Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Lacaya, Bahamas

This is the start of our month long trip to the Bahamas aboard Zendo!  We plan to spend most of our time cruising the Abacos.  We delayed our trip by a day awaiting a good weather window to cross the gulf stream.  On May 30, we left our dock at Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove to spend the night at the Pines Canal anchorage in  Key Biscayne so we could get the earliest possible start. 


And so we left at 4 a.m. on relatively calm seas headed for Lacaya in the Bahamas.  Early on we felt the swells, but the sea settled down after a bit and we witnessed the most spectacular sunrise!

We anticipated  a 10 - 12 hour crossing thinking that once we hit the gulf stream, we would get a significant lift and pick up speed.  The weather was sunny and clear and there was very little boat traffic.  However, the trip took longer than expected and we didn’t arrive in Lacaya until 6 p.m.  Needless to say, it was a very long day!

We stayed at the Grand Lacayan Resort on the advice of Active Captain.  Upon arriving, a dockhand ferried Jonny over to customs where he “signed us in.” According to the rules, only the captain can leave the boat until we go through customs so Lynn got to stay aboard for the moment.



Although we were very tired, we accepted the advice of the dockhand and got a complementary ferry ride to a local restaurant, Zorba’s,  in the little town of Lacaya.  The town was much cuter than we imagined it to be with the typical colorful Bahamian cottages and hand painted signs.  There was a charming square in the middle of town that on this night was very quiet.  Jonny ate his first conch of the journey while Lynn stuck to the basics of that Greek restaurant.



By this time, we were staggering with fatigue and we took the next ferry back to Zendo and fell fast asleep!