(see http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KG4EYP for latest position)

For the first time in nearly a month, Windom's playing motorboat; we've got a bare breath of wind from the south, blue skies with puffy white clouds that will probably turn into afternoon thunderstorms, and a nearly flat ocean. Of course we'd rather sail (and are holding out hope that the winds will fill in), but conditions are good for a comfortable crossing, so we're going for it. We've been underway since 7 am and expect to get into Fort Pierce, FL sometime Monday afternoon or evening.

I guess it's kind of ironic that we've finally got a perfect day for snorkeling just as we're headed out, but we're both psychologically ready to get back to the US; we've got a lot of work and possibly a lot of sailing ahead of us, as we need to figure out where on the coast we want to leave the boat, then get there and get things settled, and we're anxious to start. And even though it's trawler weather, it looks as though this is a window worthy of grabbing, because there's trouble brewing in
the NW Caribbean again and things may be dicey by midweek.

We had decent enough weather yesterday to explore the "Devil's Hoffman" area - the area between Devil's Cay and Hoffman Cay, which has lots of little islets and is one of the more popular spots in the Berry Islands. We dinghied to White Cay and scuffed our bare feet through the powdery sand, then climbed to the summit of the small bluff to get a good view of the area. After moving Windom to a smoother anchorage - the spot we'd dropped the hook turned out to be quite rolly in the strong winds -
we went out snorkeling, but the visibility was poor, no doubt because of the recent storms, and the structure wasn't anything special. However, we did see one big school of horse-eyed jacks, and one of them somehow ended up on the end of Britt's spear, so we have fish in the fridge again.

Right now we are motoring around the northeast curve of the Berry Islands, past Great Harbour Cay and Great Stirrup Cay. Soon we will "fall off" the near-shore shelf, into the deep water of the Northwest Providence Channel that runs between the Great Bahama Bank and Grand Bahama Island; we're hoping to find a helpful current there, and with luck we'll hook a mahi-mahi or even a tuna. (The horse-eyed jack is only big enough for two or three meals, after all!)

Sometime around midnight we'll officially leave the territorial waters of the Bahamas. But if you need a fix, keep an eye out for the September issue of Cruising World: it is going to be a special issue focusing on the Bahamas, and (I am exceedingly pleased to announce!) I'll have a couple of stories, and hopefully some pictures in it as well. And of course I'll continue to natter on here until we're back home in Colorado.
- posted by S/V Windom @ 6/10/2007 [link]