I just reread last years passage to the Bahamas. Thankfully this years passage was nothing like that!
We left Beaufort, NC at 9:45AM on Sunday, November 3rd. Clear blue sky, almost 60 degrees, 10-15 knot ENE winds. Forecast for the next 3-5 days was for light to moderate winds generally behind the beam, nearly perfect sailing conditions for heading south.
This time there were three people to stand 4 hour watches on Lone Star. With 8 hours off between watches it was almost too easy.
Brian on Watch 
When anyone is on deck they are tethered to the boat, our deck naturally slopes toward the sea. Rolling off is not allowed, haha.
We reached the Gulf Stream before sunset the first evening. It was a little bouncier here and the wind slowly veered from a reach to on the wind, then it died down for a couple hours. We motored as needed and made it across around daybreak on Monday. The stream was an unusual 90 miles wide this year, though the fast running part was only about half that.
Movie watching, they also enjoyed a game of Barricade and some Cribbage too!
The WindPilot, now called Herman, dons a purple ribbon in light winds to react quicker; it works! Everyone liked using Herman, he’s a lot quieter than the electric autopilot now called Greta. Can you tell we had a German resident on board to name our helmsmen?
Our passage was blessed with beautiful sunsets, some clouds now and then, and a waxing gibbous moon. Not a lot of star gazing, but some.
Sunsets Courtesy of Brian
Tom managed to give our daily position report each morning on the Waterway Ham radio net and on SSB with Marine Weather Center twice daily for the latest weather report and weather routing suggestions. Long range radio provides an added level of communications and comfort for us and our families.
Our more direct course this year. Tom hit our top speed of 10.5 knots in a short squall.
Our comprehensive overhaul this past summer paid off. Tom discovered a worn soft shackle during his daily deck check. He modified the way the boom vang connects to the mast step to prevent future chafe. The only other minor difficulty was the engine wouldn’t start twice. Tom fixed it each time by bleeding air out of the fuel line. He might have left a little air in the lines when he replaced the primary fuel filter in Beaufort.
On the afternoon of Friday, November 8th, Anita shouted, “Land Ho”! 
Eleuthera is a long skinny island that took most of the day to pass. We quickly connected all our electronic devices to our island WiFi hot spot. Ah the joy of being connected; while still at sea!
We arrived at Conch Cay Cut, the entrance into Exuma Sound and Georgetown at 3AM on Saturday, November 9th. Still quite dark, moon was setting just before we entered the narrow channel. Anita hand steered the remaining two hours to arrive at Sand Dollar Beach just before sunrise. After the anchor was down, bridle put on, and the sails covered Brian took this pretty picture of the pre-dawn sky.
We all attempted to get some rest as we’d stayed up all night, but soon decided sleep could wait another day. Talked with family and sent messages and just admired the view!
We sailed 740 miles in 6 days 19 and a half hours; motored less than 32 hours. Easy passage. It is 82 degrees for a high and 72 at night. Jimmy Buffets tune, “The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful” is constantly playing in our heads!
We motored over to Georgetown on Monday to check in with Customs and Immigration. Then took a tour of the town and a celebratory drink at the Peace and Plenty outdoor bar. Lunch at Jillian’s Jerk Chicken and Ribs, mmmm good!
Pictorial highlights of our walk around Sand Dollar:
Pudgy all alone on the beach
We found a cave
Path to the ocean
Brian climbs a Palm Tree
First view of the windward side of Stocking Island
Found this sign laying in the sand
Tom and Anita, morning sun
Stocking Island
On his last afternoon in the Bahamas, Brian rigged the Portland Pudgy and went sailing:
Bird landing on the water at
The public dinghy/fishing dock, directly across from the anchorage.
Many of the vendors wore costumes and had candy for the children. 
Yummy Bacon twist!
Delicious meat pies and farm fresh fruits and vegetables!!
First run to Walmart, hardware and pharmacy.
Picture courtesy of Brian
He wore our GoPro camera; so cool to see what he was seeing remotely on the iPad. We could snap pictures from the iPad! 
Despite our busy days we really enjoyed playing Hearts with 5 players for a couple evenings. So glad Jeff and Kimberly could join us and see a bit of Beaufort, NC.
We are so blessed and thankful to have Brian’s help these last four days of preparation. He was very quick to pitch in and do just about anything and he’s a great cook too. Chicken jambalaya, is on the menu during our passage. A big pot of chili has been made, so it must be time to sail away.
Avery Point Lighthouse on UCONN property.
View of SYC from UCONN.
We were so lucky to have use of a car this summer. Trips to Defender marine supply store, hardware stores, laundry and grocery stores whenever we needed to go were invaluable. We were prepared to use Uber all summer. Tom’s generous sister and her husband offered us the use of their van. Thank you, dear sister!! The car was also a big help when we decided to move into a better priced storage unit and downsize our belongings a bit more. We were also able to visit our son a few times and help them out with a garage insulation project. We were grateful son, Alex and fiancé, Jenna came to more than a few Friday night picnics at Shennecossett Yacht Club.
So sad that I don’t have any pictures of the beautiful blue inner cells, but here is the finished project. We still have a separate engine starting battery for now. So far we are very happy with the new lithium battery bank. It delivers a steady voltage consistently. We’ve even used the microwave and a heat gun with no voltage drop as our old batteries did.
At the end of August Tom’s Dad and friend, Ilse came for a short couple night visit. We sailed to Flat Hammock and anchored for lunch and a walk on shore. What a beautiful day. So glad they made the trip!
Our next event was to attend a 100 year celebration at the Montville, CT power generation station that Tom worked at from 1979 to 1987. Great time visiting, reminiscing, and touring the current facility. The food was fabulous as well. 
We decided to do the majority of our provisioning for the Bahamas right here. This was facilitated by the van we borrowed. This time we stocked up on some dried fruits: apples, peaches, and strawberries. Repacked in vacuum sealed bags for longer storage.
Tom is always researching new marine products. We’ve been looking for some specific emergency equipment. Things we want to have on hand, but hope to never need. The first was an emergency rudder or perhaps a tiller arm. What he found is a very compact sea anchor: a Fiorentino
The item stores compactly in itself and is smaller in size than a basketball 🏀. 
Very well engineered product made of high quality materials. We purchased one and will practice using it as it is so easy to deploy. The YouTube videos for this product were fun to watch and informative.
Boats anchored at Sand Dollar beach.
The east side of Stocking Island at Sand Dollar.
We anchored near Pegu Club and were all soon in the water snorkeling to the nearby reefs and beach.
Dad, the chemist, commented about the extra fine sand in the Bahamas. Tom’s answer: here soft limestone is pounded by the sea to make fine sand. In New England, hard granite is pulverized by the ocean waves to make gravel and courser sand.
The island is now deserted, but was home to a marine research center until 2015. We saw an abandoned air strip and a ghost town. A short trail led to a beautiful view of the beaches on the east side of the island.
We returned to Lone Star and discovered a nearby sail boat aground on the shallow sands. Tom motored over to lend a hand to this unknown cruiser by first attempting to heel the boat over with a halyard; that didn’t work. Then he relocated their anchor into deeper water. As the tide rose they were able to winch themselves free. We watched from the deck.
Swimming here was a definite challenge as there was a current to contend with. Streaming a life jacket on a rope behind the boat was a necessary precaution. Dad still enjoyed his daily swim.
Dad and Ilse enjoying a beautiful sunset!
On Friday, March 22, we waved farewell to our friends on Pegu Club as they continued sailing north and we returned to Georgetown. We timed the weather well. We enjoyed another easy downwind run, this one taking six hours to go the 35 miles. We anchored at Honeymoon beach for protection in the upcoming southeasterly blow. Seeing there was no possibility of card games with our friends on Pegu Club we turned to movie watching for evening entertainment. Watching Red October in stereo while the boat is rocking was a highlight. The last three nights we laughed watching Odd Couple first season episodes before bed time.
We couldn’t pry them away from the Barricade board this evening to see this pretty sunset, so I showed them the pictures.
Sunday was too windy for a dinghy ride and it threatened to rain all day, but held off until over night.
On Monday, we moved the boat to a reef near Honeymoon beach in hopes of spotting more fish on their last full day in the Bahamas. Guess we didn’t anchor close enough. There was a current running, making it a challenge to swim. Then it turned cloudy making it very hard to direct them to the reef. They gave up without finding it. They saw only sand!
We motored over to Kidd’s Cove that evening so we would be a short dinghy ride to shore the next morning for their taxi to the airport. We had a real nice visit and believe they had a nice vacation too!
Spring has begun and cruisers are beginning to head north now that weather patterns are settling a bit. Time for us to head north as well to see more of the Bahamas.
Sailing on Lone Star 