Day 160 - Happy Leap Day

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $45, daily high temperature 73°fAnother beautiful day in paradise. John and Priscilla are back on the boat awaiting the weather window to cross to the Bahamas. We will move the boat on Tuesday to the Coral Ridge Yacht Club. CRYC is only an hour or so away.  We will go east on the New River and north on the ICW. Bill Vaters has helped us get a slip there.   The weather is looking marvelous for a Gulf Stream crossing on Wednesday.  Today is the day we will go to Costco and provision for our month long cruise in the Bahamas. We have limited freezer and refrigerator space so we will need to stock up on canned goods.This is an overview of our planned trip to the Bahamas from Ft Lauderdale.The distance from Ft Lauderdale to Bimini is approximately 60 miles. The distance across Lake Michigan is 90 miles. We must cross the Gulf Stream in order to get to Bimini. The Gulf Stream is a river in the Atlantic Ocean that flows north at 2 - 3 mph. We need to take this northerly current into consideration as we cross the gulf of we will end up north of our intended destination. The current is more of an issue for boats going slowly. If we cross the gulf at 25 mpg the current will be a minor issue. If we cross at 8 mph we will need to significantly adjust our course.One of the issues with crossing the Gulf Stream is large waves. If there is wind from the north which includes northwest and northeast the wind will push against the north flowing Gulf Stream and create large waves. We need to wait for a weather window with winds from the east. south or west. That will make for a much flatter crossing.When we arrive in the Bahamas we will have to clear Bahamian customs before we are allowed to enter the country. Several of the marinas on Bimini have customs clearance offices.  The cost to clear Bahamian customs is $300 USD in cash.Arriving in the Bahamas we will fly our yellow quarantine flag. This indicates we have not yet closed customs.  Only the captain Is allowed to exit the boat to clear customs. The crew must remain onboard until the boat is cleared. Once our boat has cleared customs we will fly our Bahamian courtesy flag as well as the flag of our home country.The quarantine flag is yellow.When we return to the US we do not have to clear out with Bahamian customs. We will have to check in with US Customs within 24 hours of entering the US. The entire crew must go to the customs office with our passports. Our plan is to return to the US at Stuart, Florida and clear customs at the private airplane customs office at West Palm Beach Airport.Once in the Bahamas things will be a little different. We plan to anchor out most of the time. Living on the hook means using the generator for cooking, charging the house batteries and to cool the boat off at night with the AC. Fuel costs will be much higher. We have heard diesel is as much as $6.00 per gallon. We do not have a water maker so we will need to buy water for $0.40 per gallon. That will be a change of lifestyle compared to being connected to city water for almost the entire trip. We will be able to connect with other boaters by listening the cruisers network on channel 68 of our VHF radio. At 9:00 am each morning the boaters share news and information regarding their anchorages. It is an easy way to get to know which other boaters are in the area. They will usually have information regarding any potential severe weather.We will likely stay at the Bimini Bay Resort and Marina or the Bimini Bay Big Game Club and Resort for the first day or two acclimate to our new surroundings. Once we depart the marina we will go north around the top of Bimini. Will set a course north of North Rock and south of Moselle Bank. Then we will either go to the Berry Islands, Chub Cay or Great Sail Cay. We will solicit some local knowledge while we are in Bimini. Our next stop will be New Providence Island which is Nassau. This is a good location to fuel up and buy provisions if we need anything. Everything except liquor ( no taxes ) is more expensive in the Bahamas so we will stock at Costco before we depart the US.Next stop will be Highbourne Cay which is 40 miles from Nassau. We will anchor out. At Norman Spit we have been advised to watch the water depth compared to the GPS. Our plan after Highboune Cay is to travel south in the Exumas and eventually get to Georgetown. This will take us to Allan's Cay (good anchoring), Norman's Cay (east side), Shroud Cay (free moorings), Hawksbill Cay (anchor on the south end), Waderick Wells (great snorkeling - anchor on the north end), Compass Key Marina (Rachael's Bubbles), Big Majors Cay (swim with the wild pigs in the ocean), Staniel Cay Marina (do not go in with any winds from the west, go past the dock before turning in. Good grocery store to reprovision).From Staniel Cay we will need to decide if we will stay inside the barrier islands or go out into the ocean. Inside route - go west around Harvey Cay to Great Guana Cay - explore the caves. This is Thunderball Grotto that was featured in the James Bond 007 movie by the same name. Only go into the grotto at slack low tide due to strong currents at all other times.Outside route - go outside at Big Rock Cut and come back in at Conch Cay. Cruise to Lee Stocking Island and anchor in front of the Chat and Chew restaurant and tiki bar.Go out to the ocean at the bottom of Cave Cay and reenter at the south end of Rudder Cut Cay and cruise to Georgetown. Good anchoring spots include Sand Dollar Beach and Monument Beach. Georgetown has all amenities including an airport.Carl (Chef) Wooden - quote of the day."Explore, experiment and experience."Lailah Gifty Akita.Lailah Gifty Akita is a Ghanaian and founder of Smart Youth Volunteers Foundation. She obtained a BSc in Renewable Natural Resources Management at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana. She also had MPhil in Oceanography at the University of Ghana.