03/31/2010, Black Point

March 31th, 2010 Big Majors to Black Point, Exumas
After coffee this morning Barry came over with a load of books and to say good-bye again. We won't see them until next fall. They are moving north today with "Blue Bay" and will leave their boat in Ft. Pierce before flying back to BC.
We weighed anchor shortly after and sailed down to Black Point to do some laundry before Davey and Debbie arrive on Friday. Kathy wants Ida to cut her hair as well.
The wind was light but we had a great sail at between 4 and 6 knots on a perfect Bahamian morning.
After getting the anchor down, we had some black beans and rice for lunch and then wasted some time before heading in with three loads of dirty cloths. Kathy got things started while I worked on some projects and made a trip to shore for 12 gallons of water to assist our water-maker.
"Kokomo" is anchored directly behind us and has invited us over for dominos this evening... It should be interesting, Roland and Leda are always fun.

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03/31/2010, Big Majors Spot

March 29th and 30th, 2010 Big Majors Spot, Exumas

There is a front approaching and the wind blew hard all day from the south precluding any trips to shore. We read for a while but during the morning I cooked up some black beans and rice ... and then decided to try Susan's bread recipe.

The beans were great but by the end of the day the bread was marginal. It just didn't seem to rise like it should have. It may have been the yeast or possibly it was just a little drafty in the boat. Anyway it was ok but a little heavy.

In the afternoon we battened down the hatches, stowed anything that could blow away and lifted the dinghy out of the water into the davits. The front was supposed to hit around midnight so we stayed up late watching video. Soon after we went to bed the first squall hit with lots of rain but not that much wind. It did however mark the beginning of the wind shift to the west where we have little protection.

We bounced around a little but were able to get some sleep until about 4am when the front itself hit us with more squalls and wind to about 25 knots. There was also another wind shift which pointed "Sapphire" to the North West while the waves continued from the West which makes for an uncomfortable roll-pitch combination that is hard to sleep through.

Our bouncing around lasted until about noon when the waves caught up with the wind and things calmed down. We lowered the dinghy and ran over to talk with "Fine Lion" and Night Hawk" and decided to head in to the Yacht Club for a beer and some food around 5pm.

We returned just at dusk and watched a amazing moon rise over Big Majors before watching an episode of NCIS.

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03/31/2010, Big Majors Spot

March 28th, 2010 Plain Bay to Big majors Spot

We left our anchorage at Plain Bay after coffee and motor sailed (to charge our batteries) north to Big Majors Spot...a trip of about 8 miles. Once anchored, I took the dinghy to the Yacht Club and purchased some pre paid phone cards and returned to the boat.

Ellie never answers her phone but I called Sam who was home at the time and was able to talk to Matt explaining exactly the zinc that we needed. With that chore out of the way we had some left over meatloaf for lunch and read until the MSU/Tennessee game.

The beginning of the game was amazing with both teams scoring every time down the court. This was not the Spartans that we've been listening to all season. Where were the turnovers? The poor shot selection, and the senseless fouls.
We were both on the edge of our seats most of the game.... There's no way this is a Final 4 team. The announcer was fine but John Thompson who was the color man was horrible. He hated the Spartans and every word that came out of his mouth had a Tennessee slant. He had done zero research on our team and assumed that we were a half court team with little running or rebounding ability compared to Tennessee. He was so bad that his career as a broadcaster has to be finished.

As we nudged ahead in the second half by a few baskets, we were getting hopeful but were waiting for the hammer. Surprisingly it never fell, and as time ran down we were still in the game. When the buzzer sounded .... We were shocked the lackluster Spartans were in the Final 4 for the 6th time in 12 years.

I remembered our MSU Flag and hoisted it during the post game interviews and before long a guy from Hope, Michigan dinghied over to talk about the game.... He and his wife were both Spartans and lived in Waverly for years.

Night Hawk anchored near us during the afternoon and we dinghied over for a visit before listening to the second half of the Duke Game....on a perfect day they would have lost, but such was not the case...

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