Sailing Life Day 9 & 10: Our Overnight Sail in The Great Bahama Banks from Bimini to Nassau

SUNSET cruise in Great Bahama Banks. 3-minute video while I was at the helm and Jonathan fixing the sails!⛵️Watch the surprise at the end! ☀️ More photos and videos later.. gotta sleep 😌

So I took over the helm at 1800 since Captain Jonathan was at the helm and fixing the sail since 7:30 am when we left the Bluewater Marina in Bimini. He needed to sleep. He’s been doing an incredible job handling our first boat (big respect!). Also, the fact that he’s sleeping soundly while I’m on a helm means that almost 5 years of being together, we really do trust each other. ❤️

Anyway, we’re following 3 other sailboats who are doing the same route as us: S/V Kestrel (Beth & Clarence) & S/V Moonshadow (Stuart, Single-Handing) while another boat S/V Nellie Boy (Miguel & Roxanne) is out of our AIS radar because they arrived first and decided to anchor to sleep. We still couldn’t afford to buy the full AIS but we actually got a second-hand receiver from our friend, Alex of Seatek, which turned out to be one of the most useful things we’ve ever bought for our S/V Empress.. that AIS receiver is also with a wider-range radio so we were able to communicate with other boats and follow their route. Since we’re still inexperienced, this is our second sailing trip and another overnight passage which took us 30 hours, we were following the weather news from Clarence who has a SatPhone and iridiumGo to connect to the “internet world”. 

We’ve heard that the Nassau Harbour was closed because of the weather and swell up to 12ft. Crazy news to hear but glad we’re sailing with others because we won’t be able to know that situation.. so we slowed down during my “shift”. We sailed from North Bimini towards Mackie Shoal then turned to reach Northwest Shoal before we changed shift again at 2 am (the next day) before entering the “tongue” (I just heard this from Jon) / channel before the deep open water (around 7,000 ft up) to reach Nassau (the capital of The Bahamas). Some friends here said that we must be proud crossing the Grand Bahama bank without stopping and not be getting into trouble because it was too shallow! Prayers worked! 

I’ve been to Nassau before when I went on a Caribbean cruise with my Mama but still excited to explore with Jonathan in the next few days while still have to check if there are any issues on the boat but nothing broke and everything went perfectly fine, maybe seeing the pod of dolphins sending us off at the beginning of the trip was a good sign already.

We arrived at 4 pm today in Nassau, everyone says it’s dangerous to anchor here and our life is more important so we have no choice but to spend money again to pay for a Marina slip (have to pay $84+ tax per night). We also have to wait for a better weather before we go on another crossing but the positive side is that we’ll be able to use that time to buy more fresh groceries and fix some minor stuff on the boat (our 4G antenna, Oil Filter, Laundry etc) before we head to our “official” holiday destination- the Exumas in the South of the Bahamas where we can just anchor, swim with pigs and more snorkeling or even hiking! ❤️

Enjoying this trip so far and I’m no longer getting seasick while Captain Ahab is also getting better with the motion of the boat.. 🐈he’s eating more now and demanding to see more of the water.. we caught a fish too but had to return it to the water because it’s tiny. haha! One step at a time for us.. next to learn is fishing! ❤️⛵️

Ah, can’t stop thanking the Universe and God for bringing us the right people at the right time.. we’ve been learning every day from the people we meet and still in awe of how helpful and loving the sailing community is. ❤️ Glad we’re on the right track and loving this new adventure esp for me who never thought in my life that I’ll go sailing in the Caribbean with the man of my dreams and with the most adorable kitty cat I could ever ask for. 

It’s true.. expect the unexpected and things will always turn great if you’re grateful and with God’s guidance! ❤️

P.S. If you followed us for a long time, you know that I’ve always talked about Law of Attraction and yes I do believe in God but I’m so grateful to my Mom and Yvette for bringing me closer to my faith again esp after what happened and the Miracle we received during /after the Hurricane in Florida (also thanks for all your prayers!) last September 2017. Change of perspective and change of priorities.. Life changing indeed! 🙏❤️ Law of Attraction + Faith in God + Gratefulness = More Blessings! 😍