Loon: Making Memories

As our good friend, Emma Jean Wilson, would say, we've been "making memories"! Our last days in North Palm Beach involved a bike accident and a fire drill...neither were serious but shook us up a little. We have small folding bikes and I had ventured out for a bike ride and was really starting to enjoy it when ...the handle bars collapsed and I ended up on the sidewalk but luckily just got some scratches and bruises. I walked the bike back to the marina and Randy assured me he found the problem and tightened every connection. Later that day both of us head out for a bike ride and after 2 rotations one of my pedals falls off!! No injuries this time but feeling very skeptical about my bike. I'm trusting Randy that it really is ok now and have had a couple of uneventful rides. The next night we woke up at 5 am to the sound of a loud bell ringing which we discovered is the fire and bilge pump alarm. After being sure there was no fire, we found that a switch had been turned off accidentally which caused the bilge pump alarm to go off. After weeks of waiting, we left North Palm Beach on March 23, 2014 along with two other boats with one being an 85 foot Burger Yacht, "Koala". The captain of the Koala is very experienced and had studied the weather so we felt confident about leaving with them after weeks of waiting for the right conditions. The weather couldn't have been any better to cross the Gulf Stream and we have definitely had rougher rides to Shackleford back at home! It was pretty special to see the aquamarine water of the Bahamas and each time I forget how beautiful it is! We cleared customs at West End with no problems - all they really care about is getting your $300. When you enter the Bahamas you fly a yellow flag which is a sign that you have not cleared customs and after clearing customs you fly the Red, blue and yellow Bahamian Courtesy flag.