Crossing the Gulf Stream

Buccaneer reading the chart as we navigate the Gulf Stream

Jennifer (The Pearl) 

Greatings from the Bahamas, Mon!  On November 1st at 4am the Buccaneer and I pulled up our anchor and headed east.  The first 2 hours of our journey were in complete darkness.  The coastal waters had a North swell running 2-3', wind was heading WNW.  The 2-3' was courtesy of Sandy.  Will she ever leave us?  At approximately 10 miles East if West Palm Beach, around 6:30am we reached the western edge of the Gulf Stream.  Once in the Gulf Stream, we were greeted by 4-6' swell with waves coming through as high as 8-9'.  Note the waves were not crashing- this makes a big difference.  About this time is when I focused on the horizon and tried not to look behind us.  I ended up feeling much better in the fetal position in the cockpit- sleeping!  I think my Mom and Dad said something about me falling asleep regularly in the car when I was young- Kluane's motion put me right to sleep- Thank Goodness!  Buccaneer and Klaune motorsailed the entire way.  The journey through the gulf stream was like a roller coaster with no track, no other cars and no sight of land.  The water is the color of indigo blue (looked fake at times) and the temperature in the middle of the gulf waters was 82 degrees.  In the end, I slept about half the trip, but did not loose my cookies!  It took us 10 hours to reach our destination- West End, Bahamas.  Yeah! Once in the slip at the marina we put up our quarantine flag (yellow flag) and filled out the customs paperwork (lots of paperwork).  I waited on the boat, while Captain cleared us in on land.  Once clear, we took down the quarantine flag and put up the Bahamas flag, followed by the United States flag.  We then toasted with cold Cokes!  We stayed in West End for  2 nights, we were the 3rd boat to cross into West End since Sandy.  We walked the community of West End, took in the beauty, observed the hurricane damage and talked with some locals.  The community experienced downed power lines and flooding over the sea wall.

The well rested Pearl excited to see land!  Check out the line connected to my lifejacket- it is connected to the boat- via lifelines.  There is no falling out of Kluane!

The Gulf Stream.  The yellow lines you see are the life lines and we are flying the geny! 

While at West Palm Beach we meet a couple, Dave and Amy on s/v Swallow.  They are from Boulder, Co and are on their 2nd big cruise through the Bahamas.  The first time was 12 years ago with their 2 small children.  It was great to talk with Dave and Amy and hear about there adventures- and talk about life aboard a sail boat!  We could see Swallow our entire way to West End and had a celebratory cervesa with Dave and Amy at sunset before collapsing to our beds!  What a day!

Happy to be in the Bahamas!

Much Love,
The Pearl

Ah, Heaven!

Looking East from West End, Bahamas!