West End, Grand Bahama Island, part II

January 22, 2007

OK, so we finally made it to the Bahamas. Yipee!!! The crossing was bumpier than expected, with somewhat confused seas, so we ended up motorsailing the whole way. All in all, the trip took us almost exactly 12 hours, 2 hours less than we had expected.

When we arrived Hans tidied up the boat and Kristen went ashore to do the necessary paperwork associated with clearing in two people, one sailboat, one cat (who eats for two), one dingy, and two bicycles. (Yes, we all now have official Bahamian cruising permits, even the bikes).


sailing along in 600 meters/1800 feet of water.... kind of makes you think twice about going for a swim.




Land Ho!

After some nice showers to wash off the salt, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out here at the Bahama Bay Marina where we are spending the night. Now we're off to bed, (after all, it's already 8.30pm!) Tomorrow we'll head across the Little Bahama Bank to either Great Sale Cay or Grand Cays.

Parents and other intrested parties: It is unlikely that we'll have phone or email access for the next couple days or so. Don't worry, we'll be in touch as soon as practically possible. There is a cold front moving through the area around Thursday or so, so we might be anchored at some deserted Cay for a few days waiting for the wind to die down.


Kristen takes the yellow quarantee flag down and hoists the Bahamian courtesy flag in its place. The "Q" flag is flown by a vessel that has not yet cleared customs and immigration.

Bahamian courtesy flag flying from Whisper's spreader