Before we got a hole in the boat, our plans were to sail from Miami to Florida Keys and from there to Cuba, where we planned to be February 1st the latest. From Cuba we would sail to Turks and Caicos south of the Bahamas and then cruise through the Bahamian islands for a couple of months before sailing north to Boston in early May.

During the summer, we would sail from Maine, around Halifax, through The Great Lakes past Montreal and Toronto, and then end up in Duluth in Lake Superior in the end of September. From Duluth we would have the boat trucked across America to Seattle, so it would be ready for new adventures in the

Pacific in the Spring 2016. During the last couple of months, however, we've constantly changed our plans, as the repair work on the boat has been prolonged. Instead of the expected 4-5 months, we now only have two months left to cruise from Cuba to Bahamas. Alternatively, we can skip everything south of Bahamas, but since we don’t want to miss neither Cuba nor Turks and Caicos, we've decided to postpone our plans until next season, and instead become landlubbers in Denmark during the summer. (Henrik is already looking at boats for our next adventure in the European waterways, though, but I'm rooting for a couple of months with land-life amenities!)

When we had made the decision to postpone our trip and go back to Denmark, we considered putting the boat on the hard right away, but we were pushed a bit for time, as our visas expired only a week after we were launched. To buy ourselves more time to find the safest place to keep the boat in the hurricane season, we decided to sail to Bahamas first, and after a look at a Danish weather forecast, it didn't take us long to agree that there was of course no reason to be rushing back!

To sail to Bahamas from Florida, you need to cross the Gulf stream, and the shortest route is to Bimini, which is approximately 60 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale. The Gulf stream runs north with 2-3 knots, which is why you shouldn't do the crossing in northerly winds, with wind against tide effects, and you should also be aware of your course, because the stream quickly pushes you north.

We've read several American articles about the dangers of crossing the Gulf stream, but we had a quiet sail, though it was very slow. And now we’re here in Bimini in Bahamas in warm and sunny weather and with palm trees

and turquoise, gin clear waters in sight! We must admit that we’re happy that we didn't return to Denmark right away, and every day we still tell each other how great it is to have the boat back in the water. If it wasn't for the Bahamian mosquito's and no-see-ums, who apparently are indifferent to repellents and citronella candles and meanwhile seem most satisfied with Danish blood, life couldn't be much better!

Signe Storr: Freelance journalist and friend of Boatshed