Day 50- Friday, 2-29-08- Highborne Cay Marina, Highborne Cay, Exumas

This is a much delayed posting to the Last Dance Blog due to a lack of or intermittent access to the Internet. Is it the decadent yachties' lifestyle or just CRS disease when you really can't remember what you did several days ago or...does it really matter? This is an excellent marina in all respects- all-around protection, well maintained, beautiful setting, full services, and friendly management. However, the tidal range did make it difficult for the gulls to get off and on the boat at times and the bath/shower was a little bit of a hike from the boat. Generally speaking, we are the smallest boat in an anchorage or marina and that was certainly true at Highborne Cay Marina where we were dwarfed by the max- motor vessel "ScottFree" (maybe 200' or so in length) as well as several other large yachts. However, we've found a real sense of the "shared experience" among the boaters- sail and power- in the marina, making it easy to engage in conversation and get advice on places to see and things to do. We've met folks from all over the USA including Mobile as well as Canada and Spain. I guess the most significant thing that happened in the Marina to date was that we finally launched our dinghy! After carrying the dinghy (a 9' RIB) in davits and the 9.9 HP Mercury outboard in the lazerette for over 900 miles, we lowered the dinghy into the water and used one davit arm to lower the engine onto the dingy. It took a number of pulls on the starter rope but the engine finally fired up and ran well. What a relief! The stability of the davit system and the dinghy hung from it has been a continuing problem during the cruise. We have devised a number of ad hoc bracing systems, all of which have not been completely satisfactory in many of the sea conditions we've experienced. Fortunately, we haven't broken anything-yet! We have already decided to store the dinghy on the bow of our boat before we start back from the Exumas. The outboard will be stored in the lazerette as before. This should eliminate a lot of our anxiety. We have also stretched the limits of Last Dance as a long distance cruiser. While we've been generally pleased with her handling in big seas and some really adverse conditions, she suffers in several respects, principally her tankage- fuel, water and waste holding. Further, the accommodations and storage for two couples are marginal at best. Finally, the lack of refrigeration means we're continually buying ice- if available. At Highborne Cay Marina this has not been a problem except a 10 lb bag sells for $6! The crew from Hannah I - Suzanne, Frank and John (a civil engineer!)- joined us for Jimcicles and snacks at the pavilion adjacent to our slip before returning to their boat on anchor outside the Marina harbor. Hannah I was one of the two boats we joined in making the Grand Bahamas Bank crossing. The other, Reliable Exile, had left her anchorage at Highborne Cay that morning for parts unknown. We'll miss them! For our evening meal, we ordered cracked conch, cole slaw, conch stew, and Bahamian peas and rice from the Cool Runners catering service. The meal arrived piping hot at about 730 pm as promised in regular pots and dishes which we were asked to wash and place on the table in a nearby pavilion. The meal proved to be excellent and we even had leftovers. Tomorrow, we anticipate a short sail to Warderick Wells, Headquarters for the Exumas Cays National Land and Sea Park. At this location, we will be able to secure Last Dance to a mooring provided at a nominal charge by the Park. (RKS)