Jan 19-20

January 19

OMG what a perfect day!!! We left Cherokee Point in the amazing sunrise and we managed with the spinnaker [and motor] 6 knots average. We are about 3 miles from anchor at Sixpence or Six Shilling Rock, just inside the Fleeming Channel. That's a 60 mile day in 11 hours!!!

Last year on the way back we raced a thunderstorm to this point and managed to survive in 50 K wind so we figure we are good here. Quentin will remember that!!

It was dead calm today...no wind that did much good. We dropped the spinnaker half way across and ut up the big jib. Lots of other sailboats seemed to be "sailing" but probably motor sailing like us. AND THEY DIDN'T PASS US!!!!

The only excitement was Rick caught a blue marlin. It hit so hard it snapped the rod...here we go again... and he managed to handline it in. We didn't even know what it was til he got it into the dinghy. It flipped off the hook and jumped ship. Just as well...it was beautiful and I felt really bad for catching it. I hope it survived.

Tomorrow's weather will be the same. We've checked all the sites and there is no change forecast. The sky looks great...no clouds and the upper air is dry.  If there is any wind tomorrow we will go out to Exuma Sound and go down the outside of the islands.

Don't know when you will get to read this...don't think I can get the BTC tower on Eleuthera from the Fleeming Channel.

But we're good!

January 20

This morning was beautiful and calm...eerie too. It was almost foggy on the bank.

We raised the anchor at 6:50 and headed out to the Channel to cross from the Northeast Chanel [Atlantic] to the Bahama Bank. The water goes from 1000 feet + to 10-15 feet. In fact there were times we were running in 6 feet of water over the coral heads.  We could see the bottom so clearly it was amazing!

We were going to go outside the islands and run down the Exuma Sound, but we can motor just as fast in shallow water as deep, and with no wind...

The sky was a bit confused this morning...high cirrus clouds that seemed to be brushed from all directions but the further south we got the clearer the sky became. We can still see surface clouds up north, and we can see cloud banks that form over the land masses, but this is another awesome travelling day.      C-Soul, I wish you had come with us!!!  We would have been in Georgetown for our birthdays!!!

We averaged 5 knots yesterday...current and tides held us back a little. Today we are running about the same. 

There's not another boat is site. Sometimes I think we've gone to the end of the world...then an island comes into view.

Oh, just caught Highbourne's Internet ...and now there are boat...It's only 12:30 ad we are at Allen's Cay. think we will travel until 4 pm and see where we end up.