On February second, we reluctantly left Great Harbor and headed back towards Florida to make a few upgrades to BAGIA. It was a long but comfortable sail. Despite being US citizens, getting back into the US was more difficult than entering the Bahamas. First, we had to install a buggy cell phone app called CBD ROAM. Then we had to register, upload documents, and submit an arrival notification. Then we had to purchase a DTOPs (Decal/Transponder Online Procurement System) decal and be interviewed by a Customs and Border Protection agent. At that point, we were permitted to take down our yellow quarantine flag and proceed to shore.
Key Biscayne
We had only been out of the US for a couple months but were instantly overwhelmed by Key Biscayne: the traffic, the urgency, and people staring at cell phones instead of each other. The kids missed the clear water of the Bahamas and were even more disappointed they couldn’t swim because of a bloom of man o’ war jellyfish along the Florida coast. We did, however, enjoy the many dining options!
Dania Beach
After settling in for a few days, we sailed north to Port Everglades and made our way to Harbor Towne Marina in Dania Beach. We spent the next month completing a variety of projects to get our boat ready to spend the next year sailing the Caribbean. Maz Ocean and Jean at Stainless Steel Fabricators did an excellent job installing a 1,760 watt solar arch. We also upgraded our house battery bank with 1,380 amp hours of AGM batteries.
We installed Starlink and added a larger grill. We serviced both diesel engines, the generator, and the outboard engine on our dinghy. We replaced the feed pump and membranes on our watermaker, serviced our winches and windlass, and compounded and polished all of our gelcoat and stainless steel.
Heading Home
We moved our boat several miles north to Pier 66 Marina in Fort Lauderdale on March first, were we finished up a few final projects and rented a car so that we could travel to Michigan to visit family.
Our time back home with family went by way too fast, and we were so busy enjoying every moment that we forgot to take pictures.
Off to the Bahamas Again!
After returning to Fort Lauderdale, we went to Costco and stocked up on groceries. We sailed down to No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne, where we spent another week waiting for acceptable weather to cross the Gulf Stream.
