At first light, shortly before 6:30 AM on Monday, February 9th, we raised the mainsail and then the anchor. The apparent southerly wind speeds in the low teens and the incoming tide made for a very "do-able" exit from the Abacos in the cut at Little Harbour, and then for a sea state in the Atlantic Ocean that meant neither of us wanted to spend any more time than necessary down inside the cabin. Light rain showers in the morning repeatedly displayed a vibrant rainbow. A little of the genoa was added to the motor-sailing mix for a while. By mid-day the wind had decreased and the seas became much more placid. Less than ten miles before the end of the passage, during which we got to see numerous flying fish, the wind filled in to the mid-teens, and in the lee of Spanish Wells the seas remained comfortable. At 4:45 PM Grace was the eighth boat anchored in Royal Island Harbour. Just before sunset the Liberty Clipper (pictured above), with at least fourteen people onboard, was the ninth; at 2:00 AM she was lit up like a tree on Christmas Eve when the weather front arrived, bringing a 40-knot squall complete with thunder and lightening, of which one of the strikes was so close there we barely any time between the thunder and the lightening. In the clocked southwest winds, as Grace rolled from beam to beam, there was little rest to be had for her crew, until after daybreak.

One of several sea turtle surfacings we got to see in the harbor took place about mid-day on Tuesday as we prepared to move Grace to the more westerly portion of the harbor for more distance from the lee shore and less bounce from the fetch in the west winds sustained at over 20-knots.