We left Spanish Wells at 8:00 am. We knew we would be traveling overnight for a few days, so we like to start well rested. We are predicting it will be less than 500 miles and about 65 hours. I made breakfast while underway. We made it to the cut between Egg Island and Little Egg Island by 9:00 and turned north west. We put up our main and Jenny sails and sailed all day on the same tack. People are always amazed that we are from South Dakota. I explain that you really learn to sail on little lakes in South Dakota because you have to turn often when you reach the far side of the lake. On the ocean, you go one direction all day.
I like to make something bland to eat for the crossing. I hate to use that word, but you don’t want anything spicy that might upset your stomach. On the way over, I made tuna noodle casserole. We still had mahi to eat before we return to the United States. So I made a mahi noodle casserole. It was awesome. I had cooked the mahi and the noodles yesterday. I am always leery about having a pan of boiling water when the boat is heeling. Our stove is gimbaled to swing with the boat, but a sudden movement could be big trouble. That may be why so many boaters like pressure cookers. At least the lid is locked in place.
By evening, we were north of the island group called the Berries and south of Freeport in the Northwest Providence Channel. This is a main shipping channel into or through the Bahamas. We brought in the sails and started motoring to help maneuver though traffic. There were 2 cruise ships to the east of us heading to Miami. That meant they had to turn west in front of us. We turned 15-20 degrees west to not intersect paths. It took us a few miles off our course, but nothing in the big picture. Dave assured me everything would be fine. So I went below to catch some sleep about 8:30pm.
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| chart plotter view of cruise ships that had to cross in front of us to go to Miami |
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| looks much closer in person |
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| estimated route on my phone app |
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