1/14/23

So, as I suspected, I stepped off the plane, Jerry met me at the airport, then onto the bus towards downtown and the docks.  Persephone was actually docked at the West Palm City Docks awaiting my arrival.  Jerry had everything ready to go including dinner.  After a late dinner we motored a couple of miles to the anchorage near the Lake Worth Inlet.  3 hours of sleep and then off to the ocean at 1 am with a 10-15 knot southeast wind.  With the motor at the lowest rpm Persephone can point upwind 30 degrees off the bow and fly.

Here's the view from the cockpit during my watch at sunrise on Thursday:

And then I admired the moon rise Thursday.  Notice the difference in weather conditions?

Our route takes us from Lake Worth Inlet across the Gulf Stream.  The Gulf Stream current pushes us north as we try to sail southeast towards Freeport.  As we near Freeport the current eases and we easily make our way southeast across the Northwest Providence Channel.  We cut across the banks west of the Berry Islands to the Northwest Shoal light and towards the Tongue of the Ocean south of Nassau.  From there we cross the banks to the Exumas.  Sailing the banks is virtual snorkeling - the water is so clear, as we sail along every feature and every creature is in view.  On this trip we sailed east across the banks to Norman's Cay passing through Norman's just before sunset.  The weather was so nice, the water and surroundings to picturesque, we brought our dinner out to the cockpit and ate watching the sun go down as we continued sailing, southeast again, on the Exuma Sound towards Georgetown.  

It wasn't long after the perfect dinner, I went to bed, and Jerry was on watch until 9 pm.  Squalls came through with 30 knot winds and then went to light winds on and off during Jerry's watch.  He was exhausted reefing the sails and then shaking the reefs out.  By the time I got up to do my 9 to midnight watch the weather had settled and we enjoyed a nice sail on the Exuma Sound timing our arrival at Conch Cay Cut at sunrise.

Georgetown: customs and immigration, some fishing supplies, and bananas!

90+ bananas on a stalk are heavy and  attract attention at the dinghy dock.

Sure hope they don't all ripen at the same time.  We found there's nothing like home grown bananas here in The Bahamas!  Small but full of flavor!

We waited a few days, visited with some old friends and then hit the road again - on to the Jumentos!  Most people wouldn't consider heading to the Jumentos where there's little protection from westerly winds when a strong cold front is forecast.   I guess we're not most people.  We anchored in the Jumentos at the south end of Buena Vista Cay along with 8 other boats.  We had squalls come through with rain and the wind has been howling all day.  By Monday the weather should be settled and we can continue south to Hog Cay and to meet up with Jerry and Donna on Bluejacket and more friends we haven't seen in a while!

Send news when you can!

Karen and Jerry