Before sailing to the Bahamas, we imagined sailing in a warm tropical breeze from one tropical island to the next through torquise colored water. Today was that day, only better!

The day started with some bottom cleaning at around 8am. Now, typically, this would not be fun. However, we were anchored in 8 feet of perfectly clear, 80º ferenheit water over a sand bottom with a dock line tied under the boat. The process of cleaning off a thin layer of soft growth required a swim mask and a brush. After taking a breath, I would pull myself down the dock line to the bottom of the keel and "stand" on the sandy bottom. Once in place, I would then brush away the bottom growth for as long as my breath would last. There was no question of where I needed to brush because the visibility was perfect. The water temperature was also perfect. I could have done this all day. But alas, we had to go sailing- woe are we.

We left our nice anchorage at South Allen Cay with our main sail hoisted and motored slightly west onto the banks before turning off the engine and bringing Pathfinder onto a southerly course. The next step was to deploy our foresail. Here is where we depart from our imagined scenario to an even better one. Instead of pulling out our white genoa- we deployed our large, bright blue spinnaker. Neither one of us imagined doing a spinnaker run in the Bahamas, but that's what the day beckoned us to do.

A spinnaker run can often be an exhilarating, stress inducing activity- not today. The winds were relatively light and the seas flat. We had an easy sail towards our destination of Shroud Cay. I have previously described Pathfinder as an ocean thoroughbred. She lived up to that description today. She just wanted to go. There was one other "secret sauce" to making Pathfinder romp over the Bahama Banks, but I'm not telling that here. It will have to wait for an in person explanation.

We also had music playing in the cockpit that just added to the enjoyment of the day.

Once settled at Shroud Cay, we launched our dinghy and headed up one of the winding creeks through the mangrove forest. That little trip fit right into how we imagined exploring these islands. We hope for a more extensive creek trip tomorrow.

We ended the day by sitting in the cockpit at sunset and watching rain squalls and virga pass just to our south.

Today was why we came and I think this day made us 30 years younger at heart.