Fort Lauderdale to Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

Hello from Green Turtle Cay!

After a stressful last minute repair on our Yacht Commander system (at the cost of $5500.00, more on that later), we've made our crossing and are now floating in a beautiful harbor in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas!

We departed Fort Lauderdale at 2210 Monday evening, made our way to the 17th Street bridge and requested an opening. At 2230 the bridge opened and we passed through and out the inlet into the dark ocean...It was awesome!

The crossing was very calm...We expected to see 10-15knts of wind and 2-3 foot seas but the forecast was a little off. We got 6-8 knts of wind and 1-2 foot seas. We put the head sail out for a while but it wasn't doing anything for us, once we got to the shipping lanes and started to dodge tankers we rolled it in so they could see our steaming light more easily. 

Being out there in the middle of the night was so cool! We never really felt alone due to so many tanker ships but it was pitch black and the stars were abundant. Jeremiah stayed up all night, I slept for a few hours and our friend, Ted took a nap from 0300 to 0600. The Gulf Stream was also calm...We didn't notice any push at all and had to actually turn to port to adjust our course. We originally set course 20 miles south of our destination to account for the travel the stream causes...It was just very calm. 

Once Jeremiah got us through the cut at West End (it can be a little tricky there as it's narrow and there are reefs to avoid) he then got some sleep while I was at the helm. All of the sudden the water was clear and beautiful! It was lovely! 

We anchored off of Great Sale Cay in 10 feet of water for the first evening...The passage was about 18 hours from Fort Lauderdale to Great Sale Cay. Rhys enjoyed all the little fish, crabs and even a Baracuda that hung out at the stern when we put the underwater lights on. We enjoyed an amazing sunset and everyone slept great! 

The next day we awoke to 15 knt winds from the North as forecasted. We sailed from Great Sale Cay to Manjack Cay where we tucked ourselves in for some 25knt winds from the North. We just MIGHT have snuck ourselves over to a secluded beach for an hour or so....Rhys could have dove into the shallow, clear water and rolled around laughing...But since we hadn't checked in yet, perhaps we didn't do that. You can leave it to your imagination. 

The night was breezy and comfy. Then we pulled out at about 0930 for a sail to Green Turtle. Winds were 10-15 on the port beam, we pulled into the wind, raised our main sail and then the Genoa as we turned into a port tack. The motors were shut down and we had an awesome sail!

It was perfect...10-15, sails trimmed perfectly...It was time to try getting some footage with the drone! Jeremiah broke it out, I grabbed it and she was flying in no time! We got amazing views as she followed us and then as she led...Then she followed again...Here's where things got crazy!

The drone had some camera issues in the past so we contacted DJI support about it. They shipped it to their office, repaired it and then shipped it back. Great service!! This was the first time we had launched it since that repair. What we didn't realize is that they had enabled beginner mode again...It limits the drones speed and more importantly distance!! As we sailed away the drone warned that max distance was met...Normally it would stop and you'd return it to your location...We were sailing away, the drone wasn't responding...It was staying still! It was getting smaller and smaller in the distance...We were about to lose it!

We quickly started the engines, pulled in the Genoa and the main sheet so we could come about. We turned around and started to head for the drone as it hovered at about 15 feet over the water. As we got closer the controls came back and Jeremiah was able to fly it at our speed along the starboard side of the boat...Ease it to the left and BOOM...I grabbed it!

So we retrieved our little drone, pulled the sail out once again and continued on towards Green Turtle Cay. We grabbed a ball and went to check in...Weapons and dog onboard and all which we'll talk about later! 

Now we are on a mooring ball that costs only $20 a night. We enjoyed a day here, then Ted caught a ferry over to the large island where he started his journey back to Florida. We're ready to continue south but we're waiting out a front that is limiting our ability to pass a sketchy section of this area called Whale Cay Channel. More on that to come!

We hope you've been tracking us as we go, we've enjoyed all the messages that have been sent! As we wait out this front Jeremiah will get the next video done and hopefully uploaded very soon! 

We'll talk soon! Please let us know your questions!! 

Love,

Brittany