Our position is  25:04.5N 77:18.77W

After our final dinner together at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, the next morning saw Peter and Ted up early to go to the airport for yet another attempt to confirm Rosemary and Peter’s flight back to Nassau in the afternoon, this time successfully. Then there was time for a farewell scrambled egg breakfast and final packing before we went ashore for lunch intending for Ted and Peter to return for the luggage after lunch and dinghy it round to the slip by the airport, while Rosemary and I walked there along the road. The wind had got up and a nasty chop had developed so the dinghy trip was rather splashy and damp, so it was decided that they would go back for the luggage straight away and get a golf cart taxi for the final journey. In the meantime Rosemary and I drank and ordered lunch.  Ted and Peter arrived back only slightly splashed and the golf cart taxi was ordered from the waitress who brought our delicious lunch. Things got tense again as time passed with no sign of the taxi. While we were all standing in the road wondering what to do when Rosemary accosted a passing “motorist” and asked if she was going their way.  The answer was always likely to be yes as there aren’t that many different ways to go on the island so they both hoped on and we waved them a sad goodbye. (The postscript to this, as we learned later, was that after all the angst about confirming the flight, when they arrived at the airport the flight had left early, without them, but an extra, later flight was arranged which resulted in a shorter wait for the connecting flight in Nassau.) In the meantime, oblivious to all of this, Ted and I had returned to the boat and I was making up for lost time on the work front. Fortunately the wind was dropping and the boat was bouncing about a bit less. The next day was spent working, tidying up, shopping for what food they had in the shops (not a lot because the boat bringing it comes in on a Wednesday and it was Monday) and not buying fresh bread as when we got there the baker had finished until next day.

We had thought we might snorkel again in the Thunderball grotto because it was so beautiful and easy, but the wind made it a lot less attractive, so on Tuesday we set off early to sail back to Nassau via an overnight stop at Highbourne Cay. Sod’s law prevailed and although we had a South Easterly when we were sailing south, the wind was in the North East for our return journey, but we had a good (and fast) sail back to Highbourne Cay taking 8 hours for the journey that had taken 6 days when we were wending our way in the opposite direction.  After a peaceful night at anchor we made the decision to cross the Yellow Bank on our return to Nassau. Ted had deemed it too risky when we were going in the opposite direction but a study of the charts and the pilot convinced us that there was a relatively easy route which would give us an easier sail in the prevailing North Easterly. However the wind was blowing 20-25 knots and there was an awkward quartering sea making the  boat roll uncomfortably when I had to go on the bow (well fastened on) to try and spot the coral heads, all of which made me wonder whether perhaps we had made the right decision. In the event we had a trouble free (and fast) passage and soon were requesting permission to enter Nassau Harbour again and tying up back at Nassau Harbour Club Marina, with the help of Peter (not Crick). The first thing was to buy laundry tokens and hit the washing machines, which took up what was left of the day.

The next day was firstly enlivened by most of the boats on our slip leaving and a huge pile driving barge moving in behind us to insert new posts in some of the berths. We now understood why they were so keen to establish how long we wanted to stay before we were berthed!  It parked very close to the stern of an unoccupied yacht. Apparently the owner was back in Canada having a triple bypass operation, just as well he did not see the pile driver. Fortunately the pile driving didn’t last too long and when it had moved on the marina soon filled up and a surprising amount of the day was spent talking to our various neighbours. We needed to restock with provisions so trips to various shops including the local liquor shop and a rather distant supermarket (the one across the road is closing next week and was just trying to sell what they happened to have left) were made in between planning how we would tackle the next section of the trip. I was keen to visit the Abacos but Ted was anxious that we shouldn’t be prevented from crossing to the US by the weather, so we will be heading for the Bimini Islands, from where the Gulf Stream crossing is shorter in time, if not in distance. Ted also managed to fix the holding tank gauge, which had stuck yet again, but the watermaker parts are still in their packet.  In the evening things got as bit rowdy as the dive trip boats came back into harbour ahead of passenger changes on Friday. Apparently they are not allowed to drink while on the trip and they certainly seemed to be making up for it when back in harbour!

After a very tasty pizza dinner we were entertained by an extravagant fireworks display from Paradise Island on the other side of the bay. Ted just failed to get his camera out in time to take a picture of it for this blog! We will be leaving fairly early tomorrow morning and heading for Frazers Hog Cay in the Berry Islands on our way to The Biminis. We plan to leave Nassau by the West entrance which will involve passing under the Paradise island bridges, which will be the usual scary moment of wondering if the charted height is accurate.

The last sunset of Peter and Rosmary's cruise                                                            Lunch at the yacht club before departure

Off on the golf cart to the airport                                                                            Approach to Nassau

Driving in new piles.                                                                                   There are always traffic queues in Nassau.