Resting comfortably at Leeward Yacht Club on Green Turtle Cay.

Sad to say good by to our friends and neighbors at Palm Beach Gardens.  We had a great time for 5 weeks, but the waiting
kept us on edge a bit.  When we heard there was a chance we TOOK IT!

A special thanks to Glen Nemecek who got up at 3:45 am to help us slip out of our slip and head down Lake Worth  toward to Lake Worth Inlet.  There was half a moon, but also lots of lights from all the homes along the water, including several eerie green underwater lights that don't seem to be attached anywhere!

We left the Inlet at 5:30 after making the 4:30 PGA bridge and the 4:45 Parker bridge openings.  True to the reports the seas and wind were calm and we reached to "triangulation point" near Memory Rock (one of the entrances to the Little Bahamas Bank) at 2:30 pm.  We saw a few flying fish, a few Portuguese Man of War jelly fish, and the AIS spotted a few ships (including the Carnival Fascination---which was bringing Pegg Bliss to Nassau with friends!)  We thought there would be lots more of us crossing, but didn't see or hear anyone until around noon when Resolve hailed us and we learned Mike and Debbie were about 12 miles behind us!  

We crossed onto the Bank and headed toward Mangrove Cay (23 nm away).  As luck would have it we reached to bank  right at high tide so were comfortable crossing over 6 ft spots.  Once on the bank, we saw 10-15 ft the rest of the way.

Starting upper left: We began to see the sky lightening just after leaving Lake Worth Inlet. The sun rose just under a bank of
clouds, it also set with enough haze just after we had anchored to keep the green flash at bay.  Dan did see this turtle which
was as big as a table. Dory and I both are wearing life jackets for the crossing.  Center:  I always love seeing our mainsail
reflected on the bottom in this crystal clear water.

We dropped the hook just after 5:30 and fired up the grill to have a celebratory dinner.  Steak, potato packets and salad.  Everything tastes better in the Bahamas!!!   It was still twilight when  Resolve and two other boats dropped anchor near us. As we were radioing back and forth with Resolve we heard from another boat also anchored near us who was looking for the fastest way to get internet access, we also heard from one of the boats traveling with Resolve  that he had clinking noise in his engine. With radio chatter going round and round Dan offered to pick up the internet seeker who was an engine mechanic to take over to the clinking engine in the AM.  The prognosis came back potential head gasket, so the OC40 Merlin headed back to Ft. Pierce!  That left Resolve, Brunelle, Sea Wolf(50' Prout Catamaran), and  Mariners Dream (44' coverted Canadian style lobster boat) to head on toward Crab Cay.

Sunrise over Mangrove Cay.  Not an ideal spot for "watering"  Dory, but it worked.               

We're glad to have finally met up with Resolve.  

We had a great sail from Mangrove 62 nm to Crab Cay, just off the tip of Little Abaco Cay.   Sea Wolf  had been trolling across the Gulf Stream and pulled in a Mackerel.  They invited us all over for a potluck dinner.  Mariners Dream  declined, so there were 6 of us enjoying our second dinner in the Bahamas.  

Thursday the wind had shifted, but that just made it easier to make the turn and head for Green Turtle Cay.  We anchored off New Plymouth settlement just outside of Black Sound and dinghied in to check in at the Customs office.  We got there at 12:50 and were out just in time for the Customs lady to go to lunch at 1:00!  After several hundred dollars and much angst, Dory was "in" without a hitch!

The wind kept strengthening as we sat at anchor waiting for high tide (the entrance to Black Sound has a shallow spot) and we saw the gauge hit 27 knots!

We headed in just before 3 pm and didn't see anything shallower than 7'.  We found out it was pizza night here at the Tiki Bar so we had Resolve, Sea Wolf and Mariners Dream over for drinks and pizza

Brunelle  happily in a slip at Leeward Yacht Club on Green Turtle Cay.

SOooo...if you're not tired of reading here is a quick synopsis of our month in Palm Beach Gardens. We ate well!  Lots of dinners up on the deck by the office of the marina with Ragtime & Sevilla.   We also had dinner at Tessie's a few times.  We ate out,...we ate well!!  We also decided we needed to see how Dan's mom was, so we drove home for a whirlwind visit that included a non-Super Bowl party with our local crew.  Two short visits with Mom and then a stop in St. Augustine on the way back to see Jay and Pegg and to pick up mail and "stuff" we had left there.  We also drove across to visit John and Brandi and arrived the same day as their new rescue dog, so we arranged for Dory to have a "sleepover" with Linda and Bill Shenko. During our 22 hour visit, we helped Linda buy a Hobie Mirage Sport!