We are all cleared out of the country and ready to begin sailing to Ft. Pierce, FL tomorrow morning. This year, for the first time since we started coming here in 2016, the Bahamas is requiring that boaters clear out before they leave the country. We have been confused by the process and I was worried that we would have problems with Immigration since we have never received official word that our permission to stay has been extended beyond the 60 days we received when we arrived in November. I needn’t have worried. George was able to clear out over the telephone in less than 10 minutes and wouldn’t have had to turn in our immigration cards if he hadn’t asked about that. We chose Great Harbour Cay as the port where we would clear out because people have said it is so easy to clear in here. We weren’t able to get a slip at the marina so we anchored a short distance away. The anchorage is blissfully calm, something we appreciate after three days of rolly anchorages. George had already completed the Click2Clear online form a few days ago. That process was a little confusing since, when we entered the country, he had to enter our estimated date of departure. When he tried to edit the form to reflect our actual date of departure the site said changes were accepted but the summary still had the old date. We decided not to worry about it. This morning we dinghied to the marina with all of our papers. When George asked at the marina office about clearing out he was given a piece of paper with the name and number of the Customs officer (Marvin, who was at the airport at the time.) Marvin asked if we had completed Click2Clear. George told him we had and gave him the boat name and our record number. Marvin looked it up and said we were good to go. George asked if we needed to turn in our immigration cards and Marvin said to turn them in at the marina office, which George did.
After returning to Breeze On we emptied the dinghy, folded it, and tied it to the rail. We have been working on a few other chores and should be in good shape to leave in the morning.
The entrance to Great Harbour Cay is quite narrow but the harbor is very protected.
Busy marina. There is a fishing tournament this weekend which explains why we weren’t able to get a slip. We are quite happy in the anchorage outside the harbor.
The dinghy is folded and tied to the rail.
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