Friday, May 28 The winds are suppose to be light for the next several days so we decided it would be a good time to make our way north to see the Glass Window which is an arch opening between the Atlantic and the west coast of Eleuthra. We should be there in time to have lunch and make our way west to Current Cut. The only true way to see the Glass Window is from the water because when we crossed over it on our road trip you can’t see the ‘window’ below the road. Early pictures of the ‘window’ are pretty spectacular but it had been hit hard by a rogue wave so it now looks a bit battered. We motored into the light winds that were on our nose. When we turned to sail west…ah, the wind switched to…you guessed it…on our nose!

We reached our anchorage on the east side of Current Cut as the winds are to be out of the west. We set anchor, had happy hour and then dinner. Then, you guessed it…the wind changed direction and came out of the east. It made our night just a little bumpy but the winds were fairly light. We have set the alarm for an early start so we can make our way through Current Cut on a slack tide (the change from high to low tide when the current is the least). It is an intricate approach and Ed did a spectacular job of bringing us into the cut through some shallow water which is a bit difficult to see in the early dawn hours.

Saturday May 29, We are on our way to the northern most part of the Berry Islands. The ‘Berries’ are beautiful islands but most of them aren’t accessible via a 5’ draft sailboat so we have opted to bypass this chain of islands. We reached our anchorage that was described as lovely in our guide books. What we found is that several cruise ship companies are in the process of developing a stop for their guests. The protected anchorage is now closed off with floating buoys so we backtracked to Goat Island where we saw another sailboat anchored. There seemed to be good protection from the east so we tucked in close to the island. Then, around 10pm the swell from the incoming tide started coming in from the north as we were pointed into the easterly winds. This causes a side-to-side rocking motion that isn’t very comfortable. It actually makes you start to question the wisdom of cradles that rock babies back and forth! By 2am we finally decide it might be worth the effort to make an adjustment to our position so we got up and Ed added a second line from the stern cleat of the boat to the forward anchor line. This creates a quasi-bridle on the side of your boat and gives you the ability to place the boat 30 degrees or so off the wind. While we still rolled a bit it was a marked improvement so we headed off to bed for the next 4 hours before the alarm goes off!

Sunday, May 30, Again, we are up at the crack of dawn to make our way to our new ‘home’ in the Grand Bahamas. After much reading, talking to other cruisers and inquiring as to costs we decided to spend the month of June at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club between Freeport and Lucaya. We are looking forward to tying up to a dock, plugging in the shore power and turning on the air conditioner! We are met by Anthony and Judy as we entered the marina. They gave us a hand as we pulled into our slip and then gave us the ‘local knowledge’ about the marina. They have been here since last December so they are the resident experts!

There is something always going on at the marina because it has time share units surrounding it. Every Saturday a new batch of time share owners come in for a week of fun. Saturdays they take the van to the grocery store and liquor store for the new arrivals. We enjoy having an air conditioned ride instead of peddling to the stores! Mondays the resort hosts a Bahamian dinner along with rum punch. Tuesdays are karaoke nights. Wednesday night is ‘jam’ night where the cruisers with guitars and yukes play at the bar/pool area. Thursdays are movie night starting at dusk with a large outdoor screen. Friday is the Fish Fry where the bus takes you to the local fish fry shacks for dinner. Ah…and every morning there is tennis at 8am where they provide the rackets. As you can tell this is NOTHING like being ‘on the hook’ in the remote islands but it is a fun, nice change of pace.

The first week that we are here we met a ‘time share couple’ from Oregon (Don and Terri) that were a lot of fun. They had a car and invited us to join them at the Lucaya Marketplace on Friday night where there are lots of bars, shops and bands. We had a great time until a random 60 knot storm blew through. Chairs, umbrellas and debris went flying all over. The rain poured down in buckets. When it started to let up we made a mad dash for the car to head back home and see how the puppy dogs and boat faired the blow. All power was out on the island. SIGH…We found everything in fine order so we brought our rum punch and candles up to their unit for a night cap. Within an hour all power was restored so we retired to our boat. It sure was fun to go out on the town as we opt not to ride our bikes in the dark!

The forecast has consistently been the same since we arrived in the Grand Bahamas….90 degrees or so with humidity and a chance of thunderstorms every day. We decided it was finally time to venture out to one of the beaches and not wait for that ‘perfect day’. With the dog carrier, holding Mija and Chula in tow, we headed to the west end beach. We found a lovely secluded spot to set up our Beach Tent. Thanks Warren, Eileen, Grant and Abigail, the wedding gift is certainly coming in handy. The water is warmer than bath water along the shallow water’s edge and gets just a bit cooler as you make your way out to deeper water…just the way I like it!

There are about 10 boats in the marina with cruisers on the boats. The rest have been left here for the summer and are unoccupied. The day after the 60 knot blow another boat arrived at the marina…Dee Dee and Barry. They had NOT had a fun night at anchor and were happy to be back to the dock. Essentially this is their home base and they were just returning from a 6 week trip mainly in the Exumas.

Dee Dee and Barry ‘live’ here so they have a car. Yeah…that thing with 4 wheels that go around! They have offered to take us to the Sand Bar on Sunday night where Steve Davies plays. Steve sang back up in the Edison Lighthouse Band (remember ‘Love Grows…Where My Rosemary Grows!). We vow to not behave like dogs, hanging our heads out the window and wagging our tails, when we get to go on our car ride to the bar!
We arrive at the Sand Bar. There is literally sand on the floor…inside. Amazingly this makes for easy footwork while dancing! As the bar started to fill up with patrons we started noticing that they all appeared to be Ex Pats from somewhere. Dee Dee and Barry are able to fill in the details on many of the locals. There are many interesting stories behind each person, without the insider details though…we all look the same. Flip flops, t-shirts, beers in hand, laughing, singing…having a ball! And, no one has more fun than the owner. He loves to impersonate Elvis and Steve lets him (but we noticed that the owner’s microphone is almost muted so that Steve’s lovely voice can drown him out!) OK…I am not going to throw stones though because Vicky’s rendition of Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack on karaoke night was, well….a bit strained!

Stay tuned…Mija and Chula just chimed in and they would like to give you the low down on the cruising life from a puppy dog perspective. Coming soon…..