Mike
03/10/2008, Emerald Bay, Exuma

March 9... Emerald Bay

It was a sad day when the alarm sounded at 5:30. There was a flurry of activity, the taxi arrived, and the girls were gone. It was cloudy and breezy as the forecast cold front stalled on top of us. We listened to the Spartans lose and spent the rest of the day reading. Kathy found some more things to wash since laundry is free here but that was about the extent of our productive endeavors.

I miss the girls. K

March 10... Emerald Bay

Caleb Rolle was were at about 9 to recharge our refrigerator. He had to sweat on another valve and was here for a couple of hours. We're not sure that the refrigerator is fixed but if not, we at least know which part needs replacing. Kathy was once again working on more laundry...all of our foul-weather gear was salt encrusted and needed some work as did our rugs. I took our gerry cans over to the fuel dock and topped off our tank. In the afternoon we walked to the grocery to pick up a few things and then called for a shuttle to come pick us up.

We read until supper and later watched one of Abby's "hand me down movies" that Sam had delivered.

Tomorrow morning we will sail back down to Georgetown and are looking forward to seeing Steve and Carol who arrived there a couple of days ago.

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Mike
03/09/2008, Emerald Bay, Great Exuma

March 7th... Emerald Bay.

After breakfast...(our company demands more that coffee and nuts) the girls sunned and Kathy started a couple of loads of laundry. Due to squalls a the occasional rain cloud, we have lots of wet towels and damp clothing, so getting laundry done while it's free is important. The girls did their laundry yesterday so they could take home clean clothes.

After finishing with the clothes and eating some lunch, the girls and Kathy took the shuttle to the mall for some supplies while I showered and did the dishes. We spent the afternoon lazing around the boat mostly reading and finishing a few small jobs.

We grilled hamburgers for dinner and played some more cards before going to bed.

March 8th... Emerald Bay

Kathy did a couple of loads more of laundry in the morning and then we took off to hike to the Resort. We had a map and took off around the tee box of hole #12 which is right behind us and then through one of the gated condo communities to the beach. The resort was half way down the beach. We walked up the boardwalk to a central area that was about two acres of palms perfectly landscaped with a pool that curved through the entire area. Around the pool there were canopied chairs throughout with waiters circulating. We wandered over to one of the outdoor restaurants and ordered drinks and lunch which, although pricy, was excellent.

During our meal the sky turned dank and about the time we finished, there was a down pour. We were in the Hotel at the time ... shopping so stayed dry. I called the marina on the VHF for them to send a car over and Bradford was there in about 5 minutes. It was quite a place.

We did some more reading in the afternoon and I planked some chicken on the grill for supper... which we ate with black beans, rice and a Caesar salad.

The girls arranged for a cab to get them to the airport at six in the morning which was complicated a little by the fact that we were changing to daylight savings time at midnight. After one of the worst movies of all time everyone hit the sack.

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Mike
03/09/2008, Emerald Bay, Great Exuma

March 6th...

After listening to the weather we decided to head back to Exuma today rather than tomorrow when seas were going to be 6 feet and the wind was going to be above 20 knots. It would have been fun, but with non-sailors aboard we chose to move today. It was a downwind sail in about 15 knots. We were wing on wing with the headsail poled out and the main prevented for about 40 miles across the banks. We could almost make hull speed.

We fished all the way with three lines out and about noon caught a good sized barracuda on a hand line. It was about 15 pounds and I was able to unhook the thing without bringing it aboard. They are edible and quite good eating but need to be around 5 pounds to be safe for table fare. The larger barracuda have been known to carry the Ciguatera poison, not good to eat that!

We fired up the engine for the last 10 miles as our wind faded and arrived at "The Marina at Emerald Bay" around 3:30.

We were met at the dock by Bradford who tied us up and filled out the paperwork for us. Before he left he grabbed a huge welcome mat and placed it on the dock where we step on and off the boat. This is the first marina that we have stayed in since September in the Chesapeake Bay.

We had an option of a slip with or without power and chose the latter. Water is metered at the dock at 10 cents a gallon. Every thing is brand new here and beautiful. The uniformed help are friendly and very polite. With our slip we have access to free wi-fi, free laundry, beautiful showers, and free shuttle service to the mall, casino, and Four Seasons Resort of which this marina is a small part.

We explored the marina a little and the girls took the shuttle to the store before we made dinner and made an evening of playing euchre.

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