Our anticipated first stop in the Bahamas is Bimini, 120 nautical miles from our marina in Marathon, Florida.
St. Patrick's Day parade in Key Colony, Marathon.
March 21, 2012
We are still enjoying Marathon at Banana Bay Marina. People in the marina are making their plans for the summer. Some are storing their boats in Florida and headed to other places on land, while others are making the trip north on their boats. We are watching the weather closely. Our plan is to leave for the Bahamas this Friday. People here refer to it as a “weather window”. The weather window we want is a wind prediction that is moderate with no wind coming from the north. If the window shuts, we will continue to wait.
We have been reading the guidebooks and talking to friends that have gone to the Bahamas about things we need to do before traveling. We have spent the last few weeks making multiple preparation lists and working to get everything done. One of the tasks that we have been putting off was to wax the boat. It took us several days, but yesterday we completed putting two coats of wax on the sides and diving to clean the bottom. Why didn’t we buy a smaller boat?
We have as much food as we can carry. The boat is fueled, water tanks filled and charts studied. We have a few last minute preparations before we are ready to set sail.
Our phones will be turned off for the next couple of months so the only way we will be able to communicate will be email when we get to a town that has Internet.
Hopefully the next time we write it will be from Bimini to say that we arrived. After Bimini we will go to Nassau and southeast to the Exumas.
We are still enjoying Marathon at Banana Bay Marina. People in the marina are making their plans for the summer. Some are storing their boats in Florida and headed to other places on land, while others are making the trip north on their boats. We are watching the weather closely. Our plan is to leave for the Bahamas this Friday. People here refer to it as a “weather window”. The weather window we want is a wind prediction that is moderate with no wind coming from the north. If the window shuts, we will continue to wait.
We have been reading the guidebooks and talking to friends that have gone to the Bahamas about things we need to do before traveling. We have spent the last few weeks making multiple preparation lists and working to get everything done. One of the tasks that we have been putting off was to wax the boat. It took us several days, but yesterday we completed putting two coats of wax on the sides and diving to clean the bottom. Why didn’t we buy a smaller boat?
We have as much food as we can carry. The boat is fueled, water tanks filled and charts studied. We have a few last minute preparations before we are ready to set sail.
Our phones will be turned off for the next couple of months so the only way we will be able to communicate will be email when we get to a town that has Internet.
Hopefully the next time we write it will be from Bimini to say that we arrived. After Bimini we will go to Nassau and southeast to the Exumas.
Foredeck on Matt & Karie's catamaran
Lizard watching at the old Faro Blanco marina.