Crossing the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic to the Bahamas

We have been watching the weather every day waiting for a 2-3 day window of good window to make the crossing from Marathon, Florida across the Atlantic Gulf Stream to The Bahamas.  These have been few and far between and there a number of boats also waiting hoping to all cross together.  We thought we had a window for Thursday, March 5th, but we decided against it the day before.  However, we met with the other boaters at 12 noon on Thursday and they all wanted to cross at 3 pm.  The next window was about a week and a half away.  We decided to go which meant we had about three hours to get ready!  Well we did it and we left Marathon in the Florida Keys at 3 pm on Thursday, March 5th.  The weather was not perfect and we encountered 15-20 knots of wind and waves 3-6 feet with a few 9 footers.  We motor sailed for 27 hours under a full moon in the less than desirable conditions with two other boats – Circe and Quandary.  We kept in touch throughout the entire time watching for freighters and cruise ships and making sure everyone was doing fine.  At about 10 am on Friday morning we crossed into the Great Bahama Banks.  I describe these as an ocean shelf, 75 nautical miles across and 180 nautical miles from north to south with an average depth of 15-18 feet with the most beautiful crystal clear water you have seen with varying hues of blue, teal, and aquamarine.  We decided to drop anchor before dark in the Banks.  We anchored close together with our anchor lights on so any vessel would be able to see us and avoid getting too close.  We pulled anchor at 7 am and continued another 40 nautical miles to Morgan’s Bluff on Andros Island. We all anchored in a protected bay on Saturday afternoon and very glad to have arrived in the Bahamas!