Crossing the Gulf Stream

We made it! Pandion and crew made the Gulf Stream crossing successfully on Sunday, April 1. Our passage of 92 nautical miles started out from Long Key in the Florida Keys at daybreak, so that we could navigate around the many crab trap buoys in Hawk Channel. Weather conditions were forecast to be favorable, but we have discovered that despite access to multiple weather apps, including Predict Wind Offshore, Windfinder, Weather Track, and Windy, they don't always get it right. In other words, we had a bumpy ride :)

A few interesting things happened along the way: Pandion's mainsail halyard (the line that hauls the big mainsail up the mast) broke in 25 knot winds, sending the mainsail down the mast. We had to work closely together to furl the sail onto the boom spindle, with Brenda manning the winches and lines, and me trying to guide the sail into the boom furler while clinging to the mast in rolling

seas of about 6 feet. We ended up altering our course multiple times during the passage, to avoid five big freighters that were moving north or south along the the Gulf stream. My brother Russ and I learned an important lesson over 45 years ago while trying to sail a sunfish across the path of a big ferry in Bermuda. Bigger boats have the right of way, no matter what the rules say. Never forgot that one!

We also had our starboard engine quit about halfway across, and after a quick analysis determined that the rough ride had stirred up sediment in the fuel tank, clogging the new fuel filters that I had just installed. More new filters installed, engine back on, we cruised into our anchorage at Cat Cay in Bimini about an hour after sunset. Long day!

We were thrilled to be back in the islands, tired from a long passage that had a few fun tests thrown at us, and ready to start new adventures in the Bahamas.

Sunset at North Bimini anchorage.