The Good: 84 miles was what we needed to travel today to get from Bimini to Great Harbor Cay in the Berry's. We left Bimini at 6:15 am. The first two hours were a little bumpy but no more than a tad annoying. About noon the winds settled down just as predicted and we enjoyed a beautifully warm, sunny day on the water. Our first glimpse of land and three very large cruise ships at the end of the Cay came about 2:30. What did we see on the ocean throughout our nine hour trip? Two freighters and a dog gone mylar balloon!! It was great to know that we would arrive, get anchored and settled several hours before dark. With land in sight we slowed down and threw out a fishing line but had no luck. It takes a little getting used to but you realize that just because you see land does not mean your there. It is a little like driving to Fort Lauderdale from Indiana for the first time. You get all excited when you reach the Florida line but still have a long ways to go. We actually reached the anchorage about 4:00. An hour and a half after we saw land. We anchored just outside of the channel that leads to Harbor Cay marina. it was a beautiful evening. The wind and waves were as predicted, one footers. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the ocean and talked about what we would do the next morning.
The wind was predicted to pick up late in the evening to about 10-12 mph but the waves were not supposed to pick up so it should have been a nice night. The Bad: About 8:30 the wind picked up but closer to 15 than 10 and we were doing some rocking. By 10pm the winds had picked up again and we were really rocking. So much so that Tom started to get seasick and Peanut was really upset. Tom went to lay down and I went to the fly bridge. The wind worsened as the night went on. By midnight the wind howled around the boat and we bounced, over the now 2 plus foot waves and I started to worry. From midnight until 4am I moved back and forth from the fly bridge to the salon checking on our position. By 4am the wind was so bad Laughter was bouncing and jerking violently back and forth. I knew that if we broke loose it would not take much for us to be aground or on the rocks. I went down to the aft cabin and told Tom the winds were worse and I was going to start the engines just in case. He came up to the fly bridge and sat with me for the next hour although he was pretty green. At this point I just wanted it to be light out!! It started to get light out about 6am and by 6:30 the winds settled down quite a bit. Tom stayed up and I went to bed. I slept until 9am. When I came up into the salon Tom asked me what I wanted to do. Originally the winds were predicted to build up on Friday night and stay strong, 20-25 mph on Sat., Sun., and Monday. I wasn't going to take any chances! I said I wanted to go into the marina. I didn't care what the cost was. He agreed, saying that I needed to get some rest after staying up all night. When we pulled anchor we had to work at it. It had buried itself in clay under the sand, thank goodness! That's why we stayed put through the blow. We called the marina and thankfully got a slip. When I went up to the office to register I made an executive decision. We were staying a week, until the winds calmed down. When I returned to the boat Tom was pleased. He also felt we needed to stay put until the winds calmed down. We visited with our slip neighbors and worked around the boat until about 9:30 pm. I slept well!
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