THE ISLAND TIME FORGOT

           When I last blogged, we were preparing to leave Hatchet Bay and head north to Spanish Wells, a small island just to the north of Eleuthera. We were definitely excited about leaving that place behind even though it provided superb protection from the high winds we saw over a period of several days

The so-called Government Dock at Current Cut. Missing
roof shingles and broken-down vehicles kind of
tells it all...

            As we cleared the narrow opening to Hatchet Bay we set course for the only “challenging” part of this 35 mile trip; Current Cut. Aptly named, this narrow (not as bad a Hatchet, but pretty narrow!) opening between Eleuthera and Current Islands is notorious for the speed of the current at any time other than slack high or low tide. We’d gotten all sorts of advice on how to time slack tide and, along with Veritas, decided on a departure time which would get us there at when we thought would be high tide with very low if not totally slack current. OOPS! Guess we listened to the wrong guy because despite our best efforts to time our arrival, we were still met with a 3+ knot current directly against us as we made the final turn and negotiated the tricky channel leading through the cut. We made it just fine but REALLY SLOWLY as the current dropped our speed over the ground to about 2 knots for 10 or so minutes!

Our mooring field at the SE end of Spanish Wells harbor.
Tight fit!

            After we left the grips of the current at the cut, we turned right and headed for Spanish Wells (SW for now on), passing several beautiful islands on the way with some interesting names (Egg, Royal, Meeks Patch, etc.). Fortunately for us, Jennings on Veritas had called the day prior to “Bandit” on SW and Jock (his real name) had reluctantly agreed to hold a couple moorings for us. As we entered the small harbor I called Bandit on the radio to ask which moorings Veritas and Magic should go to and was told, in a very matter-of-a-fact voice, “…there are only 2 left so I think you should take them!" With only a little difficulty (this is a really small mooring field with just 8 spots) we picked up our moorings and settled in. We were incredibly lucky there since over the period of the next few days, no less than 10 boats came looking for a mooring and were turned away since the weather got progressively worse and not one of the boats here were leaving!

Spanish Wells fishing fleet

            We’d heard a LOT about this unique island in the Bahamas…and it all turned out to be true! First of all, this is the only place in the country that doesn’t rely on tourism for its’ economy. This is a fishing town and they provide a huge majority of the lobster tails (not really lobster, they are known as crawfish here) to places like Red Lobster. It is also the only predominantly white settlement in the Bahamas and although I cannot confirm it, we were told that a number of years ago, black workers here had to leave the island for Eleuthera (a 5 minute boat ride) every night by 5pm! Even today, there are very few black residents. 

Main channel. Note the "NO WAKE"
sign. They actually honor it here!

For those of you reading this familiar with the Chesapeake Bay, this place reminds me a lot of Tangier Island, the isolated fishing/crabbing town in the middle of the bay. The people of SW even have a similar, almost unintelligible accent that is part Bahamian, part English and part….well, I’m not sure. When we haven’t been able to understand someone we’ve kind of gotten good at smiling and nodding our heads a lot! It seems to work! Maybe they don’t understand us either!

Do not adjust your set. JL
with a COKE!!

Even though the fishing has declined in recent years, this is easily the most prosperous place we’ve been to since Nassau with well-maintained (and very New England’ish style) houses, well-dressed kids and adults, clean streets and nice shops and other businesses. It is a little like a place that time forgot 50+ years ago.  While the island is officially “dry,” and none of the restaurants (there are only 4-5!) serve alcohol, several allow you to BYOB with no “corking” fee! There is one place here where you can buy basic booze/beer…run out of a closet-sized room in a private home that also doubles as one of the few beauty salons/barbershops on the island! Kind of an off-the-books package store. Good news for us is that just a short dingy ride away on Eleuthera there is a well-stocked liquor store with a good selection of wines that even offers a discount when you buy case-lots. Not a problem with our little group!

"THE" way to get around
Spanish Wells!

One last item we all found interesting is that all (and I mean ALL) the men over 50 look alike! It is truly amazing, there are all these men, driving around in their golf carts (the primary mode of transportation on this 2 mile long island), wearing checkered shirts, ball caps and jeans, with weathered, suntanned faces waving to you as you walk by! I swear it is a big joke to them and there are really only a couple dozen men on the island and they make sport of changing shirts, hats and golf carts to confuse the visitors! I do not mean to make fun of these very kind, friendly and helpful people and truly loved meeting them.  

   We happened to get here right in the middle of Stone Crab season. Those of you familiar to this cousin of crabs all over the place, know that Stone Crab is a truly renewable resource since only the claw is eaten and when caught, just one claw is broken off (that’s gotta hurt!) and the crab is returned to the sea to grow another one. They are also VERY expensive and I’ve seen them at home for well over $30/lb. Here, right off the boat, the claws are an almost cheap $10/lb and we took advantage of the price twice during our stay and had a couple pretty good meals on our boats! I have found that Stone Crab tastes a bit more like Maine lobster than crab and definitely tastes better than the “spiny lobster” popular around here! Other than Stone Crab, we’ve feasted on a lot of local fish and have definitely helped the economic situation of the locals!

The "Express" delivery ship from Nassau. If the ship is green,
 it must be Thursday!

As in much of the Bahamas, life around here revolves around the arrival of whatever delivery boat is due in. On Tuesdays, it is freight with whatever larger items the island needs from toilets to construction materials. On Wednesday night, produce arrives in refrigerated trailers on a barge-like ship with a front-loading ramp. This ship comes into the harbor and turns around literally feet from those of us moored at the eastern end. Quite the experience. Only a couple weeks ago the wind caught this guy and he had a choice; either hit a moored sailboat or crash into a dock on the island. Luckily, he chose the dock but left quite a mess! Finally, the “Express mailboat” arrives on Thursday morning with other fresh goods like baked items. Everyone times their trips to the “big” supermarket in town based on the arrival of whatever food staple they need. Oh yea, even though I’ve seen a lot of eggs from the states in the market, I’m not sure why. This place has a zillion chickens and enough roosters to take care of business for a long time! Even if I wasn’t getting up at 0600 to listen to the marine forecast every morning, the crowing roosters would make sure I was up!

Do you think they sell beer here? Only a dingy ride away.

After a week here, all of us on boats were beginning to feel a bit like we were being held hostage and were ready to leave. Unfortunately, the weather was still uncooperative and with offshore seas exceeding 10-12 feet, even the fishing fleet remained in port. We were finally able to score a rental car on Eleuthera and set out one day to explore many of the sights we’d missed on our weather truncated trip up the island. 

The "Glass Window" on Eleuthera.
Narrowest spot on the island. As the
tides change, water rushes through
a very small opening. 

The road at the "Glass Window" on
Eleuthera. A storm shifted it 8' and
killed several people standing here!!

I’ve included some photos that will hopefully give you a feel for the rest of the island.

Diane trying to slay the dragon of
the Glass Window blow hole. Pretty
impressive sight with water
spouting up 15-20 feet!

Tim gives JL a lesson at Surfer's Beach, Eleuthera

This is what is left of a Club Med destroyed by
Hurricane Floyd in 1995.

We just had to make a return
trip to Hatchet Bay for their
frozen daquari. Just like
ice cream...with a kick!

Even with this one-day escape we were not satiated, and there was one “must see” spot we’d missed.  So yesterday, we booked passage on the high speed Bahamas ferry on the run from Nassau to Harbor Island just off the northeast coast of Eleuthera with a short stop here. Harbor Island is one of those places where the rich and beautiful go to see and be seen, eat tiny portions of perfectly prepared, very expensive local food at their exclusive "members only" resorts and bask on the pink sands of the beaches hoping someone will notice how cute their skimpy bikinis are! No kidding, the sand has a pink hue to it, or maybe that was the reflection off sunburned skin! For us, it was a way to get off SW for a day and even the $46 per person round-trip fare didn’t faze us! Of course, the weather got in the way again and the high seas cancelled this run for a couple days and then, after we’d gotten all gussied up and ashore this past Tuesday, discovered that day’s ferry was just for cargo, not people! But, we were told, the next day they were running people again so off to the ticket window we went.

This is the "Bo Henly," queen of the Bahamas Ferry fleet.
It can do almost 30 knots!

 To be honest, while the girls were looking forward to the shops and sightseeing of Harbor Island (“…is that Brad Pitt over there??”), for Jennings and me, it was the ride there and back which peaked our interest. The “channel” from SW to Harbor Island winds through an area aptly called “The Devil’s Backbone,” a couple mile long obstacle  course around some really mean coral reefs…and the ferry does it at 20+ knots! It is so difficult and potentially dangerous that few personal yachts even attempt it except in calm seas and even then only with an experienced pilot. It was an absolutely amazing experience, especially since I was able to wrangle an invite to the bridge on the way back and got to watch it done standing next to the Captain. 

I had to put an airplane photo in! Probably some movie
star headed back to the states from Harbor Island.

This guy (the most senior employee of Bahamas’ Ferry system) deftly maneuvered this 150’ high speed catamaran with one hand on a joystick rudder control and the other on the 4 throttles as he worked our way around the Mack-truck coral formations, missing them by only feet. I was just observing and the hair on the back of my next was standing straight out! He, on the other hand, was telling stories and cracking jokes the whole time. Of course, he's done it hundreds of times. When I asked him what trips for the company he normally did (they go all over the place), he pointed out that as the #1 Captain, he got to do what he wanted and this was “his” route…he didn’t like excitement! HUH? Fascinating. I took several photos, none of which came close to correctly showing what it really looked like. We'll try to post a video on FB.

Richard, the owner of Queen Conch
makes the world's second best conch
salad. His wife makes THE best!!

     While on the island we again rented a golf cart and tried to hit all the high spots; the pink beach, the Haunted House, the many shops and finally, "Queen Conch," where supposedly the best conch salad in the world is made. Guess what....it is! If you ever get to this island, you have to visit his small place on the west side and order his "exotic" conch salad. It is truly to die for. 

    In many ways, this has been one of our very favorite stops in the Bahamas and I look forward to more visits, but it is time for us to get the heck out of Dodge. As I sit here in the cockpit of Magic, a weather window for us to head to the Abacos (a 45 mile run) looks to open this Saturday. In company with Veritas, we will slip our moorings tomorrow and head to nearby Royal Island to stage ourselves for early departures the next day. At that point, we will have to bid a sad farewell to our “buddy boat” for the past couple months as they are headed back to Miami via Bimini while we are going to extend our stay a few more weeks. Veritas has family visiting there and Jennings has a few maintenance issues he needs to address, so we will split up and go our separate ways…at least for a while. Diane and I couldn’t have asked for a better buddy boat to accompany us since we left Bimini seemingly just days ago and we will miss them a lot. We look forward to more sailing with them on the Chesapeake Bay this summer.

As for us, the Abacos beckons. I’m not sure (again!) how good internet service will be up there, so please bear with me and I promise to blog whenever I can. One final note; several of you reading my missives (there really are a few!) have commented that they wish they could do what we’re doing. To that I say….DO IT! Life is not a rehearsal and none of us are getting any younger. You don’t need a huge boat or fat wallet to do this. We don’t and while there have been challenges, wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Nuff said. Till next time….

MELTDOWN ON ELEUTHERA!

Magic underway to Eleuthera.
Wonderful sail!

     As I mentioned in my last blog, while still at the beautiful anchorage of Cambridge Cat in the Exumas, we had a difficult decision to make; stay put for another week or more to await another weather window or leave the Exumas and make the 48 mile crossing to Eleuthera. It was a tough decision since we loved the Exumas and particularly the various anchorages of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. Rationalizing we’d be back in a year or two, we decided to set sail and head east. We had another beautiful sail with winds just behind the beam of Magic and made almost 7 knots the whole way across. Yea, I know if you are powerboater, 7 knots is barely steerageway, but for us ragbaggers, that was truly flying! Once again Diane tried her hand at fishing, and ran out two lines with lures she was told were guaranteed to catch a huge fish…I think she needs to read that guarantee again because the only thing we caught was a big piece of seaweed, at least until we were in the shallow water near the southern tip of Eleuthera when a small barracuda took the bait. Since those fish are hard to bone and are pretty fishy tasting, we were not at all disappointed when it threw the hook just as we got it near the boat!

Tim, JL and Patty in the caves
at Rock Sound

Great shot of the root structure leading from
outside the cave all the way down
to the floor. Easily strong enough to climb
to the top.

            Approaching Eleuthera we had a navigation challenge to work our way between some pretty shallow banks into Rock Sound and even though we spied a few coral mounds near our course, found the route relatively easy. The Rock Sound settlement itself is yet another small community of mostly fishermen with only a few stores and restaurants, but they make do pretty well with what they have! Not the most protected anchorage we’ve been in, our short dingy rides to shore proved to be pretty wet but worth the effort. First of all we discovered the Eluetheran version of the “Mall of America” with a small (even by US standards, but huge here!) strip mall complete with a great grocery store, a hardware store, bank, and even a NAPA auto parts store! Easily the best shopping we’ve seen at least since Georgetown. 

I had to include this photo! In Rock Sound, he same guy
sells liquor, coffins and has property (graves?) for sale!
You just can't make this stuff up!!

On our first full day here, the crews of Veritas and Magic went ashore to explore the area on foot since we’d heard of an interesting cave system near town and of a very deep blue hole unusually situated ashore (most blue holes are part of a bay and so named because they are so deep the water is a dark blue). After a fairly short walk we found the caves and spent a lot of time exploring, taking photos and avoiding both some pissed off bats and their “bomblets” of guano. It was amazing to see the root systems of aboveground trees extend right thru small holes right to the floor of the caves. Some of these roots hadn’t yet reached bottom and could be used like rope swings! You could just imagine swashbuckling pirates hiding out here to avoid British warships. Alas, no treasure…unless you count the guano which we were somehow able to avoid! Next came the “Ocean Hole” right in the town, which formed a small park complete with benches and a swimming platform. The water in this pool of water is supposed to be over 600 feet deep (!!) and is refreshed by small holes in the rocks leading to the sound. We were told that someone put a shark in this pool a few years ago as a joke, which the rest of the locals didn’t find very amusing!

            In this blog I’ve mentioned that cruising is the act of fixing your boat in exotic locations, and Rock Sound was no different. There are several absolutely essential items on our boat that just have to work. Among them are our outboard and dingy (otherwise known as the family car and which finally seems to be working well), Magic’s diesel engine, our watermaker, refrigeration and finally our batteries to provide power for just about everything we use or do. 

This is the melted fuse block. Could
have been really bad!

Except for the watermaker, all the others have suffered some sort of failure during this trip!   Almost since leaving Miami we’d noticed that it took longer and longer every day to top off our large storage batteries when relying on our three solar panels. Since I’d sized and installed the solar panels specifically to exceed our everyday battery (power) needs of the boat, this was both perplexing and a growing concern. Finally, during a break in our shore action in Rock Sound, Diane coaxed me into doing a bit of troubleshooting. It didn’t take me long to discover that a required fuse I’d placed near the batteries had somehow overheated (and not blown – ouch) and literally melted both the fuse holder and the top of one of our “house” batteries! In a way, we were lucky since our batteries are not the old “wet cell” style and instead use a gell medium. Had they been the former, we could easily have had a catastrophic battery failure and possible fire…a really bad thing to have on a boat! Luckily, we discovered the problem before it got really bad, replaced the fuse and holder with another and put the system back to work.

If you look closely at the spot
with the "2" on it, you will see
the dime-sized hole in my battery!

The sun is now making electricity just like I’d originally planned. In examining the failed fuse holder and associated wiring, I’m pretty sure the failure was mine. One of the crimps I made to attached a fitting to the wire was not as tight as it should have been and over time a minute amount of moisture allowed corrosion to get in, adding resistance to the wire and converting the influx of power from the panels into heat rather than filling our batteries. Needless to say I’ve inspected just about every crimp I’ve made on the boat to ensure that doesn’t happen again and high on my purchase list is a professional grade crimper to ensure all my future efforts are secure! In short we dodged a bullet here and were lucky.

Narrow entry into Hatchet Bay. Don't see it until
you are literally at the entrance!

            After a couple days in Rock Sound we were anxious to get moving again, especially since yet another frontal system was approaching and we wanted to be in as protected location as possible. On the island of Eleuthera, that means Hatchet Bay, a 7-hour sail north. Our mini-convoy departed Rock Sound early the next morning and had a pleasant motorsail up the island in our quest for good protection. Hatchet Bay is unique in the Bahamas in that it affords literally 360 degree protection from both winds and seas. Located a few miles south of the largest airport on the island, the bay was a created when the government blew a hole in the rocks that separated this large salt water lake from the sea, forming a narrow opening leading into a ½ mile long bay.

This is at Twin Brothers bar and restaurant. Those are the
BEST daiquiris in the Bahamas...and cheap! Almost
like soft serve ice cream with a punch!

You can just add your own
caption here!! This isn't
the only place we
saw signs like this.

Easily the most protected anchorage in the Bahamas, Hatchet Bay was an almost perfect place to hole up for a blow with free, government-maintained moorings, a small grocery and really nice, helpful people.

On the "bad" side, the Hatchet Bay settlement itself was almost depressing. Of the three restaurants, one was closed (Twin Brothers) because of a kitchen fire (!), one was very nice but pretty expensive (Front Porch) and the last (Forget-Me-Not) was open on a spotty schedule (like most places in the Bahamas). The ONLY rental car in town was broken and both internet and cell phone coverage was spotty, with the entire system down for hours or even a day at a time. Finally, and possibly most depressing, unemployment appeared rampant. We found very few people actually working, but a lot of locals just sitting around with apparently nothing to do. Sad. Still, we made the most of it and explored all over the place, including hikes to the Atlantic side of the island in search of sea treasures. It would be unfair of me to totally pan this place where the people were extraordinarily nice, food at the restaurants that were open was really good (especially the smallest, the Forget-Me-Not Café and Bar, which had wonderful food at extremely reasonable prices) and we had a good time meeting fellow cruisers hiding from the weather. 

No blog of this trip would be complete without a photo of a Kalik
beer place! This one at Hatchet Bay had them for just $2.50!

I have to also mention that even though the restaurant closed due to fire did have its bar open serving the BEST and possibly cheapest daiquiri in the world! The forecast weather blew through one night with a vengeance and even though we were on a secure mooring, no one got much sleep as the boats were rocked by 35+ knot gusts. Even though we were in a secure place, Veritas and Magic were definitely ready to leave when another window to sail to our last stop here; Spanish Wells which I’ll detail in my next blog.

            Stay tuned!!!

                        

SAVED FROM THE EDGE OF THE EARTH!

A double rainbow greeted Magic as we departed Georgetown

           After a two week stay at the “world’s largest adult winter camp,” we were ready to wrench ourselves free of the tentacles’ of this over-organized yacht rendezvous and point the bow of Magic northward once again. Those of you who listened over the last year or so (surely far more times than you wanted!) to our original plans for this trip, know we really wanted to explore a bit further south and visit the Ragged Islands (known for their remote beauty), Long and Cat Islands (beautiful beaches and historical ruins). Alas, as has been cemented in our brains, the God’s of weather dictate our cruising lives and in order to put our feet over the precipice and into the unknown of the seas beyond Georgetown we would have had to remain in place for at least another 10 days…not something I was looking forward to at all! Don’t get me wrong, GTown was a great place to visit, and we had some wonderful times and met any number of interesting, fun people, I just didn’t want to take up permanent residence!

One item of note; although we have almost gotten used to $12 cheeseburgers and $6 diesel fuel, there are some items for sale in the Bahamas that are priced as well or even better than home. Items made in Japan (outboards, Honda generators) can actually be purchased for about what you would pay in the states. I briefly considered ditching our miscreant 15 hp Yamaha outboard and purchasing one in GTown (paying about the same as I did over 6 years ago!) but the dealer was able to correct a problem with my engine and “Christine” was given a reprieve from the used engine heap and we are running pretty well once again. If you are reading this with plans to cruise to the Bahamas and considering a replacement 2-stroke outboard (far lighter than 4 stroke), I’d highly recommend you wait until either Nassau or GTown!

The so-called "Garden of Eden" at
Blackpoint Settlement.

I think this goat got lost!

So, with fishing poles at the ready, we threaded our way north out of the harbor and set sail for a return trip to Blackpoint Settlement…and a laundromat! For only the second or third time this entire trip, we were able to shut the “iron genny” off and actually sail the 45 miles up the Exuma Sound to our destination. It may have been a bit bumpy, but this is a SAILBOAT for crying out loud and both of us enjoyed the absence of our diesel engine drone. Unfortunately for Diane, and although she had two stout fishing lines deployed and extremely high hopes, nary a nibble…nada, nothing. I have to give it to the Admiral however, although frustrated by her lack of “catching” prowess; she continued to try to entice a tasty wahoo or mahi-mahi to grab one of her lures…a more persistent woman I’ve never met!

This "castle" house on the west side of Great Guana Cay
can be seen for miles...too bad the owner doesn't like people!

We enjoyed a two-day stay at Blackpoint to do laundry (4 loads!!), toss back a few Kaliks at the local hotspot (Scorpio’s…and it really is the ONLY hotspot!), and do a bit of exploring. On one of our power walks we made it quite a way south and found the “castle” home on the west side we’d seen when we’d headed toward Farmer’s Cay just a few weeks prior. I actually met the owner who was obviously not pleased we’d entered his property and not so politely recommended we leave. One would think if you built a house that looks like a European castle on a remote island in the Bahamas, you would enjoy having visitors stop by and ask about the place! Not so this guy and when I asked a local later on, I was told they were basically hermits and everyone pretty much stays away from them.  Oh well.

At least the guy with the castle house had completed the task. We’ve seen literally hundreds of partly completed but abandoned houses, buildings and even resorts on just about every island we’ve visited on this trip. Some places have just a rough cinderblock outline or a concrete pad built before work stopped. Others looked almost complete but had obviously been sitting idle for many years awaiting finishing touches. In Georgetown, there was a huge yacht harbor resort that had even advertised in one of our cruising guides that never got past the construction of a single building! Here was a beautiful piece of property in a well-protected bay just going to pot. I couldn’t get a straight answer from locals so have to assume the depressed world economy had affected the Bahamas just as badly (or worse) than the rest of us. A real shame that even reasonable, well-designed projects like the one in GTown have succumbed to the stumbling world economy…especially since a huge part of the islands’ wealth is based on tourism. I can only hope a recovery is just over the horizon and investors will return soon. OK, back to our regular programming…

Diane is thinking of starting
her own "fluff and fold"
laundromat!

Beautiful view on the
east side of Cambridge
Cay. Oh yea, the scenery
was nice as well!

On our way south along the Exuma chain, we’d had to bypass a few islands with scenic anchorages due to weather/time constrains and before heading east to Eleuthera, wanted to see at least one of them; Cambridge Cay.  Part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, Cambridge Cay had been highly recommended by everyone we talked to…and they were all right! The small group of islands in/around CC turned out to be the most beautiful, interesting places we visited during our entire time in the Exumas. I’ve attached several photos, but they just don’t do the place justice. After picking up one of the Park’s well-maintained $20 mooring balls (a huge bargain, especially considering the peace-of-mind they give you in a blow!) we explored Cambridge Cay itself and enjoyed a great hike along one of the trails that took us to the highest point on the island and commanded a 360 degree view of every cay and island within 15 miles. Included in that view was Little Hall’s Pond Cay, wholly owned by the actor Johnny Depp…who was not home! Still, the view was breathtaking.

Believe it or not, the water here isn't all that warm! Shrinkage!

 The next day we dingied to the “aquarium” just a bit north of our mooring field and were astounded at the spectacle of hundreds of multi-colored fish all swimming within inches of our facemasks as soon as we got in the water.  It was like a casting call for a “Finding Nemo” remake, just without the shark! I wished we’d purchased an underwater camera, but again, a photo would not have done this colorful sight justice. We also explored some shoreside caves, only accessible at low tide which were reportedly used by the natives hundreds of years ago to hide from their enemies. The idea of spending the night in a totally dark cave with no way out until low tide makes my skin crawl even as I type this!   We then found the “bubble bath” on Compass Cay, which is a pool of water with a low rock barrier that keeps the ocean waves out until the tide is just beginning to rise. As it does so, the waves crash over this wall and create the illusion of a bubble bath just inside this pool. It was fun to swim over to this rock formation and wait for the water to crash over my head!

Tim in the "Bubble Bath" on Compass Cay. 

The next day we had a huge decision to make. There was a perfect one day weather window for the 48 mile crossing to Eleuthera and allow us to rejoin Jennings and Patty on Veritas, or remain in the Exumas for at least the next week or so when the next “window” opened. Since there are only a couple places on Eleuthera with protection from forecast westerly winds, this was no small decision, but in the end we decided to bite the bullet and make the crossing. So, as soon as it was light enough to see we dropped our mooring line and left the Exumas behind for the last time this season. While we were excited to see new places and certainly get together with the crew of Veritas (who has been our “buddy boat” almost our entire time here), it was not without a hint of sadness that we left the Exumas in our wake. We’d spent almost 2 months exploring these amazingly beautiful islands, met some wonderful local people, and tossed back a few Kalik’s with new cruising friends from all over the world. There is no doubt in our minds that Magic will return!

My next blog will describe our crossing (another great sail…but no fish!) and experiences on this unique island. As always, internet access is difficult to obtain, so please be patient! Till next time….