Nassau to Miami

Dinner aboard Adventures while in Nassau

Finally!  The weather cleared!  Departing Nassau on Tuesday the 17th, we cruised 5 hours through the deep deep  Tongue of the Ocean to Frazier Hog Cay.  We grabbed a mooring ball after attempting to anchor in the swift current and knowing the holding is considered 'poor' in this area because there is too much grass.    We quickly settled in, getting ready for the long haul the next day.     

Leaving Nassau in our wake

Sunrise off Chubb Cay

Up before first light, we pulled out on Wednesday as the sun rose behind us.  Cruising through the much more shallow, northern part of the Great Bahama Bank, (10 - 20 feet), I gave up trying to fish and focused instead on the beautiful water.  

Deep water (dark) and then shallow (light color)

Twelve hours later and very tired, we pulled into Bimini Sands Marina for another night of peaceful sleep.....We could not find good places to anchor...... so we pay the going rates...Which are actually not bad at $1 per foot.

The USA is in sight!  Miami Beach just ahead of us!

Ugh, sharing the channel with big freighters & barges at Miami

Departing Govt' Cut in the early AM

Seaplane came in behind us at the fuel dock! 

Thursday, up at dawn again, another long day, this time in the Straits of Florida in the North Atlantic Ocean.  After crossing the Gulf Stream, 












we dropped the anchor below Miami Beach in Government Cut, outside of No Name Harbor.  We paused only to fuel up at Admiral Oil’s dock (off Rickenbacker Marina off the Rickenbacker Causeway) where a fuel truck with a VERY LONG hose pumped the diesel into our boat.  Imagine getting excited at $4.17 a gallon!  Taking in 759 gallons, we actually smiled at the bill.......after having to pay over $6 a couple of times (and NO, we never filled Finally Fun at those rates!!) No matter, it is still an OUCH.  

The lighthouse in the early morning light at Government Cut, heading out to Marathon

The lighthouse is beautiful as we get closer and closer!

These are houses out in the water on stilts off Miami

Our phone call to the USA Customs and Immigration, requesting clearance back into the USA for us and for Finally Fun went smoothly...gotta love the Local Boater Option (LBO) process.  The couple of hours we spent filling out paperwork was so worth it before we cruised out of USA waters to the Bahamas in 2009.   We had to pass a background check and appear in person before a US Immigration Officer in Miami before being granted LBO clearance.  All of Finally Fun’s documents were also examined carefully.  So, now instead of having to appear personally in front of US Customs & Immigration offices (usually TWO different places!) which means finding a marina to tuck into and then a taxi or rental car and a LOT of time, we only have to make a phone call.  All documents are on file and we have specific ID numbers for each of us and one for the boat. 

This LBO worked for us as we cleared back into the USA from Canada, from the Bahamas twice and into Puerto Rico, the Spanish Virgin Islands and numerous times as we cruised back and forth between the British Virgin Islands into the US Virgin Islands.  Can’t image the hassle without the LBO!

Secure at Marathon Key.  Only thing we caught along the way was a fish pot & buoy which got trapped on our stabilizer til we fished it out