Atlantic Ocean
20.29.529N
71.05.257W

After listening to the weather report this morning, we knew that we could either go the Great Sand Cay and anchor for an hour or two before departing for Luperon, or we could anchor overnight and sail the next afternoon. What we decided to do, as you can see from our location, is just to leave Ambergrist later in the morning and motor sail up to Great Sand Cay but instead of pulling in, we'll just keep on going to Luperon making it a full overnight passage. We anticipate 10-15 kts of wind from the ENE which should be perfect sailing weather.

The champagne we were chilling for New Years Eve was pulled out of the refrigerator and wrapped back up in the bubble wrap for safe keeping. We'll drink it after we reach Luperon. Next year will dawn with us in a new harbor, in a new country and definitely a major step south.

Ambergris Cay, TCI
21.19.283N
71.38.944W

The transit across the TCI Bank was awesome. There was absolutely no wind today so the Bank was like a pool. The water was crystal clear whether at 10 feet or at 20. I was completely hypnotized by the play of light and water on the sand. Dale seemed to zip from one little project to another. (There's always something to fix or maintain but I began to wonder what would happen if there wasn't.)

We had departed Provo at 6:45 am and dropped anchor at Ambergrist Cay by 3:00 pm. In between times, we motored amongst millions of sea biscuits, more than a few coral heads, hundreds of star fish and flamingos flying in formation. The average water depth through the majority of our trip was 13'. Dale and I were forced to come to an agreement between what would be considered prudent and what was being overly cautious. We finally agreed that anything less than 10 feet we would slow down and observe, otherwise, it was to be expected and throttling back was unnecessary. Since we were motoring at 6 kts, there were times when I was sitting poised to throttle back in an instant.

Once we reached Ambergrist, the clarity of the water was so inviting that Elaine and I both wanted to jump in as soon as the anchors were down, except for the fact that we had all seen several sharks on the way into our anchorage. All of us agreed that they were nurse sharks (supposedly non-threatening) but we were also not willing to 'swim with the sharks'. We ended up snorkeling a few small reefs and saw lots of fish but in all honesty, it seemed to be more clear from the decks of our boats than it was underwater, probably because it was getting later in the day. Dale says that I've been spoiled. Unless I have unlimited visibility, I'm not happy. He's probably right. I think that when you see the true colors and beauty surrounding you, it makes the dive/snorkel more interesting.

Since we had to dodge and weave the coral heads coming into this anchorage, we'll leave tomorrow for Great Sand Cay after 10 am to keep the sun high where we can dodge and weave our way back out again. From there we'll be heading on to Luperon.

Provo,
Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI)
21.44.585N
72.17.411S

Oh my aching feet! or looking for WiFi, Part II. We wanted an early start into town so we hailed Mr. Small on our VHF for a lift. We called, Doc-No-More called, he never did answer. So we were forced to do as we did yesterday, we dinghed in to the beach, walked a short distance to the road and threw out those thumbs. It didn't take long before we had a ride, which was good because today Dale was carrying our computer in a backpack (its really heavy). The young man who picked us up was Haitian and really didn't speak very much English. I don't think he had any idea what we were asking but he dropped us off at the grocery store we had found yesterday. This was OK because today we were armed with a map (found in one of the magazines we'd acquired from the car rental place) and off we launched looking for Suzi's Turn, the area of town where the WiFi was supposed to be.

Did I mention that island time includes taking off inordinate amounts of time for holidays? We soon discovered that a majority of small businesses close between Christmas and New Years. Including the little shop that had WiFi clearly advertised all over its windows. Poor Elaine wasn't sure who to feel sorry for, Dale for carrying the computer all that way or me, who she thought might go into withdrawal symptoms if we didn't connect today. We did run into a lady outside of the little shop who suggested that we walk further down the road to a supermarket that she thought had just started advertising wireless. So we did. Walk that is. Just before we got to the supermarket (about a mile and a half away), a nice couple from Denver who have a vacation home here, pulled over and offered all of us a ride. As it turned out, the supermarket was advertising for wireless telephones, not wireless internet connection.

Roger & Elaine wanted to continue on to Grace Bay, an exclusive resort area (which also was supposed to carry WiFi). What the heck, we thought, we'd go on with them and see the island. The couple from Denver lived in the area and said that they would take us the rest of the way.

Now we find ourselves at the complete opposite end of the island. We were dropped off at a cluster of small stores where they thought an internet cafe' was located. We found it. Unfortunately, the young lady behind the counter could only input the code into the machine, if it didn't work, she didn't know how to fix it. Of course, it didn't work. I noticed that it didn't work for any of the people who brought in their own laptops. (I miss Cherie and the IT crew, who I am convinced could fix anything computer related.)

By this time, Roger & Elaine had taken off to do their own sightseeing (I can't imagine why they didn't want to continue on with the search for internet connection) and we headed down to the resort clubhouse to see if they might have a hotspot. We were half way there when we spotted the clubhouse. Clearly very exclusive and not inclined to let boat trash (Dale's description, not mine) onto the premises. (We were even wearing our polo shirts. I couldn't believe he'd call us that.) So, we did an about face, headed back to the main highway and out came those thumbs again.

The gentleman (a TCI native) who picked us up asked the normal questions, where were we from, where were we going, how did we like the island so far, then he asked why we had traveled so far from our boat. We told him our plight. He picked up his phone and called his wife who owned a store, explained the situation and asked if she were using her computer. I guess she suggested that we try one more place (that we hadn't tried) on the way to hers and if they weren't open, to come on ahead. As it turned out, the place she suggested was closed but the people inside doing inventory let us in and we were granted access to the internet for as far as we could go without a code. As you can see, I was able to upload our blogs while Dale was able to access our e-mail; we'll have to wait to pay bills later.

After a successful day at the internet, we were once again out on the main highway trying to get back to our side of the island. So . . . those thumbs were stuck in the air again. This time we were picked up by a man from Sarasota who lives on the island part time. (He had accidentally discovered how nice this island was when his private plane needed to be refueled on its way to somewhere else.) He asked the same questions as everyone else except that he kept saying that he couldn't believe that we had traveled across the island in search of WiFi. Then we found out that he was in the internet business. (I wouldn't be surprised to find WiFi in all of the marinas the next time we're here. He seemed to be the entrepreneurial type.) He was gracious enough to give us a ride all the way back to our side of the island and even drove us up to the customs office so that we could check out. (Dale thinks that he felt sorry for a couple of old farts and couldn't believe we were walking everywhere.)

What can I tell you? It took us all day to connect to the internet but we saw the entire island from one end to the other. We witnessed the fact that if you have the money, this island is on the verge of a boom. Condos are going up on the north side of the island, while individual homes on deep water are being built on the south side. This is South Florida in the making. We got a lot more exercise than we would have any other way. We met some fantastic people and we accomplished our mission.

Tomorrow, we'll head across the TCI Bank for Ambergris Cay. It's extremely shallow and quite a few boats have run aground. We'll start out at day break and keep a vigilant eye towards the shallows. Hopefully, it won't be very dramatic.

Providenciales (Provo)
Turks & Caicos
21.44.585N
72.17.411S

A great sail. We hoisted anchor about 12:30am and rounded the reef of Mayaguana towards Providenciales, Provo for short. Once past the tip of the island we turned off the engine and sailed the rest of the way to the Turks & Caicos (TCI) doing between 5 and 7 kts with 10-18 kts of wind off our port beam all of the way. What a savings in diesel. We've been very lucky when it comes to sailing; the general rule is that wherever you're headed, the wind is on your nose (which means that you're motoring.)

It took a little over an hour to enter onto the TCI banks and into Sapodilla Bay to anchor in 7-8' of water. Dale and Roger took the dink around to the freighter channel and checked us in to customs. The guidebooks indicated that only the captains of the boats should step foot on the island prior to the customs paperwork being completed, so Elaine and I waited back on the boats, dutifully (yea, right). Dale said that Elaine was doing the 'puppy dance' ('when can we go, when can we go') on her boat. At the other extreme, I took advantage of my time alone and had a nice, hot, leisurely, private bath and washed my hair. Maybe it's something about being female but for some reason, taking a bath or shower just makes you feel good. You have a tendency to step out and say "God, I feel human again." Particularly after a night sail where you're on 3 hour watches. Night and day and time seem to meld together. I'm never sure when to brush my teeth.

After lunch we took the dinghies and our bags of trash in with us as we set out to explore the island of Provo. We immediately found that the trash bin described as being at one end of the beach for cruisers, was no where to be found. Now what? Dale tucked ours back in the dink; Roger slung his over his should like Santa and we started off down the road towards town.

Before long, we knew that the 4 mile trip to town was not going to be as easy as we first thought. The cars drive on the left side (sort of); actually they're dodging pots holes, so they're all over the place. We just didn't want to get hit while they were dodging. The guidebooks said to hitchhike into town; that the people are friendly and would gladly pick you up. I have a problem with this. It's not that I have an aversion to sitting in the back of a pick up; heck, I lived on a farm, my father and mother threw the 5 of us kids in the back and off to town we'd go. It's just that I've taught my children not to hitchhike because you never know when the next Ted Bundy is around the corner. Roger & Elaine are more the world travelers and stuck out those thumbs as soon as they decided enough was enough! The first truck that stopped wasn't going all the way into town but when we asked about trash disposal, he said to just throw it in the back of his truck and he'd take it. Great! One hurtle crossed. Roger was happier now. The next truck that pulled over for us was going into town so we all piled into the back. It did remind me of when I was a kid. Dad & Mom weren't there, so I sat on the wheel well. I figured if I was going to start breaking the rules, I'd break that one too.

Provo is really spread out. Town is one long highway the length of the island. We were deposited in front of a bank, which again made Roger happy since he had to make an ATM withdrawal anyway and this time, it actually worked. We next headed for the airport on foot. We figured that we could rent a car to take us to all of the other places we needed to go without having to tote, our laundry, the computer, groceries and whatever else we might want to do back and forth the 4 miles into Town. We found a Budget Rental but unfortunately, it's still the holidays and every car on the island is rented out until Sunday. They were very friendly and let us take some island magazines which did list all of the establishments and where they were located. We sat down at a nearby restaurant and re-evaluated our needs. OK, I can do laundry by hand, Elaine could pick up a few items at the grocery store and carry them in her back pack but I had to have a WiFi connection! We were in luck, there were several internet companies and one that listed WiFi as being available.

In returning to the boat, we were lucky in finding a taxi driver on his way home who offered us a ride with the promise that we wouldn't tell anyone what we paid. We promised. Tomorrow, we'll call him again, because you all know I have to have a WiFi fix and Small's Taxi has guaranteed customers each time we have to go somewhere.

Mayaguana, Bahamas
22.17.036N
72.47.146S

Another day on the boat, waiting. This morning was still overcast when Calaloo hoisted anchor and pulled out for Luperon. We radioed our bon voyage to them and watched as they circled around the anchorage and headed out of sight.

Dale and I spent the day cleaning the interior of the boat and studying the charts. Elaine radioed us about midmorning that she was tired of talking with just her husband so we went over for a lunch of homemade soup and finalized our plans for moving to a staging area for a midnight departure. The guidebooks advise to be at the entrance channel to the Turks and Caicos by morning so that you can go through the channel with a minimum of engine power against the outgoing water from the banks inside. Apparently the sun heats the water on the banks and they flow out to the ocean during the day at a fairly good rate and then return at night when the banks cool off again.

After lunch we hoisted our anchors and started sailing to the end of the island to the staging anchorage about 1:30pm. Dale let out one of his fishing lines and caught a tuna head (sharks got the rest). I don't think any of us realized just how far the end of the island was (17 miles is really nothing, right?) until we noticed that the sun was getting lower and lower in the sky and we still needed to go about 8 more miles. We turned on our engine and added a little iron wind to our sails to get the 8 kts we ended up with and anchored about 45 minutes before sunset.

We are now anchored (where suggested) in the swell just before the water hits the reef at the end of the island. We never did find the deep sand described in the guidebooks but Dale let out enough chain for the weight alone to hold us in place. Doc-No-More is right beside us. The winds are very calm, so there shouldn't be any problem.

We're off to bed early so that the alarm set for midnight won't be such a shock. Although it won't exactly be an overnight passage, the majority of this passage will be after dark, or should I say before light. This winter sailing is for the birds.

Mayaguana, Bahamas
22.19.576N
73.01.816W

Happy Birthday April. We love you; hope you had a marvelous day.

This morning came like any other. The big storm we were expecting had not occurred during the night. Dale checked with the various weather reports and spoke with Roger who had heard that the storm had passed through Georgetown earlier in the morning. We all stayed on our boats and waited for the inevitable.

About noon we heard the ominous thunder in the distance. About 1:00 the wind shifted as expected and we turned to face a black cloud that lined the entire horizon to the north of us. The black clouds rolled towards us like some giant road paver. I gathered our computer, a hand held VHF radio, a hand held GPS, our charter plotter blue chips and placed them in the oven to hopefully protect against any lightening strikes. Dale and I paced back and forth from the bow to the stern making sure that we had secured everything we could. We battened down the hatches, fastened our cockpit enclosure completely, tightened all of the lines one more time and then waited for it to hit us.

I sat in the back of the cockpit searching the leading edge for signs of a funnel cloud that could drop down and form a water spout. The rolling clouds passed over us and continued on. About 2 pm, it started to sprinkle. Off to the left, we could see Port Nelson, the distant town on Mayaguana, getting a down pour. Off the the right, the ocean was in another down pour. We held our breath.

About 3 pm, it was clear that this was a non-event. The sprinkle was all we ever got. No real rain; no howling wind. Dale looked at me and said that he knew he shouldn't say it, but we've been blessed with good weather on this trip.

We spend the rest of the day reading about the Turks and Caicos. Calaloo wants to totally bypass the country but we and Doc-No-More would like to get off the boat and see the countryside. Calaloo says that as long as the weather holds, they're heading out tomorrow regardless of what we decide.

Mayaguana, Bahamas
22.19.576N
73.01.816W

Christmas Day. Dale let me sleep in since I was up monitoring the wind during the night. It had picked up to 22-23 kts. steadily for awhile but then tapered off again. The front we've been waiting for isn't supposed to come through until tonight or tomorrow morning. We don't think we dragged anchor last night but if we did, it wasn't by very much.

We started our day by calling our children. It was wonderful to hear their voices and learn that Michelle (daughter) and James (son) were spending it together with Stephanie and her family (James' girlfriend). Kyle (son), a fireman, was still at work but we were able to speak with Veronica (who's expecting our 3rd grandbaby) and Valerie (our 1st grandchild). Valerie was very excited about getting her ears pierced. Alayna (our 2nd grandchild) was still asleep. Veronica said that the pregnancy was going well but that she was tired from chasing after the other two. We weren't able to find April (daughter), a graduate student, so we'll send her an e-mail as well as my parents (who just moved to Texas). Robbie, Dale's sister, didn't pick up the phone so we figure that she and her family are in Oregon for Christmas. We also spoke with our friends, Fred & Geri and Gerry & Nicky. Now that we've used our allotment of satellite minutes for the next 5 months, I feel better.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. I started re-reading the guide to the Turks and Caicos, the next country we're visiting. It's a small country that most cruisers just check in, pass across their banks, then check out as they continue on their way to Luperon in the Dominican Republic. I'd like to spend a couple of days there visiting their land and sea parks. Elaine (from Doc-No-More) agreed with me (or perhaps she was looking for me to validate her argument to Roger) that it would be nice to spend some time there as well. Rick & Connie (from Calaloo) however, would like to bypass the country totally by making another overnight trip around the island nation, anchoring on the banks, then continuing on to Luperon. Regardless of what the final decision is, no one is moving until Tuesday, after the front moves through and the wind and waves quiet down.

In the meantime, Doc-No-More's has been having a problem with vibration loosening a screw that holds a brush in place on their generator. Dale's soldered a broken wire for them a couple of times and came up with an idea to perhaps alleviate some of the problem, so we visited with them for awhile this afternoon. Unfortunately, neither Dale nor Roger had a longer bolt to use with a locking nut to keep things in place. So he'll just have to keep patching it back together for them until we can get to a place where they can find what they need. Dale said that he didn't know who was happier when he fixed it this last time, Roger or Elaine.

Tonight, with some lightening on the horizon, we've let out an extra length of anchor chain to help hold us in place. We've done all that we can to secure ourselves and don't anticipate any problems but when you're completely surrounded by reef as your only protection, it's hard not to be a little apprehensive when a big blow is coming your way.

Mayaguana, Bahamas
22.19.576N
73.01.816W

We are literally sitting in the middle of nowhere tonight. If you were to approach this island from east, west or south, you'd see three little sailboats, apparently anchored way out in the ocean. What you can't see is that we are surrounded by a reef that breaks the waves and forms an unseen protected anchorage. So here we sit waiting for the weather to either form into a front or dissipate and go away. Definitely a Christmas Eve unlike any we've ever had before.

Last night's transit was generally uneventful, it was black as pitch with no moon and partly cloudy. So, we had the Christmas game of 'do you see what I see'. The women on each of the boats were on watch at the same time, which made the game even more interesting. I started the game when I saw a search light and radioed Doc-No-More (ahead of me) to see if they could see where it was coming from, at first, Elaine couldn't see it. Then Connie thought perhaps I was seeing her foredeck light. I relayed that what I was seeing was ahead of me (she was behind me). Then Elaine radioed back, yes she could see a light but couldn't identify it. Connie thought perhaps it was the moon. I told her that I would feel pretty silly if what I saw was the moon (the light was coming from the south.) Then we all saw it pan across the ocean; clearly a search light but where was it coming from? About 30 minutes later, Doc-No-More radioed that they had just played a game of dodge boat with a tug towing a barge and that I was next in line and oh, by the way, there's another big boat approaching from the west I might want to keep an eye out for.

Since I was about an hour behind them I had plenty of time to get ready to panic. Actually, I started off fine. Since the tug and barge were crossing my path, I could see that I was going to miss the tug but I would have to alter course to miss the towed barge. There were red and white lights all over the place indicating that something was being towed, the direction they were going and the end of the procession. (Fred, you remember how well I do with red lights.) (For everyone else: unless the red light steers a course across mine, I can't tell what it's doing. It could be 5 yards from me or 5 miles; it can be coming towards me or traveling away, I can't tell). Thank heavens the other big boat I had been warned about, was showing a green light; at least I could see that one. It was already passing me and Connie would have to tango with it. My concern were those red lights.

I turned on the engine and altered course to pass behind the barge, I thought. By changing course I was suddenly doing over 7 kts.; I pulled back on the throttle to idle, I was still doing over 6.5 kts. By this time, Dale was awake and clambering up the stairs to see what was going on. Wow, red lights everywhere; what's going on? I told him what I had seen and what I had done. That's when it happened. Suddenly what I thought was the red light showing the end of the towed barge, started to get closer and closer. I radioed Elaine, did you say that the barge was being towed or being pushed? Roger came back (everyone was up now): being towed they radioed back. Dale was totally confused. If it was crossing right to left and I had passed to the right behind the barge, what was I seeing that made me think that it was now bearing down on us. "That red light! The one getting closer to us. The one right dead center of our boat!" So now he gets that "tone" in his voice. "You watched it. You made the right move to go behind it. Why are you second guessing yourself". Well . . . , obviously . . . , cuz it's a red light!

Right about then the radio crackles; its Rick and Connie: "Did you guys see that big boat? We had to change course to get out of its way.

On my next watch, another big boat approaches with both red and green showing (collision course). I watch it for a while. Then the radio hails: "Sailboat directly in front of me, do you want to pass red to red or green to green." You know what I suggested: "green to green, please".

As I started out, 3 little sailboats are sitting alone here in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearby town. We're all tired from a long night. We're keeping to ourselves. We wish each other good tidings over the radio. It's Christmas Eve and I have a huge lump in my throat. I miss my kids. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss the parties and the music and church choirs singing at the top of their voices. Dale tries to comfort me by reading the Christmas story from the Bible. It does help. There's a very high price to pay to live in paradise. We're paying it right now.

Atlantic Ocean
23.20.472N
74.21.422W

Another first! After much consideration, we decided to make a break for Mayaguana. We figured that we could either motorsail before the front in calm seas or motorsail after the front in confused seas. Obviously, we elected the former and it has been a wonderful experience.

First, we're sailing!! Once we cleared the island of Rum Cay, the winds picked up, we turned off the engine, put up those white flappy things and kept moving. In the direction we intended no less; the entire way thus far; with no tacking (zig-zagging back and forth). Of course, the catamaran took off and left Calaloo and us in the proverbial dust. Although Calaloo has a shorter water line than we, it is a ketch rig (more sails) so we are fairly well matched for speed. Secondly, we're sailing at 5-7 kts; we're actually getting someplace (in sailboat terms).

The first for us is the actual sailing where we want to go on an overnight transit in the Atlantic Ocean. Wow! Sleeping should be a whole lot easier without an engine droning loudly in your bedroom.

We hoisted anchor at noon and anticipate anchors down sometime between 10am - 2pm tomorrow in Mayaguana. At the rate we're going, it'll be closer to 10am than 2. Needless to say, our day has consisted of reading for me and fishing for Dale. He had a hit early in the day that bent his hook but since then, the only thing he caught was his other line. What a mess. He took him about an hour and a half to detangle the knot. I thought about the fact that prior to this trip, he probably would have just cut the tangle out, salvaged the lures and retied them to more line. But with all the time in the world, he sat and straightened out the jumbled web. Interesting, don't you think?

Rum Cay, Bahamas
23.38.425N
74.50.553W

We left Conception Island at 9:15 am and motorsailed to Rum Cay anchoring about 1:30pm. Although there were rain clouds all around us, we never were rained on. The winds were between 4 - 8 kts, enough to hold the jib open but not enough to sail with.

We met up with Rick & Connie off Calaloo who left the same time as we did from Georgetown but went to Long Island instead of Conception Island as a transit point. Doc-No-More came in a couple of hours later. When we went into town to explore, Doc-No-More came by to pick us up in their dinghy and we headed to the government dock to off load. At first we were going to take the dinghy up onto the beach, but some kids on the dock encouraged Roger to tie to the dock near some steps. Roger wasn't happy with the way the dinghy was riding and was trying to throw out a stern anchor to adjust the position while Elaine and I took off looking for a restaurant to have dinner. I guess while we weren't looking, the guys decided to revert back to the original plan and anchored on the beach.

In approaching this harbor, the charts had warned not to anchor in the mail boat channel. Unfortunately, just where that channel was located was anybody's guess, so we all watched when the mail boat arrived. It took the same zig-zag route we had entered on and passed behind all of our boats then tied up to the dock exactly where those kids had suggested we leave the dinghy. They must have bust a gut thinking that they were going to see a snow bird's dinghy get smooshed by that mail boat. Kids are kids no matter where you go.

Later on, when the six of us (Roger & Elaine, Rick & Connie, and Dale and I) went for dinner at the Ocean View, Dale hung out several extra lights, besides the anchor light and all of our little solar lights, just to make sure we were well lit should the mail boat decide to leave after dark.

The big conversation at dinner was the weather. A front is due to pass through Saturday or Sunday. So the dilemma is, do we want to spend the next 4 or 5 days here or try to make the 20 hour passage to Mayaguana before the front passes through. The only thing of interest in the town that we've found so far were some stone carvings. There is a very talented stone mason here that is taking the local limestone and carving sculptures with it and placing them throughout the marina area, the area around his mother's home and some of the streets between the two. We didn't meet him, but we did meet his mother. Another item of interest here was an area of spear fishing but with unsettled weather approaching, Dale said that he probably wouldn't be doing any spear fishing anyway.

Mayaguana is another uncertainty. It does offer some protection but nothing better, or worse, than here. It's an overnight trip there if we don't stop in Samana. We'd all like to sail this leg. The predicted winds are between 15-20 kts with an unknown factor in the possible squalls of the front. Calaloo is taking off tomorrow come hell or high water. Doc-No-More is more inclined to wait until Monday or Tuesday after the front passes through. Dale and I are leaning towards taking off tomorrow as well, just not at the crack of dawn since we don't want have to stand off for long periods of time waiting for good sun to enter into the harbor.

So tonight, we go to bed not knowing just exactly what we're going to do. We'll get up tomorrow and listen to the various weather forecasts and go from there. I guess this is where the adventure really does become the adventure.

Conception Island, Bahamas
23.50.913N
75.07.214W

Please jot this date down. It's the date I ran out of coconut rum. The Virgin Islands are still quite a fair distance away for restocking. Oh my Rhett, what will I do? I guess I'll just have to use regular rum in my sundowner instead.

Well, before this conundrum developed, we started our day by heading north to snorkel some more reefs. Dale figured out that the wreck he had originally wanted to find is a couple of miles away and we needed to keep an eye on how much gas we use in the dinghy. So instead, we took off North and jumped in where it looked like 10 - 15' deep. It wasn't, it's just that the water was so clear. In actuality, it was probably closer to 25 -30' deep. It was pretty cool but wasn't as spectacular as Leaf Cay was. Of course, I attracted another barracuda. It was fine as long as it was circling us and keeping its distance but when it made a pass directly towards me, Dale came up with his spear and shooed it away. I think that they're attracted to my (actually Michelle's) pink flippers but Dale says not. I might try a different pair tomorrow to see if it has any effect.

We came back and joined Doc-No-More in exploring the mangrove interior of the island. What a wonderful nature excursion. We saw herons, egrets, osprey, wood storks and something that looked like a cross between a duck and a heron (I didn't bring a bird book with me). We saw lots and lots of turtles. It was surprising just how fast those turtles can swim and change direction. Pretty dang quick. We followed the deep water in for as far as we could and in 2.5' of water, we saw 2 sharks. We never got close enough to identify what kind of shark they were but it was certainly surprising to find them so far in and in such shallow water. We also found hundreds and hundreds of upside down jelly fish in the sand. I never even knew of such a thing until we came back and identified them in our books. Another interesting phenomenon that occurred in the shallow water was that each ripple produced a prism in the water. Fascinating.

Well we're off to Rum Cay tomorrow. It's only about 20 miles from here so we'll leave mid morning and still get in while the sun is still high in the sky.

Conception Island, Bahamas
23.50.913N
75.07.214W

Our transit to Conception Island was uneventful. We took off at 7:00 am. Doc-No-More, a catamaran, pretty much took off over everything but the rest of us had to dodge a few coral heads on the way out. It was somewhat eyesight navigation; we'd just get out of sight of land behind us and see the top of the next island we'd have to pass appearing in front of us. The seas were flat; sort of. We had swells from the Atlantic. I'd liken it to driving in the midwest where you're on a long straight road that you can see for miles ahead but it is also made up of a series of little hills. The transit was like that. Pretty much flat except for the fact that every once in a while you realized that you were above everything else and at other times the seas seemed to be above you. Not by much. In fact, the intervals were spaced so far apart that I had to watch it for a while to see the undulating.

We had some wind early in the day to help us motor but once we realized that we were going to make the island in good light we tried to sail the rest of the way only to find that we could only do about 2.8 kts. with just the sails. Just enough to drive Dale crazy. So the engine came back on for the rest of the trip. We anchored in 15' of crystal clear water about 2 pm.

Conception Island is bigger than I had anticipated. It's an uninhabited island that is in the park system here. There are no protected coves or harbors here, so you just tuck into the island itself on the side that offers you the best protection. We might be protected from the wind but the swell coming around the island gets you. The catamaran seems to be riding better than the rest of us who are rolling pretty good. We tried something called a swell bridle. That's where you tie the stern of your boat to the anchor and then pull the line in to bring the bow into the swell. Unfortunately, you need the wind to keep you square on the anchor. We have none. The wind indicator is literally doing 360's. So we're rolling. The only time it really bothers me is when I try going to the bathroom. Try pulling a wet bathing suit down while standing on a board balanced on a ball to get the idea.

After giving up on the swell bridle idea. We took off for the nearest reef to do some snorkeling to look for dinner. Dale immediately found a Nassau grouper he wanted to shoot. I reminded him that they are "on their honeymoon," which means they are protected from 12/15 to 2/14. I found a fish that looked like a red snapper to me but since neither one of us was positive about it, we decided to leave it until we were sure it was edible (after hitting the books, we think it was some type of grouper as well - where's Bob or Jim when we need them?) We never did find any lobster (which is what we were looking for) but a rather large barracuda found me. You'd be so proud of me, Dale had wandered off (great buddy system) so I "went vertical" (I guess that's "fish" for 'I am human, leave me alone') and then slowly made a large circle away from it. It lost interest in me just I was losing interest in swimming. It was starting to get late anyway. Besides, I have to save my energy for tomorrow to look for a wreck Dale read about in one of the guide books.

As I mentioned earlier, this is an uninhabited island. The nearest islands to us are almost as remote. So you know that the stars look absolutely spectacular! Tonight, I can hear the surf crashing on the beach, as the boat gently rocks from gunnel to gunnel, looking up that those stars, my little Christmas tree glowing in the cockpit and Christmas carols playing softly in the background. What a wonderful experience.

Fowl Cay, Bahamas
23.29.665N
75.42.431W

Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you had a good one.

As you can see, we've moved. Poised to set off on our new adventure. The weather is holding, so we're making our exit from Georgetown. There are 5 boats all anchored around an island that can barely hold 3. We started our day by leaving Red Shanks on a rising tide and high sun so that we could avoid the coral heads. Its rather disconcerting that our chartplotter is very accurate as far as depths and hazards that are out there but our positioning on that chartplotter is off. It seems the farther we get from our home waters the more of a discrepancy we see. I suggested that we recalibrate it to where we are now but Dale doesn't want to do it since we'd have to recalibrate it every couple of days the farther south we go. He said that we need to look at where we're going and stop relying on the chartplotter. I think we should use all of our charts, particularly the one right in front of me. We are using about 4 for this area. Two charts, 2 guide books with little chart-lettes in them; comparing what each has to say.


In preparation for our exit, we traveled back to Georgetown to fill up our diesel jerry cans, water cans, and some more fresh fruit and veggies. As it takes 2 days to get propane (you drop off your canister one day and pick it up the next,) we missed the boat on that item. We still have 2 that we haven't touched, so it's not really a problem.

We'll be traveling with Doc-No-More as both of us would like to visit Conception Island and Rum Cay before heading further south. Some of the other boats are making a bee line to Luperon and not inclined to do much sightseeing or diving.

I finally dug out my Christmas tree and we have carols on the stereo. I debated whether I wanted to do that or not. I figure that if you treat the holidays like any other day, maybe you won't dwell on the fact that you're away from those that you love. I really miss the kids and the holidays are particularly hard. I think Dale saw what I was doing and deliberately put the Christmas carols on just to kick me into the spirit. He says that for some reason or other, he thinks Conception Island is a good place to celebrate Christmas.

We'll leave at the crack of dawn to make sure we have plenty of light going into a harbor about 10 hours away. It doesn't look like a particularly difficult transit, although it does appear at this point that we'll have to motor most of the way. So it's off to bed early tonight so that we'll "don't worry" and "be happy;" especially at 6:30 am.

Red Shanks, Bahamas
23.28.894N
75.44.111W

A funny thing about boats: Part 2. Have you ever noticed that if something is broken, you can't live until its fixed? It's not that you have ever used the dang thing on a regular basis, its just that now that you know that its broken, it has to be fixed right now or it grinds on you until it is fixed. Well, that's what happened to Dale. He woke up during the night thinking about the generator and finally decided to bypass the starting switch so that he could start the generator when he wanted to use it. He said that he got the idea from something I had done. Really! Since I have a hard enough time trying to figure out an electric diagram with the components in front of me, this boggled my mind too. Then the truth emerged. I had wanted some rubber buttons for the start/stop stitches for the engine as the red ones disintegrate in the sun's UV rays, so when I saw the switches on sale (I couldn't buy just the little rubber buttons) I picked up several. He took one of those switches and made a bypass. Of course, he had to tear the inside of the boat apart again but once he had decided what to do, it was just a matter of doing it. Boom! It was done. While the boat was apart, he replaced a float switch on a sump pump we never use and turned the knot meter around (it hasn't been working either but we have another within the chartplotter, so it wasn't missed). A very productive day.

Our meeting with all of the boats heading to Luperon and points south that I had mentioned in an earlier posting, was rescheduled to today; it wasn't bad at all. The guy who had just come back had already departed the scene and the guy organizing the meeting didn't dominate the discussion as I thought he might. (I might have to give him another chance.) There was another couple there that had done the trip before (although its been several years) who said that there wasn't anything to it. Follow Van Sants' guide and you'll be good to go.

We met another couple there who asked if we were the boat hailing Rainbow Rider and if it was owned by Linda and . . . "Yes" I was eager to tell them, Linda & Gary, it's the same. "Do you know them?" Sure enough, they are onboard another catamaran named CopyKat and had met Gary and Linda in the Chesapeake area about 6 months ago. Although they plan on heading south as well, they don't plan on leaving until around March. They were great people. I told Dale that this cruising thing is turning out to be a lot like the Navy; after you're in it for a while, you start to get to know people who know the same people you know and it turns into a small community. Anyway, now that we've met them, they are looking out for Rainbow Rider and will pass along our message that we're looking for them as well. Particularly if we leave before they get here. Peter has been to the Dominican Republic before and encouraged me not to try to avoid it as it is beautiful. I asked him if there was ever a problem with the language barrier. He replied: No, they speak Spanish very well. He also said that the younger people also speak English and generally, the gist of the conversation is conveyed regardless of the subject.

Right now, we're looking at perhaps taking off this coming week. The weather's been beautiful for a couple of days and the fronts are dissipating by the time they reach us. It will be hard to leave this peaceful and beautiful anchorage. Tonight we have been serenaded with accordion/constantia from one of the German boats that pulled in yesterday. Where else would we be able to sit and watch the sunset and enjoy our dinner listening to song after song after song being played by a German accordionist who not once played a polka or a Christmas tune?

Red Shanks, Bahamas
23.28.894N
75.44.111W

A funny thing about boats, a little thing often becomes a lot more than you bargained for. Yesterday I mentioned that Dale was going to secure the controller that sits on top of the generator which had suddenly become wobbly. Well, today he found out that the reason it was wobbly was because the 4 little shock absorbers that held it in place were completely broken. He patched them back together until he can order some more and put everything back together but . . . now the generator won't start. He ended up taking the controller apart thinking that perhaps some wire had been dislodged when he was working on the shock absorbers and checked to make sure that all of the connections were tight but still no joy. He dug out the maintenance books for the generator and went to work troubling shooting the problem.

I have seen him in this state before, so I made myself scarce by grabbing a book and retreating to the furthest point in the cockpit and stayed away. At one point I saw where he had moved everything from under the galley sink out and had taken the panel off the back side of the generator which is only accessible from under the sink. Needless to say, all of the other panels had already been removed for access to the offending unit but still no joy. He can jump start it, so there nothing actually wrong with the generator itself and both of the starters and solenoid appear to be in working order as well; it just won't start with the start button. After pulling out a fair number of tools and completely tearing apart the inside of the boat, he's made the decision that whatever is wrong, he can't fix without the guidance of a service rep. Of course, today's Saturday and none can be found; call back on Monday.

Did I mention that I had invited Roger and Elaine over for dinner? Later in the afternoon Elaine called to see if I wanted to cancel. Since I had already started marinating my fillets I told her dinner was still on, however I did agree to having it on their boat. Dale managed to get everything picked up and put back before 5:00 but it didn't leave me enough time to clean the way I would have liked to, so we packed up everything we needed and carted it all over to Doc-No-More. We enjoyed the visit and Dale got to talk about other things besides the generator.

Tonight the winds have picked up and the front we've been expecting is due to pass through tonight. So far we're sitting tight without any problems. We were joined by 3 more boats today. Besides Doc-No-More, 2 German boats have anchored near us. One has a yapping dog. You'd think it'd go hoarse as much as it yaps. Roger and Elaine said that they would be heading back to Volleyball Beach tomorrow. I guess they would rather put up with the rocking and rolling rather than the constant barking.

Still no sign of Rainbow Rider. We're beginning to wonder if they ran into trouble and are holed up somewhere making repairs. We'll keep hailing them until we leave.

Red Shanks, Bahamas
23.28.894N
75.44.111W

If the night of rain, rocking and rolling didn't convince us to move, the weather report predicting a front containing 20 kt. winds passing through on Sunday did. We're now in Red Shanks. It isn't too far from Volleyball Beach and the summer camp for old farts aura that the last anchorage seemed to exude. There we could play games, learn to basket weave, attend Bible study, go to the bar, attend a fishing information workshop, or a group chart reading workshop, or . . . so on and so forth. We can dingy back if we want to join in the fun.

This anchorage is as quiet as the last one was bustling. We needed a high tide to get in but once here, it is great. There are a couple of boats here, but each one is tucked up inside its own little cove so you get the impression that you're the only one here.

We dingied around the area and wanted to see the ruins of another 1700's plantation that still had some of the terraced gardens but Crab Cay (where it's located) is now privately owned with signs posted every couple of feet decrying "Privacy Please - Construction Site". We were able to see the hulk of a freighter that ran aground after becoming embroiled in some legal wrangling, which was kind of cool. It was also rather neat to turn the corner to find another boat tucked up inside yet another cove. The catamarans have a definite advantage in this anchorage.

One of the truly great advantages of this anchorage is that we can scoot to Georgetown for groceries and the like through a dingy route that is well protected so that we're not getting soaking wet crossing the main harbor like we had to from Volleyball Beach.

After we got back, Dale took advantage of the calm conditions and tore apart the shower sump pump to clean out the accumulated debris. It works a lot better now. The old adage of cruising means fixing your boat in exotic ports isn't too far off the mark. It wasn't that it was broken, just slow. Tomorrow he wants to tighten down the controller that sits on top of the generator that's suddenly become wobbly.

We overheard a guy on the radio that just came in from the BVI's. He said that the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico was flat calm and power boats were taking full advantage of the unusual sea sate. It makes me want to leave now but I think Dale wants to stay here until after Christmas to see if Rainbow Rider ever shows up.

There are several boats heading south and we're all getting together on Monday morning to discuss the matter (another workshop). This should be interesting. I've been reading about some of the anchorages further south on the more remote islands. I don't think they'll support more than 5 or 6 boats at a time. Anyway, it should be enlightening to get together with the other boats to hear their ideas and meet the people on them. We've already met the one who decided to organize the workshop. He's very opinionated and seems to believe that if you talk the loudest, you're the most correct. The last time we saw this guy in action, the quietest man in the group was clearly the most experienced and knowledgeable. Dale got together with him the next day after "Mr. Know It All" left. With any kind of luck, the guy that we heard on the radio who just came back will be there too. He seems to be a loud talker as well. It might be entertaining to see the two of them together. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the quiet here and read some more.

Georgetown, Bahamas
23.31.055N
75.45.481W

Not much to report today. We had a holiday sing along on the beach last night and for the most part, didn't sound too bad. Mike, from MTNest, had a keyboard and a plastic box full of folders with printed lyrics. The front of the folder read: The Beach Church. I wondered if he was a retired minister. He and his wife were returning to their home in Minnesota for the holidays but will be heading down island when they return. They said that they would like to tag along with us but would understand if we got a weather window and had to leave before they got back. Hopefully, we will be able to meet up with them later.

We're still trying to find Gary & Linda on Rainbow Rider. We met them in Jacksonville maybe a year ago and shared our mutual desire to travel south. We'd heard they had left a couple of weeks ago bound for Georgetown. We try hailing them on Channel 16 a couple of times a day and every time we see a Lagoon catamaran with a back arch pull through. Nothing yet.

We sat with Roger & Elaine on Doc-No-More for the better part of the afternoon pouring over charts and guidebooks trying to decide where to go next. We've pretty much agreed that we'd all like to see Conception and Rum Cays before heading off to the Turks and Caicos. We'd also like to see Samana and they would like to see Mayaguana.

We dingied around the various hurricane holes today exploring and took a walk on the beach on the eastern side of the island. It was gorgeous; hardly any flotsam and jetsam washed up on that shore. With the tide out, it was a wide beach with several sand dunes and a fairly steep hillside covered in sea oats. Except for the steepness of the hill, it reminded us of the Panhandle area with the fine grain sand, dunes and sea oats.

Last night the wind shifted to out of the Southeast and kept us rocking most of the night. It quieted during the day but now has started to pick up again. I guess it didn't read the guidebooks that say that the wind dies down at night and picks up during the day. If it continues, we may move over to an island not too far away called Red Shanks. We'll keep you posted.

Georgetown, Bahamas
23.31.055N
75.45.481W

Well, we're in Georgetown; the end all for most cruisers; it's a lot smaller than we expected. Today we went into town to explore and find an internet cafe. Doc-No-More had told us that they had seen an ad for WiFi posted in the Exuma Market which is where we had to go in order to pick up our mail. Due to the problems we had experienced in Warderick Wells, we took the laptop with us.

The ad was there on the bulletin board just as he had said, so I jotted down the telephone number and started looking for the address ("near Sam's place"). I felt like a junkie lookin' for a fix, I'd ask perfect strangers: "Do you know where I can find WiFi?" The manager of the Exuma Market said to "go down the street and turn right when you come to a "Y" in the road", that's where the internet cafe was. So we left.

On the way, we saw another sign for WiFi. We walked into a building hardly bigger than a shack. "Do you have WiFi?" "What's WiFi?" "You know, like the sign on your door?" "Oh, no; the guy that does that just left. He'll be back later." '"OK, thank you." We keep looking for the internet cafe.

We find it and walk in. There was a line of 4 computers along the wall on the right. Straight ahead was a small room with heavy black plexiglass windows you couldn't see through and a small hole in the center of the bottom, just big enough where a hand would come out and take your money. The sign said $.30/minute; $9/half hour; $18/hour; you had to use their computers. "Nope" I said to Dale, "for these prices, we could afford the satellite connection." We went back the way we came. We stop back at the shack and ask if the WiFi guy is back. "No, he'll be back later." "When later? Half-hour? Hour?" "Yea, then." We keep walking.

Off a dirt road, we see a sign for Sam's place. It's a restaurant. "Do you know where we can find WiFi?" "Sure, go down the street and turn right when you come to a "Y" in the road . . ." "No, we're looking for the wireless connection." "Oh, wireless . . . You might try Bateco" (the telephone company/electric company). "OK, thank you. Could we order lunch." "No, we finished serving breakfast and won't serve lunch until 12:00." "What time is it?" "11:30" "Can we sit on your patio until then?" "Sure."

While sitting there, Dale decides to see if he can find a hot spot. Yep, there it is; but you need a pass key to connect. It gives a telephone number; not the one in the ad. I jot it down and ask the waitress if I can use their phone for a local call. Sure, no problem mon. I place the call. A sleepy male voice answers. "I'm trying to find out information about WiFi, do I have the right number?" "Yea. Do you have your laptop with you?" "Yes." "Where are you?" "I'm at Sam's Place." "I'll be there in 5 minutes."

A half hour later, we decide to pack up and go inside for lunch. We sit there for another 20 minutes before a young man walks in with a thumb drive on a lanyard around his neck. He spots us in the far back corner and starts walking our way. I smile, "You must be the one with the pass key." "Yep, right here, where's your computer?" We haul it out again. He starts for the computer, when I ask about prices. "$5.00 a day; $40 a month". I pull out the $5 and start to hand it to him but then pull back and say "let's see if it works". He plugs his thumb drive into it and copies the key into the connection. It immediately connects into the internet. I'm still holding the money and ask "does the pass key stay in the computer after we shut it off, or do we have to use it now?" "Oh no, it stays. I have to trust that you'll only use it for a day. Where are you located?" We point across the harbor. "Well, you'll have to use it here, it won't reach that far," he tells us. "Where are you located?" we ask. He points to a small yellow and blue house not far away. Dale reboots the computer just to make sure the pass key works again, it's gone. "Here" he puts a copy of the pass key into a separate document, "now all you have to do is block and copy it into the connection site." I try it and it works. I hand over the $5. "If we have any problems we'll come get you." "No!" he tells us, "that's my friend's house. Just call me".

As we're eating, Dale asks why I look so apprehensive. I tell him that I guess I'm just naturally untrusting; or maybe he copied our entire computer onto his thumb drive. He asks if it looked like he copied anything since I was hovering over him the entire time. Well, no but he was very knowledgeable and when you're an internet junkie, you never know when you might get tainted internet and I needed a fix to connect.

Georgetown, Bahamas
23.31.055N
75.45.481W

FISH ON! I think that's what you're supposed to say. We were underway by 7:30am bound for Georgetown. The wind wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad either. We sailed just a little off course for a couple of hours then turned and motorsailed at 7 kts until about an hour out of Georgetown. Dale had rigged a couple of poles and let out the lures, then we both started doing a little brightwork to pass the time. We had both put away our polishing rags and had sat down for a few minutes when I heard the zing! from one of his poles. Dale has lost a bit of his upper level hearing so when there is a fair amount of background noise, he has trouble hearing those higher ranges; this was one of them. I had asked him earlier if he had his fishing paraphernalia really just in case he caught something, to which he replied that all was ready except for the cheap alcohol to kill the fish. Since we've never been able to land anything worth eating, we've never had to worry about killing it.

As I started this post, I think that you're supposed to say Fish On! but since neither one of us is very knowledgeable about fishing, I rather calmly said "Honey, I think that's one of your lines". I'm not a big fish eater, so I sort of just watch him figure out how to do his thing. I do have a prerequisite that he use 30 lb test line; anything bigger than 30 lbs is probably too big for this boat.

The fishing rod goes zing! Dale jumps up and runs and grabs his pole and tells me to slow the boat down; I put it in neutral but the jib is still up and we're still doing 4.5 kts. enough to keep us on course. Then he tells me to get the other line out of the water so that they don't tangle. Then he says that its a big one! (that's wonderful, Moby Dick on my freshly washed back deck). I grab the big gaff. He says that he thinks that its white - go grab the cheat sheet with the pictures; I lay the gaff down and scramble down the stairs. I no sooner get back up and he says that its probably a barracuda (we've caught big ones of those before) or a shark (we won't even go there). I finally spot it, it looks blue but when it breaks the surface, it looks grey. When it goes deeper in the water, it looks big. He pulls it closer, there's something about the head of it that looks like - no way, we could never be that lucky. Dale tells me to find the cheap alcohol. What cheap alcohol? You're not using my rum! "Then grab the rubbing alcohol!" I scramble back down the stairs and pour some rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and scurry back up. Dale hands me the pole, "here, hold this"; he grabs his gloves and takes the gaff. I reel the line in and in a more excited voice than I would want to express shout "I know what I'm having for dinner tonight". The only fish I'm willing to order in a restaurant is on the line; a mahi mahi.
Dale gaffs the fish and hauls it up. Its thrashing about and starting to bleed. Dale squirts some of the rubbing alcohol into the fish's mouth; it thrashes some more. He squirts some into the fish's gills, it thrashes even more. He's giving the dang thing an alcohol bath but the only thing it's doing is covering the back half of our boat and the dingy in the davits with blood.

That's about the time that we made our waypoint and the autopilot starts sounding an alarm. I run for the alarm while Dale's trying to figure out how to kill this dang fish. I turn off the alarm and keep us on the same course and run back. Dale's decided that if we put a rope through its gills and mouth we can at least take the gaff out. He does this and then hands the fish to me; its heavy, so I tie it to the back arch. There's blood everywhere; Dale's covered in it but he's grinning from ear to ear. "Whaddaya think?" My great, white, hunter! I tell him I think we need to clean up the blood before it coagulates into the gelcoat. He grabs a bucket and brush and starts cleaning while I bring in the jib and turn us back around to enter into Conch Cut and the entrance into Georgetown. Fifteen minutes later and Dale has sliced 10 fillets from the mahi and surrendered the carcass to the deep; five hours later we had grilled mahi for dinner and yes, I ate it; every bite.

The end to this story is: yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Thank you Bob! Dale says to tell you that he caught it on a blue Triple D; just like you said he would.

Leaf Cay, Bahamas
23.47.081N
76.07.748W

You would have thought someone fired a shot to start a race, everyone cleared out of here so fast this morning. The big end is in Georgetown. Apparently, it is the goal for those who have no intention of going any further and the "terminus" for those who become faint of heart with the possibilities that lie ahead. We wanted to stick around until 9am to find out if we could get a tour of the Caribbean Marine Research Center; as it turned out, they are closed for the holidays.

The Canadian boats and everyone else (6 boats total) cleared out by 8am and Doc-No-More followed suit when they found out the Center was closed. As you can see, Dale and I decided to stay on. It's Monday and (you know the drill) it's field day on the Palace! We had already started little cleaning projects just waiting for 9am to roll around. Dale wiped down the back arch and I cleaned the lifelines. Once we had the anchorage to ourselves, we decided to go full tilt.

First, we put things into perspective; while the sun was still high, we started by snorkeling a reef we had seen yesterday when we were looking for the salt flats. The reef was wonderful! Each one seems to be better than the last with the variety of corals and fish. We found a large space covered with staghorn fern. Although not all of it was living, it was a web of coral that was used as a nursery for the fish. I loved it! There was one type of coral I found that was a brilliant purple like the fans you sometimes see washed up on shore but this was a type of sea plume. I thought it was beautiful. You could clearly see the various research projects in place as there were color coded tags here and there. I could have stayed all day but it is Monday; and the laundry was waiting.

After our work was done, we went back out at the end of the day and searched among the flotsam and jetsam for treasures. I found 4 little football shaped floats, Dale found a big float plus a new bread crate to put my treasures into (I guess my little collection is starting to get in the way).

Tomorrow, bright and early, we're off to Georgetown; this time for sure.

Leaf Cay, Bahamas
23.47.081N
76.07.748W

We have touched earth! or at least a rock. This morning after listening to all of the various weather reports, we got underway and headed to Lee Stocking Cay. We were able to transit out of Cave Cut without any problems although the water was still churning with the out going tide and the incoming swell.

During the transit south we consulted the charts and tide tables and realized that we'd be entering Lee Stocking on a rising tide but a lot closer to low tide than we had originally thought. The chart indicated a shallow entrance to the Research Center but that we'd still have 7' (we draw 5.5'). Good to go; or so we thought. Unfortunately, we rounded the corner and headed into the harbor when we heard the sound no boater wants to hear; our boat against something solid. A quick check of the depth sounder verified that we were in 7' of water. Remember a few posts back when I contemplated hitting a big rock in skinny water. Well, that's what we were doing. It sounded awful but when Dale dove down later, he said that there was only a small scratch on the bottom of our keel. It didn't matter, it shot our nerves to pieces. We backed out and went to a deeper spot to anchor and wait for higher tide; we started dragging (that means our anchor wasn't holding); I heard Dale say words I haven't heard out of his mouth in a long time. We moved into even deeper water and anchored again. Then we really started pondering. If we were going to get a fairly early start into Georgetown tomorrow, we needed to be able to leave immediately after we were able to schedule a tour of the facilities. Even if we were able to schedule something in the morning, tomorrow's tides would trap us in the harbor until late afternoon.

As you can see, we decided to leave that harbor completely and anchor at the island to the north, Leaf Cay. Actually, it was a better location in the long run when a rain squall came through with gusts up to 20 kts. since it had better protection all around.

Doc-No-More came in after all of our fun was over but had some fun of their own. During the high winds they started dragging down on some rocks and had to reset their anchor. One of the Canadian boats anchored here with us, saw what was happening and called to alert them just as they were realizing it for themselves.

After the rain passed, we took the two dingies over to Norman's Pond to look at the salt flats. Dale had seen an entrance on the chart but when we got there, the entrance was too shallow to allow the dingies into the creek. We anchored the dinks and started looking for a path along side the creek but there was none. I started up the center of the creek but when Roger saw me covered in mosquitoes, he wasn't going to have any more of our African Queen adventure (city boy).

We did walk along the beach where I found tons (yes, Kenny tons) of natural sponge washed up. I piled it all up and thought that I would send it all back to California but Elaine said that it would cost a fortune. So I picked out two of the least smelly pieces and will send those instead.

We came back and ended up having a wonderful spaghetti dinner on their boat. Tomorrow we'll try for the Research Center tour and if we can't get it, we'll just head on down to Georgetown.

Cave Cay, Bahamas
23.54.322N
76.16.561W

Not much happened today. We spent the better part of the morning waiting for a high tide to exit Little Farmers Cay, then picked our way carefully back out the way we had come in to return to the Bank. The water is starting to get pretty skinny in these parts. The cuts between the Sound and the Bank have 20' but everything else is about 6-10'. These days, I'm delighted to see double digits on the depth sounder.

The anchorage we had chosen on the chart when we left (a little north of where we are now), looked like a good spot to go but when we got to it, someone else was already anchored there. It didn't look like the anchorage would allow enough swing room for more than one boat, so we moved further south to where we are now. Looking back now, we see 4 boats in that anchorage. Unless they are all real good friends, I don't know how they did it. We're down here by ourselves without any problems at all.

The guide book described a hidden grotto on this cay that was beautiful and not to be missed. Looks like we missed it though. As close as we can figure it, an airstrip now runs along where that hidden grotto should have been. There were no airstrips on any of our charts, so we figure its new and the grotto is now gone.

Since it took us so long to leave this morning, we weren't left any time in which to snorkel the island that Bob and Caron had told us held great treasures. We could see the elkhorn coral from the dingy ride around it, but as the sun was low in the sky and I have an aversion to swimming with sharks at sun down, we thought we'd save it until tomorrow.

If we're able to sneak in that snorkel before we leave tomorrow, we'll have a full day. We plan on heading down to Lee Stocking Cay and with any kind of luck, tour the Caribbean Marine Research Center located there.

Little Farmers Cay, Bahamas
23.57.839N
76.19.110W

Our first challenge. We left Big Major's Spot about 9am and motorsailed the 3.5 hour journey to Little Farmers Cay in 15-20 kts. of wind--barely enough off the nose to put the sails up. We were just in the process of assessing the best approach when, POW! our main sail started falling like water over a dam. Dale started tugging on the line to bring the jib in, while I turned the boat into the wind; then he climbed outside the cockpit to try to keep the main sail out of the water. In the meantime, you can't imagine all of the flapping, slapping and horrendous noise all of this makes. He was successful in gathering it up and using a couple of ropes, secured it to the boom.

A short lesson on our boat. We have a sloop rigged boat, meaning 1 mast (among other things). We have a roller furled jib/genoa (forward sail secured by rolling it on its angle from the bow of the boat, to the top of the mast) and an in mast roller furled main sail (rolled up inside the mast but when needed, extended back along the boom to the back of the boat). Therefore, the main sail is always hoisted. When it broke, it came straight down. We have no catchment system or sail ties other boats have because we don't need them. This leaves the line that hoists the sail up at the top of the mast, which means it has to come down to get the sail back up.

Prior to our departure, Dale had hoisted me (he's not big on heights) to the top of the mast to check all of the attachment points. I remember there was no wear at the attachment point to the roller. So when he showed me a severed loop, I didn't know quite what to say.

Instead of anchoring outside of Little Farmers as we had planned, we elected to go inside and take a mooring as this would provide a calmer environment in which to ascend the mast to retrieve the line. Boy was this tricky; we were zigzagging back and forth, weaving our way in but finally found a mooring with deep water for longer than just high tide.

Short history: A few years ago Dale saw an industrial strength sewing machine in the back of one of the sail magazines. He showed it to me and told me that he thought we should get one. But believe it or not, I resisted. My little Singer did everything I wanted and anything it couldn't handle, probably was out of my realm of sewing expertise anyway. Then two years ago when we attended the Annapolis Boat Show, those machines were being demonstrated. The demonstration consisted of putting 6 - 8 layers of standard marine canvas with a layer of heavy plastic used for windows, maybe some webbing thrown in for good measure and then sewn together in one pass with a walking foot. I couldn't believe it. My little Singer would be sputtering and wheezing with anything more than 3 layers of canvas and it'd break a few needles just to spite me. Suddenly, that new machine didn't seem such an extravagance after all. Even after we bought it, I still preferred my little Singer. Then came the big trip; and the canvas work. My little Singer went into storage and this new machine took it's place. But I digress . . . sort of.

The broken loop was made of webbing that was sewn flat going up one side of the sail, pinched together to form the loop and then sewn flat again on the back side of the sail. It severed not at where the loop was hooked onto the hoist, but where it was sewn flat on the sail. Yep! You guessed it! Out came that new machine. I just happened to have some left over webbing from my canvas projects; so . . . off came the old, on went the new and up I went to retrieve the halyard. Down I came with the halyard, up went the repaired sail and then down Dale went to get a much needed a beer to recuperate from all the hoisting. The big test will come when we unfurl the sail, put 20 - 30 kts of torque on the webbing and see if it holds. It probably will do just fine until the worst possible moment, and then . . . well, that'll be another story.

Big Major's Spot, Bahamas
24.11.264N
76.27.548W

Today's excitement was the Great Escape. As Dale had promised Roger, he appeared on their stern at 8:00 am with tools in hand and a promise to me that he'd return by 10 am to take me over to Thunderball Cave. He just barely kept that promise. It seems that Roger, who freely admits to not being mechanically inclined, had tried to trouble shoot the problem with his generator and in so doing, had accidentally created another. They were able to jury rig one problem, but the new problem needed another part. So in frustration, Roger and Elaine pulled into the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to ponder their dilemma. At least they will be able to plug into power there.

Although it was blustery all day, we had waited for low tide to explore Thunderball Cave and felt that the wind really wouldn't have that much effect on us. The cave itself was pretty cool but smaller than what I was anticipating. After Rocky Dundas, I guess I was expecting something bigger and grander. It was a cave that had two openings so that the water flowed through it, instead of in and out of it. The entry was lower in the water, so that you had to snorkel into it before you could look up. It still had a high interior with a hole in the ceiling for filtered light; not many stalactites and the fish were limited to some pretty aggressive sergeant majors. I had brought some bread crumbs with us and they devoured it like piranhas.

When we returned to the Palace, we rinsed out our wet suits and hung them over the back arch to dry. After lunch, I noticed that one was missing. Dale said that he hadn't moved his so it had made an escape when we weren't looking. Our first inclination was to check the water under the boat. Dale grabbed his snorkel and mask and started a grid search around us. Then we thought, what if it floated? Behind us about a mile were some small islands/big rocks. We planned to zigzag back and forth slowly in the dink to the islands to check the surface, then Dale would hop overboard and I'd drag him slowly back searching the bottom. We had made it all the way out to the islands, when Dale saw it making a dash for the Banks. It had managed to slip between a couple of the islands and was heading west. We zipped over to it, snatched it up by the scruff of the neck, wrestled it into the boat and made our way back to the Palace. Dale washed it out, again, and this time put it on the cooler on the back deck. By golly, we had no sooner turned our backs and it was off the cooler and trying to make its way back into the water. This was one determined wet suit. This time, we just threw it into the cockpit and vowed to find the industrial strength clothes pins you use on tarps, to secure it to a line. Mine was still draped over the arch like a racer in the starting blocks. I grabbed her down, threw her into the cockpit with a warning: "don't even think about it".

Tomorrow we think we'll move on to Little Farmers Cay, hopefully with both wet suits still with us.

Big Major's Spot, Bahamas
24.11.264N
76.27.548W

This morning brought the mailboat to Staniel Cay and everyone flocked to the isles General Store like ants to a picnic to pick up their groceries for the week. Dale and I had arrived early and had staked out our place in front of the store. Miss Vivan, the proprietor, took her red pickup truck down to the dock, loaded it up and returned to her store where Dale and a few others helped her unload it. Part of her load was for the store and part it was for the home she is building above the store. Then she'd trek down to the dock again and bring back another load. Of course, the fruits and veggies were in the very last load. Roger and Elaine were there as well and once the boxes were brought in, Elaine, another lady and I helped Miss Vivan unload the boxes into the various bins. Little Beatrice and Berkley (aged about 3 and 2), Miss Vivan's children (grandchildren?), wanted to help too, so we'd give them oranges or loaves of bread to put on the shelves. Once we finished putting everything away, we went to work getting our shopping done.

We moved the Palace over to Big Major's Spot (interesting name for an island) and took a dingy ride around part of the island and over to where the Thunderball Cave is located. We have been advised that the best time to explore the cave is at low tide just as it slows before changing directions. The best time for us will be tomorrow morning about 10 am. We were told that there were swimming pigs located on this island but so far, we haven't seen them. I have bread for them when I do. I don't want to get my heels nicked by a hungry pig.

We had our sundowners with Roger and Elaine aboard their Manta this evening. Dale and Roger commiserated about the plight of the American medical system and Elaine and I talked about balancing time with family and cruising. Since their generator is on the blink, Dale is taking some of his tools over there tomorrow and the guys will try to jury rig a broken part to see if they can get it to run until Roger is able to get another in. Apparently, the part that they had been waiting a week for came in today, but wasn't the one that was broken.

Later, we returned to try to make connections with Gerry and Nicky via SSB but weren't able to do so. The radio is still new to us, so the selection and tweaking of the frequencies is something we're still playing with--but we have books! Lots and lots of books on the how's and why's.

Tonight it's "blowin' a hooley" straight out of the east. We've got a good, firm hold in terra firma and this anchorage is supposed to have good holding throughout, so I don't anticipate a problem for us or from anyone else. It's just one of things we won't know about until the wee, small hours of the morning. That's usually the time when the weird things start happening.

Staniel Cay, Bahamas
24.10.345N
76.26.766W

What a night! Dale commented twice that he didn't think it had ever been so quiet at anchor or in a slip. There was no wind; the only sound from the water came when the current changed with the tide and a few slaps started the boat turning in the new direction. Needless to say, we slept well.

The morning didn't bring any changes. Since there was still no wind, we took the Exuma Sound (east side) route as opposed to the Banks (west side) route. A quick motor down to Staniel had us fueled and tucked into a slip by 11:00 am. At $3.80 per gallon, we considered ourselves lucky for needing only 30 gallons; the next guy took over a 1000 gallons to fill up.

There are 3 other boats in the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Apparently, this is still about a month before their 'season' starts. There are a couple of restaurants, a couple of cottages for rent, a couple of boutiques for souvenirs, one church and 3 small general stores; the Pink Store, the Blue Store, and the Isles General Store.

We met Roger and Elaine off 'DocNoMore' at the fuel pumps. Roger is a retired urologist and Elaine is a retired teacher. Elaine started telling me all of the local information and the big thing to remember is that tomorrow the mailboat comes in and to be at the Isles General Store before noon to get a good selection of produce before its gone. Apparently, they've been living aboard their catamaran for the last 4 years and coming to the area from Texas during 'the season' for those 4 years. This year, however, they decided that they are going to go all of the way to Trinidad. Since they were anchored over at the next island where "Thunderball Cave" is, we promised to get together with them tomorrow when we move in that direction.

We had lunch at the Yacht Club (a hamburger never tasted so good), walked around the town, then headed back to the Palace. As we passed down the main pier, there were fishermen cleaning their catch and tossing the refuse to the dozen or so nurse sharks and a few rays. Each of these sharks were 4-6' long and each of the rays had about a 2.5-3.5' wing span. I'm not sure if the sharks were full or what but they were very well behaved during this time. They'd slowly swim in, take their food and then slowly swim back around. None of the thrashing about we've seen in the past. When we stepped from our boat to the dock later in the day, we noticed that 4 of the sharks had taken refuge in the shade of the bottom of our boat. I realize that nurse sharks aren't supposed to be aggressive and it really didn't bother me seeing them under our boat, but in my mind, sure footedness is essential for the remainder of our stay. Although, if I fell, I'm quite sure that I'd have a dying duck fit and never come close to touching the water.

Tomorrow we'll wait for the mailboat, grab our fresh fruit and veggies, then move over to Big Major's Spot, where "Thunderball" and "Splash" were filmed.

Cambridge Cay, Bahamas
24.18.209N
76.32.510W

Being Monday, today was field day on 'the Palace'. We did our washing, used the old rinse water to wash down the decks of salt and polished some brightwork. While waiting for the laundry to dry, we kept an eye on the changing wind. It was slowly moving to the south and west which pushed us further and further into the shallow areas we were trying to avoid and the tide had only just begun to recede. As you can see, we decided to move a little just to make sure that we weren't going to find ourselves high and dry after sunset.

Once we tired of doing chores, we decided to check out the caves on the island to the south of us. Rocky Dundas was supposed to have caves that rivaled "Thunderball Cave" even further south. Well, bless their hearts, the Exuma Land and Sea Park had put out another 'Welcome' sign and a mooring ball exactly where we figured those caves were. What a treat! Both caves that we explored were huge. There were stalactites and stalagmites and some that met in the middle. Although you had to snorkel into the caves, you could stand up and explore a little after you got there. The smaller of the two had a shelf that if you timed the waves just right, you could be deposited into a sitting position on the shelf, then turn around, stand up and walk around a bit. Both caves had holes in the ceilings so that filtered light came through and there was no need for flashlights. We pondered their creation for a while then donned our gear and started back to the dink.

I have to tell you, I enjoyed the coral formations outside of the caves more than I did the 'mini wall' we explored yesterday. The coral we saw today had a couple of spans of elkhorn coral about 6' in diameter. I've never seen live elkhorn coral before. I'd just hover over it and the fish would come to me. Talk about an aquarium, we saw everything we saw yesterday plus more. It was an underwater nursery. Lots of the fish we saw were tiny versions of their adult counterparts; in other words, the fish that are normally tiny and the baby fish were about the same size. The coral was amazing. I've never seen so many varieties of live coral before in one place; the colors were so vivid. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen so many varieties of live coral at all. I truly enjoyed our swim today.

When we got back to the boat, we had another fish added to the collection, a remora. Those are one interesting looking fish. About sundown, Dale saw his host. He guessed it was about 5.5 to 6' long. He ambled in, took a swing around the anchorage, then headed back out again. I'm rather glad I didn't see him. I don't like sharks of any size or variety.
Tomorrow early, we'll be heading off to our next island, Staniel Cay.

Cambridge Cay, Bahamas
24.18.237N
76.32.385W

We bid farewell to Warderick Wells this morning and entered the Exuma Sound for our trip down to O'Brians Cay; Cambridge Cay is located just south of O'Brians and has a better anchorage for the wind direction. After circling several times, looking for a good spot to lay down in, we anchored in 13 feet of water but ended up backing up over closer to 20', any closer in and we were in very shallow water. Dale dove the anchor just to make sure that it set properly and came back looking for our book on fish. Apparently there was a large Cobia (we think) that had taken a liking to the bottom of our boat.

We changed into our wet suits and took off for the 'aquarium'. This is described as a mini wall dive. We found it without any problems since there was a sign from the Exuma Park saying "Welcome" and a couple of mooring balls positioned in front of it so that anchors won't damage the site. We had no sooner tied up to the mooring when the water was churning with fish looking for a hand out. Splashing in, we saw angelfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, jacks, fairy basslets, grouper and the ever present barracuda. Since the water was apparently going in one direction, we decided to swim upstream from our boat and then drift back to it. We had no sooner rounded a corner when all of a sudden, we were being drawn rather quickly out in another direction. Two uphills.

Dale came back and motioned for us to return the way we had come. It had taken him by surprise too. We ended up trying to stay midway between the two currents. I finally grabbed a long line from the boat and just hung on. I'd swim to the end of the line, and then let the current pull me back; then I'd swim off in a different direction and float back. The guide book made mention of an 8' lemon shark that patrols the area but thank God, we didn't see him.

This evening after dinner, Dale said that we now have a collection of Cobia under our boat. Do you think they know we're still in the Park and can't toss in a hook? Just another day in paradise, for all species.

Warderick Wells Cay, Bahamas
24.23.816N
76.37.947W
Cocktail party at sundown on the veranda of the Park Ranger's Station; what a day. We began by camping out on the veranda of the Park Ranger's Station first thing this morning in order to get the internet connection to stay connected; apparently it didn't like our antenna. It took us most of the morning to upload the few entries into this site and pay a few bills.

We then lit out for the opposite end of the island to hike "Anita's Trail" which led to the Davis Family Ruins; a Loyalist Settlement built in the 1700's. The Loyalists were those who favored staying under the rule of England at the time of the American Revolution. When the colonies won their independence, the Loyalists struck out for other grounds. Can you imagine leaving the rich fertile soil of the U.S. to start over again on an island which is little more than coral, limestone and sand? Their homes were rocks, built upon a foundation of smaller rocks, surrounded by a rock fence, and they got their water from big holes in the rock. The houses (unless we missed the big house) were little more than a room for a couple of people to lay down in. Where in the world did they put those skirts? With a little imagination, it wasn't hard to envision that life must have been brutal in the heat of the summer, water being drawn from the natural cisterns and what little dirt could be found had to be situated in the pockets of the coral to sprout what food they could grow. If I were a woman in those days, I'd have thought I had been sold a bill of goods on the deal that England gave to them. Scenery only goes so far.

And Snakes! They have snakes here. I had convinced myself that there were no snakes on these islands. Well, there are no poisonous snakes on the island. They do have brown racers. What I saw was a 2.5 - 3' snake where I had planned to put my foot. Thank goodness I had to watch every step I took because of all of the rocks.

After surviving the snake attack, we took the dink around to the other side of the island to see the 'Pirates Lair'. The eastern side of this island has a naturally deep harbor that is situated between two islands. The Pirates would hide out in this area and plunder the merchant ships coming out of Nassau. Their liar was off a sandy beach, over a hill and down into an area that is protected by palm trees. In the center, the sun filtered through the canopy of palm fronds to a small pond which had a fresh water well to the side of it. Water which had percolated through all of the rocks on the rest of the island gravitated to this low area and well. A sign to the side of it declared "Sweet Water". Dale swirled his hand around in it and put it to his lips. Taste it! I swirled my hand around in it and put a few drops into my mouth; yep, tastes like water!

On our way back to 'the Palace' we circled around Emerald Rock but didn't see anything that enticed us into the water, so we skipped the snorkeling for the day.

At 5:00 on Saturday evening, the Park Ranger invites all of the boat people up to the veranda for cocktails at sunset. We were surprised to learn that the Park Ranger was an American volunteer. He and his wife had offered to keep things running for 2 weeks when the previous warden wanted to take a vacation. Four years later, they are still here but they said that they loved it. They are planning on adding more moorings throughout the park this coming year to protect the living coral. We had a nice visit with some of the other boaters and may run into at least one other couple later on into our trip as they are planning a similar route to the Caribbean. Tomorrow we head out to O'Brian's Cay to visit the 'aquarium'.

Warderick Wells Cay, Bahamas
24.23.816N
76.37.947W

We are now officially at the headquarters of the Land and Sea Park located on Warderick Wells Cay, Bahamas. We arrived about 10:30 am and took a mooring in their Northern Mooring Field. We are one of only 4 boats here so it looks like we pretty much have the run of the place.
After checking in, we took a hike along one of the trails leading to the other side of the island where we saw many of the natural cisterns on the island which provides for the brackish water the plants survive on. We returned to the boat so that I could bake bread and Dale could make water. We plan on staying here for a couple of days so that we can visit the ruins of a Loyalist Settlement built in the late 1700's; follow a trail to "the Pirate's Lair" where ships of old used to hide out waiting to plunder the merchant ships leaving Nassau; and hopefully snorkel the spectacular coral heads of Emerald Rock.

The one thing that really counts here - finally - an internet connection! Slow as molasses but at least a connection.

Hawksbill Cay, Bahamas
24.27.950N
76.46.118W

Today finds us in Hawksbill Cay. We anchored in 8 feet of water at 10:30 am and took the dink to the other side of the island for some exploring (taking the long, deep route, instead of the creek through the middle). We walked the length of a beautiful long white sand beach gathering some of the flotsam and jetsam into a pile so that the next the time the wardens come to clean the beach at least some of it will be gathered in one place. We climbed to the top of a huge cave that had collapsed and then returned the way we had come. There were some beautiful shells on the beach but since the Land and Sea Park forbids the taking of any flora, fauna or other natural items, we left them where we found them.

On the way back, there was mention of a "conspicuous wreck" on our charts. Conspicuous was an understatement. My first impression was that a boat was anchored near the reef. However, upon closer examination, the "Trust in God" was an ocean going tug that had run clear up on a reef. We took a spin out to get a better look and take a few pics but left her as we found her without disturbing her final resting place.

On our side of the island, we climbed up to a carin atop the highest hill in the area and took some pics of the surrounding area. The colors and scenery were incredible.

Back at the Palace, I finished off the day by giving the boat a bottom scrubbing before sunset. Definitely, a full day.