After leaving Harbour Cay, we continued south in The Berry’s to Cabbage Cay. We were the only boat anchored and while we did not see a sunset, we were treated with a nice rainbow. We managed to avoid the rain due to catching a fish (barracuda not good to eat) we had slowed the boat down and was dragging the fish to tire him out and lucky us, as we entered the cut to the Cay, he fell off and we did not loose our lure.

We staged at Cabbage Cay to head across the Northwest Channel to Nassau then southeast to the Exumas. We awoke early to a beautiful sunrise ( just for you Sally) We put the fishing lines out and never got a bite until approximately 5nm to Nassau Harbour. I slowed the boat down and Mike reeled the fish in. A perfect size Maui Maui for our dinner! Mike gave the fish a shot of vodka in the gills, which kills it, then filet it. We then proceeded into Nassau Harbour, calling Nassau Control for permission to enter, the Harbour, stating our vessel, our business & continue through. We anchored near a marina that is across the street from the “last nice grocery store” we will see for weeks. Last chance for selection of veg’s and fruits. Mike dropped the dinghy in the water and took me over to the dinghy dock & I walked to the store. Mike went back to the boat & put diesel in the boat from the jerry cans we carry on board as extras. He then took the cans to the fuel dock & filled them back up. He then returned to pick me up at the dock & we returned to the boat. It was around 3pm & our next anchorage was about an hour or so away. We decided to stay where we were & leave for The Exuma’s early the next morning. Mike grilled the Maui Maui & we were asleep by 7:30pm. (We are on boaters time now- go to bed when it is dark & wake up when it is light). I woke up around midnight restless, which is unusual for me. Mike is a lite sleeper & of course I woke him up tossing & turning. We went out in the cockpit to check on the anchor & discovered wind & current had shifted us in an undesired position. We were in 5’6 water & we draft 5’5. We checked the chart plotter & tides (we were on a falling tide) & knew we needed to pull up the anchor & re-position the boat. We reset the anchor & it appeared we did not wake up the 2 boats near us. We went back to bed & I thanked God for waking me up to alert us. God is good!

At sunrise, we were up & had our coffee & toast & left the Harbour. As we were passing the next Cay, (approximately 5nm) we heard a distress call, Mayday Mayday on the radio. A boat was on fire & was abandoning ship. We checked our charts to see if we could get over there quickly to help, but thankfully, several power boats were responding & we could see them heading in that direction. They could get there a lot quicker than our “snail boat”. It was sad to hear the captain of the boat advising they were abandoning their boat & in the water. I took a photo of the smoke in the air ( see photo gallery). We don’t know how the fire occurred but from the conversation with the vessel captain & BASR (Bahama search & rescue) there appeared to be no injuries.

We motored sailed Southeast ( had our jib sheet out) to Allan’s Cay, our first stop on the chain of cays of Exuma, maintaining about 7 knots.

We anchored, put the dinghy in the water and Mike got a lobster for dinner. This anchorage is popular during the day for larger boats and tourist going over to see the iguanas at the beach. Lots of jet skis too. It has now calmed down as they have left to go back to either Nassau or Highborne Cay. Depending on weather, we will stay in this area for a few days and explore before moving on south.