Our friend Mark's boat TRUANT anchored between The Majors with Exuma Sound in the distance

Our 9 days with Ryan & Hannah were up so we dinghied them to a Nassau-bound puddle-jumper at Staniel Cay (how many airstrips with dinghy docks do you know of?) Back on Thistle we readied ourselves for the next cold front. It blew from the north for 3 days peaking at 36 knots and then from the east for 10 days at 20 to 25 sustained. Nonetheless, we managed to sneak around to Black Point Settlement on Great Guanna Island for a change of scenery.

Settlements in the Exumas seem to have a single defining characteristic or two. At Highbourne Cay it's a certain restaurant. At Staniel Cay its the yacht club bar and Watermakers Air. In Black Point its the Laundramat and the bread lady. Anchorage gossip among cruisers soon orients newcomers to the delights down the chain.

When the wind moderated we headed back up to Staniel again for one more BLT/Heineken at the bar and then it was north to Pipe Cay again to visit new friends who caretake one of the most beguiling little islands we've ever visited. I shan't try to describe it. Rather, let's just say it's the kind of discovery we were hoping to make when we embarked on this cruise.

After Pipe we ducked into Exuma Sound bound for Wardewick Wells in anticipation of, you guessed it, the next cold front.