Left Freeport this morning. Had to wait for 1/2 tide and rising to get out of the marina, so we left at 6am in the dark. Touched bottom once when we hit the bar; just made it out. Had to leave as early as possible to make the 63-mile crossing and get into the Great Harbor Cay Marina before dark - arrived at 5pm; had to slow down to wait for the tide (again, as usual).
Easy crossing. Auto did almost all of the steering. Seas were calm - about 1 foot most of the time. Thanks to Chris Parker for providing the beautiful weather. Cold - wore foulies to keep warm most of the day, as the temperature was in the 60s with a wind (not enough to sail with, though).
Beautiful marina. Laid-back island town; reminds me of some of the smaller places on the Chesapeake, or maybe in Maine. We are here for a few days or more; depends on when our stuck-in-Miami buddy boat can make the crossing and join us. And this looks like a really nice place to hang out.
Today's breakage report: 1. the lever locking the wheel to the autopilot kept working loose; temporarily fixed it with a big rubber band so we didn't have to hand-steer all day. 2. The NMEA connection between the wonderful Garmin chartplotter and the not-so-nice Raymarine autopilot stopped working again. Someday I have to tear it all apart and finally (FINALLY) replace the cheap undersized Raymarine wires and connectors with something that will stand up to being in a boat.
Pictures etc. when we get the time.
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