Arrived Little Sale Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

Hi Everyone,

Local Time - 15:30. No mobile/internet communication so sending this position report by Sailblogs Remote and the satellite phone.

We have arrived safely in the Bahamas, making the 116 NM trip from St Lucie Inlet Florida USA to Little Sale Cay in the Abacos in 18 hours (6.5 knots). It was a beautiful moonlight night with flat seas and about 5 - 10 knots SE breeze. Used full sail but also used one engine most of the way to keep our heading up in the strong gulf stream between Florida and the Bahamas.

We are spending the night here at Little Sale Cay and going on to Allen's/Pensacola Cay in the morning where we hope to meet up with old friends Bill and Betty-Sue. We will probably stay in the Abacos until the new year and then go on to new destinations in the Bahamas. We hope to have cell phone communications/internet in about 3 or 4 days when we get to Green Turtle Cay. If there are any urgent messages then send them to this SatPhone email address (kevinvh@myiridium.net) or call us on the SatPhone (+881632648785).

Love to everyone - Kevin and Patti xxx

New Position - Mill Creek, Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, USA

New Position - Jamaica Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

Hi Everyone,

Local Time - 16:00. No mobile/internet communication so sending this position report by SatPhone. Won't have Internet service until we get to the Andros Island group in about 3 - 4 days time.

So, we are now leaving the Ragged Island chain for the Andros Island group, and so we are on our way back towards the USA via Andros, Berry Islands and the Bimini Islands. It will be another 3 - 4 weeks before we reach Florida and commence our journey up the USA East Coast and out of the Hurricane Belt. Both of us are feeling pretty sad to leave the Raggeds'. And what a send-off we had, catching a very big Wahoo this morning on the run up to Jamaica Cay.

Our next report will probably be by SatPhone from Green Cay.

Love to everyone - Kevin and Patti xxx

New Position - Johnson Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

Hi Everyone,

Local Time - 19:00. No mobile/internet communication so sending this position report by SatPhone. We should get regular internet service when we get to Ragged Island - very close now.

Moved here to Johnson Cay two days ago. The locals here on Johnson Cay are very sociable and inquisitive. Kevin's leg the pathway for a curly tail lizard to introduce himself, birds happily chirping on a branch beside us as we do the beach BBQ. The beach itself just perfect with one giant sand dune as a backdrop - unusual to see in these islands.

Two crayfish for dinner last night, and hopefully, tasteful invention of conch fritters for dinner tonight. We really are living on our own food won from the sea.

About to move on to a new location in the morning.

Love to everyone - Kevin and Patti xxx

New Position - Racoon Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

Hi Everyone,

Local Time - 11:00. No mobile/internet communication so sending this position report by SatPhone.

We have moved on to Racoon Cay after spending 4 memorable days at Nurse Cay. Patti will no doubt fill you in on the details when we get Internet. But, we caught lots of fish and some lobster. Every night we were entertained by trying to land big "Jacks" on the light fishing rod. Did manager to land one small Jack, but the larger ones either broke the line or were taken by Nurse sharks - great entertainment.

We are now at a nice anchorage in front of a long white sandy beach at Racoon Cay. Not sure how long we will spend here, but we will sometime soon move to Ragged Island itself, the last island before the hop over to Cuba. We should get regular internet service when we get to Ragged Island.

Love to everyone - Kevin and Patti xxx

New Position - Nurse Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

Hi Everyone,

Local Time - 19:00. No mobile/internet communication so sending this position report by SatPhone. You can call or text message to the SatPhone on +881632648785 or send urgent emails to kevinvh@myiridium.net (please don't send non-important emails to this address, and don't include any attachments). The text message is free, but satphone calls/data are expensive. You can send emails to our normal email address but we will not respond to them until we have mobile phone reception in 2 to 4 weeks.

If the first few lines of this email seem strange to you, it is because it logs our position on our web-blog site, www.sailblogs/members/mat-lau/. You can follow our position on SailBlogs or you can simply plot our Latitude and Longitude on an Atlas to know where we are on the planet.

Great sail from Jamaica Cay to Nurse Cay today. Eating like Kings and Queens - speared two crayfish - one for dinner last night, and one for dinner tonight.

Love to everyone - Kevin and Patti xxx