Buenavista Cay

I forgot one more item for Long Island: Scott is rumored to be one of the best outboard mechanics around. Patience is required, because he is also a fisherman with crew. According to our friends, it is worth the wait. We saw Scott Saturday and he was indeed preparing the boat and crew to head out on Monday.

We were into Water Cay last night pretty close to the beach. Still had some surge, that is just the way it is out here. We patiently worked out way out after picking up anchor. We sat on the bottom a couple of times but the surge would lift us up and help us along. There is no need to clean barnacles off the very bottom of the boat now. We were the first ones out again. I like the early start because I like to arrive between 2 and 3 pm to be able to read the bottom for good anchor holding. There were seven of us in the anchorage last night. Some were heading to Flamingo Cay, at least one to Jamaica Cay. We encountered a large fishing boat towing its 9 or 10 tenders and heading home. We also encountered five cruisers heading back north.

The winds were less than yesterday, but they did not die down as forecast. That made for a nice sail down. We also fished with a lure that did not seem to attract barracuda. We caught two fish. One got away and we only got half of the other because something (interpret shark) took half of it. We had enough left to make two fish sandwiches, so we are not complaining. We are actually pretty excited to catch a decent fish on the banks. We timed the Man of War Channel, which is about 4 miles across, for incoming or high tide. We probably should have been earlier because the stretch from Jamaica Cay to the Channel Cays is a rough patch on an outgoing tide. We had planned to make water, but waited until we had some protection from the cays north of Nurse Cay. As a result, we only made 51 gallons, but it will keep us from dipping into our reserve tank in the bow (about 80 gallons).

It is beautiful here, as always. We have already launched the dinghy and will go for a walk before 'no-see-um happy hour.' I am tired of donating blood to their procreation.

Love to all,
Dena

{GMST}22°25.91'N|075°50.04'W|2/23/2015|3:22 PM{GEND}