See a doctor.....

December 28, 2011.

We're anchored as close to shore as possible. When we returned from an afternoon of shelling we found that we had a new neighbor. Unfortunately, they have an embarrassing issue. You know, a social disease, like gonorrhea only worse, it was a ridiculously loud wind generator.

The Air X and the Air Marine wind generators make great power when the wind blows. The odd thing is that some of them are shockingly loud while others aren't really too bad. Our friend Roland has one and its not too bad until the wind hits exactly 28 knots. At 28 knots it sounds like somebody has thrown open the gates of hell and every demon and fury within has come shrieking out. It actually makes you duck as you can't imagine that pieces of it aren't hurtling at you.

The blade profile generates some of the noise while the bulk of the noise comes from the blades “feathering” in an effort to slow the thing down. I've seen aftermarket blades that do an amazing job of quieting them down so there is something that can be done about the noise.

Our new neighbors generator mount ensures that his generator will never be one of the quiet ones.

Instead of the pole being vertical, it leans aft at about a 15 degree angle. So rather than the wind generator being level and facing the breeze it looks “up” through the breeze. This leaves the thing constantly shrieking as its always on the verge of trying to feather itself. Its crazy how loud this thing is even in only 12 knots of breeze.

As an unexpected bonus they also have the loudest inboard diesel generator EVER. The thing barely pumps any water and the exhaust note comes through practically dry and pounds down onto the surface of the water and as an added bonus there’s an echo. Its just crazy how loud this boat is. Oh look, they don't use an anchor light either. Perfect.

So what I'm trying to say is that if you have VD you wouldn't be welcomed with open arms at the weekly neighborhood orgy. You made the choice to have unprotected sex with a prostitute and now you're saddled with a ridiculously loud case of Cupids Itch. So if you have The Clap, anchor out near the edge of the group instead of right in the middle. Nobody else should be expected to bear the consequences of your decisions.

Alpha Mike 1 standing by......

December 25, 2011.

Happy Birthday Ashlee & Jesus.

On Saturday morning I was awakened by the sound of Santa and one of his elves arriving by dinghy. But then I realized that Santa doesn't have a dink and it was only the Savages dropping by EARLY to drop off a gift bag including a very special lobster hat which I will probably never take off.

On Sunday the official Georgetown Christmas dinner celebration was a huge meal planned for noon. Tables were set up for 5, 6 or 7 boats per table. With each table being responsible for the food at their own table. This seemed like a pretty good plan as there was no huge “chow line” for people to wait in. Each table was left to their own devices as to what the menu included and who was responsible for what. It sounded like fun but we skipped it.

We had Christmas dinner with Fine Lion 2 years ago and since they're here as well we decided to get together and do it again. Along with the crews of Sapphire and Alibi II we all descended on the good ship Fine Lion for the afternoon. Everybody brought a portion of the meal and once again it was a meal to remember. There was ham, beef tenderloin, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Caesar salad, hot rolls, stuffing and apple crisp for dessert.

We were there for hours and we spent the entire time either eating or laughing.

I hope everyone got to spend their holiday eating good food with people they enjoy.

December 24, 2011.

We're still hanging around in Georgetown. We've been to town and successfully extended our immigration status. Since we were coming here to Georgetown to take care of immigration we decided to have a small electronic doodad shipped in. The first weather window after its arrival, we're outta here.

My nonexistent love affair with Georgetown continues. For a lot of people Georgetown is “the” place to be, I'm just not “that” type of person. At the moment there’s a hundred boats here but in another 6 weeks there might be 300. It's already too crowded and don't get me started on the radio traffic.

Monday on the morning radio net a guy proposed having a Wednesday night cocktail hour at Sand Dollar Beach where he,and we, are anchored. Why it has to be two days away I dunno, maybe his ice maker is slow. On Wednesday morning he got on the radio and canceled “his” event as he had determined that it was too windy. Too windy to go drinking? Seriously? “his” event? Really? I had no idea that we were all under his supervision. Needless to say he was ignored. The crews from several boats were enjoying each others company when the guy actually pulled his hook and left. That'll teach us. Control freak.

We've been to a couple of evening beach cocktail events and I really do enjoy seeing old friends and meeting new people. It's just that I prefer my groups to be smaller. We had one such event just yesterday. Ten of us brown bagged our lunch at the secluded beach at the northern end of the harbor.

We sat in the shade of the enclosure and chatted for a while over lunch. One by one people drifted away and wandered down to the water.

We all ended up sitting in the dead calm, neck deep water and just talked. We sat there and wallowed for hours, it might be the best time I've ever had in Georgetown.

December 19, 2011.

Happy Birthday Allyson.

We had a small window of decent wind from a good direction so at 0700 we headed out the cut at Cave Cay and into Exuma Sound. The trip to Georgetown is a jump of a bit more than 30 miles. The remarkable thing about this little jump is that we'll be able to do some deep sea fishing for the majority of the trip. The water along this route is between a few hundred to a few thousand feet deep.

While Christy and I have the whole spearfishing down pat we still don't have much of a clue so far as the whole rod and reel thing goes. In the past we've caught one tuna, one Mahi Mahi, one Sailfish and a few Cero. Considering how much time we've spent dragging various lures around we haven't caught shit.

Our friends Jay & Di sold their cruising boat this past year. They're now touring the country via motor coach so they felt they had no need for their various deep sea fishing bits and pieces. They generously bestowed several pieces of gear upon us including what would turn out to be a magical lure.

I tied on one of our new lures and dropped it over the side. I was paying the line out to leave the lure trailing 150 feet behind the boat. It wasn't even played out yet when it got hit. Fish on! It ended up being a small Mahi Mahi of about 5 ½ pounds.

That pretty much set the tone for the day an hour later we took a 44 incher that I had to gaff. When I gaffed him I hit something arterial and there was blood everywhere.

We land them on the side deck and then after subduing them I walk them to the bow to fillet them so I can use the anchor washdown to clean up afterwards.

There was blood the length of the boat.

Twenty minutes after cleaning up as best I could we took a 36 incher. This one got hit by a Barracuda as Christy reeled it in. We did get the entire Mahi although he was a little worse for wear when we got him onboard.

Mike & Kathy on Sapphire were trailing 3 lures at the same time and ran through a school of Mahi and scored simultaneous hits on all 3 lines. After landing the trio they caught one more before they were through. I think there were about 18 boats strung out over a ten mile stretch and I heard 15 Mahi Mahi taken. Nice day, actually magical.

We arrived at Conch Cay Cut at noon at the head of the pack. This cut always makes my ass clinch a bit, even when its decent out. You come in a large gap between breakers both to port and to starboard. As soon as you're past the breakers you turn hard to port and travel a half mile just inside the breakers, parallel to them.

I dunno, breakers to port and a reef to starboard, I just hate that section.

After dropping the hook at Sand Dollar Beach we scrubbed the topsides as best we could before settling in to an afternoon of doing nothing. We'll be here through the holidays before continuing south.

December 17, 2011.

Yesterdays 6 lobsters brought the season total to 22. The weather wasn't the greatest today so we farted around a bit before deciding to do a little hunting. The tide and breeze were both coming in so we decided to drift dive the cut before the tide changed.

The cut at Cave Cay is deep as hell. The center is every bit of forty feet deep and can be a bit intimidating as you rocket along on the tide. The southern edge has a awesome vertical wall and the tide at the edge is a little easier to deal with. The vertical wall is probably 25 feet tall and composed of one shelf on top of another. There are even walled canyons that angle off towards Musha Cay.

The surface was a little rougher than Christy would prefer so she manned the dink while I slipped into the water to reconnoiter. Immediately I was surrounded by a school of Spotted Eagle Rays lazing about. There were some the size of a twin bed and pretty special to see. I saw several more fish that were just too large to even consider shooting (Last years broken spear event)as they'd probably break my spear and beat me to death.

I was in the water for about 5 minutes when I came across number 23. Actually, Mr. 23. I was descending near one of the walls when I spotted an antenna sticking out of a crevice. I cocked my spear and angled towards the opening. I grabbed the rocky ledge just above the opening and swung my shooting arm and shoulder under the ledge. And nearly shit myself.

He was massive, he looked at me as if to say “what?”. I got a good shot that ripped diagonally through his body. I ripped him out of the hole and headed up to the dink. Christy grabbed one of the other spears and was about to hand it to me when I said “ I think we're done” and then showed her the catch of the day.

I've taken more impressive lobsters before but never one this heavy.

He weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces. Thats not a dessert plate that his tail is on thats a full sized dinner plate.

We're gonna need more butter.....

Cave Cay

December 16, 2011.

We woke to a pleasant breeze outta the east north east so it was time to finally bid Big Majors Spot adieu. We hoisted the main, pulled the hook and sailed out of the anchorage. As soon as we were pointed in the right direction we let out half of the genoa and headed out around Harvey Cay and turned south.

We were content to be a bit under canvassed as we rode a favorable breeze south at between 5 ½ to 6 ½ knots. We soon passed Black Point and the half dozen boats anchored there. Then we slid past White Bay and the easily recognizable landmark, the Sand Castle.

Its a beautiful home that's designed to look like a sand castle. There were another 7 boats anchored nearby.

After a very nice 22 mile day under sail we stopped before noon at Cave Cay. Cave Cay was one of the first “off the beaten path” anchorages that we stopped in several years ago. Most people head out into the sound at the Galliot Cay cut but by continuing on for another mile we found the little chunk of bliss, Cave Cay.

Right after lunch we were in the water and after an hour and a half we were headed back to the boat with a half dozen lobsters. Then I fired up the laptop and made a pleasant discovery, wifi! We're anchored about a half mile north of Musha Cay and they broadcast a pretty strong wifi signal.

Since they were nice enough let us use their wifi Christy did some internet research and found that Musha Cay is owned by David Copperfield. Evidently pulling a rabbit out of a hat pays a lot better than I had envisioned. Christy's time on the internet found his website promoting the Cay as a high end get-away. When I say high end I'm not kidding. The advertised price for a stay for you and up to eleven of your closest friends is $37,500 per night. Four night minimum! The link will take you to their excellent website, it really does look quite spectacular.Musha Cay Who knows, maybe once my Energy Circle takes off we'll be hanging with Oprah and Dave on Musha Cay. In the mean time we'll have to be content watching the same sunset, eating lobster. If you do decide to drop the 150 large on a long weekend at Musha be sure to tell them that Veranda sent you..........

December 14, 2011.

Yes, we're still hiding. 25 knots was the norm for today so I did some boat chores. Just not boat chores on our boat.

A friend was having trouble with his watermaker. It was sucking air from somewhere and it was screwing up the whole magical process of turning seawater into drinking water. I tightened every hose clamp within a three mile radius and it only made things a little better. Then I realized that one hose just before the boost pump was deforming. The little boost pump was actually pulling a vacuum and collapsing the hose. That meant there had to be a blockage between the boost pump and the water inlet.

The seacock for the raw water was on the other side of a bulkhead and I hadn't seen it. It turned out that the seacock was an inch and a half that was necked down to 1 inch, necked again to ¾ of an inch before being reduced one more time to a ½ inch and THEN it went through a sea strainer. So anything small enough to fit into the original 1 ½ inch opening could theoretically slip down the hose until it found a diameter that was too small for it to fit through. But what are the chances of that happening.....evidently a lot better than you might think. Sure enough I found a damn Lincoln Log™ firmly wedged into one of the reducers. Once it was removed and the watermaker actually was presented with some sea water the magical process was once again happening like it should.

After that it was on to another boat. I met this guy the night before, he was looking for help because his 50 foot trawler wouldn't start. Hes out on the hook with twin Detroit diesels and a 20KW generator and none of em' will start. He only recently bought the boat and didn't seem too familiar with the boats systems. Even knowing that, I was still pretty surprised when I headed down into his engine room.

There were the starting batteries sitting in a great battery box with complete access. Nothing unusual about that but what immediately caught my eye was the fact that sitting there on a shelf was an automobile type battery charger. It was hooked to the batteries and plugged in to the wall. I said “Cap'n, where are you getting the power to run that charger?” Because I already know that the generator isn't running, the engines won't start and unless hes got a mile and a half of extension cord run over to Staniel Cay there might be something supernatural going on here. He answered “ From the inverter”. Huh, the inverter.

I'm not the brightest bulb on the holiday tree but I can pretty much instantly envision this little amp circus. The inverter takes DC and turns it into AC which runs the battery charger which takes the AC and turns it into DC to charge the batteries and then the inverter takes DC and turns it into AC which runs the battery charger which takes the AC and turns it into DC to charge the batteries and then the inverter takes DC and turns it into AC which runs the battery charger which takes the AC and turns it into DC to charge the batteries as my friend Buzz Lightyear would say “to infinity and beyond!”.

This method of charging is called an “Energy Circle”, often referred to as a “black hole of energy” and sometimes shortened to “Amp Hole”. Not to be too technical but the mathematical formula is something like AC ÷ DC × DC ÷ AC × TIME × CHARGER INEFFICIENCY ± √ INVERTER INNEFICIENCY = dead batteries pretty f'ing quick. I eventually got the boat started but this lesson in alternative physics got me thinkin'.

When we get back to the states I'm gonna look into building a huge battery bank that I can combine with the largest inverter ever made all used in conjunction with a battery charger of immense proportions. By my yet unfinished calculations this set up will provide me with a power excess in the 70 million megawatt range. I can sell this power and within 3 weeks should have the necessary funds to build a second set up much like the first. From there its 4 and then 8 of these money makers. I'll be able to take existing amps and multiply them by themselves in this cutting edge equipment that I'll call "AMPlifiers". Its all so neat and clean, its amptastic!

Of course, with so much cheap electricity, fossil fuels will go unneeded. The middle east will revert to the stone age without our petrodollars and we'll all be driving Jetson like electric vehicles for practically nothing. Nuclear power will be a farce and investment in solar and wind power will come to a screeching halt. Why bother, they can't compete with an Energy Circle. I can't believe nobody has thought of this sooner.

Naturally actual construction won't begin until June of 2012 just in case the Mayans turned out to be correct about the world ending in May. This delayed start will give you the time to liquidate your holdings so you'll have plenty of cash when this obvious investment opportunity is ready. Who wants to be the first to pour some money into this cutting edge Energy Circle technology. I've already got the company logo.

In the meantime I'll be finishing up the planning as soon as I recharge my calculator.

December 13, 2011.

The luck of the draw. That pretty much sums up what every year often boils down to when talking about the weather. These last 5 years have been very varied in how well the weather has treated us during the cruising season in the Bahamas.

The first 2 years we were down here the weather was akin to what tropical sailing dreams are made of. 10 to 15 knots of warm breeze outta the east for days on end. The clocking cold fronts would come through every few weeks with the regularity of a train schedule. It really was a very special time.

Three seasons ago the weather was technically speaking, pure shit. In the states there was snow in the Carolinas, freezing temperatures in Miami and noteworthy blizzards in the northeast. Down here in the Bahamas things were better but by local weather standards the year sucked. Significant cold fronts were coming through every 4 or 5 days. Run and hide a day ahead of time, swim and hunt before the front arrived, sit on the boat and read for a day or so as the front passed through and then what? The next front was often due to hit in 4 days. Do you head out for a day or so and then return to your hole to repeat it all again. Or do you just sit in the safety of your hidey hole and just wait for the next front to arrive and pass? If that had been our first Bahamas experience I don't know that we would have ever come back.

Last year was another very nice season but this year has been something new altogether. WIND. Not necessarily from a bad direction but the intensity has been limiting what we can do.

When we were in Nassau we wanted to head southeast but even though the winds were outta the northeast they were hovering at more than 25 knots. So beam reach or not we hid until the wind dropped below 20 knots. But then it had also come around closer to the bow and forced our hand to where we could go. After we made our break the winds built again right away and pinned us at Normans Cay. The wind finally veered enough that we lost our protection and had to run before it down to Big Majors Spot. It was a great day of sailing but we've been fairly well pinned down since then.

After 6 nights or so at Big Majors we made the 8 mile sail south to the settlement at Black Point. After 2 nights there we made a short hop north to Bitter Guana. We had never dealt with Iguanas before and the double bonus was the fact that we were there alone for 2 nights. After that bit o' fun we jumped back up to Big Majors.

I shouldn't really complain because theres been plenty to do.

Yesterday we dinghied in to Staniel Cay and enjoyed a meal at the yacht club and then walked around the cay a bit. There’s also been some swimming

and a few beach get togethers in the evenings including Rolands 75th birthday party tonight.

Its only Tuesday but all 12 boats here in the anchorage are praying that the pleasant easterlies forecast for this weekend come to fruition. Right now the wind is pretty steady at 25 knots outta the northeast. We'd like to jump out into Exuma Sound and the cuts have been ferocious for days. So we'll be here for a few more days, who knows, maybe tomorrow night we'll burn some garbage....

December 9, 2011.

We went for a mile swim today. We took a 2 pound lobster as soon as we hit the water and the rest of the swim was spent looking at every rock and piece of coral we saw. One is better than nothing so we headed home for lunch. I didn't have any trouble with my ears so it seems that Christy's magical cure did the trick.

After lunch we set out to find some fabled ocean side beaches to the south. Again we found ourselves walking along a fairly clean beach. No flotsam or jetsam, pretty much nothing. Unlike other places we've been, I guess the currents just don't hit this section of the Banks like it does in other places.

Speaking of junk on the beach. As you know from past postings, a lot of the ocean side beaches are covered with the flotsam of mankind. In the past 5 years it would be fair to say that we've seen 10,000 shoes washed up on shore. You'll see a fairly distinctive shoe and think to yourself “I think I just saw the mate to that one, but where? Was it earlier or was it yesterday, was it even this island?” A few days ago, Bill from Alibi II removed all doubt when he found a matched pair of sneakers.

Anybody need a pair of used sixes?

One of the cool things about being behind the small cay between Black Point and Staniel Cay is that were just off the highway.

The workday must end for everyone at 1600 because by 1615 its one small speed boat after another loaded with folks headed home from work in Staniel.

December 8, 2011.

The anchorage was the calmest of any spot we've stopped this season. We woke to light winds and the promise of a sunny day. After breakfast we traced down an electrical problem with our fridge. It turned out to be a bad ground connection but was quickly fixed.

We dinghied in towards shore and slipped into the water to do a little hunting. The bottom was mostly rocky but offered decent protection for lobsters so we were optimistic. The water was less than 8 feet deep for several hundred yards. Once we reached deeper water my ears started giving me problems. I took a lobster in about 10 feet of water but then the water started getting deeper. We were getting swept along by the outgoing tide and soon found a Nassau Grouper in the 15 pound range. He's out of season and I just couldn't bring myself to drop the hammer on him. Part of it was trying to keep my Karma intact and the other part was that my ears were hurting to the point that I was getting nauseous. Hiding near the base of the very next rock was a huge Black Grouper. He is not protected so I dropped down to give it a go. My head was pounding, I was feeling queasy and even though he was hiding under a fairly small rock I just couldn't put forth the effort needed to take him. It was gonna be at least 2 or 3 dives, fighting a pretty big current, I just didn't have it in me. Staying in the water was going to be a waste of time so we hopped back into the dink and headed home.

After lunch I popped a decongestant, Christy poured some magical crap in my ears and I took a nap. After an hour I was feeling better so we headed in to shore to meet the iguanas and do some beach combing.

There are 3 cays that I’m aware of in the Exumas that have populations of wild iguanas. There’s Allen Cay, Bitter Guana Cay and Leaf Cay.

This was our first stop at any of them. The iguanas are cool as hell. When you reach the beach they come storming out of the brushline. The bigger ones are every bit of 3 feet long. I brought my iguana stick and they sensed my willingness to use it so they were only a bit aggressive with us but they did seem to enjoy beating the shit out of each other.

After communing with the wildlife for a bit we headed across the cay to the ocean side in search of some beachiness. We found a pretty nice tidal pool surrounded by acres of ironshore.

After walking for a bit we did find a series of small beaches that were actually quite clean and yielded only a few beans and some seaglass.

The wind is building, we're very protected and looking forward to what tomorrow brings.....

December 7, 2011.

We spent the morning taking a walk along the oceanside beach.

We alternated talk about the weather with scanning the shoreline for treasures. We were with the crews of 3 other boats and everybody came home with something cool.

While we were walking the mailboat arrived. We headed home to eat lunch to give the people a chance to collect their goods for their shops. After lunch we headed in to Deshamons. Deshamons makes a hell of a good pizza. We had just eaten lunch but Fine Lion, Sapphire and Alibi II were all over it. We did have a few beers with them while Christy took care of some last minute online chores.

Much to our surprise as we untied from the dock we spied the Savage Son just dropping the hook in the anchorage. They opted to stay in the states for Thanksgiving and were about a week behind. We swung by to say our hellos and headed home to the boat to put away our newly purchased vegetables and special ordered coconut bread.

You see, when you arrive in Black Point the first thing you HAVE to do is hail Lorraine’s Cafe on the VHF and order some of her mothers fresh baked bread. If you order it today her mom will make it first thing the next morning and its ready to pick up around noon.

Lorraine’s Moms coconut bread is an institution and might be the finest bread ever made. Including bread made in France. Baguettes be damned.

After stowing our food we bandied about several ideas of what exactly we should do while we ate a few slices of that damn good bread. Our original plan was to head for some seclusion and after some back and forth Christy & I decided to pull the hook and get out of Dodge. There was a bit of rain and we were treated to a great rainbow as we slowly motored out of the anchorage.

An all motor trip of less than 4 miles brought us someplace we had never been before, the northern anchorage at Bitter Guana Cay. Fortunately Bitter Guana is right between Staniel Cay and Black Point. Most people stop at the great anchorage at Big Majors Spot because of it proximity to Staniel Cay. When they leave there its only an 8 mile trek to Black point and Lorraine’s mothers bread so Bitter Guana kinda slips through the cracks. I can't recall ever seeing a cruising boat anchored off Bitter Guana so we were looking forward to some alone time even though we were just around the corner from 2 great destinations.

The anchorage was bigger, better protected than I expected and more picturesque to boot. The island is populated by wild iguanas and tomorrow should be an interesting day. We have the whole island to ourselves...........................Yeah, thats right, naked time....

December 6, 2011.

The huge winds out of the north northeast have abated and people are once again on the move. Evidently there were several boats hanging on the moorings up in the park at Warderick Wells. The wind is down and people started showing up in Big Majors Spot so it was time to move on.

We pulled the hook and had a perfect 8 mile sail out around Harvey Cay and into the anchorage at Black Point. Internet was sketchy with the wifi at Lorraine’s Cafe being down. We walked into the islands tiny grocery store and found it empty. One inedible pepper, two onions well past their prime and nothing else. Fortunately, the mailboat was scheduled to arrive the next day so we sat for a day and hoped to grab some veggies the next day. On the plus side though we were able to do our laundry.

Its been a while since we've been here at Black Point and the evidence of hurricane Irenes passing is everywhere. The thing that impacted us the most was the fact that the laundromats dock was destroyed. We had to lug our laundry from the government dock rather than just flop it up onto the laundromats dock and walk it inside. The government dock was usable but was still being repaired when we arrived. Several homes were in various stages of repair. This block home has been standing for years but it looks as if someone has started to finish it.

I'd love to read the building code here....if there is one.

December 2, 2011.

We're still safely tucked in near the middle beach at Big Majors Spot. The winds been blowing 20 knots outta the north. Its supposed to climb towards 30 and come from the northeast over the weekend so we'll sit here for a few more days. We're anchored just off the exclusive resort on Fowl Cay.

There are worse places to be trapped.....

There’s about 8 sailboats here and room for a hundred so crowding isn't an issue. We spent a couple of hours in the water yesterday and grabbed another 5 lobsters. I'm a little disappointed in the amount of Lionfish that I've been seeing. I usually kill em' whenever I see them but there’s so many here it would turn into a full time job. I did kill a bunch though and even took one that was the size of a damn chicken. By far the biggest I've seen yet.

Last night we spent the evening on the beach burning garbage and sharing cocktails and snacks with the rest of the anchorage. I have to throw a compliment to Bess from Alibi II's way. She took the conch we managed to chase down the other day and whipped them into the best cracked conch I've ever eaten. Of course, shortly after that one of the pigs from Pig Beach came wandering out of the woods and made a beeline for the assembled snack foods. I had a 4 foot long branch and used it to tap, poke and prod the pig to keep him at bay. He was insistent and I was actually feeling a bit bad about whacking him on the snout to back him off. Finally Bess says “you're not doing that right” and snatches the stick from my hand and smacks him. He backs off a bit but shes after him and pretty soon she looks like some insane shepard as she chases him back into the woods smacking at his ass the whole way. She even had him squealing. A word from the wise, if Bess has a stick and says move, I'd do it. She talks softly but carries a pig stick.

November 30, 2011.

On our second day at Normans Cay Christy and I decided to take a long swim. So we took the dink up the backside of the cay to the northern end. We slipped into the water and started swimming back towards the boat. I towed the dinghy behind me on a long tether. After over an hour we got back to the boat in time for lunch.

After lunch we headed out with the Alibi II's for a little hunting & gathering. After a short time we had collected a half dozen large conch and a trio of lobster between us. I happened to look up and noticed that the front we've been waiting for was bearing down on us.

So we quit the water and raced back to the boats to square everything away before the wind hit us. And hit us it did.

The wind built to 20 knots out of the north northwest as did the wind driven chop. The only problem was that when the boat turned to face the wind shift it left us beam to the rolling seas. Sleep did not come easily for anyone within radio range. Our night sucked but so did everyone elses. One guy just 5 miles to our south said his wind machine had recorded a gust to 50 knots during the night.

So since we were already awake we were outta there at first light. The benefit of this front was that we had an excellent day of sailing down to Big Majors Spot.

With 18 knots or so behind the beam it made for a wonderful 35 mile day. We had the hook down by 1300 hours with the huge anchorage practically to ourselves.

Later in the day several friends slipped in and dropped the hook.

As the plan stands at the moment I think we're gonna sit here for a week or so. Its supposed to blow briskly from the east for several days. Its pleasant here, we have superb easterly protection and there’s opportunity to do some hunting so we're pretty happy here.