Before we left Ed went up the mast to put on a new tri-color/anchor light. He found out several things while up there: He tied his lifting point a little high so could not be hoisted high enough to work atop the mast comfortably. His single foot strap made it difficult to stand and work while up there so he needs to make another foot strap. The black cup that fell off in the Northwest Channel was the tri-color light so we now have only the running lights (legal but less visible). The job is going to be more difficult and he needs a perfect day with single digit winds. At least the anchor light still works and the tri-color pulled off cleanly without breaking any wires because off the connector versus hard wiring. Another day perhaps.
We sailed to Allans with northeast winds allowing for apparent winds from 50 to 35 degrees, a doable close reach for full keel boats. Our spot in Allans was kind of exposed to the SW because there were so many boats but we had a day or so before the surge started. We found out that we do not like the anchorage unless in very settled conditions and anchored centrally over the sandy patch. Anyway, we enjoyed seeing the iguanas and visiting the islands until things got rough. Plus we moved spots twice, we went to the third spot after dragging and feeling the beach under the keel. After two rough nights we decided to run the sound side to Normans Cay. It was a splendid slow sail and the channel at Normans offered great protection with no surge and great holding and a lot more room.
We arrived at Normans on Superbowl Sunday. Ed likes playoff football and we both enjoy Superbowl parties so we went into the beach club for all you can eat appetizers (conch fritters, chicken, salsa, salad, fruits and more). The game was close, the beer cold and the company interesting. There were lots of dogs running around and one piglet that a guy living on a nearby island brought over for amusement. We also had a chance to see a small plane take off. The difficulty is that with a single strip and cross winds the pilot has to be very carefull as he clears the tree-line and hits the full cross wind. Ken and Belinda joined us on Monday and we did more beach walking, attempted to find some good reef but did not, went up into Normans Pond to see if we had any chance of entering it but concluded that we would need a super high tide for Duet which draws nearly 6 feet (WSD draws 5). The cove is very well protected, you could weather a severe storm there with no worries.
Our next stop was Cambridge Cay in the Exuma Land and Sea Park on 2-10. The winds were 15-20 out of the NNW so we flew down there (boat talk for going a wee bit faster in a slow boat) averaging 6.5K. The wind was right behind us so we went of jib alone. The day was partly cloudy. Duet had left before us so they went into the entrance first with the light in their eyes and partly cloudy. They were trying to go to Bell Island but went a little too far before turning north and ended up on the rocky bottom. Within 10 minutes there were 10 dinghys out of Cambridge Cay pushing Duet east while one dinghy took a halyard out tipping Duet thereby reducing Duet's draft. We came in while this was going on. Ann refused to try the approach to Bell no matter what I said so we turned back to the cut entrance to go into Cambridge which requires going right next to the islands headland. We then took the last available mooring ball. We did not know what Duet wanted to do at that point. Anyway, they came into Cambridge too and anchored near us. That night there was a cruiser party on the sand spit. Ken made rum punch as a thank you to all that helped. We had quite a front come thru with winds to 34 knots sustained 20-30 (multiply by 1.15 to convert to mph). Cambridge Cay offered great protection so there were no worries and we all slept well partially because we were on a mooring ball but mainly because the waves were small and the boats road well in the wind.
We snorkeled the Aquarium and plane wreck at Cambridge. All the land and water is protected in the park. We saw many beautiful fish and several lobster but the weather was kind of cool (70). We also swam into several caves at Rocky Dundas marveling at the Stalagtites, coral and formations. We then headed to Samson Cay on the 14th of February.
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