Anchored off Elbow Cay for four days we took the opportunity to get to grips with some of the small jobs aboard Alexia which needed attention - my trusty 'crew' of WD40, duct tape, anti corrosion spray and dielectric grease were a great help.

Our last evening at this anchorage was in complete isolation - not another boat in sight. We had the best of sunsets all to ourselves and shared a fantastic view of the night sky with no-one. With zero light pollution from the land the canopy of bright stars was the best we have ever seen.

The Milky Way stood out clearly as a huge daubed smudge, the crescent moon (upside-down in this part of the world) smiled down and the plough, out to starboard, had its panhandle in line with a single light on a far shore making it appear as if it was tethered to the earth.

We departed next morning for Sea Spray Marina about 2.5 nm further south at the far end of Elbow Cay, double checking the tide height with our destination marina to ensure we were indeed at high tide. Why not just look at the published tide tables and check the charts? Well, in the Bahamas sometimes all is not what it seems especially with tidal movements and VPR (visual piloting rules) apply to most of the areas.

A good breeze took us most of the way under sail but engine on as we entered the approach where we were careful to stay within the marked channel with depths no less than 6 feet. The waters immediately outside the channel shallow quickly to 2 feet in places. Range markers helped us line up correctly and just when we felt the water was getting skinny there was a hard turn to starboard leading us into the marina basin.

As the tide went down large sandbars dried out and the shallow areas become obvious.