Cheryl's Notes:

Weather, weather everywhere, but not a lull in sight. We weathered a blow last weekend that kept us on the boat for three days. We had two calm days and another small front came through on Wednesday. Thursday was choppy, but we survived. Last night the winds died and we woke up to calm seas and blue skies. This is Mother Nature's way of fooling you into thinking that you are safe. The mother of all storms is supposed to come through tonight. By midnight it is supposed to be blowing 25-30 knots with small squalls bringing gust of 40- 50 knots. Chris Parker, who is the weather guru for the islands, said that he has not seen a weather system like this in over ten years. The wind will again move from east to south to southwest to south and around to northwest. What is a sailor to do? You accept that the weather is stacked against you and you seek safe harbor in a protected marina. We pulled into Compass Cay marina this morning, shortly before noon. We are tied firmly to a dock for the next two days, and will not be up all night making sure that our anchor doesn't drag. (We learned from the last blow that the boat is much tougher than the sailors aboard.)

The good news is that we have taken refuge in a spot that we wouldn't have normally gone. It was a little tricky getting into here, but we made it safely. The island has one of the most beautiful crescent beaches that we have seen on this trip. The sand actually has a pink tinge to it from years of crushed coral. The island is privately owned, and the owner has several small cottages that he rents out plus the marina. There are "pet" sharks that roam under the docks, competing with the bonefish for snacks thrown overboard. We have again made the acquaintance of some really great people. Some traveling with children. The marina serves the absolute best and biggest burgers I have ever had for lunch.

Our camera arrived and we can now try to capture the beauty of the islands. Wish you all were here.

John's Notes:

A little tricky getting in here! Are you kidding me. I was the guy at the wheel. For me it was a total nightmare. Not only is the water thin, the channels are hardly wider than a single boat.

Learned something else today. Never put out any fenders till the boat is tied off. Let the rub rail take the impact. Cheryl had fenders set at what she thought would be the right height. As it turns out, she was a little low and one of the ball fenders got caught on a piling and slightly bent a stanchion and nicked the life line coating. Not as big a deal as I thought though. The stanchion looks perfect and after I used rig wrap you can hardly tell anything happened to the life line.

At the moment, the wind is blowing about 25kts and we are jammed tight up against the dock. They couldn't kick us out of here if they wanted to. It's not supposed to get bad till later tonight and most of the day tomorrow.

This is a gorgeous place. Weather permitting, we might snorkel tomorrow. It's looking a little doubtful though.

Had another celebrity meeting today. Joakim Noah, an NBA player and a member of the national collegiate championship team from Florida three years ago was here with his group today. Of all the people here, I was the only one who recognized him. Cheryl is always impressed with my sports knowledge. It was an easy identification though. How many 6'10" guys are hanging around here anyway. We even have a picture of him and some of his family feeding the local sharks. (Cheryl got pictures of him with his shirt off. According to her, the abs are perfection.) We will take starting bids for a picture of him half naked.