned us the Gulf Stream can produce. With Grand Bahama in sight, we congratulated each other finally having made it to the warm waters and our first exotic island. However, we didn't know what was coming yet.
The harbour entrance for our marina in Freeport was tiny: two little rocky piers sticking out of the beach with a 25 m clearance between them. The wind blew from sea diagonally, and the -by now huge- waves were breaking all over the place, including right between the jagged piers. Our full-speed entrance was a once in a lifetime, never to be done again, three wave adrenaline kick which left our knees shaking and both of us screaming for Buena Onda to make it. Each breaking wave pushed us to starboard violently, followed by a back-surging current to port as the next wave approached. With only those 25 m of room, I'm still surprised we didn't get smashed or even a scratch. It could have been a premature end of the adventure. Fortunately, it was a good lesson what not to do and also the beginning of a new period. Warmer weather, less stress to overcome large distances, pretty much the starting point to chill. It's about time, after 3 months!
We don't know how, but we made it. Crossing over the Gulf Stream between West Palm Beach and the Bahamas was definitely our most extreme experience yet. It's only a 70 mile (125 km) crossing, but because the current is so strong you have to sail South first for about 35 miles in order to make it East. Altogether it was a pretty long cruise (22 hours) again, our fourth overnighter in the past 2 weeks. We saw hundreds of flying fish along the way and whenever we'd get splashed by a wave it would be a warm sensation, as the water here is much warmer than the air. The meteo-predictions showed a good but short weather window. For the non-sailors, this means that winds are not too strong and blow from a favourable direction. In this time of year it's quite uncommon for our trip, and you have to time it right. With our USA visas expiring today, this was the moment to go. We left too late.
We left at about 21:00, in calm conditions. Most of the night went by this way as we sailed South, only to be disturbed by scores of cruise ships (ten in six hours) as we passed Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the day the wind started picking up, announcing the approaching front and coming straight from behind. The waves were pretty wild at the end of the day, but nothing like the terrible square waves many sailors had warned us the Gulf Stream can produce. With Grand Bahama in sight, we congratulated each other finally having made it to the warm waters and our first exotic island. However, we didn't know what was coming yet.
The harbour entrance for our marina in Freeport was tiny: two little rocky piers sticking out of the beach with a 25 m clearance between them. The wind blew from sea diagonally, and the -by now huge- waves were breaking all over the place, including right between the jagged piers. Our full-speed entrance was a once in a lifetime, never to be done again, three wave adrenaline kick which left our knees shaking and both of us screaming for Buena Onda to make it. Each breaking wave pushed us to starboard violently, followed by a back-surging current to port as the next wave approached. With only those 25 m of room, I'm still surprised we didn't get smashed or even a scratch. It could have been a premature end of the adventure. Fortunately, it was a good lesson what not to do and also the beginning of a new period. Warmer weather, less stress to overcome large distances, pretty much the starting point to chill. It's about time, after 3 months!