Wow We did it!

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity and emotions. We have navigated the streets of Miami by foot and bus. Sometimes scary and most times confusing. We have had only cold showers and boat work, messed up motors, more boat work, missed weather window and more boat work but then SUCCESS!
Yes we actually crossed the Gulf Stream and entered the Bahamas!

The people at Crandons are really nice and the anchorage is secure but the showers leave a lot to be desired and the is no internet connection on the Key. You are isolated and no one knows anything about the bus schedule or routes. Getting boat parts is a challenge. But challenges make us grow. We were preparing to cross on Friday when we noticed an oil leak from our Starboard engine. Not Good. Our Starboard engine is the one that had so much work done on it and was our more reliable engine. The Port engine is getting air in the fuel line somehow and will occasionally shut off. We have a short weather window to cross or we will not be going anywhere for another week. Freddie is thinking about heading back home to get the engine fixed and I am thinking that if we head back home without getting to the Bahamas that Stray Cat will go up for sale.

Stray Cat on the mooring second from the right in Crandon's Marina

Well after sleeping on it and working on the engines all day Friday we decide to leave Saturday morning before the weather window closed and had a wonderful sail across. We left at 6 am and headed out before the sun came up. It helped following a couple of fishing boats out of the channel before they sped off and left us.

 Once we hit the open ocean we set the auto pilot on 95 degrees true and soon put up the sails. We made great time and the wind and waves were just as predicted. Less than 2 ft seas and wind coming from the south/southeast. The cold front is suppose to be moving in after midnight and winds will start clocking out of the northeast and the Gulf Stream will get nasty. But today it was beautiful. Only scary thing was we spotted a waterspout that traveled closer for a while and then disappeared.

We hoisted the yellow quarantine flag and went straight in the channel to Browns Marina and are tied up there for two nights. They brought us the paperwork to the boat to fill out for customs and immigration which is right beside them. Easy check in and they only charged us $150, which was the old rate. Working on a slide show of all the pics for the picture page on the website. Heading to bed exhausted and happy.

Browns Marina Bimini

The water is so clear