Well, the time has been screaming past with lots of fun and adventures.

It appears my root canal has settled down and I can now use the left side of my mouth. We've discovered an excellent source of fresh prawns, Australian lamb, and Chilean Chardonnay, so everything is wonderful!

Our wonderful guests (Ian and Linda) from Vancouver Island have unfortunately left last Thursday, and both Louise and I were sad to say goodbye, having spent a great two weeks together with them. The sailing south to explore the southern Abacos was rather exciting with the 25 knot winds, and the trails left on the sandy bottom due to deep keel and shallow water.... We had much more wind than we could really use, so reduced sail and clipped along at 9 knots.... I suspect we have converted them into Rummikub players, and quite possibly Abacos sailors..... time will tell. Friendship is a wonderful thing. Ian managed to convert a 5 gallon pickle bucket into a "pickle trap" which we will deploy in the outer reefs to investigate the viability of capturing Bahamas pickles.... enough said.....

Thanks to the solar panels I have not started the generator in weeks, and will probably need to shortly, although I hate the noise and smell as compared to free sunlight!

I spent four hours yesterday tearing apart the electric toilet in our guest suite in anticipation of my sister's visit ( she arrives in three days). Not an entirely successful rebuilding of the beast was achieved. Sailboat toilets are a real pain, with multiple seals, too little space, flapper valves, pumps, switches, etc. They growl and snarl and develop personalities. Our guest suite toilet has been named "Greta the Growler" and is a particularly angry piece of equipment. I'll give it another 3-4 hours to see if I can seal the small salt water leak, otherwise we may need to revert to the "bucket and chuck it" approach.... not pretty! (or purchase a new toilet..... happy hilda!)

Having sailed back north to Marsh Harbour, we enjoyed a couple of days re-provisioning the boat, and are now in Hopetown, enjoying the company of several of our cruising friends from last year. We'll relax and await Linda and Bruce's arrival on Wednesday, before deciding upon our next destination. Louise is baking fresh bread, and planning our menu for the next week. Sundays are quiet in the Bahamas with most places closed. We'll enjoy a quiet dinner on another boat from Montreal.

I'll post this update at the local restaurant where we'll have lunch, and check my email at the same time.

I understand that Ottawa is enjoying a mild winter.... but not as mild as here....!

glen