Sailing in to Thompson Bay is beginning to feel like coming home. It is nice to come in to some place familiar. We know right where we can set the anchor, we know the depth is right, we know the anchor will set. We've been lucky, our spot has been open every time we've come back. Today there weren't too many boats here, I think I counted 12 or so. That's less than there were at Hog Cay! Most of the boats have gone to Georgetown for the Cruiser's Regatta. It's a week of parties, games and sailing. It's also a week where there are likely to be 400 boats in Elizabeth Harbour. It's not really our kind of fun. It starts either the 28th or 29th of February, but since it's supposed to blow like stink for the next four days, I think a lot of boats got to Georgetown today.

We had an uneventful trip here today. We got a fairly early start after taking Fuzzy ashore and then lifting the dinghy on the davits. We left Water Cay before 7:30. We tried to sail the first leg, but it was too close, so we motor-sailed. Our course then took us 12 degrees further off the wind and we were able to sail for about 7 miles. Then the wind began to shift towards the front of the boat and die a bit, so the engine came back on. It's not like you can decide to fall off the wind and make it up later. A lot of these places have shallows and reefs not far off the course. Not long after we turned the engine on we saw some dolphins. A group of 5 came and swam at the bow of the boat. They stayed there a couple of minutes until I managed to get the camera out, then they were gone.

When we got up the the wide, shallow channel that cuts east back to Long Island the wind was almost on the nose and very light. We pulled in the jib and stay-sail and motored on with just the main. There was so little wind that the surface of the water was just lightly ripppled. The whole 11 miles of the channel the water never gets more than 12 feet deep, even at high tide. I told Bud it was sailing across a huge swimming pool (the water is that clear). I was trying to get a picture of the starfish we were passing, and managed to catch one with the shadow of me and the boat alongside the starfish. I'll post it once I have Internet access again (Long Island Breeze Resort is closed Sunday and Monday, so Tuesday looks like the day!).

The wind got so light we ended up putting all the sails away on the last leg of the Comer Channel. We even got the main zipped up in the stack pack. Then as we got near Long Island the wind picked up a bit and was from the North, so we pulled out the jib again. We gained 0.4 knot. Wow. Bud said he's just concerned that I get enough weight bearing exercise to fight osteoporosis. How thoughtful. Anyway, that worked for about a half an hour, then the wind shifted back east and we pulled the jib in again.

Once we were anchored Bud took the dinghy in to get four jugs of water (20 gallons) and one jug of gas. He was also going to reserve a laundry spot for Tuesday at Long Island Breeze, but found out their laundry is closed due to a water shortage. Mike, at Long Island Breeze told Bud he wasn't sure how long Long Island Petroleum would have water, and Bud should stock up on water right away. So Bud made a second run and got another 20 gallons and he'll go tomorrow morning (before they close at 11 AM) and get 20 more.

Fuzzy is having trouble with incontinence and we need to get him to a vet. There's a good vet in Georgetown, but before we take the boat anywhere else we need to figure out what's going on with the rudder post. So that's our agenda for the next little while.

By the way, we never heard anything about the flare last night, so we think the Bahamians set it off for fun.