The Gulfstream Crossing!

                                                        Great Harbours in the Gulfstream

The Great Harbour Bahamas-bound cruisers all rose early this morning.  We finally had the weather window we needed, with forecast winds of 10-15 knots out of the south and seas "around 2 feet" with a period of 6 seconds.  The somewhat vague plan was for everyone to meet up, sort of, near the inlet sometime around 4am and then cruise across the Gulfstream and onto the Little Bahama Bank as a loose group.

Cedric and Julie got moving earlier than the rest from their dockage eight miles north of the inlet.  Lee and Karen on At Last were at anchor south of Peanut Island, and the rest of us were at the Sailfish Marina docks.  By some miracle, we all basically showed up at the inlet channel on time and spaced out perfectly for a procession out of the inlet and into the dark Atlantic right on the dot at 4am.

As we entered the Gulfstream, the initial sloppy, disorganized seas gave way to the predicted 2' seas, starting on the bow and eventually becoming an annoying 2' beam sea out of the south.  The 53nm crossing itself was pretty uneventful and we steamed onto the Little Bahama Bank at Memory Rock right on schedule at 12:30pm.

                                                             The Office II steams past

The bank was beautiful with seas varying from 1' to almost flat.  But at about four o'clock, shortly after passing our waypoint at Mangrove Cay, the unmistakable signs of a big thunderstorm were just ahead of us.  We had gusts over 40mph as salt residue on the boats was washed away by the pelting rain.  Then, as quickly as it had come, it was over - replaced by a beautiful rainbow low on the horizon.

                                                  Chutay going under the rainbow

The final two hours of the day were uneventful as we all anchored up at Great Sale Cay.  I am not sure how the other crews celebrated, but Jan, Dennis, and I had a well-deserved cold beverage or two on the flybridge, enjoying the cool, breezy evening.  This was followed up by a delicious dinner of barbecued chicken.

                                            Great Harbours anchored at Great Sale Cay

Now, I can barely keep my eyes open.  By some weird quirk, here, a million miles from anywhere, I have cell phone service - so I am taking advantage by uploading the blog.

The quarantine flags are flying with winds out of the southeast at about 15 knots or so and all five Great Harbours are doing their anchor dance.  I am sure all the crews will sleep well tonight.  Tomorrow, we will get a bit more civilized start at around 7am, with a six-hour cruise to the docks at Spanish Cay - where we will present ourselves and our paperwork to customs and immigration and meet up with Mark and Cathy aboard Midnight Blue.

We're FINALLY in the Abacos and the fun is just beginning!