SV Gallant Fox

One Person's Approach to the Bahamas

It is now February 2014 and The Fox has been cruising the Bahamas since our arrival on January 15, 2014. This is actually our second cruise through the Bahamas; we were here for the first time from November 2011 through the first week of February, 2012. I had avoided blogging about our first trip to these islands because I knew we would return and I wanted to compare the 2 voyages to each other. I also wanted to avoid writing about an especially bad experience I had here, the first time. That bad experience has now been negated. So, here goes:

We entered the Bahamas on our first voyage in November 2011, at Rock Sound on Eleuthera Island, about 75 miles due east of Nassau. Rock Sound is an official port of entry, with both Customs and Immigration officials whose job includes checking pleasure vessels into the country. The Rock Sound office is difficult for first-timers to locate, as it is concealed from view from the water and even from their own dock. I regret having worked so hard to find them.

It's All About Mind Control, Really.

It is not necessarily a bad thing to wait a week or two (or four) for a weather window to sail. The worst part is the mental factor: the impatience we feel when we are ready to move, and have prepared The Fox to move, yet it's prudent to stay put. Analyzing and discussing the weather forecasts from 4 different sources, every morning, and repeatedly reaching the same conclusion to stay in port, can make you a little crazy after a while. Tom Petty was right: the wait is the hardest part.

On January 10, 2014, after about 2 months of watching, waiting, and inching The Fox southbound, we finally got a forecast that looked like a good weather window to escape Florida and cross to the Bahamas. We had kept our water and fuel tanks filled; we'd even spent 2 nights at Lake Worth's most excellent Old Port Cove Marina, the better to do piles of laundry and some final provisioning/boat cleaning. Palm Beach marinas aren't exactly cheap, but we were well taken care of at Old Port Cove Marina and got very good value for our dollars. Leaving there, we positioned The Fox 5 miles down the way at a handy anchorage just inside the Lake Worth/Palm Beach inlet. Early the next morning our favorable forecast was reconfirmed, and we were outta there with the morning tide.

See ya, Flo-ri-DA.