Crossing & Arrival in Bimini

We crossed on Tuesday, March 12. We’ll start watching weather predictions a week ahead of our anticipated crossing, and forecasts showed favorable conditions for Monday, better conditions for Tuesday, although the dreaded northern component was present. The winds were out of the NNW as we departed, but were light and variable. Seas predicted one foot. The window was short, Wednesday’s prediction was not crossing-worthy, with winds kicking up, so off we went. Anchor up just before 0530 hrs, Oh-dark-thirty! The crossing was smooth, without incident; no discernible difference entering the Gulf Stream other than the crabbing that is clearly evident on the chart plotter! Our bearing on our 40 mile leg is about 94°,  the heading the autopilot steers to compensate for the Gulf Stream current goes to about 132°! Quite a correction for set.

We arrived in Bimini just after 1315 hrs, in plenty of time to clear Customs & Immigration when they were not busy. It’s nice to be back! Some cruisers dislike Bimini, but we enjoy it. Our typical crossing has us in Bimini in about 8 hours, then we’ll hang out at Blue Water Marina at a buck a foot for a weather window to make the two day hop to the Exumas. An overnight run straight through is an option, but one we are less likely to exercise than we would in the past. Fortunately, we’re looking at a splendid window at the end of the week, so we’ll be able to take a leisurely two day hop across the Bank. Time in Bimini allows us to set up our Bahamas (BTC) cell service. Vastly improved since our first trip 10 years ago, we are able to get LTE cell service in all but a few locations, so it makes it much easier to stay in contact with family.

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