Carolinas to Florida, Florida to Bahamas

Our next eventful stop was Hilton Head where we enjoyed a serendipitously timed visit with family. We also got to see good friends Burt and Prue for the first time in several years.

Our biggest news during the remaining trip to Florida was finding out that our dearly beloved Cay Paraiso was under contract. Having been unsuccessful at selling her in Maine, we sent her on a truck in September to Florida and put her in the very competent hands of Adventure Yacht Sales and Mack Yacht Services. We had a signed contract by the time we arrived in Stuart in early November.

After our return to Florida from our annual month back in Maine for the holidays, we got ready to bring Ballyhoo to the Bahamas for the first time.
We had a reasonable crossing on January 29th, especially appreciating the considerably shorter travel time in a faster boat.

We like the convenience of checking into Customs and Immigration in Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island so our first stop was at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club. From there we headed for the Berry Islands, with plans to get around the East side of the chain for anchorages we have enjoyed in the past. The winds and seas were bigger than we expected, making for an uncomfortable ride. We knew that once we got around Great Harbour Cay conditions wouldn't be any better, so we changed our plan and chose to risk the "shallow draft" route on the Berry Banks. Apparently the sands shift along that route but the track on our chart proved to be reliable and we made it down to Devil's Cay without incident.

We spent several days anchored right off the 1 mile long pristine beach on Devil's Cay, all by ourselves. Our 2 stops in the Southern Berrys were unremarkable other than seeing some wildlife.

Although we traditionally don't really like stopping there, we decided getting fuel and a few more groceries in Nassau would set us up nicely for the Exumas. We spent 2 nights there then had a delightful, fast trip over to the Northern Exumas, where we are presently anchored in one of our favorite spots by SW Allen's Cay.Read more