Bahamas 2015

For once, we had a pretty laid-back set of prep days and a no-fuss departure! Clothing and supplies were already aboard, and we'd loaded up the freezer and fridge the previous day. For peace of mind (ours and Iris' mom), we activated prepaid minutes on our old Iridium Motorola 9500 satphone so we'd always be able to receive emergency texts or make daily calls when out of cell-phone reach. So all we had to do before leaving the dock was get up early to run the refrigeration, make some calls, visit Mom, and bring incidentals and electronics. We left the dock at 10:45, made the 11am bridge, took on fuel at North Palm Beach Marina at 11:30 and headed to Lake Worth Inlet.

Our plans were to do a quick check on the ocean and wind conditions, which were expected to be the same tomorrow. If the E/SE wind would permit us to go to Old Bahama Bay - that was our goal, otherwise we'd head towards Memory Rock and Mangrove Cay. The seas were ok, the wind, not so much. We headed back in the inlet and anchored around 1. The afternoon was spent on prep - ditch bag, make sure all on deck secure, jacklines, make sure that Old Bahama Bay had room, and file a float plan with Iris' mother and Fred's sister. We were relaxed and ready to go! Our very rough plan was to take around 6-8 weeks, start in the Abacos, continue down to Royal Island, Eleuthera, Exumas and return via The Berrys and Bimini.

We got up at around 4am and were ready to go at 4:45. However weather was not obliging. A line of thunderstorms was coming on shore and there was lightening all around. We had some more coffee and waited until 6, raising anchor at 6:15. It was very slow going - even motoring we were only able to make 3.6 knots in the SE wind. When we were within range of Old Bahama Bay, around 4pm, we hailed them and received a slip assignment. However the 'bad news' was that the dockmaster would be leaving at 6, which was our ETA. We would have to clear in to the Bahamas and do paperwork in the morning. We ran the refrigeration before we entered the harbor so that we wouldn't need to pay for electricity. As we entered, the dockmaster was just locking up her office and waved and shouted that she'd see us in the morning... Fellow cruisers, all heading home after spending the season in the Abacos, helped us with our lines. Security wasted no time in getting a credit card imprint. But we were there safe and sound!

Since we had to pay for water we'd better make the best of it, so Fred hosed off the salt-laden deck. Hmmm. Found some tiny delrin balls on deck - where did they come from? TBD. The boat was clean, now time for us. Fred hit the showers first, and as he returned, it was Iris' turn. However the ladies shower stalls were clogged with 3-4" of pretty disgusting water. While she could have walked around the marina to another building, it was easier to just go back to the boat. While drying off, Iris heard Fred having an animated conversation on deck with someone we clearly must know. Yes - it was Don and Gail Curtis - the original owners of Windwalker, and now on their motor yacht Dolphin. We caught up for a little while; Don was pleased to see that we still had many of his improvements and inventions onboard. They headed off. We closed our float plan, handled email, and tested that our Xfinity Connect app let us call Iris' mother over our wifi connection. Dinner at the resort's restaurant was actually better than we'd recalled from 2013, and service was prompt and pleasant. Nature sightings: Sea birds, lots of Man'O War 'jellyfish', flying fish. Ships: a few but not a factor with the help of AIS.

We started the morning with Eggs Benedict, after which Fred went to the marina office while Iris made some more calls. We still had to wait for Customs/Immigration, so we fresh-water flushed the watermaker for 10 minutes and then ran it for an additional 20 minutes overboard to clear the system of the pickling chemicals. By 10:15 we were leaving the marina, officially in the Bahamas. 2 years ago we took Indian Cay Channel on a rising tide. This time we were passed high, but decided to risk it on a falling one. The shallowest spot we saw was about 6.2' on our depth-sounder. We draw 5.5' so we were fine. After the Barracuda Shoal Waypoint, we had glorious banks sailing until about an hour before Great Sale, making about 6-7 knots consistently, with very little chop and using our main, staysail and partially furled genny in 15-20 knots on the beam. Two other sailboats were going through Indian Cay for the first time (as we overheard their VHF conversation) and both chose to stop at Mangrove Cay around 2. We did that in 2013, and decided that we were making good time, having fun, and should keep moving. We ran the engine for the last hour, topping off our refrigeration and anchored around 7pm. We had some heavy rain after dinner, (and what seemed to be a microburst at around 11pm - lots of wind but no rain) but we were secure. Around 10 boats were in the anchorage. Nature sightings: none.

Today, Great Sale became a new destination island for us. We'd never landed on Great Sale before, although we had done some dinghy exploring on past trips. We've probably spent more time in this anchorage than anywhere else because we have used it as a stopover in almost every trip to the Bahamas in one direction or both. But thanks to Active Captain, we discovered that there are some old roads ashore by which one can hike to the western shore. After our morning chores (refrigeration, sat phone call, minor maintenance and cleanup), we put the dink in the water and went in search of the wrecked dock which purportedly marked the trailhead. We saw something likely with our binoculars, from the boat and headed directly to it. NOT! Major shallows between us and the dock forced us to backtrack and head back towards it from a more northerly approach. As cruisers usually do, the dock was festooned with various colorful trash from the sea, as was part of the trail. Apparently not well enough for us, because we took a wrong turn early in our walk and ended up bushwhacking on a limestone rocky surface with lots of crevices and sharp shrubs. Hitting a dead-end we took another detour and found the remnants of an old road and followed it to the beach. Ruins of what may have been a WW II Nike base - foundations and partial walls, marked the end of the road. We had a pretty beach with clear shallow water, to ourselves. We splashed around for a bit and then took the road all the way back to the dock, seeing where we'd made our wrong turn. Back at the boat, we did more chores, snorkeled a little, Fred worked on cleaning the forest growing on our hull, and joy baths for both of us. We also brought the dinghy up as we'd be on the move in the morning. Dinner in the cockpit, generator runs for refrigeration and a freshwater flush for the watermaker - since we weren't needing to run it yet. Over 10 boats in the anchorage by dusk. Nature sightings: Several very happy turtles, tiny yellow finch on the trail, a couple of rays in the shallows.

Anchor up at 7:30am. Although we'd considered heading to Moraine Cay for a snorkeling stop, we opted to head directly to A/P. Iris used the satphone to call her mother enroute. We had very light SW winds most of the way and had a beautiful, but slow sail. The anchorage looked full when we arrived around 2:15, but managed to find a spot we were comfortable with on our second try. We swam on the anchor and the bottom was typical - grassy over shallow sand. We had a lazy afternoon. Nagging at us a bit, however, were two possible engine-related problems. The first was a continual loose connection with the tach - more of an irritant, but disruptive. And we were putting out a lot of white smoke; Fred said that the oil analysis we received right before leaving was not good. Can we really trust the engine to go somewhere down-island? This (as did our battery issues in 2013) put a slight pall over what was so far a beautiful trip...

Before dinner, Iris heard a child on the catamaran Sandy Feet, anchored behind us, say she saw a shark. We had a pleasant evening, but it was too overcast for good star-gazing. There were 14 boats in the anchorage by nightfall. First watermaker run into the tank (359 ppm). Nature sightings: Shark - near Sandy Feet catamaran.

We both slept well - it wasn't too hot out and no storms interrupted our night. Morning chores, and satphone call made, it was time to put the dinghy in the water and do some hiking. We dinghyed to the head of the harbor with the remains of a dock and took the main trail towards the beach. What's this? A new trail? We took a right and after a slog that may have actually been a wild hog' trail, we ended up close to where we began. Oh well. We re-took the proper trail and spoke briefly with another couple returning from the beach. We checked out the signing trees to see the creativity of those who left their imprints. In 2013 we must have come at very high tide, for we recalled one of our favorite beaches had disappeared. It was there - past the rocks and we headed south, stopping for a lovely swim in perfect water with waves broken by the outlying reef. Time to keep walking so we continued down to the end. At the southernmost point of the beach, we gazed at a shallow bay with more happy turtles swimming about. Both coming and going we were approached by a pair of sand-pipers, one of which feigned injury to draw us away from their 3 tiny, speckled eggs lying in a very shallow depression just above the waterline. On our way back we headed into the trees as to reduce the birds' stress.

Lunch back at the boat and then time for more chores, followed by 'joy' baths. Around 5:15 Iris saw a shark pass our boat and head around Sandy Feet, once again. Perhaps we were anchored in the way of its evening route.. We enjoyed dinner in the cockpit and had a lovely evening. At dusk a motoryacht came in and had difficulty getting set. Iris commented on their technique (and was punished the next day). A single-hander in a schooner set-anchor outside the anchorage very late as well. Watermaker run (360ppm). Nature sightings: turtles, sand-pipers, shark.

Our goal for today was to get to New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay. Iris thought (mistakenly) that there was a BTC Bahamas office there at which she could buy a sim card and phone plan/data plan. We hoped to buy the card and then hang out in the northern islands for several more days and thus have data access and also not waste satphone minutes. So we were up at 6:30 and raised anchor at 7:45, leaving to a beautiful rainbow from nearby rainshowers. The single-hander schooner with pretty white sails left around the same time, also headed south. After we turned off the engine (refrigeration topped off), we sailed until a couple of miles off New Plymouth. Then our problems began. Holding is known to be poor, with just a few sandy spots where one's anchor might grab. But this was an anchoring disaster drill for us (and Fred pointed out, well-deserved because Iris had been critical of others the night before). On one attempt we had a chain castle, on raising it our anchor swivel jammed. We stopped on our 5th attempt - knowing that we were not set but having a lot of chain on the bottom, and had lunch. OK - let's try once more. No joy. So since we were in a spot where we could purchase wifi internet access from either OIInet (which we'd used many years previously) or Bahamas Wimax (which we used in 2013), we went with OIInet for a week because they had a stronger signal where we were. We used the time to do email, check phone messages and make some calls. Fred suggested Iris dink ashore and try and buy the sim, but she rejected the offer. By now it was around 4:30 and we hadn't dragged. Let's see if the anchor dug in. Nope. So we raised it for the 6th time (by far a record for us anywhere) and headed back to Manjack, dejected. Most of the vessels already in the anchorage (now around 5ish) were near Manjack; we anchored up against Crab Cay, getting a hard set on our first try. We had quick joy baths. (Iris is generally reluctant to be in the water after 5pm due to increased likelihood of sharks). Another lovely dinner in the cockpit and great star-gazing after dark with no light pollution and the Milky Way. Water temperature is heating up - Watermaker run (410 ppm). Nature sightings - none.

Another very quiet and pleasant night. After our generator run, we focused on some chores. We talked about dinghying out to the ocean reef, but opted not to. Good thing, because the weather conditions deteriorated quite a bit by mid-morning. Winds had clocked to the west (not good for this anchorage), and was increasing to 10-17 knots. We were having 2' wind-driven chop as well. Three sailboats entered the harbor one after the other. They appeared to be together. The first anchored well away from other vessels. But the second anchored very close to us and dropped anchor. As far as we could tell, they didn't even test it. But then the third boat put out fenders and rafted to the second. So we now had two vessels anchored in front of us; if they dragged we'd have 2 boats to contend with! We decided not to leave Windwalker and go dinghy exploring while they were out there. Conditions continued to deteriorate and at around 3pm the 3 boats left and crossed the 'sea of Abaco', dropping anchor a few miles away on the eastern shore. A few other boats did the same thing awhile later, probably enjoying better condition than we had. We continued to do chores, and took quick joy baths. The water was rough and not conducive to swimming or snorkeling. As showers moved through with the associated trough, we saw a few rainbows. We've been on the boat over a week. All good! Nature sightings - none.

Time to get off this boat! After breakfast and our generator run, it was time to search for the Manjack oceanside moorings on the reefs. We headed out on the dinghy with our snorkel gear and immediately encountered 2-4' waves. It was overcast as well and after a few minutes out in the ocean with no moorings in sight, Iris nixed the trip. A few guys in wet-suits and a larger dinghy/engine were headed in and then later went back out. We landed the dinghy and went for a walk on the southern end of Manjack - oceanside rocks and beach, watching the guys moving around. They appeared to anchor in various spots. We never did see them tie up to a mooring. We then moved the dinghy to the eastern side of Crab Cay, with huge amounts of conch shells and a few live conch, and walked along the beach there. Since this is supposed to be a no-take zone and an ocean preserve, obviously folks aren't abiding by it... We poled the dinghy, using our oars, in the shallows, as we headed back to the boat. The outgoing tide was very swift. Since we had to pass the 2 wrecks along Crab Cay to get back to Windwalker, we decided to stop at the closest one. Large schools of small fish were hiding in various parts of the wreck. Several boats had come into the anchorage while we were gone, but none were a factor for us. After lunch we'd considered taking a long ride along the western shore of Manjack to hike the north-end trails. But the conditions had once again gotten squally and rough, so we just took a short ride for an even shorter walk on the west side of Crab Cay. Back at the boat, we raised the dinghy in 13 Kt + winds, and then took quick joy baths. During the evening Iris read up on the Berry Islands - starting to plan the post-Abacos part of the trip. Tomorrow we plan to go to Marsh Harbour for the sim card and to do some PC work. Nature sightings: Starfish, conch turtles, barracuda, lots of fish, various sea-birds on the beaches, curly-tail lizards, and hog tracks on the east side of Crab Cay.

We were off to Marsh Harbour - so raised anchor around 8 and motored straight into the wind. Not ideal - but no choice. As we approached (sometimes impassable) Whale Cay, we raised the mainsail - just in case.. There was one sailboat behind us and several coming from the other way. Winds were 15-19 knots from the S and SE. As we cleared the pass the wind got even gustier and Fred chose to hand steer. Baker's Bay, which used to be our go-to anchorage, was even more built-up than it was 2 years ago. The Baker's Bay Resort is totally members-only. Even the marina no longer welcomes visitors or transients. So it's not an anchorage we plan to visit any more, which we're sure is the way the resort homeowners like it.

Anchoring around 1pm, we put the dink in the water, made sure that our OIInet wifi connection worked, and then around 2:30 headed into town to drop off 8 days worth of trash, and to buy our sim card and data plan. Once again we had an excellent experience at BTC Bahamas. The guard outside welcomed us, the cashier apologized that their credit card system wasn't working so they could only take cash. We paid $16 for the sim, bought $20 voice scratch off cards and 2 GB of data cards for $30. And like last time, one of their sales folks quickly applied the cards to the phone and made sure all worked properly before we left. (Note - it's probably time that Iris update our now totally obsolete Communications article. If one has a gsm capable phone, communications almost everywhere in the Bahamas is wonderful. And data is great for radar, making non-local phone calls, email, etc) Our next stop was Maxwell's to pick up some fresh vegetables and fruit. The store rivals a super Walmart in size and breadth of goods, and was definitely thriving. We'd hoped to enjoy a rum punch at Mangoes Restaurant. But Active Captain listed it as closed, and sadly, it was - with no tables/chair visible in the dining room. So we kept going until we got to Curley Tails and went upstairs to the bar area. Our drinks arrived, and so did a down-pour. We're on island time and there's no point in getting soaked, so we ordered another round of drinks with an order of bbq riblets and conch fritters and watched charterers head down the docks to their waiting Moorings or Sunsail catamarans from our perches on the second floor. We also called Iris' mom using the new data plan and xfinity connect. Iris asked the server for an empty plastic cup; we'd forgotten to put anything in the dinghy we could use as a bailer and we were certain there would be a few inches of water in the dink. Rain began again as we headed to the boat and we got a good soaking. No dinner for us, but we ran the air conditioning with our generator run to dry out the boat. Several strong fronts are on the way so we need to figure out where and when to go next. Nature sightings: none.

Holding in Marsh Harbour is always fantastic so we slept well on this quiet night. We did some internet work in the morning, listened to the 'net' for the first time since arriving in the Abacos, and decided to go to Tahiti Beach. We left around 9:20 and were anchored sometime between 11 and 11:30. This is another anchorage that is best when one can find a sandy spot. We failed on our first try but held on our second. We also were wary of the position of the cable we'd snagged 2 years ago. After lunch it looked like rain in the distance and radar on our phone confirmed it - so we swam on the anchor (not a great set) and then Fred worked on cleaning the bottom and we did our joy bath thing. By late afternoon the rain began, and we saw gusts up to 22 knots. The anchor held, but we were now pointed N - not a great direction for this anchorage. And since we'd swung, at low tide we saw as low as 5.7' and we have a 5.5' draft. Boats heading to the nearby docks 'waked' us occasionally, but otherwise all was well. Excellent wifi connection with OIInet. Nature sightings: none.

While it didn't rain overnight, the skies remained overcast until late afternoon. Morning chores and internet/pc work done, we dinghyed across the channel to Lubber's Quarters to have lunch at Lubber's Landing - new to us. We were the only ones there until a little bit later. The owner stopped by when we were about done with our meals and told us that pizza night (a couple of days later) requires that one place orders the day before, so that her husband can make sufficient pizza dough. Reservations only. We explored their tiny rustic resort - boardwalks to several cabins, and then continued onto the roads. We were accompanied by a black cat for most of the way. Back at Windwalker, we switched into our swimsuits and then headed to Tahiti Beach for a walk, and then to sit in the shallows and enjoy the view. Beautiful sunset, great day! Review: Lubber's Landing

We hadn't had our fill of the cays north of 'the Whale', which we prefer for hiking and solitude. So we left 9:20 on a windless day and motored all the way to Green Turtle Cay. We had never seen Whale Cay passage so flat. The water was amazingly clear all the way with great views of the plant and bottom life most of the way. Our target anchorage was Joyless Point, near the entrance of White Sound on Green Turtle. Descriptions in Active Captain showed decent depth and slightly better holding than right off New Plymouth. But it would make for a longer dinghy ride into town. As we approached New Plymouth we decided to give it one try - perhaps the water gods had forgiven Iris for her past verbal indiscretions ;-) We found sand and the anchor held and we declared victory at around 2pm. We put the dinghy in the water and went via the narrow channel into New Plymouth Harbour and tied up at the 'interior' government dock. Good thing too, because the winds kicked up in the afternoon and those tying up at the outside government dock were experiencing rough conditions with bouncing dinghies. We always look for an opportunity to discard trash, and the dumpster on the dock was a welcome sight. We hadn't been in New Plymouth since the 90's on a charter. From far the town looked as quaint as it had then, but close-up things seemed to have changed. Paint was peeling on the colorful houses, various buildings looked in disrepair. Non-tourists driving their cars or golf-carts seemed somewhat dour. Shops were empty. Granted - it was off-season. We hiked around, checked out Curry's and Sid's food markets and a gift shop, checked out the cemetery, and statuary, and then found a road that took us to Black Sound, where moorings were to be had if one could enter the sound during high tide. Good hurricane hole. It was still too early for dinner, so we picked up a large package of frozen conch and ice cream at Curry's and dinghyed back to the boat. The only downside to our anchorage (now that we were set) was the occasional rocking from the frequent ferries. Great internet connection so we did pc work in the evening. We'd be without access, except via the phone, for the next few days. Nature sightings: turtles and starfish enroute.

It was a quiet night after the ferries stopped. Thunderstorms and rain rolled through around breakfast time. We motored and motor-sailed north around leaving at 9:15 to one of our favorite spots (although not one of our favorite 'anchorages') and were able to set our anchor on our 3rd try - hunting for those sandy spots. When we arrived there were 2 trawlers and a sailboat. By evening there were 2 more sailboats. Our goal at Powell is hiking. We first walked along the northern part of the western shore where we saw some fish/shark drama. Then we crossed over on the main trail, to the Atlantic side with dramatics views and fairly rough seas. Back where we began, we then did the Bluff trail with great views of our anchorage. We spoke briefly with a couple from trawler Whitestar, from Michigan. They were headed back to the US, as were most people at this, the tail-end of the season. After lunch we dinghyed over to the south end of the island where there is a short trail across to a large shallow bay, where we had another long walk along the beach. We played around in the water around the dinghy, and then went back to the boat to snorkel and check on the anchor. Fred noticed that one of our shaft zincs was loose. He ended up taking it off. Had the anode flown off the shaft it could have hit the prop and caused damage. Fortunately we still had a second one on the shaft so there wasn't an immediate problem. Nature sightings: 2 sharks - 1 around 4' long, which chased a large fish in about 2' of water, 1 around 2' long on the ocean side; several sand-pipers and other birds.

We hadn't had our fill of Manjack Cay yet. So we raised anchor around 9:10 and headed for the North Manjack anchorage, in order to hike the trails in the north end of the cay. The anchorage can be iffy, with big rollers coming in from the ocean. This time was no exception - while we set the anchor in a nice sandy spot on our first try the roll was unacceptable - too bad even for a quick trip ashore or lunch. But we still wanted to do the trails, so we motored back around the corner to an outer anchorage on the north-western tip and set anchor. A couple of other sailboats seemed to have the same idea. We dinghyed over to the Brendal's Dive Center docks and hiked the various 'avenues' in the park area maintained by residents of the cay. We also went to the ocean side, as well as the beach on the northern anchorage we'd just left. The yellow house we'd seen 2 years ago was now labeled as for sale. We started hearing some loud music as we hiked back to the dink - Brendal's had just landed with about 15-20 twenty-somethings ready to party. Not for us, so we went back to the boat for lunch and discussed where to anchor for the night. Brisk northwest winds were predicted. We'd done our 'must do' parts of the northern cays, so we decided to head back through the Whale planning to put anchor at Water Cay anchorage on the eastern shore of Great Abaco. Putting the dinghy on deck, and raising anchor at 2:15, we had a chain jam, so our departure was more like 2:30. The Whale was a little bouncier this time, but not too bad. It was late in the afternoon and we didn't see a lot of traffic. Three boats were already anchored when we arrived around 5:45. Time for some conch! Iris split the frozen package in half and sliced the conch thin before pounding. She prepared in an egg wash and ritz cracker crumbs and it came out great. Our current plan was to spend another day here. Nature sightings: 3 dolphins while rounding Manjack; large spotted ray in northern Manjack harbor

The anchorage turned bouncy overnight with winds of 18-20 knots. Iris got up to see if we'd moved, but all was well. However it was rolly and the wind was predicted to get more westerly - not ideal for where we were. Where to next? We opted for Tahiti Beach again, desirous of an anchorage with a wifi connection, good swimming and good water for the watermaker (thus ruling out Marsh Harbour). So off we went around 9:30am for Tahiti Beach, motor-sailing with reefed main, and then sailing with reefed main and staysail in about 32 knots on a broad reach. Even the staysail became too much so we took it in. We didn't see a lot of traffic on this breezy day. We were in for another bout of anchoring drills. We tried twice close to where we'd anchored previously and dragged. We moved further south, dragged and then it felt like the anchor set. So Fred put the snubber on and swam on the anchor. The tip of the anchor was in grass and the set was tenuous. Other boats in the area began to leave due to the chop and wind. We both went in for quick 'joy baths' and then dried off below. Next we looked we had dragged about 1/4 mi - wow. We immediately grabbed our hanging towels, shut the hatches and prepared to go to Marsh Harbour to get out of the conditions. But as we approached the entrance to White Sound we saw a visibly sandy patch and decided it give it another go. It did appear to catch - so we set several anchor alarms; the wind also abated a little bit into the mid to lower teens. We waited for awhile and by 5pm declared victory. The wind forecast sucks. We didn't have a good hotspot so relied on Iris' phone data to get our internet checks in.

It was quite hot overnight. Iris was anxious that perhaps we'd snagged one of the cables purported to be in the area and that's why our anchor held. Winds were WNW veering NNW, not great for these anchorages. If we were able to take a snorkel trip with Froggies in Hopetown, then we'd go in there and pick up a mooring. However no one advertised any dives on the morning's net and Iris called on the phone and no one answered. Of course the condition were pretty untenable for snorkeling on the Indian Cay national park reef, so that's probably why. So off we went for Matt Lowe Cay, relieved when the anchor came right up ;-). When we arrived at the Sugarloaf Cay anchorage a large motor yacht was already at anchor. We couldn't get a good view of the bottom due to the chop and churned up bottom and on our first attempt to anchor we definitely dragged. Our second try felt better, but when we really tested it, it skipped. On our third try we decided to get a set and just wait. We set an anchor alarm, winds were predicted to abate somewhat and if we dragged there was nothing in our way for miles. OK - time to do some chores - cleaning below and above. We used our phone data to check our email and browse. We always try and swim on our anchor when we're in conditions that allow for it (eg tropical climate ;-)) and Iris went to take a look at around 3:30. It was partially set but we've had worse. Speaking of worse - the forecast is getting irritatingly worse. We're getting a bit bored with looking for places to anchor to avoid weather conditions. Given that we're not entirely comfortable with continuing on to Eleuthera/Exumas/etc due to worries about the engine - Fred is getting antsy. Iris is not ready to start thinking about returning anywhere! Fred wants us to be able to sail back and not have to rely on the engine if it should have problems. So he started looking at our options. At dusk the motor yacht started blasting music after sounding conch horns for an overly long time. They finally stopped the music after a couple of hours. No wildlife sightings.

Yet another wind shift overnight, this time to the east. We have to move again. So at 8am we head the 8 miles to Great Guana Cay. We hadn't been there yet this trip and had fond memories of our lunch at Grabbers in 2013. We motored all the way, seeing few other boats and only 1 catamaran in the anchorage when we anchored at 10am. Oh oh - another grass bottom. While the anchor set well and we'd never had an issue here before, we were leary given our track record on this trip so far. Fred tested at low rpm and then we stayed aboard for a couple of hours to make sure we didn't move. We used the time to put the dinghy in the water and Iris signed up for another week of OIInet wifi. She also called Grabbers to make sure they were open - since once again there was little advertising in on the morning net. Around noon we headed ashore for lunch, on this a pretty overcast day. We each had a couple of their signature drinks and Iris had a coconut battered fish sandwich while Fred had a hamburger. The lunch was so so and Fred disliked his hamburger. Iris thought the drinks strong, Fred thought the opposite. Afterwards we walked around the settlement walking to Orchid Bay Marina. We saw quite a few boats on moorings in Settlement Harbor. Drizzle shortened our walk and we returned to the boat and raised the dinghy engine in case we needed to move quickly. Iris felt unwell and while standing by the galley sink, she began to shake. Fred thought she was having a seizure of some kind. She drank a lot of water and felt better. Good thing because all hell broke loose around 3:30. Severe thunderstorms rocked the area for 3 hours and we saw up to 38 knots and very heavy rains. Others we spoke to in Marsh the next day saw higher than that! We probably dragged around 200 ft but somehow the anchor held. The winds quieted down at around 7. Fred had a light dinner and Iris ate nothing. We set anchor alarms because more weather was expected. Review: Grabbers Bed Bar Grill

At around 12:30am the anchor alarm on Iris' phone started blaring. Fred double checked and we had swung in yet another direction. Iris spent the night in the salon, checking our anchor position on the chart on Fred's tablet and the anchor distance on her phone, looking outside frequently.. We both got up at 6:30 am and wanted to get out of here! But we knew we were headed to Marsh for yet worse weather and wanted to take quick joy baths (during an encroaching thunderstorm in the distance) before we departed. Two other boats in the anchorage had already left. We hadn't really dragged - we just had a lot of scope and had twirled around 200ft + and were back where we'd originally anchored. The anchor came up easily and we were underway by 7:30am. We had a very blustery motorsail to Marsh Harbour and were anchored by 9:30 after which we had breakfast. This was a day to stay below. Our wifi connection was abysmal. We almost called OIInet to get our money back. At around 2pm it looked calm enough to go ashore with a brief mission to dispose of several days of garbage, and top off diet coke and rum. We achieved our goals at Bristol Wine a block from the dinghy dock. We'll complete provisioning at Maxwell's tomorrow and get fuel and gas before we leave the area. We may go out do dinner or lunch as well in town. All is weather dependent!

Up at 6:30 with a lot on our lists. Chores done, we went ashore to top off produce and sundries at Maxwells and then headed back to the boat to stow provisions and have lunch. By 2pm we decided that we wanted to go for a long walk ashore, stopping at the HW store first. But the harbor was very choppy; we almost lost the dinghy when the painter detached at the dink end, and Fred caught it. So we were uncomfortable leaving the dinghy at the dock as all were bobbing up and down ferociously. We blew off our hike and got totally soaked returning to the boat - winds were gusting from 15-20+. Iris' hopes for going out to dinner were starting to fade. We continued to discuss trip alternatives. Iris wanted to try somewhere new and we both had read great things about Great Harbour Cay in the Berry's. Whatever we did, we wanted to minimize strain on the engine, so all is weather dependent. At around 5:15 the winds had abated sufficiently to consider going out to dinner. Iris called Wally's and made reservations for 6. We hadn't eaten there since the mid 1990's when on a charter with friends. We headed ashore at 5:45 making yet another trash stop before getting to Wally's. It wasn't a 5-star dinner and our server forgot our wines and the presentation was plain. But the ambiance was beautiful and the cook always appreciates any meal out! Review: Wally's Restaurant