The end of another adventure
Growing Storm Cell, Little Bahama Banks
Since our last update from Marsh Harbour, Abacos, we spent another week in the Marsh Harbour area before crossing through Whale Cay cut to visit northern Abacos anchorages. We tried a mix of 'new to us' anchorages and revisited others as our pace slowed and our adventures were winding to a close. We hoped to spend a few days at a comfortable anchorage that wasn't crowded with other boats or daytrippers, but this was more difficult than last time as most of the area was crowded with summer cruisers. Consequently, we decided to make our gulf stream crossing early and departed on 7/4.
It was a slow crossing, sailing all the way at 6-7 knots indicated, but only making about 3 knots over the ground against the strong current. Leaving Great Sale Cay around 1:00 PM, we arrived at the Lake Worth inlet around 9:00 the next morning and to our marina by 11:00. Customs was easy with our decal, however all returning boats must now also clear with Immigration (Dept. of Homeland Security), reporting with all crew to an immigration office within 24 hours. After getting the car cranked up, we got to Palm Beach airport with time to spare.
We haven't had sufficient time, yet, to reflect on the last year's adventures. What worked; what didn't work. What we could have done differently. But we accomplished a lot, had a great time. Analysis later! We did traverse almost 6000 nm from Maine to the Virgin Islands, met a lot of interesting people, had some unexpected adventures, and survived with only minor dings to boat and crew.
Check out Windwalker Log for details of our daily exploits since our last update. We've got a finalized Route Plan and photo albums for Return Trip 4 and Return Trip 3.