With only seven hours of daylight to travel in, we went with Plan B which was to sail south along  Great Abaco Island, then round the tip to anchor in the lee, about 6 miles up in Crossing Bay. Speed was commendable at 7kts plus, given we had a reef in the main. Wind speed beckoned us to switch out the jib for the screacher although I was not in favor- just wasn’t ready to get back on the horse. Mr. Smarty Captain Pants pulled a good one and said to me, “I’m either putting in a fishing line or using the screacher, pick one.” Ok, the line goes in.

As we began to leave the really deep water heading through the contour lines, bamm! “Fish on!” By the time I grab the camera and catch a glimpse- he’s off. Five minutes later, got another and this gal lands easily on the scoops. A quick painkiller of rubbing alcohol (we skipped the hors d’oeuvres) and in the bucket she went. Russ tied the bucket to the railing and we continued on.

By the time we anchored (a second time) a light rain had begun and mariner’s twilight was turning into dark. Book in hand (Cruiser’s Handbook of Fishing), cockpit lights full on, DeWalt flashlight on the steps, Russ turns the colorful Mahi into dinner. Four hours from hooked to devoured, a more delicious Mahi we could not imagine. Even had some extra to do surf and turf another night.

Sunday’s sail to the west end of New Providence was a tad more brisk than Saturday’s and filled with dark clouds that carried rain and a little extra win which helped us touch 11kts a few times. We logged 54nm in just over 7 hours. On our way south we passed within five miles of Carnival Imagination headed north off our starboard. She is so huge that we had no trouble seeing her nine miles away with our naked eyes.

The Bahamian weather goddess smiled upon those arriving in Nassau today and stopped the last rain shower just prior to our anchor drop. Felt good to be done with the productive two-day sailing trip and fishing trip; now what the heck do we do for the coming week? Plenty, as it turned out.

We decorated and trimmed the tree, baked bread, made water, moved to 3 different anchorages in one day and snorkeled. One spot came with a chaise lounge for resting while snorkeling.

Found Lutra anchored further in the harbor to our west, dinghy’d in to Atlantis Marina to ogle the mega-yachts and ran into our friends on Celise/Spirit. Well, just Cort without Carolyn and her fill-in was Frank so it didn’t register right off, but then Cort recognized Russ (that’s usually how it goes) and we marveled at how we’ve run into each other six times all without any planning whatsoever. Conveniently they were docked at Nassau Harbour Club Marina so we visited regularly, using Celise/Spirit as a dinghy dock. We had the guys for dinner which grilled pork tenderloin meal received raves, but then what wouldn’t compared to Dinty Moore Beef Stew!? A stroll to Potter’s Cay and the shanties was a must and we opted for the “sure thing” Twin Brothers with their delicious conch fritters and freshly made just for you conch salad.

We continued our walk after lunch to hunt down an ATM and ran into C/S friends on Cape Crusader. I spied Lutra and then I see someone sitting on a low wall near the Green Parrot, laptop in use. Um, could that be? Well, yes it was Patti. I forgot to snap a pic- darn. The rest of the walkers came over, introductions made and we all, as usual exchanged tidbits of local knowledge.

The City Market was replaced by Solomon’s Fresh Market and as the name suggests, is very much like The Fresh Market of USA fame. Over the course of four days we shopped several times and tried not to mind the larger-than-U.S tab each time. The nasty laundry job got done at the marina but the up side is meeting other cruisers, one couple I met have a home and dock right off the intracoastal in North Carolina Might come in handy what with the generally turbulent weather that state is known for in fall and spring.

The much awaited arrival of the “tall one” finally happened on Sunday and he was waiting for us in front of the marina. But in our defense we’d walked to Twin Brothers to get him conch fritters and salad. 🙂