Yay! We made it!

Wednesday Dec 9 7:30 pm

We made it over !! We are anchored off Bimini's Paradise Point. We didn't get over early enough to try to get into the channel and to the marina, but we will tomorrow morning.

We might have made it earlier but...yeah here it comes...motor problems!! Likely bad fuel but a couple of times the engine cut out completely and it was running really smoky a few times during the crossing. The night before we left, Rick put in some fuel from an old diesel jug. It probably had something in it. We never had any issues all the way down from Fort Pierce. I think we'll throw THAT jug away. I think he thinks we're going over the edge of the universe and he has to have as much backup as possible. !

Of course the key to fixing this is to change the fuel filter of which we purchased a whole box. Did we bring them with us?  "We" don't remember. "We" will check in the morning.

Where we are sitting really isn't an anchorage...just the beach, but it is shallow and good holding. We are on the same spot as we were on last year when we came over, only because he can't remember how to erase our GPS marks, lol

So Quentin had a great ride. In the morning, he sat on the front getting soaked by the waves. Later on in the morning we saw a Man-O-War jelly fish...just one. We figured it's either a scout or it jumped the starting pistol. Last time we crossed the ocean was covered with them but that was end of February.

In the afternoon, a pod of dolphins chased some flying fish across our path. They weren't much interested in us. They were feeding.

The crossing in the morning was choppy. NOAA called for east winds 5-10 and 2-4 foot seas with a 7 second period. But the seas were very confused and sloppy. IT was a shorter period when you could actually calculate it.  The waves ranged from nothing to 6 feet.  If what we had was 2-4 feet, tomorrow should be glass. The conditions were nothing like predicted on either the weather radio or Passage weather.

Of all the boats anchored in No Name Harbour, none of them came out to cross over. One of the boats, Dos Libros was one we met last year. We gave them some old lifejackets for their dinghy.  They remembered us. Actually she said, "Are you the same OtherGoose..?"  Seriously???How many have you met?

There are some boats that have common names...we know of 3 Kokopelli's ...well, 2 now. One was destroyed last year. Dos Libros is another, although you'd not expect it to be common. We have even seen 2 more Amazing Grace's but OtherGoose??? Anyway they are waiting for another couple to meet up with them before they come over.

We had snacks all day long, so at supper I made bacon and eggs, or tried to. Quentin had the last two eggs from the first carton and when I opened the second carton it was full of maggots. I had just noticed a small n the pantry that afternoon but it was too rough to try tracking it down.  This carton of eggs was the double wrapped plastic carton called "Cage Free" from Publix...so be warned you shoppers of Publix.  If they are free range, the eggs aren't being checked properly!!

Rick tossed them overboard and I'm sure that's what brought all the little fish to the boat...yummy juicy maggots... And the conch and crabs will make short work of the eggs.  We ended up with bacon and salad.

We were all in bed by 8:30 last night and asleep by 9:00 or so.

This morning the sky is streaked with clouds and apparently a thunderstorm passed to the north of us this morning. We are going into the dock at Brown's Marina. There we can change the fuel filter and have a shower , go to Customs and check in and then get this phone activated so I can send this.  So if you got this, all is well!