Magnolia had been waiting for a weather window for nearly two weeks when finally our opportunity presented itself we were off! We departed Tuesday AM but actually we were a little of ahead of the of the “perfect” weather so on recommendation we stayed inside the Florida Reef transiting the Hawk Channel. In hindsight, it was a really lucky break. 

As you might remember we had the heat exchanger failure on the way to Marathon. As it turned out, that problem was not quite done with us. As we arrived in Marathon I am sure the alternator was functioning. I thought it was functioning when we did a small departure test but once we got underway for a couple hours, well it was definitely dead. Not a big deal because we do carry a spare and thankfully we were in the Hawk Channel so we could anchor and swap the alternator out. The swap and test took, 20 minutes so we were ready to go! Almost, as soon as we pulled up the anchor we picked up a piece of Dacron line which prevented the shaft from rotating. I donned snorkel gear and went over the side but as soon as I saw the wad of line I knew I was not going to get it with just snorkel gear. Not having scuba gear we called Tow Boat US for a diver. They are like the marine version of AAA roadside assistance.  Another hour and we were underway.

As long as we could get clear of the reef before dark we could still continue on to the Bahamas. As you can see we were not the last boat to get across the reef.

We continued on and had terrific weather crossing the Gulf Stream which can be a very rough ride but on this particular night, we had no problem whatsoever.

We crossed the Gulf Stream and continued across the Bahamas Banks across the top of the  Tongue Of The Ocean arriving Chub Cay on Wednesday afternoon. We dropped anchor and got a good nights sleep before continuing onto Nassau.

Early Thursday morning we made the short 7 hour transit to Nassau where we checked into Bahamas Customs & Immigration. We made a quick trip to the store for some supplies.

Our friends Ron & Nancy on Mandala had departed Wednesday from Ft Lauderdale and arrived  Nassau a few hours after we did. It was great to catch up for a great evening.

Magnolia got underway right away on Friday morning before a front was to arrive and anchored a couple miles west behind Rose Island. As you can see Exuberant had just got her anchor down with moments to spare!

We have been anchored behind Rose Island for about 36 hours and as the below track shows we have had wind from EVERY direction!

We are expecting a good 30 knt blow from the north tonight but expect that to pass quickly and expect to have a terrific down wind sail on Monday. We will be entering the Bahamas National Trust in the middle of the week for a several day visit. There is no internet or phone service so we will be out of touch for a few days.

We wish you all could be with us here! Be safe, be well!