This is a picture of our friends Jonnie and Charlenit. They are from Haiti and paid a large sum to be smuggled into the Bahamas to start a better life. They taught me a bit of Creole. I will miss them dearly.

We departed Georgetown on March 11 to do the family's first overnighter to Mayaguana. This would be a 175 mile trip. We decided to travel along with three other catamarans with kids. The winds were forecasted at 15 knots. - LIE! They were blowing more like 25+ knots and the seas were very large and uncomfortable. All of the cats were experiencing hull slamming. As night fell, the wind was not calming down. Inside of the boat, it felt like a salt shaker. So Nicole and I had to try to rest out in the cockpit. We had our PJ's on and our beds made in the cockpit, when a wave hit us broadside and washed into the cockpit. I once read that you weren't really a sailor unless you were cold, wet, tired and sick. That pretty much described us. We had a huge bucket inside that we dropped all of our wet clothing and blankets into. Nicole finally gave up and fell asleep in the saloon, sick and all. DJ was already sound asleep and had no problem with the banging and shuddering. I put on my foul weather gear and sat in the cockpit with Dave until the wee hours of the morning. After a while, I started to see the beauty within the terror. The wind was howling so fast, that the waves would crash over the bow and be swept over the side within a split second. The water was glowing with phosphorous and was hypnotizing to watch as we flew through the night. Somewhere around 3:30 I succumbed to sleep. I suddenly woke up and realized it was almost 6:00 and Dave hadn't slept yet. I jumped back into my foul weather gear and relieved him until 10:30 so he could rest. I watched the sun come up and a few container ships passed by. The wind was still howling, but somehow it wasn't as scarey. Dream Catcher has shown me what she was made of and we were in great hands. The romantic in me had always pictured my first overnighter to be on calm seas with gentle wind and a full moon. Yeah...right! Maybe next time.

Mayaguana was nothing to write home about. It is a big, desolate island. We hitchhiked to the beach. What a job it is to get 16 people around. We saw our first flamingo! That was pretty cool. The hunting was okay for lobster. We were anxious to move on to Turks and Caicos.