Crossing the Stream

1.22.13 We left West Palm around 0900 yesterday morning, filled our diesel and water tanks and headed out through the cut. The ocean was relatively polite with only small waves, although it was relatively choppy. We opted to head out three miles right away to check out the Gulf Stream and see if it was passable. We had discussed our options on Sunday and decided that even though there was no wind in the forecast, we would go out to the Stream and if the waves were calm, we would go ahead and cross to the Bahamas. If the Stream was churned up at all and looked questionable from the North winds we had been having, we would head South to Miami. I think we all thought we were heading to Miami that day.... But, the weather cooperated and we started our crossing. The day went well, although as predicted there was no wind so we motored the whole way. The only bad weather we had came right after dark (of course) while I was on watch. Brad and Sean had gone below to get some rest while I took the first shift. Suddenly a downpour hit, sheets and sheets of rain for thirty minutes, being blown in one me from all directions. Brad offered to come out and keep me company but there was no point in both of us being miserable, so I stayed put. Luckily, the rain didn't bring wind so the Stream didn't get too angry, although the waves picked up a bit. We hit the edge of the Bahama Bank around 10 pm, just North of Freeport. We had always planned on going in by Bimini which is much farther south after crossing over from Miami. It wasn't until Sunday that we suddenly decided to just cross from West Palm and head to the Abacos. For those of you who had previously read our blog, you will remember that we didn't enjoy the Abacos very much and had quite a bit of trouble anchoring there. We were, in fact, not planning on ever going to the Abacos again, but with North wind in the forecast for the next week, they were our only hope of crossing. Everything was going great until the wind picked up around 2 am. Brad and I sat in the cockpit while the waves built and the wind got colder. By the time the sun came up, our destination was in sight, but the it seemed that it was going to be quite the motor bash to get there. Sure enough, as soon as we turned towards Grand Cay, we were going nowhere...literally less than 1 knot. After a few minutes of this, we decided we weren't going to make it and turned around, raised the sails and headed to a different island south of us. Once we raised the sails, we were flying! The wind was so strong, the waves were large and we were being pushed at right around 7 knots directly towards our new destination. We made it there in no time at all, got the sails down and the anchor set by 11:00am. We had breakfast, made sure the anchor was holding and then left Sean to anchor watch while Brad and I passed out cold.