Biscayne Bay and Bahamas, the beginning

We spent an unexpectedly large portion of January around Miami, or rather around Key Biscayne. On January second we untied the boat from the berth in Matheson Hammock Marina, having spent most of that day and part of the previous day loading stores, and sailed across Biscayne Bay to No Name Harbour. No Name Harbour is a small man-made harbour in Bill Bagg Cape Florida State Park on the southern tip of Key Biscayne. It is a popular place for boats to gather whenever a weather window for crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas seems about to appear. Before the last weather window in which we (finally) made our crossing we were told there were nineteen to twenty boats there, all waiting.

A word about the weather window: what everyone is looking for is relatively calm waters when crossing the Gulf Stream. Since the Gulf Stream runs north, winds out of the north oppose the flow of the current and raise steep high waves in it. The name of the game is finding a long enough period of time with a southern breeze to allow you to cross with some degree of comfort and without having to battle nasty seas. Then there are a few other things we learned:

1. If you are sailing, you have to try to make sure you have enough wind to go across before you get pushed too far north of the destination you are trying to reach. Our first try was for Bimini, on a south-east breeze that was supposed to turn south and never did. The sailing was pleasant, the seas were small, but we could not get across fast enough - we would have ended up well north of Bimini, reaching the Bahama Banks sometime after nightfall. We turned back.

2. If the winds are high enough out of the south, the Stream will be rough. Our second try was again on a south-east breeze, but this time higher - forecast fifteen to twenty knots, actually probably around twenty-five knots. At the edge of the Stream we were being tossed around, with water spraying over the dodger. This was supposed to be fun? We turned around and surfed back to Key Biscayne.

3. If the usual things are not working for you, try something else. Our something else was to take a little more than twenty four hours and aim to end our crossing further north at a point from which we could go down the North West Providence Channel then turn onto the Great Bahama Bank in daylight and sail to Great Harbour Cay Marina to clear customs and immigration.

Not that we did not enjoy our time in Key Biscayne. We anchored in No Name Harbour, Hurricane Harbour and out on Biscayne Bay. No Name Harbour proved to be a great place for meeting other cruisers, long- and short-term, and we had some interesting conversations and heard some great stories. And we now have a few or our own, like the time three rafts of powerboats dragged across the anchorage on a dark and very windy night. It was also a good spot from which to walk or cycle into town, for groceries or hardware or just for a treat. And there was a real beach, complete with real sunbathers perfecting their tans and beach showers. Very few people actually go into the water there at this time of year, except for children and a few crazy tourists. Hurricane Harbour is surrounded by huge houses, and some of them have docks with huge boats. Most are powerboats, though there were a few sailboats docked, and a few others moored; there was a beautiful two-masted wooden sailing boat shining in the sun in front of one house. Some of the houses were startling colours, like orange or purple, and none looked like any other. The entrance is narrow, with shoals on either side, and that might be why we only saw a few other cruising boats there. Anchoring out on the Bay is best done in calm weather, and gives a good view of the Key on one side, the skyline of Miami on the other, and if you are lucky sailboats racing in a regatta in between. The week we left the Rolex Regatta was taking place, with entrants from all over the world. Richard got to talk to a member of the Canadian Tornado racing team. If anyone knows how they did, please let us know.

A couple of nights before we left we moored in Crandon Park Marina, at the north end of Key Biscayne. There we tried out the outdoor laundry facilities, a washer and drier which still worked in spite of standing outside after the building they were in was destroyed in the hurricanes. We finished the laundry at Richard’s mother’s house, and had a Sunday dinner with family before heading out to the Bay to get ready to cross the Stream.

When we actually crossed the Gulf Stream the weather was good and the seas were calm. A lot of boats had been waiting, and they were bound for several different destinations: Bimini, Nassau, Chub Cay, South Cat Cay... There were two nets running to help cruisers crossing, and each had a total of about forty-five boats. Most cruisers were probably on both nets - even so, that makes for a large number all crossing on the same weather window. As well as all those cruising boats, there was a lot of ship traffic. This we kept our distance from, since ships travelling in the shipping lanes move fast, and even faster going north with the Gulf Stream. Overnight we could see lots of ships’ lights in the distance.

Travelling across the Great Bahama Bank we got our first taste of Bahamian aids to navigation. Some of them are in place; many of these were nothing more than poles sticking out of the water, sometimes with green or red painted on them. If you want to know what they should mean, it is best to consult the charts.

We knew we were in the islands when we went into Great Harbour Cay Marina. The dockmaster greeted us, took our lines, gave us forms to fill out and disappeared to call customs. We did not see him again; the next morning we went to the office to pay for our night’s stay, and dealt with the lady there. The customs officer had forgotten some forms, so Richard had a ride to the airport and back - all of about five minutes. We filled out the necessary forms, paid our cruising permit fee - and we were officially in the Bahamas.

Great Harbour Cay was a great place to start our explorations. We were introduced to the pleasures of home-made bread and bread puddings, were greeted with friendliness by all kinds of people, and rarely got to walk all the way to anywhere without being offered a drive. We had hoped to be able to buy Snapper, but the weather was too poor for the fishermen to go out; perhaps when we go back we’ll get the chance. The only real drawback we found was that there was no bank on the island. There is a credit union (in the green house beside the food store - no sign), but it only cashes cheques. We left at the end of January, but only because winds out of the south-west were predicted, and the anchorage off the Cay is not tenable in a south-west breeze.

And now we have the whole of February to look forward to...