MIDORI ADVENTURES

We spent 28 days in Bimini waiting for the "right" weather window to head southeast to Nassau and the Exuma Islands. There were three or four fronts in as many weeks where the wind was strong out of the northwest and there are very few places in the upper chain of the Exumas that provide protection from the west and northwest wind. Also, we did not want to get stuck in Nassau - because it really doesn't have that "small island" flavour and dockage is twice the price.

A group of us met every morning at 8:30 to discuss the weather forecasts from various sources and make a collective decision about whether or not we should proceed or stay.
Well, the winds and seas finally calmed down enough for us to depart on Tuesday, March 6th. The first thirteen hours on the Bahama Banks were beautiful with light winds "on our nose" - so not much sailing was done. It was approximately 11:00 p.m. when we went from the banks into the deeper Tongue of the Ocean and for the next nine hours we had a bumpy ride with choppy seas on our starboard beam with an opposing swell. Again, just the jib sail up on MIDORI. It gave us comfort to know that we were not alone, travelling in the company of FLEUR DE LYS (Paul & Lucie), IN OVERDRAUGHT (Heather & Stu), and CYNTHIA GALE (Pat & Gayle).

We arrived at the entrance to the Nassau Harbour at around 8:00 a.m. - at the same as three cruise ships and one freighter. The other three mono hulls managed to get into the harbour ahead of us, but MIDORI had to do a few 360's in order to let the last cruise ship enter.

Yesterday was spent checking out the new Fresh Market and other stores in the plaza across from the marina and patronizing Starbuck's in order to get wifi. It was a fairly quiet day and early evening as we were all pretty pooped. Today we walked to Potter's Cay to the veggie and fish market and then to the Super Value grocery store to provision for our trip down the islands.

Chris Parker, the cruiser's weatherman, has predicted that the strong and persistent westerly winds should mostly be behind us now for the month of March. Light northerly winds are predicted for tomorrow and we will all be heading to Highbourne Cay and wait out some strong easterly winds.

Stay tuned as our adventure continues………

Co-Captain Lynn