Scott here. Time to get caught up on what we have done. February 14, 2024 (AKA travel day #57) we left Nassau with our sights on Bimini.

We knew the first few hours through the Northwest Channel to Chub Cay would be uncomfortable, but thought it would get better as we go through the Mackie Shoals. We left the dock at 11:15 am, but couldn’t get gas for 45 minutes. We actually left the fuel dock at 12:15 pm.

We were taking 2-3′ waves on the beam, as expected, but it really wasn’t too uncomfortable. We made a circle at one point to pick up one of the da@m mylar balloons. Otherwise, we didn’t really see anything else to pick up on our travels.

I estimated our locations to be able to check the weather forecasts and I was pretty spot on where we would be at what time. The first couple of hours on the Mackie Shoals was “rollier” than expected. But, when we turned a little more west the waves and swell were not nearly as bad. Rita was able to get a couple of hours of sleep.

We arrived to an anchorage at Bimini and dropped the hook around 4:45 am. Not a fan of doing this in the dark, but we previously went by this anchorage so we had a track to follow. We both slept until 7:30 am or so and needed to take Jazzy for walk.

We dropped the dingy and her and I went to shore. I’ll let Rita explain in a later post, but it was one of the few times while in the Bahamas that I was a little scared! Not because of crime or people!

We made it back, dried off, and had breakfast before pulling up the anchor and heading back to the USA. Here is how we did in the planning, again pretty good in my opinion.

10:00 am: Leave Nassau Yacht Haven Marina ACTUAL 11:15 AM
10:30 am: Fuel up at Bay Street Marina ACTUAL – Fueled at Brown’s Marine at 12:00 PM because we couldn’t get Bay Street to answer the radio or phone
11:00 am: Leave Brown’s fuel dock and exit Nassau ACTUAL – Leave Brown’s at 12:15 PM
10:00 pm: Arrive at the Mackie Shoal area. ACTUAL 10:00 PM
3:30 am: Get to the north tip of Bimini. ACTUAL 4:15 AM

Initial Plan
Date: February 13, 2024 ACTUAL FEBRUARY 14, 2024
Start at: 10:00 am ACTUAL 11:15 AM
End at: 4:00 am ACTUAL 4:45 AM
Total Time: 18 hours ACTUAL 17:43
Distance: 145 miles ACTUAL 142

It is tough to not love a sunset on the boat!