We received confirmation that our navigation SD card is on it’s way via Fedex and should arrive here at the Green Parrot Pub, the semi-fine establishment which we are anchored in front of, sometime Monday. Normally I wouldn’t let something like a chart plotter chip delay us for a week but these things are so convenient that I had to make an exception. Having the chip mailed anywhere other than Nassau would have taken an act of Congress to get. With the kids on board traveling in pretty confined waters, there is a certain element of safety being able to just follow a dotted line while we travel. Otherwise I’d need Jenny always steering while I constantly plot positions. That can get dangerous with kids climbing on you trying to work an accurate fix.

Nassau reminds me of a big, steady heart beat. With the tides flushing in and out of here, sometimes at 3 or 4 knots, it’s like oceanic blood pumping to the rest of the body. The only problem is this heart eats too much deep fried foods and has lots of platelets. Our vessel in the stream has a black slick on her waterline that I need to scrub but I’m not getting in the water here. If there is a plastic patch in the Atlantic, surely it originates here.

We have been visiting the Atlantis Resort during our spare time. It’s really an incredible feat of engineering. For those who haven’t been, the place is a replica of some architect’s rendition of what the ancient lost city must have looked like. We checked out the massive aquarium as the kids squealed with excitement at all the fish. A few months ago in Florida, Jenny took them to feed and swim with sting rays which they still talk about. So their little minds were blown away when they saw the 8 foot manta ray here swimming up to the glass. Giant grouper, sharks, and swarms of lobster, it was all in a day’s fun. We spent most of the time swimming, water sliding, and riding the rapids river. Then we got some $18 dollar hamburgers and $4 dollar bottles of water.

I’ve been doing engine maintenance and today, Sunday, I’ll be topping off the water tanks, fuel, and working on some new battens for the main sail in preparation for our departure. I’m happy to report our dinghy hasn’t been stolen since we’ve been here. We keep it bike-locked to the toe rail of the boat and I sleep with the gat right next to the bed. It’s the only way to fly around here. But most everyone has been great. We found some cheap eats and have done as much exploring as one can do with 3 younglings in tote.

Every place we stop, we make new friends. I’d have to say it’s the most rewarding part of the voyage. Like-minded people on boats out here just ban together. It’s sad we’re all going in different directions. These guys are always on the look out for other kid boats. But being the off season, most of the herd is back stateside in their cubicles. So kid boats are few and far between. But the last two ports we did manage to meet up with some kid boats. In Chub Cay we met a family on a 120 foot mega yacht. Their kids were Trans-humanists, constantly tied to their mobile computer systems communicating via satellite to their friends back in Russia and Chicago. They were perplexed that we didn’t have a crew running our boat and serving us frozen drinks. I said they’re not old enough to serve liquor yet or run the blender. Ha! Also in Nassau we ran into a nice family from Oregon that cruises the Bahamas a few months out of the year. That boat had a young girl aboard which was very special for Fallon. She’s usually surrounded by rough-housing boys so it was nice for her to chatter endlessly with another girl.

It’s a shame we can’t take our time heading south. We must plan our voyage around hurricane safety zones where we can protect the boat which is also our home. We check with the NHC (National Hurricane Center) everyday for signs of trouble. Historically the first real storms start rolling through the beginning of August. But there is nothing as of yet. Once we jump off from Nassau we must work hard to get South quickly and out of harm’s way. From this point, if a hurricane were to materialize, we would just race back to Florida. If we are caught in the out islands we’ll have to secure the boat as well as possible, get a hotel room, and leave her to fend for herself. If kids were not involved I’d stay aboard to fight out the storm. Anything over a Cat 3 will likely claim the boat in these low-lying islands though. In which case we will return home and the trip will be over. But we will do everything to avoid that scenario.

Thanks to all those who have left kind messages on our blog. We are home sick for our Traverse City so it’s nice to hear from friends and family back there. Also from friends around the country. In the long term cruising plans, we will be returning to the Great Lakes next Spring via the Erie Canal, in 2012. Just in time for Armagedon. We’ll stop in Ohio to visit my parents, then sail up through Lake Huron and through the Straights of Mackinaw to return home. Who knows what the future will hold, but if our plans are realized, we will have sailed over 5000 miles upon our return and the kids will be ready to enter college at age 7.