Bahamas

Hooray we made it to the Bahamas.  We left Miami Monday, December 30th first thing in the morning and went across to the Berry Islands of the Bahamas.

Leaving Miami in the gloom and clouds

Cruise ships in Miami we passed as we headed to the inlet

The first 2-3 hours were a bit rough, but once we got across the Gulf Stream and onto the Bahama Bank the seas got better.  It took us about 7 hours to get across and in to the marina at Great Harbor Cay in the Berry Islands.  Unfortunately, it was around 6 PM by the time we had both Customs and Immigration come on-board and check us into the country.  By this time it was dark, so we just ate dinner on the boat and crashed for the night.

Tuesday morning we got up and got the bikes off the boat to go exploring.  Riding around the island, we found a good lunch spot with a great view.

The view from the beach bar

Friends Michele and Russ at lunch

Here we are

Capt. Keith needed to get into the water after lunch

As for some history about the Bahamas.  The Bahamas include some 700 islands and 2,400 cays (pronounced "Keys").  The most northern islands are just 55 miles off the coast of Florida, however they stretch south and east for some 760 miles.  The first inhabitants of the Bahamas arrived between 500-800 AD.  They were the Lucayans, a people from the Caribbean Islands south of the Bahamas.  By 1492 when Columbus arrived in the islands, there were approx. 40,000 Lucayans.  Although Columbus claimed the Bahamas for Spain, the country had little interest in the islands except for a source of slave labor.  Over the next 30 years nearly the entire Lucayan population was transported to other islands as slave labor.  When the Spanish decided to remove any remaining Lucayans in 1520, they could find only 11 individuals remaining in the Bahamas.  With no gold to be found and the population removed, the Spanish abandoned the islands.  They remained abandoned and unpopulated for some 130 years after this.  The Spanish retained titular claim to the islands until the Peace of Paris in 1783, when they ceded them to the British in exchange for Eastern Florida.  On July 10th 1973, the Bahamas became a free and sovereign country.  They are a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Our second day Keith and I biked to Shell Beach and explored a bit.

The resident dock cat "Patches" came on board to visit.

I also saw several Nurse Sharks swimming under Southern Style in the marina

Here are some pictures of the marina and docks

View down the docks

View up the docks

View from the bow of Southern Style

Southern Style docked in Great Harbor Cay Marina

This should wet your whistle as it has ours.  We have started to get our bearings and are planning to take off for two days at anchor as the weather looks good for the next 48 hours.  After that she is supposed to blow 30 knots for a day or two, so we will head back into a marina for that.  Hopefully I can get some good pictures as we explore around our anchorage in the next few days.