Bahamas Bound!

To make the best of the day, we pulled out at the crack of dawn.  We had a beautiful sunrise and it turned out to be a all around fantastic day.  We crossed in gorgeous calm seas with no problems whatsoever,  Fat Bottom Girl is running and handling great.  This is Ryan's first trip to the Bahamas so he has a lot of excitement  ahead of him and he seemed pretty happy just to see the cobalt blue Caribbean waters.  Mimi has been such a big help, I'm so thankful that she doesn't suffer from seasickness like I do.  Yes, it happened again, only very briefly this time; the queasy stomach started shortly after our departure but fortunately only lasted about an hour.

Mimi on the approach to Old Bahama Bay in West End

Ryan had poles strung out all day, but another day of no hits ( I forgot to throw out the bananas).   I don't think it bothered him at all, he appeared to be having the time of his life just enjoying being out on the open water.  David seems to have mastered all of the navigation equipment and has enjoyed plotting new way points. 

Still fishing.........

We arrived in West End about 2:30PM which gave us plenty of time to clean up and go explore before dark.  We met a wonderful family from Wisconsin ( the Punch's) who happen to own a home in West End as well.  After a little chit chat we discovered we were both heading to Port Lucaya the next morning. 



Captain Dingles, Jackie & Mimi



We stopped for a quick bite and a cocktail at the pool bar, David ordered conch chowder (which was wonderful), since Mimi had never tried it before he insisted she have a little taste.  With much trepidation, she gave in and loved it.   After a good dinner at the marina restaurant, we called it a night with the anticipation of tomorrows trip to Port Lucaya.

Dock 11 has arrived

What a treat we have ahead of us, our good friends Ryan and Mimi Smithwick came to join us for a Bahamian New Years Celebration. They are our neighbors from our home dock on Lake Allatoona in GA.  It's amazing how your dock neighbors can become more like family than friends.  In a short period of just over two years we have experienced some wonderful times together. 



Ryan & Mimi



Today we traveled from Ft. Pierce Inlet to Lake Worth Inlet. Along the way we were greeted by a couple of HUGE sea turtles and several dolphin.  Ryan is quite the fisherman, and apparently a very superstitious one too.  He saw my stash of bananas and explained the "curse of the banana's" that will totally ruin your fishing trip.   There must be a little truth to this, because he didn't get any hits.  I've been told that if we don't eat all of the banana's by morning, they're going overboard!   Since we can buy more fruit I'll go along with it in hopes of a big fish on the grill tomorrow night.

We safely anchored at about 4:00PM and had a wonderful night of good food, good friends and lots of planning for Wednesday's crossing to West End Bahamas.  

Ryan the "Fish Slayer"

I can't thank David enough for being such a great  husband, my best friend, and for sharing this wonderful new adventure in our life.   He also did something most men wouldn't do, he called our friends Chris and Alyse Caldwell (Captain Chris Yachts) for a well needed refresher course on the electronics, navigation and general advise.  We had information/learning overload on our last trip, and wanted to make sure we had retained the most valuable information.  I'm thankful that safety takes priority over pride or ego.... 



My Guy "Captain Dave"



 Well folks, tomorrow AM is coming early and it's time for lights out on deck!  Keep us in your prayers tomorrow for a safe passage and (lots of fish)!