Crossing to Lucaya

Crossing to Lucaya – December 17 to 20, 2010

All of the weather forecasters were predicting light winds from the southeast with waves on the Gulf Stream less than three feet. Nothing new had broken down in the last few days. It was ‘all systems go’.

We left the anchorage at North Lake Worth mid afternoon with Chanticleer and a parade of other boats anxious to get away from the sub-zero temperatures of Florida. The timing would give us a couple of hours of daylight to test our ‘ocean’ legs and would have us arriving at Lucaya, 79.3 miles away, sometime around 8 AM the next morning.

  Waterfront dining at Peanut Island.

Our original plan had been to follow last year’s route via Memory Rock and Great Sale Cay then on to Green Turtle Cay where we would check in with Customs and Immigration. As we were cming south on the ICW we had started hearing reports that the rules for Canadians entering the Bahamas had changed. In some ports of entry the Customs and Immigration officers were only allowing stays up to 30 days while others were still approving 180 days like we had been granted last year. Then we heard that the rules had actually been change in 2008 but were just now starting to be enforced, albeit inconsistently.  A first hand report on the daily Cruzheimer’s net  on single side band radio related the events from Green Turtle Cay where the local merchants had approached the new customs officer with their concerns that the new policy would keep the cruisers away and they would lose their source of income. 

When I first checked the Bahamian Government website the maximum length of stay for Canadians was shown as 30 days. At the beginning of December it had been changed to 90 days. As more boats made the crossing and reported back with their experiences there still seemed to be a lot of confusion and inconsistency. Visitor permits for all nationalities varied from 30 to 180 days with Lucaya being the most likely location to allow 180. Our friends who crossed to Lucaya the week before us reported back that they were all given 180 day permits. That reinforced our decision to check in at Lucaya.

Exiting Lake Worth Inlet was a bit bumpy but nothing like the elephants we encountered the previous year. The seas settled down quickly and we were on our way. There was not enough wind for sailing but we were okay with that. Less wind meant smaller waves and less chance of a repeat performance of our last eastbound crossing.

Preparing the fishing line

Between AIS, radar and the VHF radio we were able to monitor the other traffic out on the water and avoid the chance of a collision. Besides the other sailboats that left Lake Worth with us  there were cruise ships, container ships and work boats moving in all directions.

 The Bahamas Celebration caught up to us in the dark and passed less than a kilometer from our stern after following us from Palm Beach.

As we approached busy Freeport Harbour, just before reaching Lucaya, we had to thread our way through a number of vessels that were anchored outside of the harbour entrance waiting for their turn to go in.

  Sunrise near Freeport Harbour

We had made a reservation at the Sunrise Resort and Marina where Customs and Immigration officials would be on site for us to check in.  We arrived at the marina at 8:30 AM where the staff distributed a thick stack of forms to be each boat. Once they were filled in (some in duplicate, others in triplicate – no carbon paper) they would call Customs (to handle the boats) and Immigration (to handle the people) to come down. The Immigration officer was the first to arrive at 12:00 noon. Fifteen minutes and a $15 transportation fee later we were checked in with permission to stay in the country for 180 days. The Customs officer arrived an hour later. It took another half hour to complete the paperwork, a $20 transportation fee, $300 to cover the cruising permit and fishing license and an hour wait for a cursory 5 minute inspection of the boat. Six hours after our arrival we took down the yellow Q flag and out up the Bahamian courtesy flag.

 The Customs and Immigration office.

Four other boats pulled into the marina with us and one had come in the day before. That made a total of 6 cruising boats in the marina. It didn’t take long before an impromptu early Christmas dinner was in progress. One boat had a turkey that had accidentally been thawed and it just built from there.

 Tom and Normand – carving.

Another Prout arrived in the marina – this one destined Sierra Leone, Africa.

 We took advantage of the marina’s shuttle and do a bit of exploring in Port Lucaya. 

 There was an obvious lack of tourists in the market. And this is their busy season.

We missed the police band parade but happened upon the Little Miss Grand Bahama cavalcade.

 Best of all was a surprise reunion with Mason, the very first cruiser that we met at Oswego, NY when we left Lake Ontario.

 Having drinks with Chanticleer and Mutual Fun at the Rum Runners Bar.

The Sunrise Resort and Marina is a reincarnation of the former Running Mon marina. Cruisers headed for Lucaya who prefer to keep a little distance between themselves and the tourist traps should give the place a visit. The price of dockage is a real bargain at $1.00 per foot and we received an additional discount of 35% for being Boat US members! Power is metered and water is $7.00 per day if you use it. The facilities are spotlessly clean and the floating docks are in very good condition.  The staff is friendly and helpful. Check them out at www.sunriseresortandmarina.com.

  It does not happen often that polar Pacer is not the smallest cat in the marina.

Bev – does this look familiar?