Ah the problems of a type A personality. I realize that I am headed home so now I tend to do things to get there. Left Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco Island on the 27th at 08:05 and motored toward Don't Rock Channel. Got there at almost low tide and was concerned about hitting bottom. But the water was calm and the bottom is sand so I ran it and it never got shallower than 4'10" and Puff only draws 3' 6" with everything loaded on her. No bumping!

I was going to stop at Nunjack Cay (also known as Manjack) but it was only 1:30 so I pressed on to Powell Cay, which I had skipped on the way down. It is uninhabited and has some very nice beaches. Still think Nunjack is nicer. Hard to decide which is nicer but one section of the Powell beach is covered with seaweed so I'll give the best Cay award to Nunjack.

The 28th we sailed off anchor at Powell Cay with light winds. I still was debating going up to Double Breasted Cay and Grand Cay. Looking at the maps, guide books, and chart guides, I decided that there really isn't much there besides isolated cays and potential beaches. Since I had already done that for 3 weeks, I decided to press on toward Florida. The wind dropped off and came around so I was motor-sailing to Foxtown. Stopped there for an hour to call Karen, son Dean and sister Charlene. Met Daniel Parker, a 70-year old Bahamian who was running the gas station where the phone is. He had never been to the US and was fun to speak with.

From Foxtown, we motored most of the way to Great Sale Cay. Returned to within 100 feet of the spot we anchored at almost a month ago. Seems like longer than 22 days since I was here last. Got in just after 8 pm and after anchoring, cooking dinner, taking a shower, it was time for bed.

On the morning of the 29th, did some route planning and boat checking. Wanted to check the bottom for barnacles and knock off what I could. Not too bad but things are starting to grow on Puff's bottom. It will be good to get her back on the boatlift and clean and paint her bottom.

Went for my last Bahama's beach walk near the old missile-tracking site at Great Sale. Found a few treasures but the best part was miles of beach and nobody around. Nice shallow water and white sands. It is perfect for young kids and old folks too.

Went around to three boats and found two that planned to cross the Gulf Stream on the 31st. One from West End where I need to go to tell Karen and one from Memory Rock about 10 miles north of West End. So I pulled up anchor and motor sailed to Mangrove Cay again to get closer to West End. Nothing at Mangrove but my next to last Bahama's sunset. I celebrated it with a rum punch.

The 30th, got up at 6:30 to listen to Chris Parker the weather expert and confirmed that the next few days are perfect for a cross if you want light winds. The penalty is having to motor sail but Puff seems to enjoy that. Had a big breakfast and set out for West End to fuel up and call Karen. Got there and took on 8.3 gallons of diesel for the crossing. Not wanting to spend $160 for a slip for one night, I decided to sail up to Memory Rock and join the Robertson's up there as a jump off point for the crossing??"big mistake.

First of all, the wind picked up and it was very rough and took a lot of water on the bow. Still have some leaks in the anchor locker when it fills up with water. I need to make a better drain system than Hunter did. Second, I never could find the Robertsons. So I anchored on the banks and rocked for 5 hours until 3:30 when I took off.

As usual, something didn't work. This time it was my stern light. It was fine the night before but it wouldn't light at 3:45 - not that I'm too bright then either. So another 15 minute job to change the bulb and we were off. The wind had died down a bit after 2 am so it wasn't too rough. As soon as I got the sails up, the wind dropped to about 8 knots. Since it was blowing from the east and I was going west at 5 knots under power, the sails were more trouble than they were worth. However, Puff is a sailboat and we kept the sails up the whole way while the diesel pushed us along.

The crossing was totally uneventful with adjusting the limp sails the only issue besides staying awake. Had to avoid one fishing boat and watched one freighter pass about 6 miles ahead. About 10 miles off the coast, a pod of porpoise decided to keep me company. They played around the boat for close to an hour. Welcome home to the US. Got into Ft Pierce at 5:30 PM and stayed at the very nice Ft Pierce City Marina for a reasonable rate. Did laundry, had dinner, washed the boat, and took the dingy off the bow by 9 PM.

Karen asked where am I going next and my answer was home. I'd like to go to St Augustine but it is 100 miles and then 100 back just to see the fort from the water. Not being able to go through Lake Okeechobee really puts a kink in the plans. Oh well, I did what I wanted to do and enjoyed it. Now I can retrace my steps and even know something about where I'm going. I'll keep you posted.