Forget Building a Boat - I'm SAILING to the BAHAMAS!! (semi)Raw & Unfiltered (MJ Sailing - Ep 317)

Who wants to build a boat in winter? I’d rather go sailing!!
This week we do a complete 180 and instead of building a boat, we’re out sailing one!! For a very long time our friends Jeff and Cam have been planning to bring their Catalina 36 to the Bahamas and potentially further in the Caribbean, and we had always said we’d like to be there with them for their first Gulf Stream crossing. After years of planning the time has finally come, and we jumped at the chance when we were offered to come aboard.

Flying into Ft. Lauderdale, Matt and I assumed the plan was to get the boat to Bimini, about 50 miles off the coast of Florida, and that was that. But on the trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami, positioning ourselves for a better crossing, we found out that Bimini was only the check in point, and the real goal was to get it to a marina in a major port.

All within the span of 30 minutes, we made a new plan to bring the boat to Nassau, where there was access to a major airport, but first landing in the Berry Islands where we could check in. This first leg of the journey would be around 125 miles and take us 24 hours or just less. And just like that we turned our bow from south to east and began making our way across the Gulf Stream.

The next morning we started crossing the shallow banks into our harbour just as the sun was coming up. We had an easy check in at the marina and brought the boat out to anchor where we were hoping the now building north winds would shift and begin to calm. We spent a wonderful afternoon there exploring the mangroves and relaxing, before upping anchor late the next morning to bring ourselves to the other side of the island because of wind shifts. We got there just in time to have a couple of drinks at the local beach bar before packing it in for the night.

Our last day was a 50 mile passage to Nassau which was seamless, and we ended up in a slip in the heart of all the action. It was such a wonderful break from boat work, getting back on the water to remember what we’re doing this all for, and of course, spending time with great friends.

We hope you enjoy!

00:00 – Introduction
00:37 – Welcome to Ft. Lauderdale!!
04:54 – New Day, New Year, New Hangover
06:45 – Changing Course, we’re Bahamas Bound!
12:36 – Land Ho!! The Berry Islands
17:41 – Checked In & Heading to Anchor
21:25 – Exploring mangroves with 25 hp
22:56 – Waters are frigid, but we’re jumping in!
23:56 – Shifting Winds, We’re Switching Island Sides
27:03 – Last Day Aboard Westwind
29:37 – Closing

Link to our boat: https://maxcruisemarine.com/max42sc-sailing-catamaran/

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Delivery address:
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910 Kentmorr Road
Stevensville, MD 21666
Thank you!, Matt & Jessica

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Videos made by Jessica, featuring Matt and Georgie.

Camera equipment used:
– Panasonic Lumix GH5
– Shure VP83F shotgun microphone – https://amzn.to/2rsIHLL
– GoPro Hero8

Previous Boats: 1983 Trisalu 37 – custom aluminum, built in Quebec (Elements of Life) Where we’ve been: 2.5 year refit in Indiantown,
Florida; Abacos, Bahamas; St. Barth’s; St. Maarten; Antigua; Saba; Azores; Ireland; Scotland; Norway; England 1989
Sabre 34 Targa (Serendipity)
Where We Sailed Her: U.S. – Bahamas – Jamaica – Cuba – Cayman Islands – Honduras – Guatemala – Belize – Mexico – Bermuda – Azores – Madeira – Canary Islands – Sint Maarten – BVI’s – USVI’s

Editing software: Adobe Premier Pro
Website: http://www.mjsailing.com
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