CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored near Moss Cays, about midway between George Town on Great Exuma Island and Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas
23 30.546' N, 075 45.529' W (CLICK HERE for Google Maps)

The day started very early, even for us. We were out of the v-berth by 5AM, and actively preparing to be underway by sunup. In the darkness of these wee morning hours, I deflated and stowed the dinghy, while Sheryl plotted our course and entered waypoints into the GPS. Once we had double verified our waypoints, listened to the weather, and stowed and secured all gear for an offshore passage, we started the engine.

We motor-sailed out of Farmers Cut and went off shore, out of the way of our rhumb line, in order to get a better point of sail. Even so, once we turned to our heading for George Town, we had to keep the motor running in order to point close enough to the wind to make our destination before sundown. Despite having to dodge several mean looking squalls, it was a relatively decent beat to windward, with winds ranging from 15-20 knots and seas about 5 feet. With the motor and sails both contributing, we averaged a good 5.5 knots and arrived at Conch Cay Cut by 3PM with thoroughly salt-covered decks.

As we navigated through Elizabeth Harbour, what initially appeared to be a marina was just a forest of masts at anchor near Monument Beach on Stocking Island. An even larger grouping of masts was spotted as we passed the volleyball courts near the Chat 'n Chill. A third mass of boats could be seen anchored near Sand Dollar Beach. Finally, a smaller grouping of boats was at anchor near the docks of George Town on the main island. We opted for none of the above.

Our criteria for an ideal anchorage is two-fold: 1) Good holding and 2) No other boats nearby. With this criteria in mind, we selected a spot near Moss Cays. The Explorer Chartbook says that the holding is good, and there were no other boats in this anchorage. A little bit of wind-driven chop did not discourage us from our decision, and we had the CQR firmly set by 4PM.

We are anchored about equidistant from 'Volleyball Beach' and downtown. This should give us a good position from which to explore all that this cruising mecca has to offer (without being crowded by other boats). Stay tuned, dear Reader, the new year is sure to bring much more excitement as we rest here for a while and prepare to head onward past the Bahamas, down the 'thorny path,' and on to the Caribbean.

For the present, though, here we are in George Town for New Year's Eve. Sheryl and I are in the practice of celebrating the New Year at the earliest possible moment, so we did our annual 'reflection upon our year' conversation at midnight, or 0000 - zero hundred, UTC (coordinated universal time, otherwise known as Greenwich mean time or Zulu time). That's 7PM EST. We were sound asleep by 8PM. Happy 2008, dear Reader!