Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W

The wind picked up late last evening and by 3am I was up and taking note of where we were in relation to everyone else.  I was able to fall back to sleep a couple of hours later but by that time Dale was up and took over keeping an eye on the neighborhood.  The weather guru hadn’t changed his mind about things and everyone in the anchorage is preparing for the big 30-40 kt gusts expected to come in late tonight.  As fate couldn’t have it any other way, its due in between 2 and 3am. 

About 8:45am, we packed up our documentation, passports and cruising permit and dinked into town to get to Customs when they opened at 9am.  Crossing over the channel which is about 2 miles across, give or take, wasn’t too bad although the wind was already blowing a full 18 kts.  We checked for mail and deliveries, nope nothing yet, and continued on to the Customs office to have our visas extended to the full 90 days (we’ve already been here about a month).  We were the only ones there and were immediately asked that each of us fill out a form.  Except . . .  they didn’t have any writing instruments.  A few minutes later a couple of pens were found and we completed and returned the forms in another couple of minutes.  Then we sat.  And sat.  And sat.  An hour later, we were handed back our passports with the visas extended.  We kept our complaints until after we left the office.  We decided that the reason that they kept us waiting for so long, was because they could. 

Then came the ride back.  This time we were riding against the waves and although Dale did his very best to hit every one so that it completely drenched me to the bone, he missed a couple and I survived.  The foul weather gear I was wearing in anticipation of the return trip served only to funnel the water down my clothing until even my underwear was soaked.  In all fairness, Dale got wet too. 

The remainder of the day was spent checking our anchor tackle, taking down our flags so that they aren’t shredded to pieces and then killing time watching a couple of kite surfers off Loon show us how its actually done.  

This evening we watched Best Little Whore House in Texas.  I haven’t seen it in years and enjoyed it once again. 

Tonight Dale keeps checking the outside as we are not only pitching to and fro but rocking side to side.  Not fun and rather unexpected as we thought we’d be protected by the hills in front of us; apparently not.  Too late now, time to ride this puppy out!