West Palm Beach to the Bahamas

[LostWhiskey]

What is the typical time for an inexperienced sailor to sail this time of year from west palm beach area to the Grand Bahama Island (small sailboat)?

Once reaching the Bahamas, how easy is it to find a wifi hotspot or a verizon friendly cell tower?

Asking because I have some family that left West Palm at sunrise on the 5th, but they have not checked in with any family or cleared themselves with customs in the Bahamas. They also neglected to leave a float plan with anyone.

[Cheechako]

They should have arrived in a day. How small a boat? Wifi is pretty spotty throughout. Not sure about Verizon, I think they cant just use their normal phone plan though...? Sunrrise may have left them trying to land in the dark, especially with a real small boat and against the gulf stream.
They should have checked in with Customs by now, however it's not uncommon at all for sailors to go "off the radar " as far as contacting family. They get busy with stuff, they may have to find a place, or get to a place for acquiring a Bahamas Cell phone plan etc.
Maybe someone can chime in here regarding cell phones in Grand Bahama

[LostWhiskey]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

They should have arrived in a day. How small a boat? Wifi is pretty spotty throughout. Not sure about Verizon, I think they cant just use their normal phone plan though...? Sunrrise may have left them trying to land in the dark, especially with a real small boat and against the gulf stream.
They should have checked in with Customs by now, however it's not uncommon at all for sailors to go "off the radar " as far as contacting family. They get busy with stuff, they may have to find a place, or get to a place for acquiring a Bahamas Cell phone plan etc.
Maybe someone can chime in here regarding cell phones in Grand Bahama

Thanks Cheechako, I'd put the boat somewhere in the 30'-40' range, but I'm not really sure.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, LostWhiskey.

Hope you hear from them soon. Please keep us updated.

[CarlF]

Did you have a specific agreement with them that they would contact you as soon as they arrived? If not, I wouldn't worry. Even if you did, I still wouldn't worry.

a) I expect they have checked in despite what you were told on the phone. The check in process for a boat in the Bahamas consists of filling out paper forms. I expect the forms eventually gets hand typed into a computer but probably not right away and I bet not on a weekend.

b) Iphones on Verizon work fine in the Bahamas (and many others). Towers are on every major island. Service is often good enough to stream live baseball games. But you save a lot of money if you buy a Sim from BTC instead of using Verizon (although their new $10/day plan is really good). Getting a Sim means taking the dinghy in and walking to a BTC office which are often not open on weekends (and on some islands open only a few days a week). It's easy to say "let's get the SIM tomorrow". Wifi is harder to find than cell service and often requires a special dinghy trip too.

c) When cruising in the Bahamas, staying "connected" doesn't seem very important. Replying to emails is part of another world. Hell, it's hard to remember what day it is. Important emails take me about a week to respond to. Less important usually wait until I get home. Do they use Facebook? That's how friends follow me when I'm cruising because they're used to the radio silence.

[akprb]

Keep us informed. Should have been there within a day. Might try calling the marina at West End rather than customs. 1-242-350-6500. Cel service throughout the Bahamas is pretty good these days. You can also ring BASRA and ask if there have been any reportings. (242) 325-8864, if you do use them consider donating :-)

Odds are they are fine :-)

[AJ_n_Audrey]

If they planned to go to the Abacos, they might have sailed past West End via Memory Rock, and then anchored at Great Sale Cay, and then went on next day to Green Turtle Cay or one of the other out islands. Even so, they should be at their destination by now, unless they were anchoring at one of the uninhabited or lightly inhabited islands like Strangers Cay.

What time of day (or night) did they plan to leave?

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Oops - just saw you said they left at sunrise. In that case I agree that calling West End Marina is your best bet, because they would have stopped there versus entering the Bahamas Bank at night - Old Bahama Bay Resort & Marina.

[Jim Allan]

Go on line, contact abaco cruisers net, tell them of your concern, they will put out a search asking the boat owners of your worry. They broadcast thro out the Abacos every morning.

[Capt. Tom]

Your friends should have checked in at Old Bahama Bay in West End. If you still have not heard from them the Abaco cruiser's net is the next best method. Old Bahama Bay has computers in the lobby that you can use to email concerned people upon your arrival. Green Turtle Club also has available computers.
Hope you hear soon, a lot can happen this time of year. Mostly weather problems.
What is the boat's name, I will be going over to Treasure to bring a boat back in the near future
Capt. Tom
S/V Chardonnay

[skipper53]

We did,the run from West Palm to Freeport in pretty strong winds. Took about 15 hous on a heading of 120 degrees

[LostWhiskey]

Thanks everyone for the info. They finally checked in with a nice new tan and solidly on Bahamas time.

[wesevans]

depends on where they they decided to go. West End is a day sail if you leave early. If they are trying to be purist and the wind is light hard to say.
If they decided to go to the Abacos 3 days would not be not be unusual.