Oh how lucky we are!

We had a lovely sail up here to this most gorgeous little bay - running with the wind, our sails butterflied or wing-on-wing as we sometimes say - the big Yankee out on one side, the main hauled over on the other and the light wind straight behind us. It’s a lovely gentle way to sail and we made a leisurely trip up to the top of Long Island, arriving shortly after 2 o’clock. Jim caught a lovely Yellowtail Snapper on the way up - providing a nice supper for us.

The anchorage at Calabash Bay can be rolly with the surge that works its way around the top of Long Island, but it is also lovely - just off that gorgeous beach at Cape Santa Maria resort. We were lucky today. It was rolly, but not too much so, and we had no difficulty deciding to stay. After fish cleaning and a late lunch we dinghied ashore for a swim and a walk.

The sand here is like icing sugar - so incredibly fine. The water runs a gamut of shades from green to turquoise to blue, and the white caps breaking off the reef beyond the anchorage give a splash of contrast. Doug and Claire (the folks we met at the airport and again on the beach on Thursday) joined us for the walk and then came out to Madcap for Happy Hour. We laughed and talked and shared stories of trips and books. I have a feeling we will connect on another beach or another trail at some other time in the future. Hiking in Spain and yoga on Paradise Island have now been added to our list of things to experience, and I have to look up a book on how randomness rules our lives. Somehow, I’m not so sure it is merely randomness that affects us but I’ll read the book first! We sure have many personal experiences of synchronicity and right things/people in the right place at the right time.

After sleeping like babies in a rocking cradle, we rose at dawn to lift the dinghy, make the coffee and head off around Cape Santa Maria at the northern tip of Long Island. This is where Columbus’ ship of the same name allegedly foundered on a the reefs, and where the Columbus monument stands tall on a cliff. We drove out along the long and rocky road to see it by land three years ago. This time we viewed it through the mist from the sea as we cleared the headland. We never fail to try imagining what it must have been like to arrive here 600 years ago - a far cry from our experiences now with GPS and charts and reports of other sailors. Long Island is reported to be Columbus third stop in the New World - after San Salvador and Rum Cay.

With the headland behind us, we pointed east for Conception Island - across gentle 4 ft swells and in a surprisingly “sailable” light breeze. Despite the differences in equipment and charts - and despite being pleasure sailors instead of explorers journeying far from home into unknown seas - the wind is still our source of energy and the sea our highway, and we still go off to visit places where we have never been before.