Trip back to the USA.

We are back in the USA after three months in the out islands of the Bahamas.  It is disorienting to see all the people, boats, traffic and hubbub we take for granted.  Walking in downtown Ft. Pierce, it was a challenge not to be run over, as we are not use to traffic.  On the positive side, we found a wine bar with a great singer, and had reasonably priced good wine, and dinner.  There are boats and people everywhere, and it will take some getting use to!  We hear the Coast Guard, Tow Boat US and NOAA on the VHF, instead of Loraine's Cafe announcing the night's dinner special.   But there is a Wal Mart, West Marine and  Publix here.  Also, the waterways are marked here with red and green buoys, that make sense (most of the time).   We truly live in a great county, and take for granted the conveniences it offers.  I will say this about the Bahamas.  For a county of less than 400,000 people (70% of whom live in Nassau), it is remarkable what they have accomplished. Towns like Staniel Cay (250 people), Black Point and Farmers Cay (90 people) have power, water and a medical clinic with basic services.  They have managed to provide a decent living (for a third world country) to the many scattered communities throughout the islands with limited resources. There are 29 islands and 661 cays that make up the Bahamas.   The people are genuine and recognize that tourism is the lifeblood of the country.  We never felt uncomfortable or unwanted.  We did not visit Nassau, which I understand has some problems of a larger city, so I cannot comment on it, but our stay in the out islands was great, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.    Here are some pics:

Great Sale Cay on the Bahama Banks.  Not much, but it is a good jumping off point to the US.  We traveled 110 nautical miles from here to Ft Pierce, FL.  

More and more boats showed up during the day.  It was the first day of decent weather for a crossing.  By nightfall there were 13 boats anchored, and one on the sandbar adjacent to Great Sale-oops....

Sunrise on the day of our crossing.  Note the calm seas and our frayed Bahamian flag.  

Our auto pilot went kaput, and Alexis fits under the console to diagnose the problem.  Our flux capacitor (fluxgate compass) died.  We had to steer by hand for 12 hours and it wore us out.  We have become spoiled!

The light blue water is shallow on the Bahama Banks, and the dark blue is the deep water of the Atlantic.  It is the proverbial line in the sand when you see it.  20' to 1000' in an instant.  Next stop, Florida.  

When we entered the territorial waters of the USA, we had to raise the "Q" flag until we checked in with Customs.  We had filed a float plan with US Customs, and checking in was a breeze.