Cleared By Customs, Prime Time

Great Harbour Cay to Charleston  |  56.5 Hours  |  472 Miles  

A restless sleep was had by all as we awaited departure. Thoughts raced through our minds and ranged from predicted weather to the length of our stay in Great Harbour to how fast our overall time in The Bahamas has flown by. I was up in plenty of time to catch the sunrise and triple-check that all the ports were closed and loose items secured. In times like these, sinks become great storage bins. Our target was to leave at 7:30, but all of our boxes were checked with much time to spare. After a quick discussion with Paradigm Shift, we agreed to just get moving. Our anchor was up at 7:05 on Sunday morning. Fittingly, it was packed with sand and symbolically shared my reluctance to break free from the islands. We were underway and surfed our way along in a following sea. From our pilothouse, we watched as Paradigm Shift caught and rode more than a few good-sized waves. By 8:30 in the morning we lost cell service and were off the grid. It was a pretty day, but still chilly outside in the breeze. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, we began to spot large structures as we neared Freeport, Grand Bahama. The three towers near Eight Mile Rock were eventually identified as oil wells. We also got our cell service back and had just enough time to place an Amazon order before things got interesting. Glenda texted me that their generator was not pumping water and had overheated. Greg was in the engine room changing the impeller. He did a quick change and they were back up and running without even slowing down. A very short time later, and I couldn't make this up, our generator overheated because it wasn't pumping water. I made a comment that there must be something in the water. Sure enough, Barry check the sea strainer and it was full of sea grass. A line of storms was on the horizon as Barry went under the floor to change our impeller.

Meanwhile, I was at the wheel and watching the menacing clouds approach. At one point, a funnel dropped from the sky, but never reached the water. Barry emerged from the engine room to proudly show me the faulty impeller and all the fins he fished out of our heat exchanger. We were also back up and running. The heavy rain stayed to the south of us and Paradigm Shift. Heavy cloud cover made for a monochromatic transition from day to night. We settled into our watch schedule and continued making miles. We rounded Grand Bahama island and took a more northerly heading. The five foot swells that we had been surfing earlier in the day were now on our beam. The ride got a little sportier, but still was not bad. Nothing went flying and we never buried our bow. Barry encountered a lot of ship traffic on his 9-12 watch. My 12-3 watch was not a busy, but there were still several cruise ships around to keep me alert. On my next watch, I caught the sunrise for a fleeting moment before it Climbed into the cloud cover.  

The "red in the morning" served no warning for Monday. We were in the Gulf Stream, 60 miles off the coast of Florida. The waves were calm, the sun was bright, and Fiberglass Beach was calling my name. I spent my off-watch time finishing up another book and enjoying the view. It was a beautiful day on the water.

We were heading north and had a great view of the transition from day to night. An orange sunset was developing in the west as the sky to the east was darkening. We went through several large free-floating patches of sargassum that prompted us to check our water intake strainers once again. All was clear this time. The sunset continued to intensify as the sun lit up the clouds before emerging as a fiery ball just before disappearing below the horizon.

By the time Monday became Tuesday, we were in the middle of the Gulf Stream and seeing a speed over ground of more than 11 knots. The sky was clear and the stars brilliant in the darker than black sky. The ride was smooth and I was tired, which allowed for some much-needed quality sleep from 3-6. Tuesday's sunrise came with the same color palette as the night before. Paradigm Shift was perfectly positioned for us to get a few nice shots of them against the orange backlight.  

A mid-morning walk-around of our deck, led to the discovery of two fish that we "caught" overnight. These little flying fish jumped onto the boat and met their untimely demise. A short and sweet ceremony preceded their sendoff and return to the water. It was another pretty day and the miles clicked off quickly. The wind died down and more reading was done on the bow. Then we heard our fist sign of return to civilization as our phones started dinging with all the texts and emails we had missed. We were a bit ahead of schedule when we entered Charleston channel. Paradigm Shift was dwarfed by a bulk carrier at anchor. Barry began the process of checking back in to the United States and we were put on hold. The 128 cables of the Cooper River Bridge competed for dominance with the billowing white clouds. We arrived at our destination a few hours early and had resigned to anchoring out until the MegaDock had room for us the next day. Our anchor bridle was attached and ready to go. The wind was picking up as a line of storms approached. Barry called the marina and was told they had a slip for us. Yay!! I quickly remove the bridle and string up the dock lines for a starboard tie-up. We circled around to our assigned slip, but couldn't get into it because of the combination of wind and current. It also looked like we only had about six inches to spare between the dock and neighboring boat. The office then made a spot for us on the MegaDock with a port-side tie. OK, move everything over to the other side and prepare to parallel park our 43-foot boat into a 50-foot opening. At least this time we were into the current and the wind was blowing us toward the dock. Barry wiggled us into place like a champ. We plugged in the power cord and got word that we had cleared Customs. Whew. Time to breathe.

I cleaned up the decks and re-stowed all the lines and fenders that ended up not being used. Over the radio we heard that dock space had also been made for Paradigm Shift. Another Yay. The clouds and wind continued to threaten, but most of the precipitation missed us. We stretched our legs by going to retrieve our Amazon package that contained a few items not available to us in The Bahamas. Nothing says welcome back, like the black smile on a Prime package. We had dinner onboard with a goal of just relaxing. There was enough rain to produce a late-evening rainbow. Another great orange sunset developed behind the James Island Expressway Bridge. Not long thereafter, I was asleep. It felt really good to not be awoken by an alarm after only three hours.