January 26, 2008

Hello all,

Here we sit with another cold front whistling through the rigging. George and Barb lucked out for their brief visit, having good weather the whole time. They flew into Staniel Cay on Monday, the 14th, and departed on the 19th with direct flights to and from Ft Lauderdale. We managed to move around some, visit other anchorages, meet cruisers at a beach party and get a visit to the Sandcastle. We snorkeled, shelled, walked through towns and enjoyed some of the local fish. All in all, a good time.

And, it has been quiet otherwise with not much excitement. That is a good thing as excitement usually spells a disaster to recover from. Friends sailing a catamaran on the Tongue of the Ocean while making passage from Miami to Nassau, lost their mast, rigging and sails. Luckily no one was hurt when a shroud broke, the mast broke loose from the deck and plunged into the deep. They have opted to continue their cruise while sails and new mast are built. This morning we awoke to find them anchored nearby. The moral of the story – examine your rigging yearly to find crevice corrosion early and replace suspect fittings.

Another cold front is expected in a couple more days – our third in the last week. They are not too rambunctious fronts but do make us think about finding a safe, comfortable spot for the bumpy nights. Barb can testify to the broken sleep achieved in a bumpy anchorage.

When we can, we get into the water and Murray is becoming a real “dead-eye” shot with his spear. A few more lobster await in our freezer. Beach walks also take up most afternoons as we search for those shells or beans missed by the previous walkers.

The cooler weather encourages me to do some baking and yummy biscuits graced our plates this morning. When it is very warm, I don’t feel like turning the oven on and heating the boat even more. Then we make do with store-bought bread, tortillas or crackers with our meals.

Our computer problems continue, with the serial to USB adapter causing the most trouble. Sometimes it takes me a half hour to get the computer to find the GPS connection to the computer through this adapter. I cleaned up the hard drive, removed a bunch of programs and created more space. Then defragged the hard drive. This has helped some but has not resolved the problem. Another friend is sailing over from Florida soon and bringing another adapter with him. Hopefully, this will resolve the problem.

So, that is it, life aboard. Pretty boring , huh? Sometimes……..

Hugs to all, Murray & Heather