Dawn on Monday, March 16

The forecast had predicted that it would rain last night, and when we woke up, we were disappointed to find that it hadn’t. The boat was starting to get gross and needed a good wash down.

Christi was the first one up, and she started working on getting the boat ready to go to sea as soon as she got up. If the forecast was correct, the wind direction was going to shift soon and the anchorage would become rolly and uncomfortable. Last night, we hadn’t totally decided where we were going to go, but we’d been leaning towards going back to Over Yonder Cay.

When Eric got up, he checked the route and saw we’d have to go through yet another narrow, shallow channel to get there. While the tide was high right then, it was a falling tide, and Eric announced that we need to leave right NOW before it got too shallow. We got the dinghy up, brought the paravane in, and lifted the anchor.

Our friends on Tiki Tour had texted last night and said they were going to Pipe Cay today. We’d texted back this morning that we were going to Over Yonder Cay. Tiki left the same time we did and were right behind us, so we guessed they were probably going to join us at Over Yonder.

The dawn on Monday, March 9 was colorful, and even though the moon was only half full, it was still especially vibrant:

After Christi and Keith finished doing school, we took the dinghy to Staniel Cay. We went to the pink grocery store and picked up a few items. We wanted to get a bottle of alcohol, and had been told the best place to buy it was at the Yacht Club’s laundromat. Eric went around to a small building set back from the shore on the Yacht Club’s property and saw a faded sign that said “Laundromat and (unreadable) Liquor.”

On Wednesday, February 25th, the sunrise was blocked by clouds, but it made a neat lighting effect.

The wind had shifted in the night. It was still very windy. Now that we were no longer protected, the anchorage was filled with small, bouncy waves. It was uncomfortable. As soon as we woke up, we got Kosmos ready to go – brought the paravanes in, raised the dinghy up, took the snubber and window covers off, tided up — and pulled up anchor at 0830. 

Everyone else was leaving, too. We joined the conga line of boats. On the radio, we heard the Bahamian coast guard call a particular boat that was already en route to notify him they were going to board him. In the distance, we could see the coast guard boat approaching another boat.

We dropped anchor in Hog Cay at 1015. The anchorage was calm since the wind waves couldn’t get in from that direction, but there was still a strong, cold wind. Christi did not bundle up before going out on deck to drop the anchor, and she froze for the few minutes she was outside.

In the early afternoon, Eric and Keith went to the beach with several of the families. Christi stayed behind to make lunch. When it was done, Eric and Keith came onboard to eat, then all three of us went back to the beach until sunset. The kids played on the floating donut trampoline and the adults sat under the hut and talked. The single-hander who’d been boarded was there, too. He said that the coast guard staff were very polite and just wanted to see his cruising permit.