Back in Florida

Saturday January 9^th, 2021

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We certainly did.

We did end up going home for the holidays and enjoyed celebrating Christmas with the family. We returned to Stuart on the 31^st and spent New Years Eve at the marina and on the boat. Like most, we’re excited that 2020 is finally over and that the new year has arrived.

Upon returning to Stuart we’ve been busy learning about and working through the logistical challenges of traveling over to the Bahamas ‘during these challenging times.’ The Bahama Islands are open for travel but require all visitors to have negative PCR Covid test that is no older than 5 days from the date of your arrival. Given that it typically takes 2-3 days to get your results, this only provides a 2-3 day travel the window.  Plenty of time if one is flying over or doesn’t have to be concerned with the weather.  But since we aren’t flying and we are concerned about the weather, 3 days isn’t a very big window.

The Bahamas are located only about 50 to 60 miles off the east coast of Florida, a 10 to 12 hour sail/ motorsail for us.  While that is not a great distance to cover, the Gulf Stream runs between Florida and the  Bahamas and provides a bit of a challenge to navigation.  The Gulf Stream is an underwater current that is about 25 to 30 miles wide and flows north at an average speed of around 2 to 4 knots.  For small, slower boats like ours that will take several hours to cross, the Gulf Stream will actually be pushing us north the whole time we are crossing.  For every 6 to 7 miles we travel east, we’ll be pushed 2 to 3 miles north, so we need to compensate for this northly ‘set’ by actually steering towards a point that is 15 to 18 miles south of our intended final destination.

Another factor we need to consider in planning our crossing is the weather. Specifically, the strength and direction of the wind. Since the Gulf Stream is flowing from the south to the north, if the wind is coming from the north it is blowing directly against the current which can create steep, choppy waves.  Not something we want to deal with for several hours. Unfortunately, during the winter months those cold fronts that blow through the US once a week or so end up generating winds from the north just off the coast of Florida and in the Gulf Stream.  Fortunately, the fronts don’t last too long and generally pass within a few days, but they do present us with another variable to consider and deal with as we plan our passage.

But we’re not complaining, just explaining what’s happening with us here in Florida!

We did get tested again at the end of last week and moved the boat down from Stuart to the Lake Worth/West Palm Beach area on Friday with hopes of catching a good weather window early this upcoming week.  If the window closes before we can cross we may consider moving further south to the Miami area, explore Biscayne Bay for a few days and wait for our next opportunity to cross.

So right now we’re just waiting for a good weather window and enjoying the sunshine – definitely not complaining though.  We’ll keep you all updated on our progress and hopefully will be posting from the Bahamas before too long.

God Bless, and as always, keep those prayers coming.