The Middle of Beautiful Nowhere

     6:30 AM came very fast. The storms that were predicted came through as showers.  Pete got up to check things once last night.  He had heard some prop planes go over head, but once he heard something else that turned out to be another large boat traveling along the preferred route well after dark.  I heard nothing. I slept straight through.

      It was mostly cloudy, but I managed to get some spectacular shots of Brunelle heading into a rising sun this morning. The cloud cover kept the temperatures down, but when the sun came out it was really warm.  As we were discussing the Banks being barren over the radios, we spotted a small pod of dolphins that Andiamo was also able to see.

     The shallows of the Banks gave way to the “Tongue of the Ocean.”  Since there was no wind today, the water was very smooth.  We could see a difference on the surface of the water where The Tongue began. We watched our depth meter change from 15 feet to “last” (meaning “can’t get sounding beyond 1000 feet”). Within a 150 foot passage we passed over an underwater cliff.  The charts in the area show a depth of over 2500+ feet. However, we needed to be very careful as the area just west of where The Tongue begins. It is shallow, but crested with rocks.  The currents in The Tongue are strong and decreased our speed by a knot. In order to get to Chub Cay we must cross through The Tongue.

Brunelle sailing into a ray of sunlight

     We made reservations for moorings at Berry Island Fraiser's Hog Cay. It is slightly off of The Tongue, so that we were able to see coral, sponge, and fish when the seas were calm. There is a very narrow channel to get to the marina.  Somehow Andiamo bumped something even though their depth meter stated 7’. 

     Once we were moored, the boat behind us had just cleared customs and Alan came over with his dog to explain the process he just completed. It included this marina is not for clearing customs, someone offering to drive him to customs in a golf cart, then with a school bus with wooden doors that needs to be jump started, which was then driven down the air strip by the gentlemen, who, by the way happened to be drunk. Alan had the paperwork, but not all. He had the money. The officials offered to complete it for him since he didn’t have his glasses. He just needed to sign here. STAMP, STAMP, STAMP.  As for the dog, since he had his receipts for the new adoption and the paper work was faxed to the Bahamas, he just needed to sign here and here, STAMP, STAMP, STAMP. He went back to the driver, who was about to get into a fight with the others at the airport and had to wait to see what the outcome would be.  He finally was allowed to get back into the bus, back to the guy’s house, back into the golf cart and back to the marina. The drunken guy got a tip and Alan got to switch his Q flag for a Bahaman flag 3.5 hours later.  After this story, Dan decided to try to clear customs tomorrow. We decided for the mooring ball tonight as it is already 4:45 PM.

The Berry Island Club

     With a lot of help from John, we served Beef Wellington with oven roasted potatoes and salad to the fleet as our “ We Made it to the Bahamas Dinner.”  YUM!

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete