Shortly before dawn on Monday, December 8, 2025

The wind had changed direction and was now coming from the west, making the anchorage very rolly today. It felt like we were at sea. It was also unbelievably humid. Between the humidity and the rocking, it was uncomfortable onboard. We considered moving to the other side of Big Major Cay for more protection, but that anchorage had some issues, too. The forecast said the wind would shift tomorrow, so we figured it was easier to just deal with the motion for one day than it would be to move over to the north side and then back again tomorrow. 

After school and morning chores, Eric and Keith went to shore to take out the trash and get lunch. Christi had an online meeting tied to her land life project, so she stayed aboard. She was sad to miss out on dry land time. Instead of taking the most direct route, where they’d be pummeled by waves coming from the south, Eric took the dingy through the pass between Big Major Cay and Fowl Cay around to the northwest side of the island, where they were protected from the waves (see map). When they arrived to the yacht club’s dinghy area, it was high tide. They were surprised to see that it was flooded.

Here was the moon setting on Thursday, December 4, 2025

And dawn beginning simultaneously. This was taken moments after the one above, but from the other side of the boat.

We pulled up anchor at 0630 and headed towards the pass into the ocean. All the sailboats left about the same time we did. They made a conga line again and we joined in. Navigating the pass was easy, as it was an extra high tide (thanks to the full moon), favorable currents and moderate beam seas. 

Wednesday, December 3, 2025 — the sunrise was completely blocked by the dark clouds on the horizon, but it was a colorful morning none-the-less.

It rained overnight, and it was enough rain to give Kosmos and Kosmopolitan a good rinse off. Yay! It was nice to wake up to a clean(er) boat.

The wind was slowly shifting directions, and as the morning wore on, the rolling became more pronounced as the island offered less and less protection. We were glad we had the flopper stopper out. It would have been uncomfortable otherwise. Per the forecast, it was only going to get worse as the day progressed. By tomorrow, the wind would be coming from a direction that this anchorage had no protection from.

We pulled up anchor at 1030 and headed to Lynyard Cay. We were inside the lagoon the entire ride, and it was calm inside the protected waters. The only noteworthy event was that our route took us through a narrow dredged channel near a popular snorkeling spot. The water on both sides of the channel was especially shallow, leaving little leeway to maneuver. Eric was a little nervous about going through it, but the chart was spot on and no snorkelers swam into the channel.