We’re living day by day, in anticipation of our weather window to the Bahamas. We need a south wind, lasting for at least a few days. This will give the north-flowing Gulf Stream time to settle down for us, in addition it will give our sails a beam reach, which should get us to the Bahamas easier, quicker and safer. We recently had a long-lasting storm cell blow in that kept us stuck on the boat for nearly five days. Unfortunately, those are five days lost to us for preparation, but the sun has never looked so good.
Our first plan of attack was to begin a journey up the coast of the Keys, to wait on the mainland in Key Biscayne. However, we’ve decided instead to remain here in Marathon and make a straight line across the Stream from here. This enables us to prep and have more ease in doing so. We will be leaving our truck at a local company, S.A.L.T. (www.salt.com). The owners have become close friends of ours, and are doing us this massive favor. Thank god too, we had no idea what to do with the truck otherwise.
We’ve cleared early with U.S. customs, that way our returning trip can be done over the phone instead of sailing into Miami harbor and taking navigating our way to U.S. customs first thing after we arrive from our 12 hour return sail. We’ve purchased a second solar panel, this should enable us to charge the computer and phone on the boat. We’ve replaced a failing water pump for the diesel, it had been nagging at us since day one and we figured it wasn’t something worth chancing. We’ve picked up a little surf board in hopes of surfing all winter in the Abacos Islands. We sent out for McKinleys import permit and received it a couple days after, so she’s already cleared with Bahamas officials for entry into the country. We added an antennae for our VHF, that way other boats will actually be able to hear us from more that 20 feets away. We’ve purchased more anchors, more rode, spares of everything on the boat, every book necessary for navigating the shallow waters their, charts, required flags, I could go on forever. Now we’re busy organizing the boat with all of the food and water we’ve bought, we’re
We plan on the sail taking anywhere from 12 hours to 20 hours. This depends on the winds, the condition of the Stream, and the speed of our laden boat. We’ve stock enough supplies to last us for a bit!
Inventory (and growing):
-8 lbs. of quinoa
-12 boxes of tea
-14 cans of black beans
-70 packages of hot cocoa
-6 lbs. of basmati rice
-6 cans of korma simmer sauce
-30 cans of assorted fruits and veggies
-TONS of coffee!
-40 oz. of honey
-1 gallon of olive oil
-48 wrapped granola bars (we’ll be getting more of these, they’re kind of a staple!)
-3 tubs of peanut butter
-a bucket load of batteries, paper towels, ziplocks, tuperware containers
-5 boxes of falafel mix
-80 lbs. of dog food
-1 gallon of canola oil
-14 cans of kidney beans
-12 dish sponges
-14 Uncle Ben’s ready-made packages of rice
-15 cans of soup
-30 rawhides for the Fluff’s entertainment
-6 cans of chick peas (we’ll be adding more, another staple)
-240 oz. of Joy soap
You might be asking yourself, why so much soap? The answer; normal soap won’t cause suds in salt water. Since fresh water will be one of our most limiting (due to space), and expensive (due to very high water prices in the Bahamas) resources, we’ll be bathing in the ocean, followed by a quick rinse under a fresh water solar shower.
We're green for go!
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