We anchored right off of the beach in New Bight, the home of Mt. Alvernia, which at 263 feet is the highest hill in the Bahamas. The Hermitage sits atop the mountain and was built as a retirement home for the areas most famous priest. From the waterfront the buildings look huge as they stand guard over the harbour. However, looks can be deceiving, when we climbed the hill we found the whole complex is in miniature. The chapel has a small alter, a pew for one person, and all the other rooms plus the bell tower are of the same scale. Still the attention to detail is amazing and the views are incredible. As we toured the buildings I immediately thought of The Friendly Giant TV show, go figure, the priest's name was Father Jerome.

After our hike up the mountain we walked a mile or so to the town Center looking for the grocery store and the liquor store. One of the quickest way to subdue fish is to spray booze into their gills and Bev has been catching so many fish we were running out of cheap vodka. The Culture Village is a group of small Bahamian restaurants and bars that line the waterfront. So, after all the walking we did it seemed like a good idea to get some culture before heading back to the boat.

We have done a lot more sailing this trip and have greatly reduced the hours we put on the engine. However, Friday was time to change engine and transmission oil, filters and clean out water strainers. Once the chores were done we moved a few miles to a small bay that offers good snorkeling. There's a beautiful little beachfront resort here and we were entertained by a kite boarder roaring around the anchorage. We snorkeled around a small island in the bay and once again we were amazed by numerous colourful fish and underwater plant life. Another beautiful sunset capped another great day.

Today's picture is of Bev outside the chapel