Goodbye Bahamas!

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 Our last days in the Bahamas - we travelled to Great Sale Cay on Sunday and put down the anchor for the night - had a nice nachos and beer dinner on Gaya. All the boats that are here are waiting for the weather window to cross the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic back to Florida.


Monday was a quick hop to Mangrove Cay. This is a teeny tiny island and the anchorage is only viable in very calm weather.  There were only 6 boats anchored including some friends from Green Cove Springs - Angie and Sam on S/V Nauti Cali. They were going in a different direction the next day however. So dark and quiet at night - the night sky and stars were beautiful.


Our last sunset in the Bahamas:


On Tuesday morning we left the anchorage at 2:45 am to make the journey back to Florida. The first 4 hours were in the dark, crossing the Bahama Bank. Just as the sun was rising we left the turquoise Bahamian waters and started across the dark blue Atlantic.


 
It was a frustrating sail/motor - no wind and big rolling waves. However, the weather was beautiful and the crossing was uneventful in the whole scheme of things. So exciting to see dolphins finally.



As we came closer to Florida, we had to report in to U.S. customs using their app “ROAM”. It was really easy and we were approved within 20 minutes. So different from the land border. As we got closer, we could smell civilization - smog and pollution! We arrived at Fort Pierce after a 14 hour journey and were docked next to Gaya.


What a contrast to Mangrove Cay - the noise, lights, close quarters and busyness of the city! After a great dinner out we turned in early to catch up on sleep.

Today we said our goodbyes to Lise and Steve and started the trip up the ICW (Intracostal Waterway) to our home port.















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