Glennis, infected by boat life, was up shortly after dawn and joined Paula and Tom in the cockpit for coffee. A boat breakfast was requested and prepared, and we got ready to go to the beach and pool area as the weather was awesome: sunny, mildly breezy and warm.

Paula and Glennis spied a plastic bag floating in a corner of the marina’s perimeter with some important-looking items inside including a single key and some suspiciously official-appearing documents. It was dead low tide, so Glennis had to lay on her belly over the edge with Paula holding on to her legs to retrieve it. We turned it in to the office and found that the boat the key and official boat documentation it belonged to was in the marina and had just been sold. The marina manager put in a call to the new owner to let him know that the important items had been found.

Once at the beach, Glennis and Paula found the water had cleared to a glass-like clarity, although the surface was rippled by the breeze. Tom read on a chaise lounge while they explored. The juvenile barracuda we had spotted before was still on guard in the shallows of the port side of the beach. His mottled coloring changed as he moved in the water to help him blend in with the bottom covering. At first we thought he was a large stick and took a few tentative steps towards him in the shallows. He slowly pivoted to face us, and we retreated. Suddenly, he darted parallel to the shore at an amazing speed to intercept a small school of tiny fish.  We were astounded at his velocity and were very glad we had not gotten any closer.

Giving him a large berth, we swam and snorkeled on the starboard beach. We found several small coral heads with their array of tiny fish and found even more fish in wider varieties among the rocky outcroppings that defined the edges of the marina’s beach. All in all, we spent about 40 minutes enjoying the flora and fauna and only came out when we started to feel a little cold.

We decamped for the pool, swam a bit, and then ordered lunch at one of the poolside tables there. Glenny’s treat! We discussed current and past historical events, observed the few fellow boaters and the beach/pool area, and watched several large vessels enter and tie up at the marina. One of them, a large catamaran apparently had a problem at the top of its mast. Almost immediately upon tying up at the gas dock, one of the crew ascended in a bosun’s chair to the top and could be seen cutting something lose-possibly a stuck halyard.

After lunch we rested at the pool a bit more, then headed back to C Ghost, pleasantly drained and sun-stunned. Glennis and Paula showered, as Tommy had already done earlier. Then we napped, during which time the wind shifted to the NE and began to rise.

We all dressed up for dinner on this last full day of Glenny’s visit- her idea! We set up outside in the breeze to enjoy garlic pan-seared ribeye steak, roasted Brussel sprouts, Israeli couscous, a small green salad apiece, and re-warmed leftover drop biscuits from this morning. Apparently it smelled good, because despite the stiff breeze, it only took a few minutes for a cloud of ravenous Bahamian flies to arrive for the meal. We tried Sergeant Swat, a sacrificial garlic butter pan left at a distance, insect repellent, and the obligatory frantic arm waving to no avail. Finally, we made a run for it, and in two minutes had relocated the meal inside the cabin at the salon table, away from nature. This allowed us to enjoy our meal in piece.

After dinner we took a long stroll all around the marina, the beach and pool area. The wind had risen to about 16mph, and the ghostly noises of wind through rigging, trees, and wind generators lent a certain spooky mood to our walk. We checked the beach. Mr. Barracuda was still on duty. Returning to our pier, we heard the unmistakable chirp of the Large Egg-Laying Bahamian Cricket and managed to snap a picture. We believe it to be a Gray Kingbird.