March 24, 2012. Fabulous sail to Conception, following Onward. Odysseus organized a beach party, joined by 4 Italian men in Speedos on their way to Nassau on a Halberg Rassey. Very fun. Too bad the weather was changing with heavy westerlies. West Bay, open to the ocean on the west, is a bad place to be so we only had one night in this undisturbed paradise. Pristine beaches, tropicbirds, sea turtles...just lovely. Conception is a no-take land and sea park protected by the Bahamas Trust. Next time we'll stay longer. However, before we left, Joe took us on a dinghy tour through the selene, a low lying area with mangroves and lots of fish, rays, turtles, etc. Too bad there wasn't enough time to snorkel...next time! It was a bit dicey getting through the rocky entrance...definitely need to do it on a rising tide close to high.

March 25 - 31, 2012. Had another fabulous 40 mile sail from Conception to Cat Island. Ingo evaluated our diesel consumption and it's way down. Dinghy gas is another story since that's our "car" to get around. Gas is $6.93/gal...ugh!

Anchored in Old Bight to ride out the S to SW to W, and then moved to New Bight for the N to NE to E change. New Bight is the location of Father Jerome's hermitage on the highest point in the Bahamas, 206 ft. He built numerous churches throughout the islands, before building the Hermitage by himself where he retired and died in the early 1950s. On the climb up the hill, he build the 12 stations of the cross...all very beautiful and inspiring. Gorgeous views of the Atlantic and Exuma Sound. Preceding the visit, we stopped at the Bluebird Restaurant for a lunch of typical island cooking and a few cold Kaliks. Spicy chicken, peas and rice, cole slaw and potato salad. I swear everything had hot sauce in it!

High winds...haircut day and boat chores. Dinner on Ladyhawke with Joe.

Friends of Joe's, Laureen and Miles, on Ariel, an Aerodyne 47, arrived and rented a car for a tour of the island. Lunch at Fernandez Bay Resort, a "safari ride" to an Atlantic beach, and a rare find...the elusive hamburger bean on the beach. A successful day! Dinner onboard Onward with Ariel.

Spent another night at Old Bight to do some Working Words work and redo the anchor rode so the chain doesn't bunch up when hauling it in. Ariel and Onward made the trek north to Fernandez Bay...6 miles, with Ladyhawke following the next day. Lovely area, another selene for exploring, bit of snorkeling, found a beautiful sea biscuit and tulip snail. Sadly, the tulip snail had an inhabitant so back in the water it went. Lobster and filet with fresh asparagus and ice cream for dessert at the resort that evening with Onward and Ariel.

April 1, 2012. Sadly, said goodbye to Joe, Miles and Laureen at dinner the night before (change of plans...no potluck.) Lovely hostess and chef, Kathy, (helicopter pilot in previous life who fell in love with Fernandez Bay and Cat Island and decided to stay) at the Island Hoppinn. So glad we could experience her heavenly lobster bisque and delightful 9 year old daughter, Alyssa. She reminded us of Sarah at her age. Very polite and industrious. She makes jewelry, so, of course I had to buy some. She also did an acrobatic demonstration and showed us the Junkanoo costume she made, along with shell sculptures. Great evening and a "restaurant" not to be missed in Fernandez Bay.

Today, sailing to Little San Salvador which is now called Half Moon Cay, a private island owned by Carnival Cruise Line. Hope we miss the cruise ships!

April 2-3, 2012. Well,that was wishful thinking! Each day a honkin' big cruise ship arrived in the early morning, herded the "cattle" onto ferries to the shore so the passengers could grab a day of fun on the sun on shore, herded them back and the ships were gone by late afternoon. What an operation! Thousands of people on the little island...horseback riding, parasailing (by 7:30 am!), snorkeling, jet skiing...and then suddenly gone. It was a sight to behold! We were anchored in the northwest corner of the bay, fortunately out of the way.