March 31, 2009

Unlike the iguanas these birds will eat out of your hand without biting.

Waredrick Wells Cay is named after the natural wells that are on the cay. Some are as deep as 40 feet. Some like this one are filled with water. All go straight down into the solid rock.

Bill and I picked these sand dollars up in just a couple of minutes raking our fingers or toes through the sand in the shallow water off Staniel Cay.

Surrounded by fish, I am swimming into the Thunderball Grotto. The cave passes completely through a small island. There is air and light in the top and water with fish and coral in the bottom.

When I last wrote we had just gotten to the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park Headquarters at Warderick Wells Cay. We spent 3 nights there on a mooring near Emerald Rock on the west side of the cay. Bill put a patch over a hole in the dinghy, and we had to wait 24 hours for the glue to set before inflating the dinghy again. That meant a lazy day of reading, knitting, puttering about on Irish Eyes, and making bread. I have just about perfected the “Boat Bread” recipe. Bill doesn’t complain. It is really quite good.
The next day, Wednesday March 24, after lunch we inflated the dinghy and went exploring. We dropped by the park office to pay for our mooring and buy a book on the local flora. We walked across the cay to the ocean side. The trail takes you to Booboo Hill (not really much of a hill to us East Tennesseans but a hill never the less). It was topped with a stack of driftwood graffiti left by boaters to memorialize their being there. Just north on the ridge were two blow holes. These were holes in the rock where the water blows up into the air like a geyser. It was extremely windy and the surf was strong but the tide wasn’t yet high enough to have a good blow. The wind was 25 knots from the east, so we didn’t stay long before we were tired of being blown away and were getting wet from the salt water spray that filled the air.
At the park office building the staff had put out several sugar feeders for the Bananaquits. These are small black and yellow birds that feed on nectar or sugar. I put a teaspoon of sugar in my palm and had as many as six birds eating out of my hand at once. These little guys dip their long beaks in the sugar and either lick it off or share with another bird by rubbing their beaks together. We saw them on the nearby hibiscus flowers dipping their beaks down to get the nectar like a hummingbird. Bill thinks I should try and train the hummingbirds in our yard to eat out of my hand when we get home. I can’t imagine!
We still had our map of the park’s hiking trails from last year. We decided on Thursday to walk some of the ones we hadn’t already walked. The map was very deceiving. The trails start on one beach and go to the next beach. What the map doesn’t show is you have to walk over lots of very sharp pointy jagged rocks before you get to the next beach. I hate the sharp pointy rocks! I also saw a snake, only a small harmless brown snake, but a snake is a snake is a snake to me. Bill left me on the last beach we reached and went back overland for the dinghy then returned to retrieve me saving me from the return trip. In the shallow water on our way back to the boat we saw several live conchs. Since the park is a no take zone we left them alone. Besides I have already found two large perfect conch shells that were empty.
During the night the wind shifted to the south making our mooring at Emerald Rock rocky. We decided to move south to an anchorage with better protection even though south was dead into the wind and waves. Motoring into a 20 kt wind is not my favorite way to spend the morning. Before we left we had the good sense to bring the dinghy on deck. It was a smart move because we had no islands upwind of us, and the waves were surprisingly large. The chart showed moorings off the marina dock at Sampson Cay, but they are gone allowing us to anchor in about 7 to 8 feet of water tucked deeply inside in the very pretty harbor. Several nurse sharks attracted to the fish cleaning station on the marina dock cruised below our boat casting their shadows across the bottom. The spot was perfectly protected from the rough water outside, so we had a restful calm night.
Over the VHF radio the staff at Sampson Cay announced that they were having a beach BBQ party from noon to 7pm on Saturday. We needed to get some diesel, and I needed a pair of flip flops. We went ashore to check out the party and get fuel and shoes. For Christmas I got a very nice pair of mesh and leather water shoes. They looked like the perfect shoe for hopping out of the dinghy into the water and walking the beach protecting my feet from the sharp rocks. Wrong! The water drained out of the shoes but left all the sand behind. The sand then rubbed my feet raw. I would rather have flip flops. Unfortunately, what would be a $1.99 pair from Target were $30 in the Bahamas! I now have a pretty pink pair of expensive flip flops. Getting diesel was another adventure. There seemed to be a dispute brewing among the several large motor vessels waiting for space at the fuel dock – too little space and too many boats. Bill talked to the dock guy and decided not to move our boat over to the dock but rather bring our three jugs in the dinghy and fill our fuel tank in two dinghy trips. Unfortunately, before Bill could get back for the second 15 gallons a motor boat came in to get 1300+ gallons. We had to wait until he was through. The captain on that boat, which I won’t name, was a prime example of the unlikeable American, all mouth and money, issuing commands to anyone and everyone within earshot while refusing to do the simple things he was asked to do. I waited on a chair in the shade of the porch outside the store while Bill was filling the diesel jugs and learned quite a bit. The reason for the beach party was to allow the restaurant to be closed all day for a large group. The NY Yacht Club was bringing in 12 boats for the night and had requested a private dinner for 39. The staff at Sampson Cay had ordered and prepared tons of food and drink. Remember everything has to be brought over from Nassau by air or by boat. It turned out only 3 boats showed up! Two boats were already in the marina that morning and the third finally came at 8pm. Granted the last one could have had 39 people on board; it was that large, but I never saw them. All this reminded me of Watauga Lake Sail Club events and trying to get a head count beforehand! Sampson Cay Marina has houses for rent too. This would be a lovely place for a real get away vacation. We walked all over the cay, spent some time at the beach party and had another restful night.
We left Sampson Cay on Sunday morning and sailed south for Staniel Cay. While the wind was still from the south, this time we were able to sail in two tacks, first to the southwest, then to the southeast. I guess I should explain what sailing on the wind in 20 knots was like. The boat was heeled over (leaned) about 40 degrees, one side was nearly underwater, and the waves were coming over the bow and washing down the deck with only the canvas dodger to keep them out of the cockpit. Going below to the head (bathroom) was a real exercise. Toilets were designed to be level, not leaning 40 degrees forward! Every time the bow went underwater, I was pitched off the seat and out the door. Think of a sailing movie where the boat is really moving along. Ever wonder why the scenes never include the toilet? Anyway it was only about 8 miles or two hours, so it was manageable.
Staniel Cay has several beaches and the famous Thunderball Grotto, a sky lit underwater cave where the James Bond movie, Thunderball, and Disney’s Splash were filmed. The day we arrived was not a bright sunny day because a cold front was passing to the north of us, so we put off snorkeling and walked around the settlement instead. We went out to the airport, just a landing strip and a gazebo for a terminal, and walked down several of the lanes in the village. While we have been told that the winter had been unusually windy and cool and that the Abacos were both windier and cooler than the Exumas, spring here has been near perfect for us - highs of about 80 and lows of maybe 70. Now, if the wind would settle down a bit.
Yesterday we had lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, my first conch burger of the trip, and went walking on the nearby beach. Bill and I found a dozen or more sand dollars just in a minute or two by digging in the shallows with our fingers or toes. I left them behind, remembering that I am only taking great things, and I already have sand dollars at home. At slack low tide we went to the Thunderball Grotto. It was beautiful. We swam in through its main entrance ushered by a school of Sergeant Major fish. The interior was lit by sunlight streaming in through holes in the limestone roof. The floor of the cave was covered with different varieties of coral and loads of fish. Both of us swam completely through the cave and out another entrance on the other side of the island. It was spectacular. I was just floating along with the current and the fish, watching the sea fans when Bill asked if I was heading to Cuba. Swimming the other way back through the cave was a little hard as the tide had changed and the current was against us. After a short dinghy ride we were back in Irish Eyes’ cockpit in time for an evening G&T as the sun set behind Big Majors Spot. Not a bad day at all.
This morning Bill discovered that we had a leak in our propane system. This was a priority and something that had to be fixed NOW. He worked on it all morning, and he thinks it is fixed. I hope. We planned to go to Club Thunderball for their Tuesday evening “All You Can Eat Pizza and Pasta Supper with a Movie”, but alas, “Da mail boat didn’t come today”, so we went over there for a couple of drinks instead and enjoyed supper on our own boat. Such is island life; one disappointment after another.
Tomorrow may be Bitter Guana Cay, a protected iguana habitat, then the Black Point Settlement on Great Guana Cay to do laundry and buy some fresh vegetables, or then maybe we will just go around to Big Majors Spot and see the swimming pigs. So many things to do, so little time. Miss you all and wish you could be here too!

March 24, 2009

On the north side of Highborne Cay is a beach. Someone put this piece of washed up lumber between two of the casurina pines above the beach. It made a good resting place.

The sign is at the entrance to the north creek that passes through the mangroves in the interior of Shroud Cay to the beach on the ocean side. Barcardi paid for the sign. Good people.

Bill found these plastic fishing floats on the beach. We left them behind.

Our dinghy on the Exuma Bank side beach at Hawksbill Cay with Irish Eyes (the sailboat) in the background.

Hey. We are currently moored at Warderick Wells Cay. The water is as clear as gin and the sky as blue as anyone can imagine. Our only problem is the wind which has been blowing from the east at 20 to 25 knots for several days and is expected to continue to do so for the few days.
We left Allen’s Cay and made the three hour trip, under sail, to Highborne Cay. Highborne has a marina and a couple of houses. We anchored on the Exumas Bank side (shallow water, western side, in the lee of the island, and out of the 20 kt east winds) with five or ten other boats for two nights. The landscape here is very stark deeply etched limestone with vegetation above the high water line with deeply blue water up to the limestone. Shortly after we had our anchor set, a beat up johnboat with two Bahamian fishermen aboard came along side and asked us if we wanted some lobster. We took two! Sure beats looking for them on our own! We decided to take a short island tour and went to both of the two closest beaches for a stroll. We grilled one of the lobsters which with a bit of garlic butter made for a fabulous dinner.
Our friends on Dot’s Way showed up the next evening, and we enjoyed a couple of beers with them on our boat. After they left we grilled two steaks for dinner. Before dark a large motor yacht (maybe 150 ft), Bad Girl, anchored behind us. The large crew from Bad Girl made several trips to the beach that was 200 yards in front of us. They proceeded to gather wood for a fire then erected two tents, several umbrellas, tiki lanterns, chairs, tables, a grill, a music system, and began working on preparing food for dinner. Around 8pm the dozen or so VIPs from Bad Girl got on one of their three dinghies (all 16 to 20' boats) and went to the beach party. It was all very interesting. The female to male ratio was at least 3 to 1and the age ratio was about the opposite! We got bored with watching until they started the fireworks show! The fireworks were good and entertained the whole anchorage. One fellow on a Canadian registered boat hailed Bad Girl, registered in Bermuda, to thank him for the show. The Canadian asked leading questions about Bad Girl, but the English accented captain was quite secretive never saying much more that she was a privately owned vessel. Maybe it was a rock star, a movie actor, a royal, or perhaps an AIG executive; who knows. Oh well, it was fun to watch and speculate.
Irish Eyes made the long trip, about 5 miles, to Norman’s Cay, the ex home and business location of the drug baron Carlos Lehder. We went into the Beach Club, McDuff’s, for a drink and dinner. Norman’s Cay has 5 year-round residents and about 45 part-time residents. The staff at McDuff’s are usually there for a week and off for a week. Some go to Nassau and some go back to various points in the US or UK. Our waitress told us that some of the young guys are there for a few months; make of that what you may. The food was good and the booze flowed in the evenings for both the staff and guests.
We left Norman’s and headed south for another 5 miles to Shroud Cay which is the northernmost cay in the Exumas National Park where we picked up one of their ($15/night) mooring balls. This is the island with a natural fresh water well where we stayed last year. Bill made three trips in the dinghy bringing us about 40 gallons of water. That was enough for me to wash underwear and refill our forward water tank. Peanuts was wrong, happiness is a full drawer of clean underwear! Shroud Cay was a great place to explore. The island is basically two land masses, one on the banks side and one on the ocean side, with mangrove swamps and tidal creeks in the middle. We took two three-hour dinghy exploration trips through the mangroves to the sound beaches, one through the northernmost creek and one through a southern creek. The scenery was spectacular. At times the water was very shallow and we had to walk pulling the dinghy behind, but the views and the beach were worth the effort. Our little Tohatsu outboard motor was a trooper going through water we thought was deep but really was not. I found pretty things; Bill found stuff. The amount of plastic junk on a deserted beach is mind boggling. Sorry all you plastic guys at Eastman, but it’s enough to make a person want to ban plastic! Bill’s best find was the electronics from some sort of weather balloon. It was a Styrofoam case with a circuit board and battery inside and with lots of wires sticking out. The thing looked like a bomb but was too water logged to be scary. I would also ban Styrofoam if I were in charge.
Today we made a reservation on the VHF for a mooring buoy at Warderick Wells Cay, the headquarters for the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We put the dinghy on the deck, dropped the mooring ball, and sailed southeast from Hawksbill Cay until Warderick Wells was east of us. Then we started motoring, slowly, into the 25 knot east wind that we have had since leaving Florida. It was not fun. The boat’s instruments said it would take 2 hours, then when we almost stopped after hitting a wave and water went all over the boat, 3 hours, then 2 hours as we started moving again. Well, we got here, finally. Near the shore and protected by the cay between us and the wind it is nearly calm if you forget the singing of the rigging overhead. We took the American flag down; it was making too much noise. We got the WiFi working and Bill is re-patching the dinghy. It’s nearly time for a SDG&T. Got to go.

March 16, 2009

When we arrived in the Bahamas we have to attest to the good health of the vessel and her crew. Fortuantely, we had no cases of plague, cholera, yellow fever or small pox during our ten hour voyage from Florida.

Sailing north around Bimini. The covered jugs are diesel and gas.

Bill thinks the iguana will come over and take the grape from his hand. The iguana plans to bite hell out of him, make him drop the grape, then pick it up. Bill does this twice before setting the grapes on the sand for the iguanas to pick up.

The view from the driftwood bench at the top of Allens Cay west over the Exuma Bank.

Greetings from Allens Cay, Exuma Cays, the Bahamas.
We left No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne Monday morning March 9 in the dark headed for Bimini. I have such poor night vision that getting out of the harbor and through the shallow Cape Florida Channel between Biscayne Bay and the ocean was scary. I was steering and Bill navigating. It didn’t help that the full moon set an hour before we left, that we had to go around some anchored boats, and that one of marks that was supposed to be lit was not. We cleared the last of the marks about 6:10am and were in the deep water of the Gulf Stream until we got to the channel into Bimini. This was our third crossing of the Gulf Stream. It was the middle one; not too rough or windy but not dead calm either. Four or five ships crossed our path heading south as we went east. We had a pod of the small spotted porpoises with us for about half an hour as the sun rose. We can’t ask for anything better than that.
Around midday, we heard a dive boat, Pirates Lady, calling the US Coast Guard from near Cat Cay which is just south of Bimini. They were reporting a missing diver. There was lots of radio talk about the search which involved two USCG helicopters and a number of pleasure craft. A large ship finally reported he could see something in the water. The heavily accented captain said he could not get close enough to make sure what he saw was the diver and was having trouble getting smaller boats to go take a look. We listened to the radio until we got to Bimini around 3pm, then switched it off. Bill was filling out the paperwork for the customs and immigrations while I breathed a sigh of relief that we were out of the Gulf Stream and firmly tied to Weech’s Dock. Ahead of us on the dock was Dot’s Way, a sailboat we had seen on and off in the ICW since Savannah. I was enjoying the warm temperature, clear water, blue sky, and a well deserved sundowner while Bill was meeting with officialdom ashore when Pirate’s Lady pulled into Weech’s. Pirates Lady is a 60 foot sailboat from Turk Island. She takes people out for a week of sailing and diving. Bill had finished with Customs and was on his way back from the Immigration Office when he saw a crowd of Bahamian police and rescue workers arriving at our dock. I think Bill was afraid I had gotten into trouble while he was gone and that Irish Eyes was about to be searched! Very regretfully they were there to retrieve the body of the missing diver. It was surmised the fellow had died of a heart attack. It was a fairly sober evening for us and probably a long week to come for the charter party on Pirates Lady.
Irish Eyes and Dot’s Way left about the same time both headed toward Nassau, and we were in sight of each other most of that day. It was a beautiful day with good wind for sailing in the morning before we turned east into the wind and started the engine. It was calm enough on the shallow Bahama Bank for me to make a loaf of bread. The sky was perfectly clear and at sunset we saw our first green flash. As the sun dropped below the horizon, the very last bit turned from the usual red-orange to a very bright pure green for the final second or two before disappearing. Spectacular! Bill had convinced me to sail overnight to Nassau, but Dot’s Way decided to anchor overnight ‘on the bank’. They dropped anchor in the middle of nowhere around midnight as we plowed on. Skipper Bob’s guide “Bahamas Bound” says beware of the 20 foot waves kicked up by an easterly wind in the much deeper Northwest Channel leading to Nassau. He wasn’t kidding. There was very little wind but lots of waves coming straight at us. I thought we would never reach West Bay on New Providence Island, but around 10:30am almost exactly 24 hours after our departure we did arrive and finally got our anchor down. A flying fish had landed on our deck during the night, and after tossing him overboard, both of us immediately took a much needed nap.
Anchored with us in this bay were two motor vessels and one large sailing catamaran. One of the motor boats was what we call a spaceship; white, sleek, fiberglass, lots of art deco windows, 60+ feet in length. This one was flagged (no doubt for tax reasons) in the Marshall Islands. It had an ultralight seaplane as one of its toys. The plane landed behind the boat, the pilot tossed a line to the deck hand and stepped off onto the yacht. An hour or so later he got back on the plane along with a passenger. They had a difficult time taking off, making several attempts, but finally after briefly returning to the mother ship they made it and flew off towards Nassau’s nearby airport. Shortly afterwards the boat pulled anchor and followed. I think I need a seaplane and pilot to take me to the next stop so I don’t have to sail over night.
We left West Bay around 9:30am and sailed southeast on the wind till we were past all the shallow spots around New Providence, then we turned dead into the wind and motored east across the Great Bahama Bank to Ship Channel Cay, another long motoring into the east wind. Sunset brought our second green flash every bit as spectacular as the first. We didn’t get to Ship Channel Cay ‘till after dark which does not make me comfortable, even with Bill watching the radar. But now we are in the Exumas and can go from anchorage to anchorage most of which are less than 5 miles apart. I like that! We spent two nights anchored behind Ship Channel Cay just resting up. The next day we went to Roberts Cay about a half mile south and spent the night. Yesterday, we sailed the 5 miles down to Allens Cay and into the anchorage between Allens Cay, Southwest Allens Cay, and Leaf Cay.
The Allens Cay area has iguanas. They are creepy looking big lizards some as long as three or four feet. We came here last year so the novelty is gone. The iguanas are just as ugly as I remember. Bill insisted on feeding the beasts grapes and got his finger bitten twice in the process! Does anybody else, other than Ann and Julia, remember the black racer snake that bit his finger? The iguanas got the same one. I really hope he doesn’t get some dreaded tropical iguana disease. We walked over the top of Leaf Cay, where most of the Iguanas live, to the ocean side beach. The water is so blue and the sand so white; can't beat that! I found a West Indian Top Snail shell. It was very pretty. I have vowed not to pick up just any shell, only the really great ones. We shall see how long that promise lasts!
When we anchored here yesterday it was high tide and we were closer to a sand bar than we wanted to be last night. There was not much we could do about it then because at low tide the boat would not float over the anchor so we could not retrieve it. This morning we picked up the anchor and moved a few feet to a better spot. Later, we took the dinghy to a small beach on Allens Cay itself and walked up a path to the high spot on the island to take in the view. Bill found a dead iguana, a decayed bird, and a large rotting bird’s egg, but the views were nice from a well placed driftwood bench someone had built. Two Canadian couples joined us and we talked with them for a while before returning to the boat.
All is peaceful tonight with us. We feel very fortunate to be here. God has been good to us! Hope you are all well.

March 8, 2009

The restored Cape Florida Lighthouse at the southern tip of Key Biscayne. We can anchor in the nearby harbor for $15 a night. Not bad for such a pretty place. I bet the hotel rooms in town are a bit more!

Isabella with her hat and new umbrella stroller taking in the sights on the beach.

Mother daughter and grandaughter sitting in the cockpit. We are anchored. Notice how close the mangrove lined shoreline is behind us. It got closer as the wind shifted and the boat pivoted around its anchor.

This creature, a green iguana, was resting on the ever closer rocks under the mangroves behind us. He is not a spectacularly large one, only three feet. The guidebook says they grow to five feet and can stand up and run on their hind legs. It doesn't say anything about swimming - thank goodness.

We are anchored in No Name Harbor, on Key Biscayne in Florida having arrived here on the 26th. This is a most interesting place. The harbor is part of the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park which is at the southern tip of Key Biscayne. The park is a natural area with walking paths, nature trails, bicycle paths, a beach, two very nice restaurants, and the beautiful white Cape Florida Lighthouse with its reconstructed keeper’s cottage. Just outside the park gates and down the sidewalk past really expensive houses and condos are a grocery, hardware, post office, drug store, and library with all the things I need, and lots of shops with things I don’t need but which are no doubt necessary for the people who live in the expensive houses and condos.
Bill and I discovered shortly after we arrived that on Key Biscayne English is the second language. People on the street and in the shops speak Spanish first and English second. The local folks are doing more than fine with their incomes, and the place is beautiful. The streets are lined with palm trees set among tropical plantings, the sidewalks are pink, and the soccer fields in the park look like golf course greens. They don’t need our WalMart, K-Mart, Target or other discount stores. CVS, Winn-Dixie, and Ace Hardware seem to be the only chain stores on the island.
Julia, Josh, and Isabella joined us our first Friday night here. Isabella didn’t mind her life jacket, but her ear infection kept her from feeling her best. She was a trooper and viewed the lighthouse and wildlife then spent two nights on the sailboat. Julia brought Bill his birthday present, a 2009 Defender catalogue which he has gone to sleep reading every night since, and a couple of replacement parts for the head (toilet) that is absolutely necessary for me. Josh treated us all to a delicious dinner at the Boater’s Grill.
No Name Harbor is not far from Miami, so on the weekend lots and lots of boats came into the harbor to enjoy the park and dine at the Boater’s Grill at the head of the basin. In spite of the signs saying no tying to the wall between 11pm and 8am, dozens and dozens of boats were rafted up three and four deep Saturday night with their engines idling, blue lights shining underwater, playing Spanish rap while everyone milled about and had a good time until the sun came up the next morning.
Sunday, after Julia, Josh, and Isabella left, we did our usual daily running of the engine to freeze the refrigerator’s holding plate and charge the batteries, only to discover an injector was loose, leaking exhaust and soot into the engine compartment. Bill, the fixer of all things mechanical, tightened the injector hold-down bolts to stop the leak. He said we needed some new gaskets for the injector in case it started to leak again. Those things are not in our spare parts inventory. Bill did an internet search and found the Yanmar dealer in Miami, Anchor Marine. He even found a way to get there with public transportation and just a little walking. On Tuesday we took the bus from Key Biscayne to Miami then the train across Miami to within six or eight blocks of the store. We managed the bus/train part of the trip flawlessly. We got off the train and started walking to the parts store. Little did we know we would be walking through Little Havana! The substandard housing, trash in the streets, cars randomly parked with dudes discussing whatever, barred windows, growling dogs, and razor wire on the top of the chain link fences let me know that I wasn’t in my kind of neighborhood! The internet map also didn’t show that we would need to cross both a canal and a river. The nearest bridge over the canal was barricaded and located in the middle of a fenced off construction area. Bill asked one of the fellows in a hard hat if we could walk through, and we did… right in front of an advancing bulldozer pushing a pile of gravel. To find a bridge over the river, we called the store, and they gave us directions for a six block detour to a four lane drawbridge with traffic whizzing both ways, but eventually we did make it to the shop although we were both dusty and hot. I was shocked to find the two little copper parts that we spent a whole day getting were the size of coins and cost a grand total of $3.00! We safely made it to a somewhat closer train station then back to our bus stop amid the skyscrapers of downtown Miami. Being hungry and thirsty, we decided to have lunch in a pizza restaurant before taking the bus to Key Biscayne. It was a very nice place, a mere stone’s throw from the ghetto. We enjoyed our $20 sandwiches while being served by three waiters. It was an entirely different world. I was happy because the sandwich was delicious, the glass was heavily frosted, and the beer was very cold! A walking trip with Bill is always an adventure, and so far they have all turned out all right in the end.
We have entertained ourselves nosing around the park, walking to the local stores, reading, and, in my case, knitting. I just finished an argyle sweater for Ann’s son Ely and put in the mail to him along with sheet of stickers for his sister, Kaelyn. For mid-week entertainment, Wednesday night, after the rangers left for home, the boaters had a cocktail party in the nearby picnic shelter. It is always fun to meet fellow cruisers. I have never met a boater I didn’t find interesting (and a few are too interesting); Americans, Canadians, couples, singles, people without a nickel to their names, owners of gold plated boats, the sane and the insane, dreamers and doers. I wonder if they find me similarly interesting.
The weather forecast is for the wind to slow down and shift to the southeast Sunday night as an area of high pressure spreads out over us. That should let the seas drop to two feet or less although the wind and waves will still be on our nose. So, we may get to make our crossing to Bimini either Monday morning or maybe Tuesday morning. Anyway, that is today’s plan. We will keep you all posted.