We’re sure you want to know about the featured pictured first. This terrific couple are Chuck and Carmen. They are the volunteer caretakers of the Cambridge Cay mooring field and surrounding park area. As hosts, they meet each new boat at the mooring ball, lending assistance if needed, and tell all about the local sites and attractions, complete with map. Each evening that the weather is good, they host a “sundowner” gathering on the sandbar at 6:30pm, where cruisers get to meet and socialize and toast the sunset. This morning, they raised the Jolly Roger on their dinghy and went to each boat in full pirate regalia, to chat, collect fees, and invite folks to play “Farkle” a dice game, on their boat. The featured picture was as they approached C Ghost.

Unfortunately, we were unable to stay long enough to play and learn this new game as a combination of factors led to a decision to leave Cambridge today for the next stop on our return trip north. The first factor was weather. A nasty weather system with strong west winds will be arriving this weekend and persisting through the first part of next week. While we could have stayed in that nice protected spot in Cambridge or waited out the bad weather in another anchorage on the Sound side of the islands, the 2nd and 3rd factors argued against that. As of tomorrow, we will have been at anchor for a full month without being able to do any major re-provisioning. Our freezer is starting to look empty and we’re getting low on some other supplies. We have plenty of food to survive (haven’t broken into any of those cans of spam yet ?), but we’re beginning to transition from “glamour camping” to just “camping”. Also, our watermaker started acting up a couple weeks ago. It produces water at its normal rate, but the salinity level of the product has been steadily increasing. The last time we made water, none of it was drinkable so we stored the product in jugs and use it for washing dishes and ourselves. It is perfectly safe for these uses, and is not detectably salty by taste. We still have over 100 gallons of good drinking water in our main tank so we are not in any danger, but another 10 days at anchor waiting out weather without being able to add more water would firmly place us in the “camping” category. More on the watermaker saga in a future post. There are two marinas within range of our present position where we thought we could go to wait out weather, get more water, and get a few more provisions. Staniel Cay Marina was closest, but that would mean returning south (when we are trying to go north). Further, the Staniel Cay Marina is not well protected in strong west winds and they have at times even asked boats to leave if it gets too bad. The other option was Highbourne Cay Marina which is north of us and conveniently on the path we want to go. Tom called them this morning, but we clearly aren’t the only ones seeking refuge as the marina is booked solid for all the predicted days of the coming bad weather. So, with options dwindling, we decided to make our way back to Palm Cay (same island as Nassau) before the weather hits. We were already intending to go there anyway for when Glennis comes to visit, just not this soon. We called and they were willing to move the beginning our reservation forward to this week. Being that we still have a few days of nice weather, we decided to leave Cambridge this morning and spend one night anchored at Hawksbill Cay (where we are now). This is a place we intended to see on our way south but couldn’t because of all the west wind. Tomorrow we will go to either Allans Cay (also a place we missed on the way down), or maybe back to Normans. Then Wednesday we will make for Palm Cay Marina.

Exiting the Cambridge anchorage around Bell Island this morning was much less stressful than entering, as we had done it before and had traversed the shallow spots successfully. We were able to enjoy the sights more fully, which included fantastical formations of limestone rock rising from the waters and a huge mansion and private lagoon on the island proper.  The winds were light and dead astern, so we unable to sail, but had a very nice motor with a slight following sea to speed us along.

On the way we saw a huge gray mega yacht that looked familiar. As we drew near, we realized it was Skat, the 200-foot-long vessel that was docked at Norfolk when we were there during Hurricane Matthew. Its bulk shielded us from the worst of the wind as the storm passed by.

There was nothing tricky about the entrance to Hawksbill Cay, and we were able to pick up an available mooring ball. This time we traded places and Paula piloted and Tommy grabbed the buoy. He did great.

The scenery is again wonderful, but despite very light winds, there has been significant swell during the afternoon that does not seem related to wind or tide change. So far it is much less bothersome than what we experienced at Rose Island, whether because it is less, or we are more accustomed to motion or a little bit of both. It eludes us as to what land or sea features is causing the swell, but as evening is coming on it appears to be flattening out.

Tonight’s dinner was Jerk chicken in a peach juice (from the canned peaches of a few days ago) and balsamic vinegar sauce, sautéed plantains, and mushy peas with bacon. Tommy will get the last piece of carrot bread as it is his favorite, and Paula is having some dark chocolate from bars that are left over but still in good shape from our ICW cruise.

Note – very poor cell coverage here tonight. The cell signal amplifier on our arch is working double overtime.