The wind didn't start to blow till around 9pm and then it was a gradual pick up until all of a sudden at around 10, it was as if someone opened the skies and allowed rain and wind to come blasting out at us. We saw gusts up to 40 and they may well have been higher before we got the wind indicator turned on to check. It lasted maybe half an hour and then this pre frontal trough was pretty much over. The front passed through sometime after that but it was an anticlimax! The rain stopped; the wind quieted to 20 knots and all that was left was wildly thrashing waves crashing up against the pilings of the docks - and us of course. It dislodged the fender that we had jammed between us and a piling so we have some new "rubs" on the rub rails, but that was it.

In contrast, we heard from friends who saw 70 knot gusts during the night, and another whose boat broke free from a mooring and they experienced hours of 50 knots winds. On the Cruiseheimers network we heard folks saying, "We're still here!" as if it was a relief. I think the folks north of us were much harder hit.

On Saturday morning, the wind was still blowing from NNW 15-20 but we don't notice it all that much in the harbour. A look out at the reef shows waves crashing and lots of whitecaps - enough that those folks who usually spend their days on the reef stayed home! We took a lovely long walk on the beach that stretches south from the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour, trying to soak up whatever rays of sunshine we could get. It was 66F this morning, and didn't really warm up much all day.

This afternoon, we wandered over to the village, bought some eggs and butter from the Andros grocery store, and chatted with Diane who turned out to have studied nursing at Ryerson in Toronto. She's back here because she just couldn't stand the cold! Yesterday, the vegetable truck came to the waterfront and all the boaters as well as locals lined up for his fresh produce. Because I was already well supplied, I bought only limes and plantains, but he had tomatoes, broccoli, green beans, cucumbers, cabbages too - such a luxury here. Donna came by with more bread - we bought cinnamon raisin this time, but my favourite is coconut. The problem is that coconut bread and butter put pounds on faster than anything I know - and eating a half a loaf at one sitting only makes it worse!

We visited Mary in her little basket weaving shop and bought a bread basket for $8. I confess, I bought it mostly to study the weave, since it its the kind I started doing when we were here in the Bahamas last time. I picked some fronds on Frazer's Hog Cay but I'm not sure I got the right kind since they seem to break easily and make a soft basket. Mary says she sits and weaves all day, everyday. In other places, we have seen groups of women weaving and plaiting and chatting together, and she seemed pretty much alone. I don't know if that's typical for her or not. That is one thing we've noticed about the Bahamas - no one ever seems alone. Men, women and children work and play in groups and we often hear wild peals of laughter and teasing ring out.

I hope the water has calmed by morning because we want to dinghy out to the reef to snorkel and explore. Our neighbours found a magnificent triton shell. Wouldn't that be a lovely Valentine?