February 15, 2005

Hello everyone,

We spent the last two weeks in Staniel Cay area, hiding off and on from the frequent frontal systems. There were beach cocktail parties, visits to friends on other boats and snorkeling trips to put in our time. In fact the time flew by so fast, I was surprised that two weeks had passed since I had written to you all.

A Super Bowl party was held at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club on Super Bowl Sunday. We are not football fans but the dinner sounded like a good deal. So, off we went by dinghy. The club offered a shuttle but it would not return us to the boat until the end of the game. Much after our bedtime! We enjoyed the food, the meeting of old and new friends but departed after the half time show. Man, was it dark out there! No moon, just the few stars that peaked through the cloud cover. We crept along, using a large flashlight at intervals to light up the shoreline. Murray has a wonderful sense of direction and piloted us around three points, and into the anchorage. We were sound asleep in our berth before the shuttle returned the last of the cheering fans.

Another cold front had us hiding again. We shared DVD’s with friends and baked bread etc to keep the cabin warm and to put in time aboard. The book pile is being decimated by all of these fronts.

Finally, good weather again. Just in time for the Staniel Cay fund raiser for the library and oldest house. They had a barbeque ashore with hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, chicken wings, beers and desserts. There was a book sale, flea market, bingo and face painting for the children. As a lot of the cruisers had been stuck aboard with the front, the turnout was phenomenal. We spent most of the time gabbing to friends.

The next day, we sailed ( actually, with the engine off! ) to Black Point to do laundry in the new facility there. I was informed that it was closed on Sunday, so we headed on to the next bay down, Plain Bay. There we did some great shelling on the Sound side. The highlight of the day was an invitation to cocktails at the Sandcastle ashore. It is a castle, built by a couple from California. It has four turrets and is run by solar and wind power. It was a wonderful experience to meet Doug & Jean and to see their amazing home.

In the morning, we returned to Black Point and did do laundry. Everyone in town was dressed in red for Valentine’s Day. Several restaurants were offering special dinners but we opted for a lunch, after the laundry was completed. Murray had a conch burger and I enjoyed some grouper fingers. Back aboard, we put away all of the clean things and dozed in the sun. Man, we are getting very brown.

So, now we are studying the charts and the weather trying to decide where to head today. The sun is shining but the water is still very chilly. Snorkeling is not on the top of our list. Maybe tomorrow. Visitors arrive Sunday into Staniel Cay and there is another cold front expected on Thursday. We have two days to travel around before we have to hide out again. Oh well, this one doesn’t sound as of it will last too long or blow really hard. And, I traded for a few new books and really need to bake some bread. Maybe a front is a good thing, as I will get my chores done.

That is life aboard. Hugs to all, Murray & Heather