Saturday’s weather was a carbon copy of Friday’s. Oh we’ll be so spoiled with this, as these conditions are infrequent. Benj went up the mast for the third time and enjoyed immediate success because Russ had figured out the problem. A piece of metal was still attached to the small peg at the top; Benj used pliers to remove it and snapped the new wind indicator on easily.  I could feel his joy 60 ft below. The camera made the trip up too:

The view from 63 ft up

I thought for sure that the sailboat who’d recently anchored ahead of us was nearly over our anchor. I shook my head as they checked their anchor, failing to notice ours just off their stern. I gave them a tiny scare as we skimmed past once our anchor was up. Hopped up to privately owned Bonds Cay. A few years ago a cruise line had been eyeing it but the deal fell through. We saw evidence of surveying along the beach. At one end a wooden platform stood as a “this would be the spot for the Tiki Bar”.

Our trip to Nassau was moved up and after breakfast Sunday, we headed south-east for a day’s sail down to New Providence Island.  Happy Sails, Happy New Year! We had the main and jib raised 6 out of the 7 hour trip; they did their job with hardly any adjustment and none of that annoying tacking or jibing! The downside- you know there’s always one of those, was we couldn’t run the water maker. Too much wave action and as we were on a port tack, the port hull (where the intake is) was raised up just enough to put the kabash on making water. I always say we don’t heel, but we do, about 5 degrees.

Our selected spot for the night was the south side of Athol Island, a few miles east of Nassau and Paradise Island. We’d be in the lee for north winds and the swells that sneak in weren’t a problem. From the Berry Islands (Bonds Cay) you transit the Northeast Providence Channel and much of the 36 nm trip takes you through depths of 8,200 ft. Our depth sounder usually stops working around 250 ft, which is just as well.

Friday ‘s weather was an absolute 11: sunny, high 79, virtually no wind, low humidity and an extra point for being perfect on the day we planned our first snorkel of the trip.  Loaded Bunting with our gently used gear and headed over to Mama Rhoda rock about a ½ mile from the anchorage off Chub Cay beach. Snorkeling with a wet suit makes all the difference, at least for me. Water temp was acceptable for tough guys.  The new dive flag floated off the dinghy while we enjoyed an easy snorkel by the rock. A wide variety of small, brightly colored fish swimming about entertained us. Back at home base, after lunch the guys snorkeled off the boat and over to the rocky shore area. We had plenty of star fish around the boat which you could see so easily. The lowest depth was 6 feet but it looked like 4. The water’s clarity never ceases to amaze us. We’ve spent plenty of time in reading the depths; not so easy to do below 10ft.

Sometimes more than you care to see

The non-existent wind caused us to bob about like a cute yellow rubber duck in a tub. With no pull on the chain it formed into a nice figure 8 design and for a while were floating over the anchor itself. Watching anchor behavior when we first drop it is a new experience. The bottom is sandy here, as you can imagine, and ranges from med-hard to hard (or scoured) and grassy sand. The grass is shorter and less dense than the dangerous stuff found in Florida; so even if you are sort of anchored in it, the holding is decent. Best to avoid grass though.