Staying ahead of the front

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We have had a cold front from the mainland chasing use since we left Miami. Our strategy has been to get as far south and west as possible as it slowly disapates. Well, Thursday night it caught up with us! Winds had been from the west and southwest and relatively mild. The front was forecast to only make it to about 24 deg latitude. But, (wisely) anticipating that the forecast could be wrong, Terry found us a small, isolated anchorage which we expected to protect us as the winds shifted around from west to northwest. It is called Fowl Cay but perhaps should be renamed Foul Cay! We were settled in well before sundown and all was well until about 2:30am. Winds started to shift, boat started to swing getting closer to some shoal areas. Lightning, thunder, rain and winds 30-40mph. At about 5:30am we fired up the engines and drove the boat back into the center of the anchorage. As soon as it was light enough to see the anchor, we hauled it and worked our way back out onto the banks.

From then on, we had an absolutely lovely passage down the Exuma chain to Emerald Cay at the north end of Great Exuma Island. We stayed inside on the Exuma Banks about a third of the way and then passed through Big Farmer cut out into the Exuma Channel. Water 500-600 feet and it was nice not to have to worry about shoals for awhile! Tomorrow, depending upon weather we will either head to Rum Cay to the east and then down to Samanah or we will stay west of Long Island and work our way through the Turks and Caicos.

Terry and I have plenty of time for long discussions and solving world problems. We figure by the end of the trip we will have solved them all!

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Photos

Eagle's Nest
Our home at sea. A 44 ft DeFever Trawler. Twin engine diesel.

Arriving Emerald Bay
Note the colors of the water.