Freeport/Lucaya

We departed at 0730 from Great Harbor Cay by the airport to here by 1700. Lot of wind and seas/ 25 to 30 with 8 to 10 feet. Not bad actually. We hope to depart here in the morning and join the Gulf Stream about 1100 and ride it to Fernandina Beach. Should be there by 1100 on Sunday morning; however everything depends on weather and Chris Parker's forecast. He has been right on so far. The two guys who have little sailing experience learned a lot today. We had cheese burgers at the bar tonight, and I will be in bed early. Thought I heard something in the steering today, but I inspected it this evening and could not see any abnormalities. Weather is nice here at the dock. Washed all the salt water off when I got here, and I am ready for bed after a cheeseburger at the pool bar. I am tucked in between a Jenneau 54 and a Beneteau 46. Took 3 approaches to get into the slip due to the high winds. Everyone is fine and having a super time. Ben is growing in knowledge and experience by the hour. Tom/Joe is having a good time. We were doing between 8 and 10 knots all the way here. See the photo at the lower right. That is 9.8 knots boat speed. We hit over 10 knots many times sliding down a wave. S

First anachorage on the way home

We departed Atlantis/Nassau at 1005 and sailed to Petit Cay at 1700 after motor sailing with and average speed of 7.57 knots. There are three other boats here, and we are North of Devil Cay by about 15 miles. We plan on departing here in the morning for Lacaya, which will take about 7 hours and spend the night to wait for a weather window to ride the Gulf Stream to Fernandina Beach on Sat/Sun. Ben was my sail trimmer and helmsmen, along with Bill and Tom. Life is good, but I miss the Pussycat already. I have Ben preparing Spaghetti for our dinner, and we have already consumed the Summer Sausage and pepper cheese. The wind is blowing at about 15 knots, and the wind generator is howling. I forgot to get the ground beef out to thaw and fired up the Honda generator to run the mico wave. We watched Cadillac Records last night and everyone fell asleep before the end. S

Nanc is one the way home

Nanc pulled out this morning at 0900 for Richmond and should be home in D'ville tonight with Noiemiester. We walked and toured last evening with Tom (Joe) and Ben who got in about 1530. The weather is changing, and I believe I will put into Devil Key tomorrow night and wait for Sat/Sun to go to the Cape or further North. S

Atlalntis

We docked at Atlantis this morning with the help of our friends Ellen and Randy who are heading to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. Nanc leaves tomorrow at 1140 and Bill Hughes arrives sometime tomorrow probably on the flight she is leaving on. We set sail on Thur and the weather looks good to run all the way to Moore Head City. S

Howling wind

The wind has blown at 20 plus since we arrived here. Yesterday it laid down some, and we rode the dingy into Atlantis and walked around and had lunch at Johnnie Rockets. Last evening the wind was gone and we watched another movie on the DVD. This morning the wind was right back up there at 20 plus. This area is feeding air into the fronts moving across the East Coast of the US. the forecast is good for next early next week with the wind backing to the SE by late in the week which will give us a nice push toward D'ville. I have included a picture from last evening. We are both well and loving life, and the beautiful world God has given us to live in. S

Back in Nassau

Well, we had a super week, sailing down the Exumas chain. I listened to Chris Parker this morning and his forecast was for high winds starting late this afternoon and lasting thru the last part of the week with another cold front coming thru next weekend and more wind. I was concerned about having Nanc in Nassau for her flight home and picking up the guys flying down to help me bring Marcnicliz home, so we departed this morning at 0900 and arrived here at 1900 after the last two hours of high winds up to 30 knots and seas of 4 to 5 feet. We both did well and so did the boat. Glad to be on anchor. We had a good time at Warderick Wells, and I will include pictures of the Banana Quits eating from our hand and Nanc walking on the beach at Shroud Cay after a trip thru the mangroves. Pretty special. We anchored at Staniel Key/ Big Majors last evening and ate at Thunder Ball Club last night. Name comes from the James Bond Movie. It sits high on a hill overlooking the surrounding Keys. Very pretty. We were able to average over 7 knots coming back with many spells over 9 knots. I was dragging the dingy behind, and that was amazing. I should have put it on the fore deck with the forecast. Next time. Party chicken for dinner tonight. I will miss the super meals Nanc puts together when it is me and the guys. I have cans of tuna, chicken, and Pringles for Bill Hughes. We will be fine. I plan on improvising next week prior to their arrival and our departure for Deltaville. S

Warderick Wells Exumas

We left Nassau on Monday and motored to Highborne Cay. Really nice place and another Lobster met his demise. We then proceeded to Shroud Cay and wondered thru the mangroves yesterday and this morning. We departed there at 1300 and motored sailed to arrived at Warderick Wells in the Exuma Land and Sea Park at 1530. We are heading for Staniel Cay/ Big Majors by Sat to ride out a strong wind thru next Tue. We will depart on Wed for Nassau if my weatherman Chris Parker is right, and he has been up until now. We start our Honda 2000 each evening to top off the batteries and watch a movie at the same time. Nanc, of course, reads constantly. We conserve water, however a shower each day is a necessity for both of us. I get up each morning at 0700 and listen to Chris Parker and then at 0830 to the Cruiser net on the SSB. It is working beyond my expectations. I am identifying those things that need to be changed before the next adventure, and there are a few. There are usually 6 to 10 other boats at anchor with us, and we talk to a few as we meet on the beach. Marcnicliz is performing well; however I constantly have to spell the name before anyone will try to pronounce it. We visited Allens Cay and saw all the iguanas that the tourists come and feed. There were really a lot of them and some were really big. We stayed off shore in our dinghy! Also, the food is really pricey on the small islands.....a head of lettuce was 10 dollars and a small jar of capers was 8 dollars! We haven't seen a lot of wild life since getting to the islands but today we did see a beautiful white heron and an osprey.

Actually, there isn't much for me to add. Speedy has done an amazing job of preparing the boat and being the captain. We've had lots of good meals....which is my job. Everyone we meet is really nice and so many people have done the trip many times. I have read a lot of books....which really makes me happy. We have really gotten into the habit of watching movies at night....which has been fun as well. Last night the stars in the sky were totally amazing. Because there is no light pollution, there really are a million diamonds in the sky. The adventure is all I hoped it would be. N