Bonnie arrived on time as expected on 1-26-18, but on one of worst days possible! We had anchored in a pretty good spot with fair protection from the wind. Forecasters predicted 30 kt winds gusting 35-38-40 with squalls gusting 40-45. This to last for 3 or 4 days because of an usually high pressure area north of us and an unusual low pressure area south of us. The highest wind occurred the evening she arrived. Nancy went into George Town on Elvis's Water Taxi to meet her as planned. The ride back into the wind was really rough and getting off the taxi and and on our boat took two tries. Our swim ladder got bent a little but luckily that was all. Both Nancy and Bonnie were real troopers and handled it very well. It was a relief once they were both safely on board. We were close enough to shore so that over the next few days, even with the wind we were able to take Bonnie to the sandy beach along the Exuma Sound and to the Sunday pig roast at Chat and Chill. We found the old Sailing Club t-shirt still hanging from the ceiling we had put there years ago when our two boys had come to visit us. Bonnie had come on Friday and by Tuesday we were able to leave our spot and stage, ready to head to Long Island on the first leg of our journey that will take us to Cuba.

While we were anchored and sitting out the strong winds we discovered that another cruiser couple we had met years before was in the area. We also knew that they had often made trips to Cuba. This was very fortunate because we had not yet solidified the details of moving the last leg of the journey. Jan and Cam are on the boat Te Amor from Canada. We gave them a call and explained our wish to ask for some help. They invited us over and gave us a lot of helpful information about the approach, checking in and much of what to expect upon arriving. Our visit with them relieved much of the tension. We had talked a long time about going to Cuba but when it got closer it became evident there were things we needed to know. We had good charts and other good information but to get some first hand info was great. This is what the cruising community does to help each other!