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Cruise
Day 20, Thursday June 26th
Well,
this is the day we take our big trip to "West End" from
which we will head back to the good ole U.S. of A. It will be
approximately 90 nautical miles from Black Sound and we have to
leave at semi-high tide and make sure we arrive in West End at
semi-high tide due to shallow channels. We left Black Sound
Marina on Green Turtle Cay at 9:00 am. The water is like glass
on the Sea of Abaco with only 1' - 2' waves and the sky is fairly
clear so this is a very good sign. We stopped about half way at
Spanish Cay to get fuel and of course as we begin to approach the
Island, the skies are getting darker and darker with the odd
lightening bolt thrown in for good measure EXCEPT behind us where
we came from - so typical. We thought we would take a bit of a
short cut on the approach but you know that is only going to be a
mistake and ended up in SHALLOW water! Even though it shows on the
charts that it is passable, low tide can do very bad things to
already shallow water. It was fine after all and we were able to
get through it without digging up the bottom and dinging the props
- but a word to the wise - don't take short cuts especially in
unfamiliar waters. As we were fueling (112 gallons for $405.17
this time) it starts to sprinkle and we figured we may as well put
the bimini extension up now and get it over with - this was at
10:45 am. The rain didn't last long and we took the bimini
extension down - all the better to see you with my dear! We passed
through areas of the most gorgeous shimmering aqua water that was
crystal clear - you could see the bottom at 11' depth. There are
always the ever-present thunderclouds in the distance but for some
strange reason we managed to cruise under and through them and not
get touched. We arrived at Old Bahama Bay Marina, West End,
Grand Bahama Island at 3:00 pm and for our longest run yet, it
was an extremely pleasant trip. The entry into the Marina isn't
marked well (of course none of them are) so be careful as you
approach and use your binoculars! We were docked in no time and
were beside some very nice people from New Jersey (imagine) with a
beautiful and very friendly Lab named Annie. This is another
Marina in the throws of renovation but it is very nice, very
stylish with beautiful Villas and a great double pool with
disappearing edge overlooking the Ocean and private beach. Salty
was off leash here as well with lots of room to run and explore.
The burrs weren't as bad here but the oversized pine needles were
attacking him so he came back from a walk looking like an
oversized porcupine. The "no-see-ums" were pretty wicked
here for some reason and we didn't linger outside very long before
we went off and had another great (expensive) dinner but were back
early to try to get a good night sleep and be ready for the trip
home EARLY in the morning.
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