Yea!! We're in the Bahamas!! It's true that Mayaguana is one of the southern most in the Bahamas island chain but at least we moving again. I need to apologize for all the whining in the last few blogs. It's just that the D.R. is a jinx for us. In 2008 we stopped in Luperon for a "planned" three day rest and ended up stuck there for twenty six days because of very large north swells that closed the beaches along the north coasts of the D. R. and Puerto Rico. Although the island is beautiful with lots of tours available and the people couldn't have been nicer, I did not want to stop there on the way back to the Bahamas. The eighteen days there this time was frustrating. Anyway, there are lots of interesting things you get to see on overnight passages even if some of the crew doesn't like overnights. The sky is gorgeous because there is no ambient light to overshadow the stars. Shooting stars are common as is the bioluminescence as the boat moves through the water, or you flush the toilet. Little sparkles swirl around and disappear down the bowl. The ship traffic at night is interesting. A cruise ship looks like a small Las Vegas as if moves along. Every light is on even at 0200 in the morning and because of that it is often difficult or impossible to see the red and green navigation lights. One secret, the bow is the darkest end because the helmsman (helmsperson?) needs to have good night vision. The stern and all the way down the sides look like party city. The radar helps decide, or confirm, which way a distant ship is moving and it requires concentration until you are sure. Other small craft are more difficult because with out many lights it is hard to gauge distance. The dark sapphire blue color of deep ocean water seen during the day is indescribable. Both day and night you realize how difficult it would be to find a crew member that fell overboard. During the day the waves hide little pockets where you would miss seeing things even larger than a person. At night it would be hopeless and the higher the waves the worse it is. Now just to relieve family and friends, Sue and I both wear inflatable live vests with a built in harness which we clip to a hard point in the cockpit and I clip mine to a bow to stern line when I have to go on deck which hopefully is rare. The floatation part would keep you afloat for a very long time but without the lifeline you could go overboard. Being in the vast ocean especially at night reinforces the desire to be attached to the boat. Neither of us has ever come close to falling overboard, even attached, because we always make conservative passages when we have checked the weather and know it has little chance of being rough. If you pay attention to a good weather forecaster and are a little wimpy when it comes to going out in bad weather there is little chance you will have scary experiences. You may deal with extended weather delays but that isn't so bad if you have no schedules to meet. Rule # ? (top ten) DON"T CRUISE ON A SCHEDULE !!! It's no fun anyway. Lastly, Sue has spent hours in the water since we arrived off Sand Dollar beach in Elizabeth Harbor, Georgetown. She hasn't had snorkel time since we left the Virgins on the twelfth of March. The picture is of Sand Dollar beach. We didn't see many beaches on the three days and three nights (300 mile+/_) passage from Puerto Plata, D.R.