December 1st was another fantastic day of sailing with just the spinnaker flying - we were really flying along again making excellent time!! We left Royal Island just after first light and were anchored in Norman’s Cay by mid-afternoon. Once again we trolled - this time putting out 2 lines. Bruce caught a huge barracuda (catch and release!) and again something very big took my line again and this time not only bit the hook in half again and took the remains of the lure, but shredded the nylon coating on the leader wire!! This time we retired my line. I guess I’ll have to go lure shopping in Georgetown or somewhere! During the sail we heard our friends from last season John and Barbara Anderson on their PDQ ‘Sam-the-Skull’ hailing our longtime friends Barry and Susan Wilson of “Nighthawk” on the VHF. We soon contacted the 2 boats to find out where they were meeting up and arranged to hopefully catch up with them in a couple of days.
We arrived at Samson Cay after yet another beautiful day’s sail from Norman’s. No spinnaker this time, just the jib and mainsail. We have done more great sailing this year than we had all last season! We met the others at the beach for a swim and then Bruce and the boys went out spearfishing. Unfortunately Bruce couldn’t fish as after the spearfishing in the Abacos he developed a painful ear infection. Luckily we had antibiotics on board for just such an occasion and by now he was a few days into the course. I believe he was very unhappy at not being able to go in fishing with the boys that day though! Over the next few days we all sat out a bad weather front together at Samson Cay. The wind didn’t stop howling for 4 days!! Although it was too windy for fishing we did go by dinghy to see the swimming pigs at Big Majors cay again and fed them (and a barracuda swimming amongst them) some lettuce and visited some friends of Barry and Susan’s who were anchored there. We also saw and chatted with Bill and Mara of ‘Puddlejumper’ whom we had met in Miami while we were waiting to cross the Gulf Stream. Each evening ‘Windrush’ ‘Nighthawk’ and ‘Sam-the-Skull’ met on each other’s boat and had snacks and drinks and usually ended up getting home too late to bother with supper! Because of all the power pouring into the boat from all the sun and wind the others all finally nagged and guilt tripped me into starting my big project - the cockpit cushions. I really didn’t have anymore excuses to put off making them. So on Sunday Bruce and I got organised cutting out the pieces of material using the hot knife and the next day I sewed the larger of the 2 cushions while Bruce kept on cutting out the pieces - he really is an expert at using that hot knife and wielding those scissors! Seriously - I couldn’t have managed without him! Barry and John dropped by in the afternoon ostensibly to use our internet to make an order, but I think they were really checking up on me to make sure I really was sewing! That evening we had a ‘Bless the Cushions’ get together on our boat - a good excuse anyway.
Finally the wind stopped howling and ‘Nighthawk’ and ‘Windrush’ headed to Black Point. I was desperate to do some laundry and Susan wanted a haircut. With those tasks accomplished we made our way to White Point to meet up with ‘Sam-theSkull’. One more evening together and then we parted ways with the promise to get together again in the Jumentos early in the New Year.
We set sail early the next morning heading for our favourite anchorage near Lee Stocking Island, ‘Ray Bay’ where we were last season with Kirsty, Katie and Jenny. On the way past Rudder Cut Cay we spied some good looking coral heads and ledges (good places for crawfish catching) so we anchored in a beautiful cove there that is not unlike Ray Bay. This is our second day here now. No-one else has pulled in to anchor here - in fact we have only seen another couple of boats pass by. Very peaceful! We fished the coral heads and ledges and Bruce had a couple of great days of fishing. We now have quite a few large crawfish and another half a dozen conch in the freezer! We’re all set to move on!!