We Are in the Bahamas!

We arrived in West End, Grand Bahama at 1 pm today after a smooth passage. We are cleared in and there was absolutely no problem with the vessel documentation. In fact, the customs officer didn’t even ask to see it. In addition, she approved us to stay for six months, meaning we won’t have the headache we had last year trying to get an extension on our immigration status. The process couldn’t have been easier and took less than 20 minutes. 

We left Brunswick at 3:30 am on Saturday to depart with the tide and ensure we had plenty of time to get here before the marina here closed. We raised the sails before daylight as we left the channel in Brunswick and had a fantastic day and night of sailing. The Gulf Stream was no problem at all. The six-foot, six-second period seas I thought we would encounter yesterday never appeared. Probably because the winds were light then. We did have to motor once the winds died down but I would much rather light winds and motoring over big seas. 

Last evening we could see storm clouds all around us, but none very close. At one point the ones behind us seemed to be moving closer but then dissipated. George and I both enjoyed watching the light show from the thunderheads, just as long as they stayed behind us. 

We are finding it difficult to believe we are actually here. Not only because of the challenges we have had since leaving home, but also because the passage seemed to be over so quickly. We plan to stay at West End until Wednesday and then move on to Great Harbour in the Berries. 

We are in the Bahamas!  Cleared in and freshly showered. 

Drinks and dinner at the tiki bar. 

The marina is fairly empty right now. We are one of five boats. By Thursday it will be full of boats participating in a fishing tournament. 

Squalls on the horizon last evening. 

Screenshot from a video George took of the lightning. 

We did see dolphins a few times. Most were shy and not interested in moving along with us. This one—and a few others—did stay with us for a few minutes. We always love to see them.