Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas to Jacksonville, FL June 2 - 4

     After a few days at Atlantis, the Houston crowd had to return home, and Kay and I must return to the States.  Our plan had been to travel about half a day up to the Berry Islands on the day the kids/grandkids depart, then travel up to Grand Bahama Island the following day, and then do an overnight (2 days, one night) trip straight to Jacksonville, where the boat will hang out for most of the summer.  However, weather forecasters were calling for deteriorating conditions, and urging any who planned to travel this area to arrive at their destination no later than mid-day June 5, and preferably on June 4.  After some study and consultation, we decided to just travel non-stop from Nassau to Jacksonville, a 3-day, 2-night trip.  With just two of us aboard to stand watches, we try to generally travel only one overnight in each voyage, but sometimes the usual just needs to be adjusted.
     We put the kids and their luggage on the dock around 0900, and backed out of the slip.  They were going back to enjoy the water park again before departing for the airport mid-afternoon.  We cleared the Nassau Harbor, and headed for the north end of the Berry Islands, turning northwest toward West End, Grand  Bahama, about 1530.  By about 0330, after threading our way past many tankers and cargo ships in and around Freeport, we were exiting the Northwest Providence Channel and entering the ocean between the Bahamas and Florida.  After flying on Texas Ranger for 2 months, the Bahamas courtesy flag must come down.  After about 30 more miles of steering northwest, very definite northward drift from the current of the Gulf Stream was appreciated, and I turned more northward to maximize speed.  I had about 3.5 knots of current, and was sustained over 11 knots for many hours until it was finally necessary to again angle more northwest and exit the Gulf Stream.  On both nights the sky was mostly clear, with innumerable bright stars--a stunning sight.  There was some lightning visible both nights, but always over the horizon, with nothing close by. 
     At about 1000 June 4 we reached the entrance to the St. John River, which leads 25-30 miles upstream to Jacksonville.  We unfortunately were bucking some current, and various issues typical of Jacksonville (railroad bridge, river closure for a boat race, etc.) slowed our progress somewhat.  En route upriver, I cleared in with customs and immigration by telephone, having filed the requisite float plan and information before departing our last foreign port.  We arrived at our marina--Ortega Landing--just south of downtown Jacksonville and docked about 1500.  The trip, dock to dock, took about 54 hours, and we traveled about 438 nautical miles.  We will now retrieve our car from Fort Pierce, clean up the boat, batten down the hatches and ride out the anticipated tropical storm Colin, and thereafter return to Texas.  After four months aboard, I wonder how long it will take for the ground beneath our feet to stop moving?

Bahamas Courtesy Flag

Ortega Landing Marina, Jacksonville, FL