Blogs from West End, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Central America Caribbean

If you're saying 'finally' bite your tongue. Time to celebrate and say thanks again to the loyal folks who helped us over the years, so we could get here! After turning back from the crossing Wednesday night, due to extra choppy seas, last Thursday we left Lake Worth at 7 a.m. and aimed south west to cross the Gulf Stream. It was a sunny, relatively peaceful crossing. Beginners need this kind of good luck to keep them going. We got to West End, the nearest north western port in the Bahama chain of 700 islands and scooted into the marina before 4 p.m., for an @ 9 hour crossing. Once we passed the midpoint we seemed to pick up speed as the Gulf Stream gave us a boost. Note to Pat and John... we were startled ... read more

We arrived at West End Bahamas this morning at 6:20 am. We had to slow down to arrive in dawn light rather than dark. It was a somewhat difficult crossing, since there were confused seas for most of it. Wind direction and speed was ok, but it was a roller coaster ride. Clearing customs was easy and done with dispatch and cheer. Then a nap was in order since neither of us had managed any sleep through the night. AFter that, we rode bikes into the village,swam in the ocean, then the pool. The swim in the ocean was very reviving. It was just what I needed, since I was feeling over tired and over heated. We plan to leave here Saturday for the Freeport area, then make our way towards Nassau, in time for Xmas. ... read more

We've spent a little too much time here at Old Bahama Bay Marina, idling amongst the wealthy. The rest was welcome from the rough crossing, but the only thing to do here is while away dollars and show off your diamonds and your $1.50 boobjob. The locals can barely hide their smirk in the face of it all; they can play this game. They even have a patois so that the USers don't understand. These are the weekend jetsetters from Florida escaping their family and financial problems just to show off their motorcraft's widescreen TV during the Packers-Cowboys game. No worries, they'll head back in the other direction soon enough. As for us we're headed up through shallow waters to a few cays, where we'll anchor for a night, and then on to more cays with ... read more