Gun Cay, Bahamas
25.35.959N
79.17.838W

Today we moved to a staging anchorage on the east side of Gun Cay which is about a mile east from the edge of the drop off into the Gulf Stream. Only an hour away but an hour closer and a lot easier to leave when we cross the Great Bahama Bank to Chubb Cay. After making sure our anchor set securely, we went snorkeling the rocks around Gun Cay. We saw a good sized manta ray, a good sized turtle hiding under a ledge and a good sized barracuda hanging around our dingy when we swam back. We also saw lots of smaller fish and tons of really tiny aquarium sized fish. No lobster; no sharks.

We had no sooner washed off and put the dingy back in its davits when the wind picked up to 20-25 kts. followed by the occasional shower. The rain we used to swab down the deck. Then we sat back and watched the waves build on the Gulf Stream side of the Cay crash down on the little spit of land that protected us from nature's rath. It was amazing that a skinny little piece of land could provide so much shelter. The wind is howling but we're barely rocking. There are presently 4 other sailboats and 1 trawler along this same side. I'm sure that we're all watching the ketch on the other side battling to get safely behind the island. There's not much any of us can do but watch, wait and pray that he makes it. Taking a dingy around to that side wouldn't be a wise decision.

Since we've already cleared customs, we'll leave tonight about midnight to cross east across the Bank and go on to anchor behind Bird Cay which will give us a better angle into Nassau. From our latest weather download, we think that we'll still have the strong SW winds most of the night but they should help push us along and cut down on the 16 hour trip we estimate it'll take us without them.

By the way, the ketch and his buddy boat, made it. His fun isn't over though. He's already dropped his anchor once and dragged about what looked to be a mile. Now he's making another run.