So much has happened

We have traveled so many miles and seen much along the way.  We just got access to Wi-Fi for us to be able to share what we have seen and where we have been.

Vero

Arrived in Vero Beach (AKA Velcro Beach) on Tuesday in the early afternoon with plans to stay at the marina for only one night, we connect with friends from Charleston (boat name Phuket) that were staying at the same marina. Changed our plans and decided to stay two days so that we could check out the area and hang out with our friends. Vero Beach Marina is definitely set up for cruisers with laundry facilities, multiple showers, it is even on the regular town bus route, which was to our benefit.  We were able to catch the bus and go to the grocery store to pick up a few things and stretch our legs.  Taking advantage of our extra day we walked to the nearest PakMail store and shipped all our cold weather clothes home, knowing from here on out we would not be needing them, we officially had arrived to warm weather.  We continued our walk on to the beach side of Vero treating ourselves to a great lunch with our friends at a place called Mulligan’s all while soaking up the view. 

After walking 5 miles that day we ended it with a bottle of wine and watching the sunset on Phuket.

Onward to we go down the ICW, passing through or under 42 bridges in two days.  The ones that required to be opened were either every 15/45 minutes on the hour or 30/60 minutes on the hour or on demand.  This made for a race against time to catch the bridge without having to wait.  On day one of the bridge race we learned that tugs get to have bridges open on demand no matter what, so we tucked behind a small tug and made excellent time. But he had to pull off and we said good bye.

                                     

At the end of he day we anchored in Lake Boca Rotan with what felt like 50 other boats but it was a calm night and the view was great.

Day two of the bridge race we reached Ft Lauderdale it turned into a game of cat and mouse, so many pleasure boats on the water which I must say had no regard for the wake they make.  Felt like we were on a e-ticket ride until we passed the port of Miami.

Along the way we passed some might big pleasure boats, seemed like hundreds.  Clearly some folks are still doing well in todays economy.

Now down to the final leg of our journey before we make the jump to the Bahamas.  We anchored in Biscayne Bay.  A well know spot for sail boats to anchor waiting for good weather to make the passage.  Our passage window was here.  Another great sunset.

What day is it

It is the morning of February 26, 2023.  We are up at 5am for coffee and one last weather check before we head out.  As the sun started to rise we pulled anchor and headed out with the passing of the Biscayne Bay lighthouse we were on our way.

As the Miami skyline was getting smaller we were well underway to crossing the Straights of Florida to the Gulfstream. Winds were hardly found and if there was any it was coming from behind us, so we did a fair amount of motoring.  But not to worry it was a great time to put out two fishing lines and see if we could catch dinner (no luck). After about 6 hours the water turned a beautiful blue and by 3:30pm were were raising a quarantine as we could see the shores of Bimini Bahamas.  It took us 9 hours to make landfall.

We checked in with customs and immigration, we were approved to stay in the Bahamas for 3 months.