22 Feb. Day one into the Exumas....

We paid our marina bill last night which left me wishing that we had spent the last week at anchor in Royal Island. Of course we couldn't have grocery shopped or done the laundry or any of the many convenient things that you can do when you are tied up alongside but neither was I expecting to make a $600+ contribution to the local economy either, plus the groceries, propane, dinner at restaurants, etc. Oh well. You only get one life to live. Why not live it to the full.

We got off at first light at around 06h30, squeaked out the channel in the wake of a couple of fishing boats and with Troubadour leading the way we set off for Leaf and Allen Cays. En route we heard Persuasion talking to Party of Two. Persuasion is a yacht that we first met in Shelburne and then again at Port Washington NY, and then sailed in relative company with them, a cat named Amazing Grace and Moonlight Maid through Cape May, up the Delaware, through the canal and to the boat show at Annapolis. What a great world we live in when we keep bumping into cruisers we have met before wherever we find ourselves. They spent the week the we spent at the dock, hunkered down at the anchorage in Royal Island like I was thinking of doing. They were all right so we probably would have been too. We are learning that staying at marinas require a bank account that we simply don't have.

By 09h00 we were approaching the Fleeming Chanel having been passing the first islands of the Exumas for the last hour or so. After the last week of high winds and given that we are in the lee of the islands the seas out here in the Exuma Bank between the Exumas and New Providence are pretty flat and calm. We were getting 10 knots of wind on the beam so we were getting a good boost from the sails, but still we were motor-sailing in order to get to the anchorage before dark. Still with jib and mizzen and low rpms, since we are running the water maker, we are poodling along at between 5 and 6 knots. Not too shabby. Best part is getting away from the dock - hallelujah! I was really starting to worry that I was going to have to mortgage our house to pay the marina bill.

10h00 and we were into the Fleeming Channel, the cut through and away from Exuma Bank. The wind also freshened to about 15 knots, still on the beam. Good sailing. We were making nearly eight knots over the ground for about 30 minutes until we were through the channel. The day had one brief period of cloud when we were a little worried about the possibility of rain but then the skies cleared, the sun shone, and we were suddenly able to notice the difference in the water here in the Exumas - warmer with almost startling clarity.

One thing that we did notice during the day was a marked increase in the radio traffic ranging from yachts talking to each other to commercial fishermen chatting about who caught what and where and riding over it all is Nassau Harbour Control. Almost like being back in Halifax.

The course from Spanish Wells to Fleeming Channel was relatively straight forward but from there on into Leaf Allen Cays....well, let's just say that I'm glad Troubadour was there to lead us in the first time. We probably would have been ok on our own but it is always nice to have some local Intel for the first time in.

We also opened a package that we hadn't looked at since our cancelled trip to Bermuda, and it turned out that we have some excellent chart booklets for this part of the world. They are out and in the cockpit now for us to review while we are sailing along and to help with our planning for the next week or so.

At a little after 15h00 we rounded the corner to the entrance to the anchorage at Allen Cay. If you haven't been here before or yet the anchorage is the shape of a wishbone with an east and west fork branching off from the entrance. The bottom is pretty good holding in sand and you have all round protection from waves but the cays are not very high so the top of your rigging is exposed to whatever wind you get, plus there is a tidal current that washes back and forth through the anchorage. We don't feel too threatened as the weather witches are calling for a mild night with winds dropping off. There were several other boats already here and a number arrived after us. The only negative thing about this place, I am ashamed to say, was a very nondescript fellow with yellow snaggly teeth on a Canadian flagged trimaran with no name but with an ontario registration number ON4211506. We anchored well away from him but he was all upset because he had over 100' of chain out in 8-10' of water and we were too close apparently. He says he has been here for over a month and I am wondering if he actually owns the boat. It looks homemade but not completed. There is a sail cover on the boom but no jib in evidence. I am wondering if he has even cleared into Bahamian customs and if he has a cruising permit. He was rude enough that if we had an Internet connection I would be making inquiries. Ah well. I mustn't let some asshole fellow Canadian spoil this place for me. In fact he hasn't.

We sat up in the cockpit for sundowners. We went into the beach to feed the iguanas and to another beach to let Peri ease springs. The water here is incredible - clear, warm. I dove on the anchor to check it and on the way back saw a 2-3' remora eying alternately the boat and me for someone new to hook on to.

While feeding the iguanas we had a council and decided that tomorrow we will motor (it has to be motor as the wind will die down a lot overnight) about 30 miles to Staniel Cay to stay there for a couple of days. Barry and Marcia have a friend who lives there so we, or they, will have someone to visit and then we will begin to make our way north again taking the time to stop for a couple of days in some interesting anchorages that they want to introduce us to. They have decided to forgo some of their appointments back in Hope Town to cruise for a little longer. This is great from our time table's perspective as we have a month to kill on our cruising visa for this country.