Holidays, New Year and crossing the Gulfstream!

Good-Bye USA, Hello Bahamas!

We last left off as we arrived to West Palm Beach to meet up with Lynn's side of the family to celebrate the holidays and Grandpa Herb's upcoming eightieth birthday.   

Brad

As a religiously pluralistic boat we rocked both Hanukkah and Christmas as we awaited the arrival of Lynn's family.   The girls understood that Santa can't carry as many gifts down the mast as he might with the conventional chimney.  After a fun morning of opening gifts with a yummy breakfast Lynn's parents arrived for their first-ever glimpse at Baila.   Emptying their car of two months worth of Amazon shipments was a short lived euphoria for them.  Immediately a massive load of cold weather gear and items deemed unnecessary for the remaining trip replaced the offloaded goods. Lynn cooked a great Christmas dinner of grilled chicken (our oven was not working at the time- but is now after I had to learn about ovens!), instant mashed potatoes and stuffing, steamed green beans, canned sweet potatoes and cranberry - a holiday favorite of Anna and Izzy.  Lynn's brother Dave and his family arrived and we had several days of catching up and olympic-eating going on.  

Lynn

Unfortunately, olympic-provisioning was also a must before crossing over to the Bahamas.  Brad and I borrowed my Dad's Costco card and stocked up.  We also did some damage at ACE Hardware, CVS, BJs and Winn Dixie.  We were thankful that our girls were excited to take turns sleeping over at the hotel with Nana and Grandpa and palling around with their cousins so we could figure out where to stuff everything.  I wish we did not have to do so much shopping while my family was visiting, but now that we are in the Bahamas and on an island without any food stores, I am glad we are well stocked.  

Brad again

We said our goodbyes to Lynn's family and from West Palm we continued south to Boca Raton.  Imagine the founders of that city deciding on a name:  "ok..ok..  'Regal Cove?'  Naah.  How about 'Bluewater Bay?'  meh.  Oooh- I have it-- 'Rat's Mouth'-- but let's say it in Spanish!  Yes that's it!"

We anchored in "Lake Boca" (not actually a lake- rather a herniation of the inlet).  Wild place!  First off, it is flushed with clear ocean water twice daily making it the first quasi-tropical anchorage of the trip.  As we anchored I looked down and saw the bottom.  That was disconcerting since in the Chesapeake, if you see the bottom, you are in a foot of water.  And that goes for the entire ICW for that matter.  In Lake Boca the visibility is around ten to fifteen feet making it a great place to break out the snorkels and play around.  The girls loved snorkeling with the girls from s/v Mariposa.  Sea turtles, skates, myriad fish abound including one territorial triggerfish valiantly guarding Mariposa's anchor.  Sandflea arrived on our last night there making for a really fun time.   From a people-watching standpoint, Lake Boca can't be beat.  During the day it loads up with a gazillion boats vying for spots to anchor.  Loads of affluent teenagers raft up their motorboats on the sandbar.  Turns out really wealthy white kids from Boca LOVE gangsta' rap.  They love it late into the night.  They love it loud, right upwind of you so that it gets inside your skull and shakes your brainstem.  That's how much they love it.   

But the real magic in Boca for us was the chance to meet up with our good friends Dana and Ben Pickup.  They live near us back home and were visiting Ben's folks in Boca (he grew up there and was a most excellent tour guide).   Ben's parents generously (and bravely) had us to their beautiful home.  They even let us do our laundry!  Incidentally, I will never take certain things for granted again after living on a boat, and laundry is potentially at the top of the list.  Back home if I wear something once it's "dirty"-- sullied, shamed and banished to the laundry bin.  Or rather, any place on the floor or corner of the closet.  Or under the bed.  But it's banished somewhere not to dare touch me again until it's been reborn as a clean garment.  Admission: it's not because I'm neat or a clean freak.  It's the opposite;  I'm actually so lazy that it's easier to take my clothes off and consider them dirty to avoid the hassle of neatly re-folding them for another wear.  Lame, right?  But on the boat we lack this luxury, needing to wait up to one to two weeks for a laundry run.  As a result, things are worn more than once, heck more than eight times before we get the chance to plunk quarters into a machine and spin away our grime.  So yeah, consider me schooled.  

Hold on- Lynn wants back in

After the Pickups visited us on Baila, the girls returned to Ben's folk's house for some pool time and standard menorah lighting with latkes! Ironically they're not Jewish, but the extrinsic Boca effect (and the fact that their daughter in law is) results in lots of latke making in that area!  Avery was very psyched to play with her good friend Bess and Izzy bonded with fellow 5th-grader and saxophone player, Honey Pickup.  It was awesome to catch up with Dana and Ben and crew.  Maybe we will see them again in Maine if we can make it up there before returning to Annapolis. 

After Boca, we bid a sad a'bientot to s/v Sandflea and paired up with s/v Mariposa to travel through about a dozen more bascule bridges en route to Lake Sylvia in Ft. Lauderdale.  S/v Mariposa carries the Citarella family (Alyssa, Paul, Heather (10) and Katie(6)) from Norwalk, CT).  The girls had a great time playing on each other's boats and in Winn Dixie together.  Yes, we managed to cram in some more groceries and pick up those last few items at West Marine and TJ Maxx.  Sadly, s/v Sandflea continued on to Miami on the ICW.  We hope to catch up with them again here in the Bahamas.  

Brad here

Humming some melodic gangsta' rap songs that were still reverberating around in my head we enjoyed a few days in Lake Sylvia.  It's a tiny little basin in Ft. Lauderdale where too many boats pile in to anchor and plan their crossing to Bahamas.  At this point we learned of a big cold front coming in a few days which would cause very high winds making crossing to Bahamas impossible for us.  Initially we decided to hunker down there and wait out the incoming high winds.  The downside was at least a week at anchor with very limited shore access and a gazillion other closely anchored boats that may become a hazard in strong winds (boats can drag and tangle anchor lines etc-- this is not a good thing).  

However, the trusted guru of Bahamian/Caribbean weather, Chris Parker, was adamant that a reasonable crossing window still existed for another 2 days.  With renewed confidence that we could safely cross we decided to go for it.  Thursday morning we left Lake Sylvia along with s/v Mariposa to sail outside down to Miami for a short stay until we left at three-thirty in the morning for Bimini.  With a few hours anchored just outside Miami we had a nice last-minute visit from one of my best childhood friends, Andrew Dehart.  After picking him up on the paddle-board we had a nice time catching up out on Baila and he was able to meet the kids.  They have all heard me talk about "my shark expert friend" and they peppered him with many variations of the basic question "do we have to worry about sharks?"  He was reassuring and regaled them with tales of riding tiger sharks, etc.  We wrapped up the visit and moved the boat outside the little harbor to anchor in preparation of the early departure. 

The crossing

At 3 a.m. we made our way out of the channel into the dark and featureless Atlantic.  It's humbling how disorientating a group of blinking channel markers can be in darkness.  The flashing lights are distinctly timed differently, but this is a dynamic process and Lynn and I sat there counting lights, comparing our observations with the chart-plotter, watching the radar while Lynn spotlighted the unlit markers to ensure a safe departure.  Soon we were in deeper water and on our way to Bimini. It was roughly an eight hour trip across.  The girls woke up around the middle and emerged to find themselves in the Gulf Stream with an early morning deep blue sea surrounding us.  We had very calm conditions- in fact so calm that the only good sailing was once in sight of Bimini.  The rest of it was a rather boring motor-sail across.  But, the goal was to safely get there while we could- so mission accomplished!  Along the way we enjoyed flying fish (amazing-  they look like birds emerging from the water and gliding along the wave tops for a good distance before dropping back into the sea!).  We were surprised to see so many Portuguese Man-of-War and luckily once out of the Gulf Stream we didn't see many more.   

The arrival to South Bimini was totally surreal.  After sailing in the mostly opaque tannin-stained waters of the ICW we were ecstatic to be in the intensely blue waters of the Gulf Stream and deeper coastal Bahamian waters.  What we weren't prepared for was the impossibly bright turquoise hue the water takes as the depth decreases on the approach to the island.   And again- when the kids yelled "we can see the bottom!" I flinched.  However, we were in sixty-two feet of water!  As we entered the narrow channel into the marina basin, we seemed to be gliding through a giant fish tank with water that was as clear as a swimming pool.  Glancing to the bulkhead off our beam we could see an array of beautiful tropical fish and other exotic critters.  For me, who, along with Andrew Dehart back in high school had a obsessive fascination with saltwater fishtanks (we were 'fish tank dorks' who spent all of our money on saltwater tanks), this was heaven!  The distraction bordered on dangerous as I called out "French Angelfish!  Butterfly Fish!  Look guys-- it's a Filefish with a cleaner wrasse!!!"  Oh- by the way I was operating a 42 foot sailboat in a narrow channel.. so I did have to snap my head back around and pay attention to the task at hand.   After tying up in the very protected marina basin, Paul and I were off to Customs and Immigration to check in.  

It was very gratifying to take down our yellow "quarantine flag" and replace it with the Bahamian courtesy flag!  

The dock is great and there are large limestone boulders lining the water's edge allowing for loads of juvenile reef fish to scurry in and about our boat.   We have seen many parrotfish, butterfly fish, angelfish, chromis, filefish, pufferfish and barracudas.   We can't wait to get in some snorkeling!

On our first night we caught a lionfish (see picture and caption below) and saw some.. well, hold on Isabelle wants to write about that. 

Izzy

Hi guys! We are in the Bahamas at last!!!! 🌊🐬🐠  As soon as we got here we couldn't stop saying; "I just can't believe how clear the water is!" That night we were all looking in the water with flashlights, and Anna saw a weird looking fish. As soon as we realized that it was a Lionfish she yelled for dad. He came with the spear-gun and speared it. 🐠🐚  Fresh Lionfish!!! I think that the blood from the Lionfish attracted sharks because before you knew it, three huge bull sharks were swimming around the docks! Anna/Heather named one of then "Bop" because if he gets too close you will have to "Bop" him on the nose!😎😀😁  In Boca we met a kid boat, and they have a kid my age at last!!! Her name is Heather and she is really nice.😊  We crossed with them.   I have to go now, so bye! 🅘🆉🆉🆈 🅘🅢 🅱🅰🅒🅚! 😀😁😂😄😎😙😛😜😝🐶🐷🐬🐡🐠🐖🐋🎷

Heather & Anna

Today we went to the BBFS (Bimini Biological Field Station - aka the Shark Lab). We got to see a Juvenile Lemon Shark at the lab and recognized the tag. Apparently the Shark lab (along with other labs from the States) have been tagging sharks.  Last night Heather saw a shark with a tag- presumably from the lab. We learned that lemon sharks are one of the only species that can touch their heads to their tails and even bite them. We also learned that sharks have personality- nothing special, just their curiosity and boldness versus other's timidness.  Bye!

Avery

"I missed you all, or should I say y'all because that's what Molly says?  We saw flying fish while we were crossing to the Bahamas and right when we got there, um, at that night we saw a big mommy shark and her family with their little fish that ride them.  We are playing with Katie and Heather.  Today we went to the shark lab to see a baby shark and I named a big coconut "Sally" and carried it around with me like a baby."  

Christmas with Lynn's family.  And Izzy was VERY happy with the root beer Anna got her!

We were really glad that Lynn's family got to see the boat for the first time!

Beans about to be deeply packed away.  We have never, ever, EVER eaten so many beans

                                            Getting ready to cross--- just relaxing on the swim platform

Picture courtesy of Dana Pickup as we pulled away from the dock with groceries.. the dinghy is our station wagon

The awesomeness otherwise known as the Pickup family.   This is what we call a 'pickup line.' 

My first conch, found in Lake Boca

I almost forgot the near mugging! 

Back up to Ft. Lauderdale- the night before leaving for Miami.  We were ashore gathering some last minute supplies and I walked the mile to West Marine.  While walking back laden with bags I noticed a shady middle-aged gent on a BMX bike.  That's never a good combination.  While eyeing me he picked up his cell phone and made a call.  My spiny senses were engaged.  I was entering a residential area and up ahead I noticed two men hanging out on a corner.  One made a quick glance my way and I figured the BMX guy had been a spotter and these guys were waiting for me.  Then another guy came out on the other side of the street and slowed down, waiting.  I turned around and two of the guys started following me- quickly!  I went into a full record-setting sprint right into a gas station (where I called an uber) and the two guys turned around and disappeared back into the neighborhood.  Now, though I'm all kinds of street tough and a bit of a thug myself, I just didn't feel like having to cut those guys down straight up in broad daylight like that.  So, I ran simply to avoid all that paperwork associated with killing someone with your bare non-dominant hand index finger alone.  It would have been silly child's play, but I was just feeling totally lazy.  And also I needed the exercise.  

Andrew Dehart out at Baila for our micro-reunion the evening before we crossed.  My folks have a very similar picture in an old album- except that it was 1980, we didn't have facial hair, we weren't on a paddle-board and we were holding our Star Wars lunch boxes with tucked in shirts and hiked up pants in front of Key School on our first day of second grade.  Otherwise, it is nearly identical

Land Ho!  That's Bimini in the background.  And two sleeping Falks in the foreground.  It's funny-- everyone shows pictures of sailing with people posed performing various tasks like pulling in sheets and steering, etc.  But this is actually what it looks like.   Sleeping kids.  

This was taken MINUTES after arriving-- kids just started busting up coconuts all over the place

This is the beach right near the marina.  This is not a bad place to ride out the cold front at all! 

Both families hit the water on arrival

Girls looking for critters 

Our first night in Bimini Anna spotted this lionfish.  They are an invasive and very destructive species and people are encouraged to kill them whenever they are seen.  They also happen to be good eating (once the venomous spines are removed).   So, we gave it a go with the pole spear and voila!  This is a small specimen and made for micro-fillets-- but with some olive oil and salt/pepper it was an absolutely delicious light white flaky and very tasty meat.  We hope that lionfish will comprise a big portion of our diet this year!