Making the Crossing to the Bahamas

By Captain Scott Buckley

The 1st mate and I have been here at Boot Key harbor for about 7 weeks now and that seems like a long time for us but when you think about the fact that we will be doing this for the next decade 7 weeks is not that long.  Further the weather seems to be conspiring to keep us here.

Boot Key Harbor at night

As explained in previous post it is not advised to cross the Gulf Stream in any wind that is out of the north.  Since we arrived here in Boot Key on Nov 15, 2014 we have had 1 weather window to cross over the Gulf Stream about 6 days after we arrived.  We decided to pass on this weather window for a couple of reasons.  Primarily it was to take some time and explore Marathon and the Florida Keys.  Since leaving TX we have been very much on the move and have had very little time to enjoy what we were doing. 
We would get to the next destination and fix what was broken, buy what we needed and plan the next leg.  Much of our time was spent on the logistics of cruising and almost nothing was spent on the exploration and discovery. What we did not realize when we skipped this weather window to the Bahamas was another window would not be forthcoming for some time. The wind have been from the north and north east 15 to 20 knots day after day. 

Time to have fun

Word has spread in the harbor that Tamera and I are headed to the Bahamas and invariably that topic of conversation with fellow cruisers at the dinghy dock is when do we think we are headed there.  We end up discussing weather window with little decided about when it is likely to make the the break from Marathon.

Trouble with Locomotion

While we were here we used the inflatable dinghy with the propane outboard and after about 2 hrs of operation the lower unit on the outboard started leaking oil.  I called Lehr “as it is still covered under warrantee” and they put me in contact with a local repairman (Ben).  I brought the motor to the beach and away it went.  Ben found the problem in the seal between the water pump and the lower unit.  What Lehr failed to inform me was they had not shipped the parts needed to fix the outboard motor and they were closing from 24 Dec to Jan 5.  Without parts there was little Ben could do.  All calls to Lehr went to a recording reminding me they were closed.  I sent an email as well but it never got addressed until after the 5th of January.  Without the motor back on board we did not look too hard for weather windows to go to the Bahamas on but none were materializing anyway.

The Route

To make the Exumas in the Bahamas it is not uncommon to check into that country at Bimini.  There are a couple of options for going to Bimini in the Bahamas.  One could leave from Marathon and travel 125 nm to Bimini or you could work your way north to ‘Miami and cross the 53 nm there.  Because of our contacts here in Marathon we elected to leave from Marathon to make Bimini in an over night passage.  Below is description of the route from Marathon to Bimini.

The overall route off the southeast Florida coast.

The route from Marathon to Bimini

Close up of Marathon

Close up of Bimini

Buddy Boating

We met fellow cruisers David and Alice Mae of SV Alice Mae who have crossed to the Bahamas 5 previous times.  They actually like the crossing from Marathon and had done that crossing twice before.  We had decided to buddy boat with them across because they had gone before and we had AIS on board and could watch out for ship for them.
We were set to leave on the evening of Jan 3 but when I consulted with weather router Chris Parker it was not recommended to make the crossing from Marathon even though he was recommending crossing from Miami.  The winds in the Florida Keys were not going to abate like the winds further north. 
SV Kooky Dance and SV Alice Mae made ready to depart Marathon until late Monday when the departure was called off.   I had made no headway with getting an outboard motor arranged and we really could not leave without one.   Actually it was that morning that I knew that SV Alice Mae was also having doubts about the departure from Marathon.  When the Cruiser net called for departing vessels to speak I only heard crickets. The light winds predicted would be farther to the north and we would be stuck with NE winds on the nose against the gulf stream.  Seas were increase from the 1 to 2 foot range to the 3 to 4 foot range.  There would be no sailing and it would be a bumpy voyage by motor only.  While we could have made it we would have burned a lot of fuel and had little enjoyable to remember from the crossing.

What to do in Paradice

It is not like we have been stuck in the harbor on the boat waiting for a break in the weather to go to the Bahamas.  We have actually had a pretty good time.  The cruisers in the harbor had a pot luck get together for Thanksgiving and Christmas that were a lot of fun and well attended. 
We went to Key West 3 times
and to Key Largo twice.  I did a few small projects on the boat like getting it so I could charge the phones and the computers directly from the battery without having to run the inverter.  I got our backup GPS patch into the 12 VDC breaker panel.  Previously it only ran on batteries that lasted about 2 days max.  Now it can run for months as long as the main batteries have a charge.  The back up GPS is also the device that feeds location data to the SSB radio incase an automatic distress call is sent.  We made the dinghy chaps and a couple of storage bags and visited with friends on land and in the Harbor.
We went fishing.
    


We went Snorkeling.


I have even taken some time to sail around in the sailing dinghy.

Still the weather has not been cooperating for a crossing.  Because it is our first time we are picking carefully so that it is not our last time.  We have heard horror stories about the Gulf Stream crossing and Florida is littered with boats of dreams gone bad.  Attempts to cruise that were disastrous and sailing trips that waited too long.
So a balance is played out between wanting to be in the Bahamas and picking the right weather window to get there on.  The story continues.