Waking Up Under the Q Flag

We had waited 10 days for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and go to the Abacos in the northern Bahamas and today was the day. It’s not a terribly long crossing but what makes it special is the Gulf Stream current. In this area the Gulf Stream is about 30 miles across and flows north at up to 4 knots. Even a moderate north wind (blowing opposite to the current) can create large, steep waves. Fortunately, we didn’t have that. Unfortunately ,we also didn’t have enough wind to sail either so we had to motor across. Without wind in the sails to stabilize the boat, the 4′ to 6′ seas made for quite a rolly crossing. We made it across the Stream and onto the Little Bahama Bank shortly after dark under a half moon and a star lit sky. We picked up plenty of wind but it was from directly behind us. This made it impossible for us to sail in the dark so on we motored. We took 3 hour watches through the night as the off watch person would try to get some sleep below. Phebe had the sunrise watch and enjoyed a beautiful Bahamian sunrise. We had been traveling for 24 hours at this point and had covered 160 nautical miles. 30 miles later we were tied up to a mooring ball in Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay. We had gotten in too late to make it in to customs to clear in so we were “forced” to stay aboard under the quarantine flag. The “Q” flag shows that we hadn’t cleared customs and weren’t yet legally in the country. Not a problem. We were just happy to have arrived in the Bahamas and to be tucked away in a very safe harbour after 30 hours and 190nm.