We had small weather window available for us to leave No Name Harbor for Bimini. Bimini is about 48 miles from Florida, and it would take us a day to get there. The challenge with this travel is crossing the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream current is one of the strongest ocean currents on Earth. Just picture a river in the middle of the ocean going an average speed of 4 miles per hour. It is the main conveyor of heat from South to North in the Atlantic. Due to the current you have to time the wind, the current and you’re heading correctly otherwise you have a very dangerous crossing environment.
We would wait until sunrise to start our way out of the inlet. Getting out of the inlet was not a problem and was the smoothest point of the ride. We left No Name Harbor at 7;04 and arrived Alice Town, Bimini just before sunset. The wind was on our nose the entire time and the waves were big a constant. Even in these conditions they were nowhere near as bad as our passage from Cumberland to St. Augustine.
Anytime you enter a new country you have to raise a Q flag (quarantined) to let others know that your vessel has not cleared customs and immigration. Once docked only the captain can leave the boat to take care of clearing the vessel and passengers in. It was a short walk down the dark road with loud music blaring at every block to get to the immigration and custom offices. We got cleared through immigration that night, but I had to do customs the next morning as they have an online system that you are required to put all of your information into. I had not completed this step as I had planned to do it on the trip over. That was not the case as my time was spent trying to keep the dogs calm,
The dogs are not fans of this sailing lifestyle. They do not like the movement and I am pretty sure Tesla has some PTSD from the Cumberland trip. In my opinion having the dogs on board is a huge mistake. After 4 months they are not comfortable being on the boat and dog hair is out control. Plus, Bulleit and his spastic behavior towards trying to protect me or the boat landed his butt in the water at the marina just after we arrived. A local stopped by to sell us some lobster. Bulleit took off towards the back patio in a sprint, could not stop himself and went directly under the wire line into the water. Luckily, he still had his lifejacket on, and Bubba was able to scoop him up.
Tess pretty much said Thank God we are finally here.
We will be staying at Browns Marina here in Bimini until Monday. As the story goes there is another Nor’easter coming through which is going to make for a fun couple of days.
