Nassau

Certainly an eventful trip across the Bahama Bank and then across the tounge of the ocean, but we made it safely into Nassau this morning.  Despite plans on stopping to rest a few hours, engine and electrical issues made us press on without resting and without much of our "normal" conveniences – like the autopilot, fridge, chartplotter, radar, weather, radio, and GPS.

Luckily – most of that was by choice in an effort of caution and we were travelling with two other boats that would have offered assistance if needed.

Some of the highlights:

• Entering onto the Bahama Bank – one of the most beautiful areas of water in the world.  We traveled 60 miles across in 12-20 foot deep water that is as clear as fine crystal.  It was easy to see starfish on the bottom in 20 feet of water.  This lasted from roughly noon through 10:30pm yesterday.

• Waiting for the right weather window – our trip across was perfectly nice weather.  A bit of wind to put the sails up but not too much to make us want to put them down.

• 174.13 nautical miles.  This is our actual distance traveled since leaving No Name Harbor off of Key Biscayne in Miami.

• Meeting new people and within two days literally being able to count on them if it came down to it.

• AIS – we ended up not using our "automatic identification system" because of power issues, but the other boats in our flotilla had it and it really is handy to be able to identify and hail a commerical vessel at sea that is crossing paths.

I’m sure Erin will have more later… but thanks for reading and have drink with us tonight to celebrate our safe passage!  It’s always easier to sit on the dock – but leaving and heading out into the unknown will always surprise you.