For those of you who want the short synopsis, here it is: got COVID results but they were the wrong test, Bahamas took them anyway, made it across the Gulf Stream, checked into Bahamas, sailed south several days, now in Nassau.
For those who want more details: After making it to Lake Worth, FL, we not so patiently awaited our COVID results so we could complete our Bahamas application. On Sunday, the doctor called to say that the lab did the wrong COVID test.....seriously?! We had them send the results to us anyway and the results clearly stated "no evidence of COVID" so we decided to see if the Bahamas would even notice that it was not the "top strand" test that they required. I contacted Customs and Immigration directly and sent all of our results and paperwork. His response was, "I asked the medical director and never got a response so I say 'no news is good news'...come on over!" With that very Bahamian response, we figured as long as we had US dollars in our pocket, they would take us. We set out around 8pm on Monday night to make the crossing. Bill did a great job navigating and captaining and I did a great job of not throwing up. I would like to add that the only way I will ever cross the Gulf Stream again is in an airplane. Quite the bumpy ride to put it mildly. We made it to West End alive by the next morning and I knew we were safe once the dolphins came out to welcome us! After a much needed night of sleep, we went over to the Customs office to "check in". On the way in, we were greeted by at least 3 dozen locals fishing on the rocks (several of whom wanted to stowaway with us!). As we docked, Harry (as in Harry the Best Conch Salad in the Bahamas) greeted us with an offer of fresh conch salad. Then, his buddy said he would open up the bar soon to get us some beers. Needless to say, Bill has died and gone to heaven at this point! I was a bit nervous about Customs since I had never checked in on a boat before but my nerves were quickly calmed by the fact that there were only 2 workers....one immigration girl and one customs guy. If I wasn't sure of a response on the form, they would respond, "No worries....you just leave it". I finally asked if anyone actually ever looked at the forms. He laughed and pointed to a large 4X6 filing cabinet that had at least 3 feet of papers stacked on top of it. "You will go there...." At that time, he asked for my credit card and we were all checked in! With conch and beer in hand, we headed south to Freeport. For anyone who watches the weather daily, you can save that 10 minutes of your day from now on. We have quickly figured out that predicting wind/currents/rain/etc is all a complete and total guess. We have been here almost a week and I think the reports have been accurate 2 out of 6 days. It has been slow going as we have been into the wind and current every day and Galt goes super slow when we ask him to work that hard. However, he was quite happy when we checked into the marina at the Grand Bahamas Resort in Freeport. In the Bahamas, the marinas are currently open but the resorts are not open. As a result, we had the entire resort completely to ourselves! I felt just like Elizabeth Taylor as I went for a private swim in the resort pool. Let's face it, COVID has to have some sort of upside at this point. Our trip from Freeport to Stirrup Cay was supposed to be about 8 hours and took 10 hours. I introduced Bill to the Miller family games with the Letter Animal Game (you name an animal and the other person has to name an animal starting with the last letter of the first named animal....example, antelope, eagle, eel, leopard). He found out how heated the competition could get and I finally took the round when he ran out of /r/ animals! As we neared Stirrup Cay, we ran into a large squall. It was the most amazing sight I have ever seen. In the distance as the clouds start to darken, the horizon line turns a deep purple. Then, the purple begins to spread out over the ocean and it makes it appear as if it is stained glass. It was breathtaking. The first squall was just rain so no big deal. The second squall had quite the lightning show which had me counting seconds between flashes and thunder. It was a bit unnerving but we survived. We spent a night of rough seas anchored at the Royal Caribbean private island. I felt it was very rude of them not to share the island for the night! After all....it was empty and I am Elizabeth Taylor! But alas, we had to stare at it from afar. The next morning, we headed to Alder's Cay and then made out way across to Nassau. We decided to get into a marina in Nassau to get some good sleep since the last few nights had been such rough seas. Once we landed in Nassau, we walked over to the grocery store so that we could have a heart attack. It was a Fresh Market, which is bad enough in the states with prices, but this location was a whole new level! A bag of chips was $10.00, a bunch of grapes was around $7.00/pound and don't even ask about the Poptarts! The humorous part was that the lobster and scallops were dirt cheap compared to the states so that was good! Tomorrow we begin our journey further south down the Exuma Islands. While we know that our weather predictions are useless, our Poptarts are overpriced and our seas may be rough, we say, "No worries......just leave it" and head on!
1 Comment
I hadn't checked your blog in a while, and Bill and I were wondering how you were doing with all the COVID restrictions. Glad you made it to the Bahamas! I know what you're talking about when crossing the Gulf Stream...not for the faint of heart! Looking forward to hearing about your next leg of the journey. Smooth sailing!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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