President's Day was the one most Bahamian-bound cruisers in Miami had been waiting for, finally a break from the strong northerlies promised a smooth crossing of the Stream under power in light southerlies... There were a lot fewer boats in the anchorage that night, after Chris Parker had given the fleet the green light that morning... (grin)

Yet another front was due to move through late that night, which it did right on schedule... The rain stopped by 0700 Tuesday, and I headed out Government Cut in a building NW breeze. I figured it would be a bit stronger than the forecast 15-20, I had spoken to my brother the day before in Texas, the same system had dropped the temperatures by 40 degrees in a matter of hours...

Awesome sailing all the way, mostly around 25 knots, some higher gusts in the Stream... Came onto the bank between Bimini and Gun Cay... began to moderate after dark, beautiful sailing across the bank. Actually went light enough around midnight to go with the spinnaker for a couple of hours, until I was rudely awakened about 29 minutes into a 30 minute catnap, when it went quickly back up to 20+... Came through NW Channel right before dawn, then had a beautiful day of more downwind sailing along the E coast of Andros in the Tongue of the Ocean, making lots of miles and amps as the pic below shows... Pulled into Fresh Creek late afternoon, and dropped the hook in that very tight anchorage, the tide really rips through there...

By the time I cleared in this morning, decided to spend the day here, staying in the Lighthouse Marina, nice spot... Good dinner at Hank's Place over in Coakley Town, time to move on tomorrow while there's still some breeze...

Definitely, one of my best-ever runs across the Stream, it's great to finally be over here...

best regards,

Jon