Through hell to paradise!

Well, it was rough to say the least. Nineteen hours in steady 25 knot winds and eight to ten foot seas. The waves were coming one right after another, no break and no time to recover in between the crashing swells. We quite literally were beaten up by the ocean. There were bloody fingers, lashings by rogue ropes whipping in the winds, monstrous bruises galore and Chip even sprained his ankle! Honestly, the night seemed as if it would never end. We left our anchorage off Peanut Island in Lake Worth at 6pm Tuesday night. We had intended to leave around 11pm after a nap, but the anchorage was iffy. There were boats close by that seemed to be dragging anchor and slowly creeping closer and closer to us, so we lifted anchor earlier than anticipated.

Winds were blowing from the east (right from where we intended to go), therefore it took us much longer than we expected to cross over. In addition, we were fighting a three knot current in the Gulf Stream. As the crow flies, it is only 56 miles from Palm Beach to West End, but due to the combined factors of wind direction and current we had to head south for several hours before tacking to the northeast and really covering some ground. The sea swells were menacingly gigantic and made our boat seem very much like a toy. One very cool thing (the only cool thing actually) about crossing was witnessing the full, orange moon slowly rising up from the ocean's horizon. It was magnificent. I have never seen anything like it-so beautiful and awe inspiring.

After about seventeen hours we had to lower the sails. Some of the seams started to tear and we discovered holes developing in the jib and staysail! Not good. We motored the remainder of the distance to West End, although not continuously. I am exasperated to report that we again had difficulty keeping the engine running smoothly. Something in Tranquility's fuel delivery system is screwed up and caused it to die on us three or four times when we were in crazy, rough waters. Possibly the constant, tumultuous waves stirred up sediment from the bottom of the diesel tank which clogged the hoses and starved the engine of fuel. It is worrisome. But, once again Captain Chip pulled out his MacGyver skills and we arrived (frazzled, beaten and exhausted) at Old Bahama Bay Resort around 1pm on Wednesday afternoon.

This place is purely paradise. We cleared customs and immigration with no trouble. The plan was to enter the Bahamas here and move on immediately to the Abacos, but we must get our sails repaired and get the engine working reliably. Chip took a cab to Freeport and dropped the two sails off at a seamstress shop on Friday. Our mechanic here, Daniel, spent all day on Thursday and Friday disassembling our entire fuel system, rerouting vents and checking every possible cause for engine failure. Hopefully we are good to go. So, we will be here for a few more days at least waiting for the fixed sails. Yippee!!!

I love it here. Old Bahama Bay Resort is a five star establishment with a heated pool, casual restaurant, fancy restaurant, tiki bar, fitness center, bikes, hobie cats, kayaks, snorkel trail, and a lovely beach. We are spending our time meeting wonderful people, lounging on sun-kissed beaches, and hanging out listening to the steel drum band that plays for hours every afternoon. Everyone here has a smile and a kind word. The very first person I met gave me a ziplock bag full of fresh caught mahi-mahi fillets. Chili has quickly become somewhat of a celebrity. This morning a couple Chili and I met at lunch yesterday came by the boat with a Valentine's Day treat for him-leftover filet mignon and lobster for the lucky dog's breakfast! This is certainly the good life...
-Caitlin