February 16, 2010.

We probably won't have internet again until well after the 19th so.......Happy Birthday Randall.

The last front to come through also brought with it prolonged winds from the southwest. There's not a whole lot of places to hide from any type of westerly winds here in the Jumentos. While listening to the VHF I was able to count 29 boats and pinpoint their locations.

There are 2 “decent” places to hid and another 2 marginal places. Most of the boats were in or headed to Double Breasted Cay. So Far Niente, Savage Son and us on the Veranda opted to try some place we’ve never been before.

There's a cut from the banks side to the ocean between Hog Cay and Ragged Island that looked as if it would do the trick. Its open to the east but there were no easterlies in the forecast. From the west the entrance is a winding shallow affair between even shallower sand banks that will knock down any wave action headed our way, or at least that’s the theory.

Once inside the cut we found a sandy patch on the grass covered sea floor and dropped the hook and settled in for the 2 day event. A couple of boats dragged as the wind swung around through the west but everything worked out okay.

On Sunday morning all 9 boats in the anchorage headed out for the 2 mile trip up to Middle Pen Bay on Hog Cay. We were soon joined by an additional 11 boats that came down from Double Breasted Cay. The reason for the get together was that Maxine, who runs the grocery store on Hog Cay, holds a Valentines Day lunch every year.

Just after noon a half dozen locals brought Maxine and her food out to the beach where we had a grand time eating and drinking.



Maxine brought a cooked turkey, a bigass ham and the largest bowl of peas and rice that I had ever seen. All the cruisers all brought a dish to supplement the meal with a heavy emphasis on desserts (thank God). It was a huge turnout, especially down here with about 50 people in attendance.

The next morning the forecast once again turned to shit. So after a 2 hour walk on the beach there was a mass exodus as everyone headed out in search of a more protected anchorage. We had a great sail back down to Southside Bay at the southern tip of Ragged Island where we’ll most likely be hunkered down until Thursday or maybe even Friday.

Usually down here in the Jumentos we get a cold front once every 2 or 3 weeks. This year its been much worse with this being our fourth front in 11 days. I guess that this is just an extension of the horrible weather that’s been dumping snow all over the continental United States. Even though we’ve been having some crappy weather I guess it could be a lot worse.