The rush to leave the USA
Hello! As I write this, we are moored at the Big Game Club marina in Alice Town, Bimini, Bahamas. Bimini is the closest Bahamian island to Fort Lauderdale. It consists of two islands, North Bimini and South Bimini. There is a tidewater cut that runs between them. Big Game and the other marinas are located on this cut. We are delighted to be here. The water is crystal clear and the most beautiful blue you can imagine. We will have plenty of time to talk about the beauty of the Bahamas. For now, I want to talk about our last few days in the US. I will tell you about our crossing to Bimini in the next post.
The lifestyle we live is known as cruising. Cruisers share lots of beautiful pictures of glorious sunrises and sunsets, and encounters with wildlife. In fact, it can look pretty idyllic, and it often is. However, cruising life has a way of going from nothing, meaning we are trying to stay on top of regular cleaning and maintenance to “OMG we have so much to do in a tiny window of time.” The latter generally happens as we are getting ready for a passage, and this is absolutely what happened to us this week.
We had hoped to leave the USA on February 28th. A nice weather window was presenting itself. This means that conditions were favorable for leaving Florida and making our way to the Bahamas. Before we could go we needed to take the dogs to the vet for a health check. In order to enter most countries with our dogs we have to have a veterinarian fill out a form that states that the pups are healthy and parasite free. The Bahamas require that this form be filled out within 48 hours of arrival. That is a tight window when dealing with making appointments, and it typically requires some logistical magic. Our vet in Hollywood, FL has been great at seeing our dogs quickly, but they couldn’t squeeze us in this time. In fact, they couldn’t see our dogs until March 9th. So, we had to let that weather window pass, and we continued hanging out on anchor in South Lake enjoying some extra time with our friends. While disappointing, this turned out to be fortuitous as we discovered we had a few more gremlins in our systems.
On Sunday, March 5th, we suddenly had an issue with our starboard HVAC unit. It had been working flawlessly for weeks, but suddenly the unit issued an alarm and wouldn’t start again. While having air conditioning isn’t a strict requirement for sailing, it does mean that I sleep better. When I sleep better we all have happier days 🙂In order to get this repaired we would have to divert back to Harbour Towne Marina. In addition, our 12V system blew a 100 Amp fuse. Fortunately, we had another onboard and our friends at Just Cats were able to adjust our system remotely. Hopefully, this should prevent this from happening in the future. Unfortunately, Mabru couldn’t get a technician to address the aircon issue until Friday, March 10th. Oh! And we had a brief weather window opening up for crossing to the Bahamas on Saturday, March 11th. Do you see how things are starting to pile up logistically?
Thursday, March 9th: Finally, time to take the pups for their health check. Remember that we are anchored in South Lake, and we don’t have a car. Our appointment was at 9 a.m. At 7:30 a.m. we loaded the pups into the dinghy. We really need to get a video of the chaos that ensues as we are trying to get the pups in their lifejackets. It is hilarious and full of enthusiasm. They love to go ashore, just as most dogs love to go on walks. But, I digress. Dave, the three dogs and I leave in the dinghy and head to a local park that has a dock and is close to the vet clinic. We were planning on the dinghy ride to the park taking us about 45 minutes, but it only took 30. YAY! So, we walked the pups, played a bit, and then headed off to the clinic. Of course, we were still really early so we found a spot in the shade and just relaxed for a bit. At 8:45 we head into the clinic. The folks at Sheridan Animal Hospital are always extremely helpful and the pups got their health checks quickly. They also each received a Lyme disease vaccination. This is required in order for them to enter the British Virgin Islands, and most veterinarians don’t keep it on hand. We were so happy that our veterinarian was willing to order it for us. After we have all of our paperwork in hand, we walk back to the park and dinghy back to the big boat. We arrive at about 11:30.
Next, we need to move the big boat to Harbour Towne Marina (HTM). This isn’t a big deal, but it means that we need to navigate through three draw bridges on the Intercoastal Waterway. Again, not difficult, but a little tedious and a lot stressful; although, Dave is much more comfortable with the process now that he has done it a few times. The current tends to push the boat around, and there is often other boat traffic in the vicinity. That and the 70ft mast on our boat when the bridge is only 20ft tall when closed can make us feel a little nervous. As expected, the trip to HTM was uneventful. YAY! We docked without issue and were in a good position for getting the work completed in the morning. However, we also needed to complete the final grocery shopping before we left for the Bahamas. However, remember that we don’t have a car. That means that I (Lynda) caught an UBER and headed off to Enterprise rental cars. You may reasonably ask why I didn’t just UBER to the grocery store. Well, I was buying a lot of stuff…in fact, I ended up making two trips. OH! And I really wanted to get a haircut. Getting a rental was just easier.
I got the rental car and headed off to get my haircut. Okay, in full disclosure, I headed to Starbucks. I don’t like getting my haircut, I hate shopping, and I loathe grocery shopping. Coffee was mandatory if I was going to manage this. So, coffee, a haircut, and groceries. That seems pretty reasonable. I decided I was done with my first trip to Publix when the cart would literally not hold any more items. I went back to the marina to offload the groceries and get them put away. By this time it is about 7 pm, maybe later. Dave and I are both ready to have dinner and call it a day. We needed to get up early the next morning to finish running errands and to be ready for the service technicians to show up. I also needed to return the rental car. The next morning, I did another grocery run. I don’t know how I managed to buy another complete cart full, but I did. We will not starve any time soon!! The Mabru team showed up at about 9:30 am, I returned the rental car at around 10 am, and the fuel delivery person arrived at about 1 pm. By 3:00 we were ready to leave the marina. Whew!! Glad that we managed to get all of that done! Next, it is time to say goodbye to the US and head to the Bahamas.
