Leaving the Exumas; Tomorrow: Eleuthera

We're in Highbourne Cay and heading to Powell Point, Eleuthera, tomorrow. Catching up from the last posting:

Saturday, March 13:

We spent the day exploring Tucker's beautiful island, Compass Cay. There is a large beach here, Crescent Beach, which is the largest and prettiest beach we've seen in the Bahamas. We took lots of photos and hiked through trails on the island and combed the beaches. It was truly paradise. The colors in the water are just beautiful and such vibrant blues and greens. The rock formations in the Bahamas are unlike anything we've seen before. It's like being on another planet.

If you look real close at this photo, you'll see Chuck on the edge of the "cliff."

I got to swim in the Exuma Sound. Glorious!

Patti cooked dinner: roasted turkey breast with stuffing and the trimming. Delicious!

View from one of the "cliffs."

I found some sea glass on the beach and Chuck found a big old knot from a big ship.

He made a sculpture for the pathway at Compass Cay and I made a little sign to attach to it.

Below, Chuck checking the anchor.

Sunday, March 14:

At 9:50 a.m. the dockmaster hopped onto the yacht at our bow and took our bow line to help guide us out from between the two megayachts. We were headed for Fowl Cay (aka Chicken Cay) to anchor off Norman's private island. We met him at Compass Cay Marina and he and Wayne really hit it off. Bum's Rest took a short cut through the North Channel and we took the long way around out into Exuma Bank. Winds were 13 knots and seas were 2-3 ft. and very choppy with 4 ft. swells.

We saw two dolphins. They came alongside our boat and followed us for a few minutes. We weren't comfortable with the location of the anchorage and the exposure, so decided to anchor outside Compass Cay where we saw several boats.

Norman had invited us to dinner on Chicken Cay, so I made shrimp pasta salad to take. At 4 p.m., we decided to stay on our boat to see what the tide change would bring. I made burgers, deviled eggs and we had some pasta salad. Pudding for dessert.

Wayne called at 9 p.m. and said we were heading to Highbourne Cay if we could get dockage. Sounded good to us.

Mon., March 15:

I had anchor watch last night until 2 a.m. Chuck and I took turns sleeping in the aft cabin. He and Wayne spoke on the radio and decided to leave. After we pulled our secondary anchor, Wayne called and decided to stay another day. What to do? We thought about it a while and decided to drop the anchor again.

I read a Danielle Steel novel that I started while on night watch, while Chuck dinghied over to where Bum's Rest was, about a 10 or 15 minute ride.

When he got back, we took Jazzy to the little beach near us, then put her back on the boat and took the dinghy to Crescent Beach for another look. But it was too rough, so we went back.

Dinner was scalloped potatoes, Nathan's hot dogs and corn. Meat and fresh provisions are getting low, so need to find a real grocery store soon. Maybe in Eleuthera.

Tuesday, March 16:

We pulled both anchors and met Bum's Rest over at Chicken Cay. The seas were a little rough today. We went about 38 miles through Exuma Bank and motorsailed with both sails up. We are staying at Highbourne Cay Marina. We'll pull out around 8 a.m. to cross to Powell Point, Eleuthera.

We did some provisioning at the little store here. It's a great little store, but expensive, since everything is brought by boat. I only bought a small hand basket of things and I spent nearly $60!

It's our last night in the Exumas. We are officially heading to the Northern Bahamas tomorrow.

I made crab cakes, green beans and we finished off the shrimp pasta salad.