Bahamas part 2 - Visitors ! March 30th to May 15th 2023

We sailed to Nassau to welcome Daniel, Sandra, Ask and Eira. After a journey of 1.5 days (with 1 overnight stay in Miami) they arrived at the port 😍.

We really enjoyed seeing them again, and both Ask and Eira were familiar with "Farmor" (grandma in Norwegian) and "Dassa" (Ask' s name for Farfar, which is grandpa in Norwegian) almost at once.

We stayed in the harbor for 3 nights due to a lot of wind.

On Saturday we headed south towards the Excumas.

It was motor sailing as we had headwind and quite a few waves. Ask and Eira thought it was a long day, so it was nice that they both slept a bit part of the way and when we arrived at Highbourne Cay it was ok.

The next morning we put the dinghy out and Kai took Daniel, Sandra and Ask into the marina so they could see the sharks that stay close to the jetty . The sharks wait for fish waste that is thrown out when fishermen are cleaning the fish. It was great for Ask to see 👍😃.

Eira stayed on board with "Farmor" and slept for a while.

Afterwards we packed everything needed for a trip to the beach with small children. Towels, parasols, nappies, toys and food and drink were packed into the dinghy and we headed to the beach. We also brought the grill so we could bbq sausages 😃.

The next morning we hoisted the anchor by hand (Daniel) and with the help of the winch to the sheet - it worked 👍.

We sailed (motor) on to Warderick Wells. We stayed here for 3 days due to a lot of wind and also because it is a very beautiful place. With boats at the buoy, a nice sandy beach with deep turquoise blue water and nice walking opportunities, these were some nice days.

Ask joined "Dassa" (Farfar) on a kayak trip and they saw both a turtle and a shark (nurse shark). Ask was completely ecstatic 😃.

He also learned the divers' signs for turtle and shark, which he showed to "Mimmi" (grandmother) when they spoke on FaceTime.

On our way north again, now we sailed 👍, we stopped in Shroud Cay and we had a few hours on the beach here too.

It was quite a long day back to Nassau, but we were able to sail most of the way, and both Ask and Eira coped well.

Back in the harbour, it was doing laundry and packing for Daniel and Sandra as they were to travel on to their continued holiday in the USA the next morning. Ask got to swim in the pool with "Dassa" while they did the packing.

At 5 am on Sunday morning they left. We've had 10 wonderful days together and it's nice to get to know the grandchildren better 😍.

Later in the day we were tourists in Nassau, we saw e.g. "Queen's staircase", and "The Government House".

Back in the marina, we just managed to get the boat washed before the rain started. There was heavy rain and wind for 3 days, so we moored well.

Ross and Louise on "Bluemist" arrived in Nassau and we had 2 pleasant evenings together 😃. They plans were to sail further south in the Bahamas and on to the Dominican Republic.

Parts for the watermaker and windlass arrived in Nassau, but were stopped at customs. Kai called and submitted papers, but the parts were not delivered. So he called and called and called and got more and more annoyed 😡

After 6 days in the marina, both due to the weather and many phone calls to both FedEx and DHL, we set sail and sailed to Eleuthera. (We were hoping the parts would have been delivered, when we returned in 3-4 days - 🤞).

Through "Current Cut" the tidal current was strong and even with little engine power we made 8.5 knots through the strait.

We anchored on the west side of Current Settlement and took the dinghy ashore. There were some holiday houses (I think) by the beach and some residential houses and a "library", otherwise nothing.

Kai used the nice weather to wash/polish the water line - I read a book 😜.

Last night we had a lot of weather!, - lightning and thunder, around us, it was certainly not pleasant 😱😓. It was so bad that we put PCs, mobile phones and other electrical equipment in the oven (it's like a so-called Faraday cage).

Back in Nassau, the parts have apparently been tried to be delivered, but they were supposed to have money for "clearance and handling", even though it was addressed to "boat in transit", so that also had to be paid 😡. Not delivered😡😡

DHL was delivered the same day we arrived, but with regard to FedEx, we ended up having to stay in the marina for 3 more days and we had to take a taxi to the office to pick up the package 😡.

Not easy to get parts delivered here 😏.

At least Kai got the windlass fixed 👍. We going to wait with the watermaker until we can buy some spesial cleaning products and run it through a cleaning process.

On April 21st we left Nassau and had a nice, fast sail, 7.5 - 8 knots, to Great Harbor Cay in The Berry Islands. We stayed there for 4 days. We explored the island, not much to see, but we bicycled the 2-3 roads that were there 😅. It was very hot to ride, so we stopped in the marina for some drinks and we met 2 American couples who wanted to meet us again in Fort Lauderdale when we got there 😏🤷‍♀️.

The last night in Great Harbor Cay we had a lot of wind and waves which woke us up and kept us awake for a couple of hours. Not alright while on anchor, we (I) doubt if the anchor will hold 🤔.

The next morning we set course for Bimini. The wind conditions were reported to be ok, but we had no wind for the first 12 hours, so we used the engine. We fished and got 4 barracuda which were released before we got a nice tuna. In the evening there was violent weather with a lot of lightning a little north of us, and luckily it didn't come our way 😅.

Great to watch - from a distance 😃.

During the night there was a bit of wind and we hoisted the sails. We also got 2 large Horse-Eye Jack. These were also released. There was little sleep and when we arrived in Bimini in the morning, we followed Navionics' "recommended track", which we have done everywhere else, but the sand had shifted (which was apparently known here) and the boat suddenly ran aground 😮.

After a couple of hours where we tried to break free, high tide was on the way and finally someone offered to pull us off, then 2 "idiots" passed at high speed and made big waves, but that also caused us to break free.

Then it was good to get to the harbor and moor.

We stayed 6 days in a marina at Bimini, both because of a lot of wind a few days and we didn't want to be in Fort Lauderdale for very long. We bicycled on the roads that were there, a few km north to the cruise and tourist area which was nice, but the more "local" areas were the nicest. We also spent some time on the beach 😃. We took a short ferry ride over to South Bimini, where there were some houses, a marina facility under construction and not much else.

We then sailed a few nautical miles south to Cat Cay (a private island, with lots of big beautiful houses and a small airport), to stay on anchor and also to get a better course towards Fort Lauderdale. The Gulf Stream will push us north so we had to start a little south of FL.

We have seen so many beautiful sunsets, but the first night here we had the most beautiful sunset we have ever seen.

After 4 days we started at 22.30 towards FL.

We had a lot (a lot) of waves, so a lot of rolling. There was little sleep, but we arrived safely and were lucky and got hold of a buoy for only $35 (NOK 400) per night. This worked very well with the dinghy dock nearby and only 5-600 meters down to Las Olas beach (Fort Lauderdale).

We used the days for some dinghy driving on the canals where we saw many of the large, beautiful properties, a water-taxi tour, shopping at the "Sawgrass Mills mall" (story outlet center) and a sightseeing tour with Linda and Michael to Miami South Beach's Art Deco architecture area from around the 1930s (protected).

Very special and it's worth seeing if you're in Miami.

On May 15th Papaki was carefully loaded and "fastened" onto the cargo ship "Stinnes Zephir" to be transported to Southampton.

While Papaki is on her way to Southampton, we visit Monica's family in Boulder, Colorado, before flying to England and waiting for the boat. After that, new destinations awaits on the way south towards the Mediterranean.

Monica og Kai Robert