Cruising on Duetto: Duetto's Crossing from Ft. Lauderdale to Bahamas

We left Ft. Lauderdale at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 18. It was easy to navigate to the Inlet due to all of the lights on shore, however, once we got off the Inlet it was a different story.

We were on the flybridge because it was very difficult to see from inside the boat in the dark. Once we got into the Gulf Stream, the waves picked up and were off our beam very close together, so we were getting rocked back and forth. This went on for about 15 miles, making us consider turning back. But, we persevered, trusting the favorable forecast and decided to wait until daylight so we could see the wave action better.

Once it got light, we began driving from the inside. After the first 15 miles, the waves became farther apart and began to flatten down, making for a more comfortable ride. The waves continued to calm down for the remainder of the trip and by the time we got about 20 miles off Grand Bahama Island, the sea was flat calm. The first landmarks one can see when approaching the Island is a tower and some tall trees off West End, which is always a welcoming sight.

We reached West End at 11:30 a.m. and navigated through Indian Cay Channel, which is very shallow and narrow. The channel entrance is marked by a small steel tower on top of Indian Rock, but no other marking.

We navigated through using the depth finder and chart plotter. Luckily the water was flat calm and stayed that way as we traveled the Bahama Bank to Great Sale Cay for the last 50 miles of our 130-mile journey.

We hoisted our quarantine flag, which must be flown until we clear customs.

As we traveled the Bahama Bank, the water became crystal clear and the color of Bombay gin; starfish can be seen on the bottom in 15 feet of water.

This was a reminder of why we want to return each winter.

We arrived at Great Sale Cay at 3:15 p.m. very tired due to the nervousness caused by the crossing and the long day. We stayed awake long enough to watch the sunset and were very happy to have the crossing behind us!

On Wednesday, we continued traveling the remaining 90 miles to Marsh Harbour. The sun was rising as we were leaving Great Sale Cay.

It was a very calm morning; the water and sky had a pink glow; a great travel day. We are now flying our Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club (RMHYC) burgee on the bow.

When we arrived near Whale Cay, the seas continued to be very calm and the tide was high so we were able to go through Don't Rock Passage, which is another very shallow, unmarked channel.

It was nice traveling with another boat, NoTACT, this year. NoTACT travels a little faster than DUETTO, but we led the way through Don't Rock Passage because of our shallow draft; once through, David went by us.

We arrived at Boat Harbour Marina at 2:00 p.m. Check-in and clearing customs did not go as smoothly as the rest of the day; but by 7:00 p.m. we were cleared and off to Jamie's Place for a Bahamian dinner of cracked lobster, plantains, rice and peas, macaroni and cheese.

We replaced the quarantine flag with the Bahamian flag, which must be flown during our visit