March 31-

We are on our way to San Mateo, Florida, where we will store the boat at Gibson’s Dry Dock. It is a little sad, but will be fun to be home again too.

This has been a wonderful trip and a great adventure, and we are definitely looking forward to doing it again. We have learned so much about the places we have been, some things about ourselves, and a little bit about what is really ‘important’ to us.

One should never take for granted the comfort of a long warm shower or the bounty of the produce section of a good grocery store. We will always marvel at the stars at night, beautiful blue water and sandy beaches, and family and good friends.

That’s it for now, mon!

March 26-29

Chris Parker is the weather guru for cruisers, and most everyone wakes up to catch his SSB radio broadcast at 6:30 in the morning, every day except Sunday. There have been a number of cold fronts passing through, but he sees a ‘window’ to make the passage to Florida in the next few days. If we do not capitalize on it, it will be at least a week before there is another opportunity.

With this in mind, we are off to Highbourne Cay on Wednesday and then to West Bay on New Providence Island on Thursday. The forecast still looks good, so early Friday morning it is off to Lake Worth in Florida.

The waves in the Tongue of the Ocean have been quite large over the past week, but have been subsiding in the last couple of days. Thus it was with just a little trepidation that we stuck our noses out there at first light in the morning.

We have been sailing together with Cipango for the last couple of weeks, and this picture shows them just a little off our port side. We were simultaneously in the trough of waves and all we could see were their sails.

The wind was fresh and true all day and we had one of the best sails we have ever had. From the Tongue of the Ocean we passed through the Northwest Channel onto the Banks, which were never more than 12 to 20 feet deep.

At about midnight we passed by an outcropping known as Hens and Chickens and set our sights on Florida. It is always a little unnerving to be sailing at night. The funny thing is, you can’t see all that much. The stars, however, were spectacular, and when you looked down at the wake it appeared to be full of little fireflies called bioluminescence.

It was a beautiful night and an uneventful crossing. As the sun came up in the morning the wind changed slightly and we were able to sail the last four hours to Lake Worth. We travelled for 28.5 hours and in that time covered 174.7 nautical miles.

Is it any wonder that afternoon burgers and beers at the Tiki Hut were a real treat?

March 13-25

We sailed down to Cambridge Cay on Thursday and picked up a mooring ball in a terrific anchorage. The mooring is nestled between cays and so is protected from winds and waves from all directions. This is one of the few true ‘hidey holes’ in the entire Exumas chain.

Cambridge is also a jumping off spot to a number of interesting spots. In the afternoon we went by dinghy down to the Acquarium, a great snorkeling spot with a wide variety of fish. As we are in the Land and Sea Park we are seeing many more and a greater variety of fish. The tidal currents can be quite strong, though, and you have to pick your snorkeling times accordingly.

On the way back to the boat we stopped at another location where a small plane had crashed. It was rather spooky to dive down and see the wings and fuselage still intact. I could not, however, muster the nerve to swim down and peek into the open cabin door!


The next day we went by dinghy over to Compass Cay. This is a very pretty cay with a nice marina and a number of guest cabins. Guests and visitors can feed the nurse sharks which congregate around the dinghy dock, and on a nice day even go for a swim with them. None of us capitalized on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, though.

We did, however, walk over to the beach on the ocean side of the cay. It is a gorgeous beach overlooking that fabulous aquamarine blue water.

On Sunday we sailed down to Emerald Rock at Warderick Wells and then on Thursday moved over to the North anchorage. We have been thinking we should be moving further north, but windy weather has made it an easy decision to remain until after Easter.

Actually, if the truth be told, we have been away from any opportuntiy to resupply for a while and are pretty much out of fresh produce. That may be the more compelling reason that we are looking forward to the pot luck Easter meal. And what a great afternoon it was.