We're here!

Bye bye No-Name Harbor

S/V Ellida

After 4-1/2 months of cruising which followed nearly 7 years of prep, we are sitting in a slip at Old Bahama Bay in the Bahamas. We crossed last night from No-Name Harbor to West End, a straightline distance of 88 miles, or 110 miles if you're sailing and have to tack to miss a giant cruise ship and the most actively electric thunderstorm we've seen in a long while. It was a good crossing. The Gulfstream was calmer than usual since it was only traveling at 3 knots and the wind had been behind it for most of a week giving us waves less than 2 feet and still a speed over ground of 3 knots faster than this boat can possibly go. We buddy boated with our friend John but after a very short time we got separated, John motor sailing and us just sailing. We could still contact each other on the radio, but for the most part we were alone. We saw a half dozen cruise ships, some of which had to be dodged, but not a single other sailboat. I suppose after thinking about it that most of the people who are going to cross have already done so. Just like so many other parts of this trip, we are the last ones in the line.

Tomorrow we'll pretend we're rich like the folks who keep their mega yachts here year round and we'll swim in the freshwater pool, enjoy the views, and plan for the next leg of our travels. It won't be much of a stretch, because even though we don't have much money, we are indeed the richest of the people on this planet - those who get to dream a dream and make it a reality.