This morning the weather forecasts had altered such that it looked to be best if we began our trip home today, as Thursday now looks slightly better than Friday for crossing the Gulf Stream. Also, this gives us one day of “cushion” if we need to stop for some reason.

Accordingly, we said farewell to our new acquaintances (both human and feline) and to the marina staff. The latter have been just wonderful and we have felt very much at home in Palm Cay.

Our trip to West Bay was made interesting by some storms we could see in the distance, but that did not impact our path, and beautiful coral. The big heads are marked on the chart, but there were many smaller heads that we could clearly see through the amazingly clear water. In one shallow patch, Paula, at the bow doing visual navigation, saw us pass by beautiful purple fans, brain coral, and could even see small fish darting away as they saw C Ghost’s shadow pass them like a monstrous barracuda.

As we entered the anchorage, Paula piloted and Tommy took the post on the bow and was amazed to see three dolphins racing and cavorting underneath and alongside our bow.

Once there, we rolled up Poltergeist and tied her to the top of the boat, like Ulysses, so she will be safe on the crossing. Tommy took the opportunity to get in the water and scrape some of the fuzzy, delicate plant life from C Ghost’s hull.

One of the couples that we met decided to leave as well, and they hailed us just as we were anchoring. They were about 30 minutes behind us, and wanted the scoop on the anchorage. They got in safely and we enjoyed watching their two beautiful, huge Labradoodles romp on the beach.

Paula served warmed-up corned beef, the rest of the cabbage and bacon, and an actual small salad as a treat. It will be an early night for us. We have a big day ahead.