Back in the USA!!

This picture is of our Bahamas portion of our journey to date. It’s close but not to be used for navigation:)

After our few days at Treasure Cay and Guyana Island, we headed back to Donnys on Green Turtle Cay for the Blow to move through. We four PDQ’s that were together, AdventureUs, Island Time, Flip Turn/Branching Out and now Lars on Purring Along, hunkered down. On Wednesday, March 5, we rented a golf cart again to get around Green Turtle Cay to check out several beautiful beaches and other sites.

Below you can see Gerry standing on a dock with the wind and waves from the blow, and for my dad who is a retired lineman, check out the “Island Quality Wiring” down here! The 3rd picture is of a High Voltage Splice open to public prodding. We are definitely not in the states!

On Thursday night, we checked out Sundowners, a restaurant/bar that recently reopened. It was the perfect place to see the Space X launch from Texas, as it faced in the right direction, open to a big horizon. It was windy and cool and not anything like we expected. First, we watched the sunset, and then got ready to point at what we were about to see!

We were all so excited when we finally saw Space X in the sky, then we all ask, “Is is supposed to look like that?” “Is is supposed to do that?” Well, the answer was no. You know the rest of the story. As the SpaceX Engineers say, we where witness to an “Rapid Unscheduled Dissembly”…… and what an amazing sight it was!

Waking up Friday, March 7, the blow subsided and we decided to take advantage of the weather window to head back to the states. Lars had to go back to work, Tom and Kim needed to get back to MA for the start of the spring tree season and Bryan and Lori were running out of approved days in the Bahamas.

We pushed off of the docks from Green Turtle Cay at 7:30 am for an amazing run across Little Bahama Bank to a little spot on the west end of Grand Bahama called Ginn sur Mer. The Ginn sur Mer project in West End, Grand Bahama, faced a standstill after the original developer, Bobby Ginn and his Ginn Clubs & Resorts, defaulted on project financing in 2011, following the 2008-2009 recession. Credit Suisse foreclosed on the project and its holding company, Ginn-LA West End, in 2009. 

https://www.condohotelsbahamas.com/index.html

It’s a great little hole to anchor while crossing back to Florida. A little freaky to see the full dredged harbor, streets with stop signs, and transformers, all abandoned with trees growing everywhere.

Our run for the day covered over 103 miles crossing the beautifully clear Little Bahamas Bank, where the water is so clear you can see “sea stars” on the ocean floor 10’ deep. We even had a photo shoot as the conditions were so amazing.

Then day two of the crossing, which included 75 miles across the Gulf Stream, from Ginn sur Mer to St Lucie Inlet, and to a mooring ball in Manatee Pocket, Port Salerno, FL.

The videos just don’t do it justice but you can see, day one was much calmer than day two.

We have been back in the USA for a few days now and we are reflecting on our journey since leaving Noank CT on Oct 2, 2024. The places we’ve seen, and more amazing , the people we’ve met along the way. Some, we are sure, will become lifelong friends.

WOW, what an accomplishment!

I struggle to believe (other than the fact that I just lived it) that we started talking and planning, some 7 years ago, to buy a boat, take it down the ICW, cross to the Bahamas and spend a winter. Far more rewarding than we ever imagined.

The crazy part, was this is as far as our plan went. Now what? We are just not sure? But what an amazing adventure!

Here are some other photos to enjoy and remember our first Bahamas trip.

Now what?

We are just not sure?

For now, we are relaxing, getting caught up on life and trying to figure it out!