Hurry up … or wait? That was our difficult decision … again. Sorry Lori … we gave up our reserved front-row slip for the Vero Beach Boat Parade so we could catch a good-looking crossing window across to the Bahamas. We chose Port Lucaya as we’ve never been, the distance & wind direction worked & we heard the Customs & Immigration there might give us more than “the usual” 90-days!

While I was often able to obtain 120 or 150 days from Immigration, it is becoming more difficult with each passing year. An extension is available, but only after appearing in-person to an Immigration office 1 – 4 days before, never after. Location & weather planning make this difficult for boaters. Plus, the previously no-charge extension is now $200.00/each. Last year we paid $400.00 for being in-country 3 extra days! Fortunately the rumors were true – the Immigration officer in Port Lucaya kindly gave us 120 days, so no worries about extending this year!

And it was indeed beautiful & fairly smooth as we headed east out of Lake Worth inlet at West Palm Beach

A Margaritaville cruise ship was coming into West Palm as we were leaving.

The night before, where we anchored in Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, a “heavy lift vessel” was loading its last yacht for its trip to the USVI, then Finland! Quite the show – lowering the slings, positioning them, the slow pickup process, pivoting to fit between the cranes, then into position between the other vessels took about 4 hours. Then several more hours to create a cradle & strap her down. The ship departed after us in the AM, but quickly blew past us at 18 knots.

Port Lucaya, adjacent to Freeport, on Grand Bahama (one island we’ve never stopped at).  Second to New Providence (Nassau), it the most populated island in the Bahamas. If you’ve gone on a Bahamian cruise, you’ve likely stopped at Freeport, or one of the several cruise line-owned private “resorts” on Grand Bahama.

Our nice slip at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club. While we had only planned on staying one night …

Our next day’s 60-mile trip to Great Harbour did not go well … crashing right into 3′, short, choppy waves was very uncomfortable & slow. After 10 miles we did something we’ve never done before – turn around! Usually, we would at least divert to a different harbor, but we had no good options in this case.

A benefit of staying was to explore the area, including the Port Lucaya Marketplace. A mix of waterfront action, bars, restaurants, bars & shops offer a little of everything- including a bakery where we scored a massive, glazed donut and a slice of delicious cheesecake. One disadvantage of the cruise lines building their own “private resorts” in remote areas is that these historically busy tourist areas become half empty. Along with remaining damage from Hurricane Matthew, many of the buildings are empty.

A 1.5 mile walk  (along a 4-lane paved road!) brought us to a nearly Florida-like shopping plaza with the usual mix of stores & services. The grocery store was pretty nice, but you realized you weren’t really in the States, as a 6-pk of Bounty paper towels was on sale for $26.00!

After a windy week, we hope to finally depart … if the winds cooperate! We will be heading 128 miles to Spanish Wells (Eleuthera). Our short weather window looks to be only 12-hours long – noon to midnight.  Fortunately, once to Eleuthera, the prevailing north – northeast winds are easier to deal with as we proceed further south to the Exumas.