Back to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving

Heading back to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving 11/20-11/29.  We'll spend the week exploring the Abacos. Plan to sail to Hope Town for some shopping and sightseeing and stop off in Guana Cay on our way back to Treasure Cay for some swimming and snorkling before Thanksgiving.  More to come..........

Some pictures from the trip.

Tuesday 11/02 - Day 7

A new day has dawned and with it came the most beautiful turquoise water we've ever seen.  Our plan has always been to arrive in the morning with the sun at our backs so that we can see the reefs entering the Abacos. We passed Chub rock and entered the Abacos at 11:30am.  We followed the chart to the marina where we tied up and docked the boat at 12:30.  We put on a total of 98.5 engine hours since Annapolis was 98.5. 
This is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen and can't wait to start our vacation but first we need to clean the boat and organize our gear after we clear customs.
All in all it was a great trip with a life experience like no other.  Here the Mai Toi will stay now until May 1st before traveling home for the summer.
We plan to maintain this blog throughout our winter's adventures here in the Bahamas and will be back for Thanksgiving.
Thanks for following along with us and we hope you enjoyed our adventure.

Monday 11/01 - Day 6

Monday brought more of the same... little wind but we had a fair current.  We motored most of the day while managing our fuel consumption. Dolphins, and flying fish abound with a few Pilot whales.  The water turned from green to blue as we motor sailed towards our destination. It was a beautiful sunset and our last night at sea before reaching our final destination.

Sunday 10/31 - Day 5

Happy Halloween... Things improved dramatically as we exited the Gulf Stream. Winds calmed down to 5 knots and were blowing again from the NE.  We motor sailed most of the day because of the light winds.  It was a pretty uneventful day.

Saturday 10/30 - Day 4

The weather prediction was for the wind to change from the NE to the SW. Our plan was to ride the NW wind through the night until the wind changed from the SW then turn 90 degrees across the Gulf Stream. 
The Gulf Stream is everything everyone says it is and more.  The winds were blowing from the SW at 18 to 20 Knots. We averaged 7.5 to 8.5 Knots under sail crossing the Gulf Stream. It was a rough night, seas were choppy at 4 to 5 Feet and we didn't get much sleep. We were on a broad reach with the wind from the SW and the rail in the water.   Hopefully things would improve by the morning.

Friday 10/29 - Day 3

We weighted anchor at 7:05am destined for Beaufort, NC. The weather was party sunny and the wind was at 18-20 KN NW. The seas were short and choppy. We arrived Beaufort, N.C. at 11:30am.  We went to West Marine and the grocery store for some provisions and had lunch at the Dock house.  We left Beaufort at 3:30 to head off shore.