Across the Gulf Stream!

Day 68 - 70 (Wed,  Jan 18 – Thurs, Jan 19): We actually left Wed evening at 9pm. Kind of last minute decision again about when to depart. Our saying goes, as we get “southerer and southerer we seem to  be getting smarterer and smarterer.” That could be argued but we have learned some important lessons. Arriving early to avoid the anxiety of “will we make it before sunset” has made an indelible mark on the three of us. Remember Dobbie knows exactly when to cry and pushing sunset is one of those times. The departure from WPB was for the most part uneventful but we did encounter a large tanker coming in that we had to hold for when exiting the harbor. We headed out just after dark. We decided to go south along the coast for a bit to bank some extra “south time.” We are freshmen at this and not knowing how fast or far north the gulf stream would push us, going south seemed like a good idea. We traveled for about an extra hour south, then headed east. Dobbie and I stayed below and Patrick was at the helm. It was not too bad. Some tossing about but nothing like the trip to Charleston. Then, about 3:30, he knocked on the back window and asked me to come up. There were strings of xenon flashing lights as far as you could see. Two discernable boats but all of those white flashing lights were everywhere and they were blocking our path eastward. We were in the strongest part of the gulf stream, so we couldn’t mess around much. Patrick had already tried to hail the vessels he could see on AIS. Nothing heard or responded to. When I came up, we had to decide what to do. Go through the lights, around them (if we could even see an end) or ??? And then there was the question of what were they… small fishing vessels being towed (as Jim explained the Bahamians would do sometimes), nets, or aliens??? As we got close to one, I shined the large spot light on it. We could see the main xenon spot but also two other smaller buoys floating nearby. About the same time, Patrick was able to hail one of the vessels. They reported they were fishing beacons. We could pass through. Relief! We headed close to one (but not too close) and then threaded our way through the others. That was unexpected, drama inducing and definitely something we would have liked to have known about previously. (Note, Patrick Googled the episode the next day. We could not find a description of what was being done or what we saw.)

 Dawn came and I took the helm. Dobbie came top side with me and curled up in his “kitty upside down chair spot.”   We decided to put more sails up before Patrick hit the bed. We had Genoa, Main and Mizzen. Beautiful!

I noticed a small line of brownish fluid dripping down on the binnacle. I inquired if Patrick had spilled a cup of coffee. “No,” and he was quite concerned about the drip. Hydraulic fluid… that could be bad. Always something to ratchet up the drama. I turned Genevieve off (our auto pilot… named after one of Patrick’s old girlfriends. And, by the way, she is most definitely French and she quite often takes longer than needed for her smoke breaks and to get her nails done). I would hand steer the remainder of the way to Lacaya Bahamas, about  7 hours. I also religiously monitored the area where I discovered the small drip. The remainder of the trip was uneventful. Beautiful day and the sailing was perfect. Once again, intuition paid off. The AIS was a most definite needed. Especially at night, being able to identify vessels and their direction really lets us concentrate on other important things and not worry as much about what is out there (but yes, we still rely on what we see… there are none AIS vessels and other hazards).

We pulled into Lacaya about 1pm. We made great time on the crossing. The harbor was easy to navigate and clearly marked. It is continually dredged to ensure large yachts can enter. Good decision to pick this spot! Thanks Al. We only made a minor modification from your original path. At the dock, Patrick headed to immigration and customs. I got Gaia tucked into her stall and bedded down. We took a nap and then headed out for a bite to eat.

We decided to stay an extra day. We were both beat. And, we wanted to investigate the fluid we saw coming from the binnacle. It gave me time to talk Patrick into doing a dive, to test out our gear. We climbed aboard a dive boat about 2 in the afternoon and headed out with a small group of divers. Patrick’s regulator (actually his octopus) was free flowing so some repairs would be needed. He used a rental reg instead for this trip. We did use our new BCs though. Good dive, visibility was not great but didn’t want to bust the dive staffs’ bubble. We played along with how pristine the water conditions were. We did see some very nice, big groupers and about 6 very inquisitive sharks. Good dive and it got us both in the water again. It's been a while for both of us.

After the dive, we headed back to Gaia and did some planning for our early morning crossing to the Berrys. We went out for a very nice dinner and headed back to bed.