Catching Up

We have been sailing up and down a small string of islands from Great Guana to Compass Cay. When the winds blow out of the north we head south and do the reverse in a few days, stopping at new places each trip. The winds have been so cooperative we are sailing all the way into and out of anchorages. These short trips give us great practice trimming sails and we are not burning expensive diesel fuel. In lighter winds we put up all sails but in heavier winds we have taken a liking to mizzen and head sail only. With those two sails up the boat remains balanced, we still reach six knots, and we do not feel overpowered.

It’s not all fun and games though and the weather can get nasty from time to time. Ok it’s fun and games most of the time but not all… We still have to fix, maintain and polish things, do laundry, get food (tougher than you think), get fuel (even tougher sometimes), deal with communication issues, forecast the weather, plan trips, cook, clean and once in a while put on the scuba gear and scrub the bottom; fun. Not complaining, “just sayin.”

Water pump rebuild:

Fun:

I do laundry also…

We love boat pizza:

Then off to the nearest settlement to get the things we need. This happened to be Staniel Cay:

Walking to the phone company:

To the BTC office to buy more data so we can update the website…and check facebook:

Then back to the Yacht Club for a beer:

And a look at the sharks:

Some of them are pretty big, swimming around looking for handouts:

Then back in the dinghy and head north to Big Majors Spot to feed scraps to the pigs. When they see you coming they swim right out:

And of course there are piglets:

And some big pigs:

When the winds blow in a different direction we head to a new spot. We like civilization but we love to find secluded spots with empty beaches:

We explore the area in the dinghy so we can find the best spots to snorkel and fish:

Our only visitor was this large ray:

He was about four feet across:

Dea Latis from the beach:

Sometimes we hike over the islands to the ocean side to comb the beaches. Once in a while we find these sea beans, some are heart shaped others look like hamburgers:

In a few days the winds change direction and we head to another beautiful spot. If our next bit of paradise is just a few miles away we just drag the dinghy:

We are a couple of updates behind and have two days of nasty weather coming so…should be able to get caught up soon.