On route December 31, 2009 to Staniel Cay I prepared a treat , mmm.. fresh baked bread for breakfast served with homemade jams, cream cheese and sour cream (a tradition from my childhood summer vacations at Oma and Opa's home in Hann Munden, Germany).

On approach to Staniel from the west dodging the coral reefs and sandbars, we were welcomed by many huge yachts docked at Staniel Cay Yacht Club and a splash of sailboats and yachts in an array of small bays offering a variety of wind protection. We found a nice spot just west of the Yacht Club and soon had the dinghy down and off to snorkel Thunder ball Grotto, a scene from 007 Thunder ball from the 60's. Chantelles first venture into the water since the cruise landed her in 4 feet of water and a 25 foot swim to a wonderland of coral and fish with a crowd of about 10 other dinghies full of children and adults. The timing was perfect at ebb tide with a small current to get into the centre of the cave.

New Years was a short visit to Staniel Cay at 10pm( after a cat nap) where we found that all the kids had gone to bed. We returned to the boat drank champagne and watched the new Indiana Jones movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull until 2am.
We found out that internet is not so available as we had hoped and that we had to now find a Cay that had reasonable internet so that Bryn and Karl could finish their homework and prepare for exams end of January. After talking to people and reading up, we were pointed to Black Point as the ideal place to hang out with free internet at Lorraine's Café. The weather had the last say with west winds of 20-30 nauts which was the only direction that gives poor protection at Black Point.

Back to the charts, and 4 books on Bahamas to make yet another plan. Well the only choice was to make a run for Georgetown(January 3), checking later to see if the sea waves of 6-9ft had subsided so that we could go out on the Oceanside(east side ) for a straight run . Plans seem to change by the hour, really having you live the moment and accepting our next step as dictated by Mother Nature.

On January 1, 2010 we moved the boat to a better protection between the Little Majors Cay and Big Major Cay favoring the west side and enjoyed a gentle rock in 15 naut winds for the night. Lorraine treated me with a pedicure. Oh it was so nice to soak my feet in warm water and have my feet caressed and touched. All bodies vanished into bedrooms minutes after dinner at 6pm for an early snooze. We were expecting Freedom IV to visit and needed a cat nap before their arrival at 8pm. It is as though all of our bodies just shut down as soon as the sun goes down. With the huge orange moon rising in the east I remained wide awake, buzzing with the energy of the moon, drumming and singing in the cockpit to sounds of the Andes . At 830pm after grunts and yawns, a family of bed heads emerged for a party. We sat with Lorraine, Mike, Evan and Sam (from Freedom IV) in the cockpit (cozy fit for10people) drank champagne and opened crackers made by Sam and Karl.





January 2, 2010 The wind is howling at 15-17 nauts as my eyes open, my sheets felt sticky with salt water spray from a wild splash that landed through our window yesterday. Stepping out of the cabin into the cockpit with Dylan lying with his chin softly tilted to the sky than if to reach out to the stars with his presence and Chantelle buried under blankets and sleeping bag like a kitten curled up in a basket lined with cuddly clothes. I felt called to the bow as I stood with my eyes closed the wind echoing in my ears, white caps splashing in front of me, the boat swaying with each wave stopping at the hard grinding of the anchor chain, and the line of the fishing rod was fluttering and whistling a new tune with each gust of wind.

The clouds seemed to move slowly yet the landscape in front of me was filled with strength and power under the setting bright moon. Deep breaths of warm salt air filled my lungs as I marveled at how expressive Mother Nature is from a calm serene day yesterday , in came the vigor, juice in the night to bring a whole new day of gifts to be explored.

Yet another change in plan, at 130pm the weather seemed to subside and we decided to make a 8 mile jump to Black Point to get internet, water and dump trash. I went ashore with the children. We met Lily ,mother of 10, at the small grocery store. She proudly showed us all the pictures of her family and beautiful handmade shell jewellery and straw purses and baskets. Lorraine of Lorraine's Café greeted us with a big hugging smile and all the children rushed to computers to find out the latest. I got in there for a few minutes after Chantelle surrendered the computer to me. Thank you angel! We returned in the dark and were completed covered by water from huge waves into the wind.