THE BAHAMAS ADVENTURE

Page 3

12/10/00 (Sunday)

We woke up to more showers at 8:00AM.  Ron started working on breakfast - eggs & bacon with coffee.  Tasted great.

We decided to head out early tomorrow morning at around 1:00 AM.  We wanted to arrive during daylight ( the Bahamas don't have many lighted navigational aids) and we figured the trip would take about 14 hours if all went well.  The weather radio indicated that the wind was shifting from the north (bad) to the east (good) and that should bring down the waves in the Gulf Stream.

Ron ran through a list of things I just loved to hear.  I call it the 'we're dead' list.  This included; if we're hit by lightning, we're dead and if one of the scuba tanks explodes, 'we're dead'.  I really don't think this list was necessary because if any of these things happened, we're dead.  What could I do about it.

My confidence didn't pick up much when we started going over the survival bag inventory.  These were the things we were going to put into the a bag that we would take with us into the dingy if the boat sinks.  Water, flashlight, sunglasses, hats, etc.  After this I re-worked my calculations to take my mind off these possibilities and also to minimize the chance we'll need our emergency bag.

To kill some time, we dingyed over to the bar to watch some football.  Here we met a couple of guys who after hearing we were crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, started buying us drinks.  They also shared every story they knew about people who tried to cross the Gulf Stream and were never hear of again!  (These I really needed to hear right now.)  There was one particular story that our new friends shared that really bothered Ron.  It was about a guy who called 911 on his cell phone and just said "help", and then the line went dead.  He, his guests and his boat were never seen or heard of again.  Ron could not understand why a captain would not call on his radio or at least give his location and reason for distress.  Ron's conclusion was that his vessel must have been boarded by thieves.  This would explain why he used a cell phone and why he had no time for other info.  It was this story that caused Ron to bring out the 45 caliber pistol and the rifle we had onboard.  He kept these handy from that time on.

After consuming several adult beverages, we dingyed back to Seaclusion later that night and started preparing the boat for the crossing.  The first thing we needed to do was to remove the 10 horsepower motor from the dingy and secure it onboard.  We hooked the motor to the davit line ( a small crane like apparatus used to lift heavy things aboard).  We started pulling the motor up when it happened!  The knot let loose!  The motor dropped into the bay!  We both just stood there and looked at each other for a minute.  Stunned!

Well the motor had to be rescued so Ron put on his wet suit and scuba gear and dove off the boat, flashlight in hand.  This was Ron's first night dive and in our current state of semi-intoxication, it was sure to be a challenge.  Looking for a black motor on a black bay floor about 15 feet down was not going to be easy.  We were at anchor and being pushed by the breezes, we were swinging around in a semicircle.  I doubted if he would ever find it but he did in just a few minutes!  He tied a rope around the motor which I had the other end of and I pulled it up.  Needless to say, it didn't work and would require some repair.  We strapped the motor to it's support block on Seaclusion's railing and decided to get it fixed in the Bahamas.

After some additional preparation, we hit the sack for about 4 hours of sleep before heading out. Ron was out like a light, but I really could not fall asleep and kept checking the time.  Finally, about 1:00 AM, I woke Ron and we pulled up anchor and headed for Port Everglade and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.  Our adventure was on!

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© 2001, Donald R. Swartz