We said good bye to Tom and Patty as they returned to March in Northern Michigan on a flight out of Georgetown. We then departed the Marina at Emerald Bay at 8:00 am sharp. Our destination was about 40 miles to the Northeast: Cat Island. This sprit of land is one of three Bahamian Barrier Islands with the Sound on one side and the Atlantic on the other. Eleuthera, Long Island and Cat are all similar land formations in topography with coral and limestone cliffs on the Atlantic side and great stretches of white, sandy beaches on the Sound side. There are few secure anchorages in Northeast and Westerly winds, but we were hopeful that the forecasts are wrong and that the winds hold to Southeast at 10 to 15 knots. We had a fabulous run with both sails up—we were able to remove the reefs set based on the high 30 knot winds from the day before. Our speed ranged from 6 to 7.5 knots without the assist of our motors, so the sail was calm and peaceful. We didn’t even need to run the watermaker and generator since our tanks were only slightly down. (What a blessing the watermaker is--converting saltwater from the ocean to 20 gallons of fresh, pure potable water an hour. We can take showers aboard and wash clothes without a worry!) While under sail, we caught a small mahi mahi, but the highlight was the spotting of two whales off our starboard bow. They did not stay with us long as the dolphins often do, but just to see the enormity of these animals was amazing. We slipped into the Hawk’s Nest Marina in time for dinner and tomorrow we will explore the island by car.