Return to the States - 2016

May 26, 2016

We are currently in Miami after a quick trip back from the Bahamas.

This year we spent almost 5 months visiting Abaco, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Great Exuma, and the Exuma Cays.  We have Bahamians on each of these islands that we call 'family' - we are truly blessed to know them.

Bahamian courtesy flag after 5 months
Some years we have replaced it during the winter, this one JUST made it through the season!

Our return trip was planned around several troublesome weather systems (see Trip Planning for more detail) that went pretty much as expected.  We covered around 250 nautical miles in 5 days, including a final 28 hour, 159 mile leg between New Providence (island where Nassau is located) and Miami.

Sunrise on the Bahama Bank
Sunrise & Sunset at sea never get old!

We moved up our departure from New Providence by a day to Monday, because the forecast for "great westward sailing on Tuesday - Thursday" turned into "westward sailing for salty sailors only" (translation high winds and squalls).

This final leg turned into motoring the whole way in fairly tranquil wind and seas, EXCEPT for a terrible squall we encountered about two hours out of New Providence.  It featured torrential rain, a lot of lightning, and for the first time at sea, hail!  Thankfully the wind in the squall was mild most of the time, except for a brief interval of 30 knot winds; believe me, hail on your face in a 30 knot wind hurts!

This year we were lucky to get a mooring at Coconut Grove Sailing Club on our return, where we will be based in Miami for a week or so.  We really enjoy this city, but it is quite a culture shock after 5 months in the Bahamas.  It is so different here!

We will not be returning to Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton this summer.  We put our name on a waiting list there last December, but they did not make a suitable slip available for us.  The marina market is getting crazy here -  more demand than supply - much different than when we bought our boat in 2009!  This year the boat will be at Rose Marina in Marco Island.  This is a 'boat yard' marina with fewer amenities than Twin Dolphin, but the people are nice and the docks secure.


Tom
Moored Coconut Grove Sailing Club
Miami, FL