Mangrove Cay

Well, as I write this I am anchored behind Mangrove Cay under the most beautiful full moon you can imagine. Mangrove Cay is an uninhabited island miles and miles from anywhere so there is NO ambient light. If there were no moon it would be pitch black. However with the full moon on a cloudless night everything is illuminated in a pale blue.

This morning, Jason, a fellow single-hander and a former Marine (I think I would have known even if he hadn't told me), aboard "Veronica," and Pete and Heather, a great couple from Nova Scotia aboard "Radical Jack", (a boat Pete built by the way) and I, left West End. (I will be back there someday!)

We sailed back into the deep blue depths of the Atlantic and headed to "Memory Rock" and the entrance to "Little Bahama Bank." Coming in past "Memory Rock," it was really exhilarating watching the depth-sounder go from "infinity" to 100 feet, to 35 feet to 15 feet in a matter of minutes. The water went from deep blue to pale green in the same amount of time and very soon you could see the bottom.

We sailed for hours in 15 feet of crystal clear water with no land in sight in any direction. I've never seen anything like it! I kept walking up on the foredeck and looking over the side. I could see the shadow of the Norma Fay passing over the bottom. About 3 hours after we entered the bank, a pod of dolphins came along and were playing in my bow wake. It was amazing. I kept trying to get a good picture, but those buggers are fast....

We got to Mangrove Cay and anchored before sunset. We got to watch the beautiful sunset over the water and the full moon rising over the island at the same time. Jason, Pete and Heather dinghied over and joined me for "sundowners" before we all crashed. We couldn't stop marveling at how bright it was outside because of the moon.

Anyway, tomorrow we're headed for "Great Sale Cay," another uninhabited island where we plan to anchor and spend tomorrow night. I'm sure I'll start to miss civilization eventually....won't I? Whoops, the ice is melting in my coconut rum and pineapple juice, gotta run!