January 13 to January 24, 2017

Friday the 13^th we motored from Big Majors Spot to Staniel Cay in 20-25 knots of wind.  We stopped at the fuel dock for diesel, water, and to drop off trash.  We then anchored between the rocks and the yacht club. The mail boat arrived in the morning so the stores were not open until lunch time as the staff were busy making trips to the dock to pick up supplies and restocking shelves.

We had lunch at the yacht club with OUR DIAMOND and SEA JULES.  While we were waiting for them to come over in their dinghies we spent some time watching the nurse sharks that hang out around the fish cleaning station near the dinghy dock.  We met a woman from Alaska who is solo kayaking in the Bahamas for a month. So far she has been out for 8 days and has paddled from Georgetown to Staniel Cay.  She camps on shore in a tent at night.  

After lunch we went grocery shopping at the Blue Store, the Pink Store, and at Isles General Store. Unfortunately, the internet was down which was disappointing as we have been out of touch with our friends and family for a week now. We stayed in Staniel Cay until high tide when we could get past the 6 foot section of the channel then headed back to Big Majors Spot for the night.

Saturday we had the usual 20-25 knots of wind with scattered showers.  We have not done laundry for over 3 weeks and even though we have articles of clothing called “this week’s t-shirt” the laundry situation was getting out of hand so we sailed over to Blackpoint on Great Guana Cay. The laundromat has a dinghy dock and free wifi so it was worth the rough weather to get there. Keeping the clean laundry dry in the dingy on the way back to the boat was a challenge as not only was it rough, but a rain squall came through while we were motoring back to CORRET.

Sunday was again very windy. We went for a walk in the morning to the windward side of the island. The sound was very rough with dramatic white caps on dark blue water and the waves were crashing on the rocks.  The leeward side of the island had turquoise and light blue water in the calm of the harbor. Monday we went for a walk with Grinnell from THISTLE while his wife, Linda, was doing laundry. We found a beautiful, secluded white sand beach.  In the afternoon we had an enjoyable downwind sail in 20-25 knots of wind to Sampson Cay.

We spent the next several days visiting with Wilson and Gale and enjoying the area.  The wind finally settled down so we were able to do some snorkeling and Bill and Wilson went fishing. With the calm weather the amazing clarity of the water becomes the main feature of the landscape.  It feels like the boat is sitting on a piece of glass. 

Sunday and Monday the calm weather took a break and the wind was in the 30-40 knot range. Tuesday the wind was down to 15-20 knots so we sailed to Farmer’s Cay. The water turned a very milky color because of all the sand stirred up by the storm so it was impossible to “read the water” by the color so we were very careful to follow the deep water route.