Today is Tuesday May 17, 2011. Alexis and I are aboard Moondance in Lake Park, FL. It looks like Thursday will present a great weather window, and we plan to depart early morning exiting via the Lake Worth Inlet for the Bahamas. Our first stop will be West End on Grand Bahama Island. We will check in with customs and stay at the Old Bahama Bay Marina there. A pretty nice place- this is the web site: http://www.oldbahamabay.com.
It is about 60 miles from Lake Worth to West End and we will travel through the Gulf Stream. One of the great ocean currents in the world, the Gulf Stream flows north and controls the climate of the U.S. East Coast, tempers the subarctic waters of Iceland and affects England’s Scilly Isles. The Gulf Stream flows about three to six knots, and is described as a river in the ocean. Successful navigation requires adjusting the compass bearing to account for the Gulf Stream. Our GPS will do that for us, but I have paper charts, and my old manual navigation tools if it should go down!
In addition to that we have an EPIRB and ditch bag with emergency supplies at the ready in the event of an emergency. An EPIRB is an emergency satellite communication device. Once activated it send a signal to the Coast Guard with our position and contact information. It is accurate within a few meters. So-if the Coast Guard calls Stan or Claiborne, hopefully they will send the Cavalry!
After staying at Old Bahama Bay a few days, we will begin cruising the Sea of Abaco and visit the Double Breasted Cays, Crab Cay, Green Turtle Cay and possibly Hopetown. We will post when we arrive West End, but many of the other places have no cell or internet coverage, but we will post as we can. Click this link for a map of the area: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=26.635184,-79.06311&spn=1.689071,2.458191&t=h&z=9
We really want to do this trip before we are too old. As if a sign (omen?) a piece of my front tooth crown fell off last night. I really look like I am from the Deep South! As luck would have it, there is a dentist close to the marina. I walked in and explained my plight, and to my surprise was sent right in to see the dentist. Dr. Jerry Krape is an old salt and we exchanged sea stories. Of all things, he is friends with Frank Brazile, a naval architect from Houma. He fixed me up-the crown is old and brittle like me......
We really want to do this trip before we are too old. As if a sign (omen?) a piece of my front tooth crown fell off last night. I really look like I am from the Deep South! As luck would have it, there is a dentist close to the marina. I walked in and explained my plight, and to my surprise was sent right in to see the dentist. Dr. Jerry Krape is an old salt and we exchanged sea stories. Of all things, he is friends with Frank Brazile, a naval architect from Houma. He fixed me up-the crown is old and brittle like me......
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