The Crossing...

Our crossing from the Bahamas to Florida would be a three day event. First, we departed Green Turtle and sailed to Allan's Pensacola (23 miles).

On day two we sailed another 32 miles to reach Great Sale Cay. This then positioned us for the third and biggest day - 117 miles back to Fort Pierce, Florida.

All along the Bahama banks we continued to fish. I lost track of how many barracuda we caught and tossed back - at least 10. The fishing was looking like lots of work and no yield until both lines started humming and Dave and I struggled to bring in two fish that were - most definitely - not barracuda. Unfortunately, one smart fellow would get away, but we managed to haul in his twin a real nice 24 inch mutton snapper. Dave and I have been really pleased with the fish we've been able to catch while in the Bahamas, but let me tell you this mutton snapper is the BEST!!!! Despite its 24 inch length, it yields almost as much as a 42 inch mahi and it tastes - oh my!! You can definitely bet we will be fine tuning the tackle box to catch more mutton snapper next year!

Oh yes, but the main event wasn't the fish, it was the last 117 mile leg into Florida. Chris, on Romany, and Dave could not have planned it any better. We crossed the last 50 mile stretch of the banks by nightfall and entered Atlantic waters. The weather was great, the timing excellent as we crossed the stream and found ourselves at the Fort Pierce entrance at sunrise.

What an incredible journey it has been. Can you believe that we traveled over 1100 miles in our 12 weeks in the Bahamas. Hard to imagine there is that much territory to cover and even harder to imagine that there is plenty we haven't yet seen. Well there is always next year.

But wait, don't think it is over just yet, because there is lots of mileage left to cover. Our final destination is the Chesapeake.

The Admiral