Crossing Over

Trip dates: 
Monday, February 3, 2020 to Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Trip length: 
2 days
Type of watercraft: 
Sail

After getting a reasonable forecast for a Gulf Stream crossing, we departed Lake Worth at 11:15 in light and variable winds to motor south along the coast for a few hours to let leftover gulf stream swells to subside and get a better angle for the crossing.  At about 3:30 PM we were off Boca Raton and turned East to start the crossing!  Almost immediately, we were in light current flowing north and a 2’ swell.  By the time we were 5 miles from the coast, we were motoring in strong GS current and our COG went from 120o  to 75o and N swell increased to 4’.   Mid-stream, I kept seeing green lights that appeared to be approaching on our starboard side.  At first, I thought they were a couple of boats headed back to FL but with time, there were so many that it became a pretty confusing situation.  None of them had stern lights and none of them showed up on radar!  After about 30 minutes or so, I saw a white strobe on one of the closer ones and figured out that they were some kind of bouys, perhaps marking fishing gear.  Got out of the Gulf Stream at around 3 AM and wind began picking up to E@10kts then clocked S as predicted by the time we were approaching Lucaya.    Slowed down to wait for a little light before we crossed the reef into Lucaya at dead low tide.  On the way in, saw a minimum depth of 7.5’.  Pulled in to Grand Bahama Yacht Club at 10:30 AM, cleared customs and got a slip.