We had a busy time in Nassau. We spent Sunday walking into the main part of town, where the Cruise ships dock. The straw market was something else, even on a Sunday. Unlike the US, many business' are closed on Sundays. We still managed to buy another bottle of Rum though! Yes, Tim - you need to jump on a plane and come and help us drink it. A wet front came through on Monday so I spent the morning getting the laundry done and then we dashed across the road to the market for some fresh provisions. We also had some good conversations with our dock mates. Pretty much every other boat was on their way back to the States so we got lots of good information from cruisers who had spent the winter over here. One thing we did learn is that the weather has been frightful and that we haven't really missed much. We heard stories of cold, stormy weather and folks being confined to their boats for days at a time, which does not sound like fun at all. After the front, Tuesday dawned warm and clear and we were off! We left the dock just after 9.00am and headed out of the East end of the Nassau Harbor, having got permission to leave from Nassau Harbor control first. Once clear of the harbor, we encountered gentle Northerly winds, perfect for our direction of travel. The sails were hoisted and we were sailing at last! We had a nice relaxed sail across the yellow banks and traveled about 40 miles to Highbourne Cay, our first stop in the Exuma Islands. We anchored on the west side of the Cay which gave us good protection from the winds which were now blowing from the East. The water was so clear we could see the anchor bedded into the sand. To celebrate we had a lovely supper of grilled Lamb chops and opened one of our "good" bottles of wine. The sunset was amazing. We both slept like rocks.