Well at long last, we managed to pull up the anchor at Long Island and be on our way. As the trip to Conception Island is more than can be done in daylight hours and there are LOTS of coral beds on the way, we opt to anchor tonight with our friends on Hog Cay. It is a beautiful sail and we try a new thing today, which is to pull up our main sail while we are still at anchor and then sale ( with some help from the iron genny) off the anchorage. It worked! But we also had lots of room.

Some things are worth waiting for. The wind was a beam-broad reach, the sun was high, the winds varied from 8-15 and the water, well lets just say that it was fitting that it is St. Patty’s Day today, because the waters were more turquoise green than blue. It is unbelievably beautiful. Look how dingy the sky looks by comparison!

Arrived in the anchorage after only one minor heart stopping moment as the channel in is skinny and made of reefs. But we got the hook set at 1;15 and headed out for a snorkel on the reef. It was magnificent- saw lots of fan coral- the biggest I had ever seen- some nearly 3 feet across. All the fish on our list of often seen and a couple of very succulent looking 2 foot Nassau Groupers. No net though…. I lost another lure today when the trolling line went zinnnnnggggg and then went slack. Wonder if I should replace the line- it is about 6 years old, but has only seen sun in the last couple years.

On the way back, the outboard died. It has been acting persnickety for the last couple days. Herb and Linda saw us rowing back to the boat ( we would have made it, really!) and buzzed over in their 25 hp motorized dinghy and towed us back in. THANKS GUYS!

A couple hours of futzing later, the outboard seems to be back in the saddle. We are on our last secondary filter though- who knew we would go through so many. Our friend Dennis swears by Marvel Mystery Oil. Think we will look for some!

Off to Utopia ( Herb and Linda’s boat) where we celebrated St. Patrick’s day with a bright green spinach soufflé appetizer from herb and a yummy dip from Allison. A glass of wine, a lovely sunset, good company, and, well, all is right with the world. This is one of the days we hope and plan for on the darker days. Thanks to the universe for serving this one up!