When we entered this new harbour there were 2-large rays that swam under the boat. The water is really clear, but the water is cooler since the weather has cooled down a little. Two other boats came in after us, but we still don't have the number of boats we have been used to. We will stay here a few days since there is a strong cold front coming through soon. It was a little walk to get to the beach, but there were no people or footprints. We had bought so many charts & used so few, it's good to break out some we thought we wouldn't use on this trip.
The only problem with staying on the hook for extended periods is battery charging. We have to run the engine daily if we want to run the fridge. We spend hours reading when we aren't walking the beach or exploring. Jerrie has a stack of used books to pass along when we find an exchange place. Most marinas have a book exchange. Leave some & take some.
We miss Hope Town with all the activities, especially the dinner & movie at the Lodge on Tuesday evenings. We finally downloaded pictures of our "dinghy-drift" which will be posted when this gets on the blog. That was one of the most fun things we have done & highly recommend it. The snacks people made were better than a fine restaurant and the camaraderie was wonderful. We got to chat with people we haven't met until then and exchanged "boat cards".
We have a list of must-have items before we leave the states again. Seems we would know everything needed after years of vacation cruising. But when you work & can only go away for several weeks, it's totally different from what we have been doing since November. Also while cruising along the coast, the items needed are nowhere near what they are when you spend the winter in another country and away from supplies. It has to be VERY important to purchase in the Bahamas as the prices are 2-3 times more than in the states. Anything brought in by airplane has a 45% duty so even when friends visit, it isn't worth the duty.
Sunday night I made one of our favorite meals. We had refrigeration for a few days while we were at the dock, so I bought some chicken and made a chicken broccoli casserole. When it was ready I took it out of the oven and placed the dish on the stove and then it promptly fell onto the floor behind the stove upside down. That meal I worked diligently to prepare was now a big lump under the oven and what a mess. This is just part of the life on a vessel with very little counter space. There were probably too many calories in the dish anyway. We couldn't clean up the mess until the next morning because we are conserving our battery power. Anyway yesterday we had to remove the stove/oven from its gimbaled holder and clean up the mess. That part of the boat probably needed a good cleaning anyway.