2/13/09 - Crossing the Gulf Stream at last

I didn't expect to spend the first few hours of our crossing on my hands and knees scrubbing the floors and cleaning the cabin, but there I was. Crossing the Gulf stream was a piece of cake, even with north-northwesterly winds at about 10-13 knots. We had an occasional one-foot wave, but it was as calm as we could have hoped for. We left our anchorage at 6:30 and passed between Gun and Cat Cays (pronounced "keys") at 2:00. We motored all the way with help from our sails.

It feels like a different world over here - "I don't think we're in Florida any more, Emma!" Crystal clear waters of turquoise and azure welcomed us, and I was mesmerized by the white, sandy bottom of the ocean, dotted with bits of grass and countless starfish. It was very warm and I could hardly wait to get in the water.

We were in radio contact with Leo and Betty, who had checked in and spent last night in Bimini. We motored another ten miles or so and anchored next to them along the banks. After calling them with an invitation to come over, we put on our swimsuits and snorkel gear. I immersed the bottom third of my body in the water and changed my mind. We hadn't taken the time to don our wetsuits and the water was too darn cold - about 76 degrees.

Tomorrow we'll probably check in at Chub Cay, anchor there for the night, and continue on to Nassau. We traveled about 70 miles today from Key Largo, but have another 110 miles or so to reach Nassau.