Bahamas Bound
We departed York River Yacht Haven in Gloucester, Virginia on Sunday, December 1st, and arrived in Charleston, South Carolina three days later to drop the hook, get a little rest, and pick up our life raft that we ordered from West Marine. I made pancakes to celebrate the first leg of our passage and we went to the Charleston Harbor Marina for water and fuel.
We were grateful for the support of two crew members, John and his friend John (who we nicknamed, J1 and J2), making the first passage more manageable. Having four crew members gave us all more time to rest between our three hour watches and it gave me time to support the crew with snacks and meals, when possible. It also allowed me to support Jackson who got very nervous with the loud noises and big swells. I tried for hours to potty train him on the boat with very little success. I’m determined to try again once we meet up with our boat friends with dogs, who can (hopefully) teach Jackson where to potty on the boat.
Unfortunately, when we called West Marine in Charleston to confirm that our online purchase of our life raft was in-store and available for pick up, we were notified that it was out of stock and discontinued. West Marine does not carry life rafts in any stores and they have to be ordered online and shipped from their warehouse. We also wanted to locate the correct size life raft for our aft starboard locker. However, we were not prepared to wait another three to seven days in Charleston for a new order so we contacted the manufacturer directly in Jacksonville, Florida. We knew that heading South would be challenging as we pushed against the Northern flow of the Gulf Stream, and we also knew that heading offshore for several days without a life raft was not something we were comfortable doing. So, we ordered the life raft and began planning the next leg of our passage. Once the company was aware of our situation (living full-time on a sailboat, in transit to the Bahamas for the season, critical weather timing to cross the Gulf Stream, no access to a vehicle) they were gracious enough to deliver our life raft to the public dock in Jacksonville at 6:00 am Friday.
J2 had been quite seasick the entire journey and decided to fly home to New Jersey from Charleston for a hot shower, rest, and a proper meal. We began planning our next leg (Charleston to Jacksonville) and modified our watch schedule now that we were down to three crew members on board. We departed Charleston after 2:00 pm on Wednesday, December 4th, anticipating another 2.5 days to Jacksonville. Once we left the harbor, the sea state was quite rolly with waves hitting us from different directions making it feel like we were in a washing machine. We all agreed that it was good that J2 wasn’t onboard for this next leg. I managed my typical seasickness surprisingly well with a scopalmine patch for my first three days and an earplug in my left ear. A friend recommended this and I really think it helped. Additionally, I avoided coffee while on passage and had small snacks throughout the day—even making myself a little oatmeal in the morning despite not feeling hungry.
We found the sea state to be too unbearable overnight and J1 called in the support of his contacts in the U.S. Coast Guard to recommend somewhere safe to anchor for a few hours. We tucked in just off Beaufort and Edisto Beach, South Carolina for about six hours. Once the sun was up, we continued on. We decided to sail another day and a half to Brunswick, Georgia to take care of a few personal items (Amazon return, notary, mail a letter to the UK, West Marine, fill up on fuel and water, dispose of trash, walk on land and take Jackson potty). We dropped anchor around 7:00 am outside the Brunswick Landing Marina.
After a full day of laundry, filling our diesel and water tanks, and running final errands, we set off for Jacksonville, Florida to finally get our life raft. We arrived at the Jacksonville public dock at 4:30 am. Mark and J1 promptly went to sleep as it was my turn to be on watch. Fortunately it was low stress as I walked Jackson to shore, let him enjoy an off-leash run and swim and a bath back on our boat, while awaiting the delivery of our life raft. Right on time—our life raft was delivered to the dock at 6:00 am! We then moved to the fuel dock just a few meters away for our final top up of diesel before departing for the Bahamas.
The crossing was relatively uneventful, which was a welcome relief after the conditions over the past week after we rounded Hatteras. We arrived at Marsh Harbour, Abacos on Tuesday, December 10th. After we dropped our anchor and raised the yellow quarantine flag, I completed the Bahamas online customs forms, cruising permit application and fee, and uploaded the required paperwork for Jackson to enter the country.
Mark collected our passports and headed to shore to find the local customs and immigration office while the rest of the crew enjoyed a cold hard cider and some Bahamian sunshine. Over an hour later and a lot of walking around town to locate a working ATM, Mark returned with our cruising permit in hand. We lowered the quarantine flag and raised the Bahamian flag, signifying we could all make landfall—and that’s exactly what we did.
We took Jackson for a walk and enjoyed some fish tacos at COLORS. After a good night’s rest, J1 departed the following day to return home to New Jersey. Due to some weather coming in and our kids arriving the following day, we booked a slip at the marina and moved to the Conch Inn & Marina. Several loads of laundry later and a trip to Maxwell’s Grocery, we had prepped the boat for our family to arrive on Thursday, December 12th.
