15:45:07N 82:45:62W

 

We had great sailing all yesterday afternoon and through the night – 15knots of wind on the beam which was just great.  David hooked a good sized mahimahi mid afternoon so that solved dinner issues.....fresh mahimahi.   Night sailing was reasonable busy as there are lots of shallow areas, banks and reefs around here to avoid.  It was a case of keeping a constant eye on the chart plotter and altering course a couple of times.

 

This morning the wind deserted us so up with the coloured sail.  We have a love/hate relationship with this sail – we love it when it’s up and doing its job, but hate getting it up and down.  It really needs a 3rd person......actually, as we’re both feeling dog tired today we figure a 3rd person would be useful for all kinds of things....watches, helping with meals, sail changes...hmmmm.   Anyway, we persisted – with some very strong language from the skipper – and got the thing flying.  It’s given us a knot but the wind continues to ease and is down to 8knots now.  Bandit is chugging along at about 4 knots....a lot slower than yesterday.  We should make landfall in the Hobbie Cays mid afternoon (Monday).

 

The Hobbie Cays are home to a couple of lobster fishermen.  They are just a handful of islands and cays in the middle of nowhere.  Naturally we’re hoping for a lobster....so once we get there it will be into the water to snorkel the rocks.   Very hot today so a swim will be great. 

 

We’ve noticed lots of birds flying past – must be migrating north (any ideas?).  Most have been too far away to identify but seem quite big.  Right now we have a swallow sitting on the lifeline – he’s been with us for a couple of hours so is either lost or tired. The swallow eventually sat on David’s hand and had a drink of water and is now resting in the shade hitching a ride further north!