We have been in an extended loop of mundane and boring, but all that is about to change!

For some time now we have been docked in Hollywood, Florida taking care of business. Doing some work on other Amel boats and getting Harmonie all up to snuff and cruising trim.

After taking on fuel, we will be pushing off here tomorrow evening, and head for the Bahamas. The plan is to run for about 36 hours straight out to Spanish Wells, clear customs there, and use that as our base for a couple weeks of exploring.

The Bahamas have what seems like a pretty straightforward way of dealing with COVID issues. They have a “Health Visa” which you apply for before you leave. You either show evidence of a negative test, or paperwork confirming that you were vaccinated. Ours were approved within an hour of being submitted online. We now have five days to get to our check in location. Being vaccinated also allows us to travel between islands without additional paperwork or testing. Assuming the physical check-in process goes as smoothly, they have things well sorted out. We were actually very impressed with the quality and ease of use of the online visa system.

Once we check in at Spanish Wells, we’ll be moving on to some of the smaller, uninhabited islands to explore for as long as we can. We need to be north of 30.5° latitude (about the Florida/Georgia border) by July 1 for our insurance. We are looking forward to being out away from the crowds again with blue water, and fish and birds as our neighbors.