FIRST LIGHT

It’s been cool and rainy for several days now, much like a Pacific Northwest summer – one minute gloomy, the next POURing rain, the next sunny and lovely. We are anchored out in Marsh Harbor, relaxing, catching up on some reading, planning our next move and contemplating the ever-present boat maintenance projects. It’s pleasant and quiet even with the unseasonal wet and occasional clap of thunder. The early morning sky with flashes of lightening illuminating the thunderheads that rim our view is gorgeous. Bristol cannot get her fill of rainwater. She strolls the deck, alternating which back foot to shake, sipping from the hard dodger, taking a thundering leap to the boom with its various fabric folds then finally sitting on the slightly open (and therefore drained dry) forward hatch. Surveying her floating paradise (I daren’t say prison) with regal solemnity then instant puffy-tail and crouch when the neighboring boat’s dog barks to be taken ashore.

Our boat projects have taken a back burner. When Winslow was here he fixed the dingy motor (it purred again this morning!), helped Harv change the alternator belt, and troubleshoot the watermaker, but there are still things that need doing. We have a list. The odd part is most of the projects are things WE installed new on the boat; we’ve owned her long enough items are wearing out. This is a bit scary. Some of it is tedious, like re-making hatch-screens that are sun-sick or have torn; some of it is fun, like figuring out how to rig the remote course-change device on Hydie – remember Hydie? Our wind steering system? We haven’t used her in ages because most locations in the Abacos are only an hour or two away, require too many course changes to skirt the ever-present “shifting sand bars” or we were motoring to charge batteries. But now it’s “Hello Hydie!” If we’re lucky she’ll be happily working and we can use her this weekend when Rob (remember Rob? :^) and old friend Lauren arrive. Rob and Lauren have known each other for over 15 years; we're looking forward to meeting her... any friend of Rob's.

One hates to make firm plans for a small boat in the ocean - it can be dangerous, however IF the forecasts hold, a cold front is due in on Saturday. This is good news! It means the winds will be northerly and between 15 – 20 kts. At the risk of tempting any Weather Fates I’ll say that THAT is nearly perfect weather for heading south. It would give us a fast and pleasant broad reach down to San Salvador – where Christo Colombo first made landfall. This out-island, well east of Georgetown, Exumas is a small speck of the world that has been on Harv’s list for some years… fingers crossed.

If it all works, and it is still an IF, Rob and Lauren will arrive Saturday after a red-eye from Seattle. We’ll “wine and dine” them at the Jib Room (it’s steak night!), then head south on Sunday. Plans are to stop by Tilloo Cay to scavenge a winch, some line and line cleats from what appears to have been a drug boat run that ran afoul of the reef. From there we’ll continue down to the end of the Sea of Abaco, overnighting at Lanyard Cay, and on Monday we’ll make the jump from Little Harbor Cut, out into the Atlantic and set Hydie to steer a southeasterly course for the next 30 or so hours. Then Hydie-Hi, Hydie-Ho, Bada-bing, Bada-boom, we should arrive San Salvador just before dark… like I said, fingers crossed.