Play time

Well... remember when I told you that Mother Nature makes the rules in this game? We started out this morning from Old Bahama Bay about 6:45, motoring into a light southeast breeze.

 As we puttered along we received information that the cold front that we were attempting to beat to Eleuthera was picking up speed and we would encounter 25 – 35 kt winds at about 2 a.m.. After some discussion we decided that vacations were supposed to be fun and that we would like some more experience with this boat before we dealt with that kind of weather in the middle of the night. The only bail out point that was safe in the North winds we were expecting was Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. Having made that decision we took advantage of the gorgeous wind and weather to stay out on the water and play. We put up the main and genoa. We put in a reef for practice. Then came the fun part. We got out our new asymmetrical spi for the first time.  It flew beautifully. We have been sailing with Nikan for the last couple of days so we took the opportunity to take pictures of each other’s boats. It is often difficult to get a picture of your own boat under sail. We had lots of fun and we are now 4 hrs closer to Eleuthera for the next time we set out. There is no place to anchor here so we are tucked into a beautiful marina called the Grand Bahama Yacht Club. It is a residential gated community which includes a marina that is open to the general public (rif-raf like us). In return for our not too extravagant docking fee we are entitled to use the recreational facilities in the development. I went for a lovely swim in the pool this afternoon.Although there are several Canadian sailboats here with us, this is another marina that has many empty slips. I hope, for the Bahamian's sake, that this is not indicative of the season to come.