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The weather was quiet during the night but in the morning it was blowing fairly strong from the SE. We wanted to wait for hi tide and slack current to depart which was around 11. At 10 we dingied over to the marina to look for ice. They did not have any. They have a nice bar/restaurant and a pool table. A group of kids were playing at the pool table and several locals were eating at the bar. We had a couple of cokes and looked around the place before going back to the boat. We pulled up the anchors with out too much difficulty and headed S. After the fridge was charged we turned the engine off and had a nice down wind sail to the Crossing which is a narrow point on Great Guana Cay. There was a small beach just N of where we anchored. The wind was blowing down the length of the island and it was a bit rough at anchor. After lunch we relaxed for a while and when it got too hot we decided to go swimming. On anchoring I forgot to wind up the fishing line and it wrapped around the propeller. We spent a few minutes unwinding it and then inspected the anchor. There were some black clouds to the N but we decided to swim to shore and have a look around. The bottom was all sand with little mounds and excavations made by some unseen creatures. There was very little else and it stayed deep until we were within 50’ of shore which was high coral rock. In the shallows were smaller rocks covered with corals and lots of small colorful fish. It was a long swim but we made it to the little beach. There was not path inshore from the beach and it was too rugged for us to try with our swim booties so we explored along the beach for a while. Then we heard thunder from the clouds to the N and decided to get back to the boat. When we got back the wind had shifted to the N but I looked at the anchor and it had reset OK in the sandy bottom. We watched the clouds build in the E and then the SE. It sprinkled for a few minutes and blew quite strong for another few minutes with a cold wind and then it was over us and moving quickly W. The sky to the E was still overcast but not threatening. While the winds were blowing we saw a small local sailboat going S offshore and another cruising sailboat and a trawler headed N. This is the most activity we have seen since at one time since leaving Abaco. With the storm past the winds settled down and the waves subsided and we had a comfortable evening.
We went into Farmer's Cay Yacht Club - which is on a peak North of town. They had no ice. The place is a bar / 2 bars and restaurant. There were about 12 children 4 - 14 playing pool. Very friendly, nice people here. We drank a diet coke and then took off for the boat because the tide was changing and it was time to go. Rich said last night e saw 18" fish under our boat with the light. We hauled the anchor at 11 AM and are on our way to The Crossing anchorage at Great Guana Cay.
We got to The Crossing anchorage in 2 hours. Beautiful. We swam to shore and the white sandy beach. it was about 300 yards. We swam towards a rock wall with interesting coral designs on the wall. There was sandy bottom right up to the wall and then some blue fish and a few others around the rock and coral on the bottom. We had to swim to the right and a little sandy beach to get ashore. We did that and while we were coming to shore we saw a big dark cloud with distant thunder was building. We explored for a few minutes and found the rock and thick brush untenable with our legs bare and sea-boots on. It was a long way back to the boat... Rich prompted me to take longer strides with my fins - I did and moved through the water much more efficiently. :) We got to the boat and checked our anchors. It didn't rain on us.
The wind was blowing 15 Kt from the SE, approximately parallel to the shore and a set up a chop which rocked the boat a bit more than was comfortable. At 10 we pulled up the anchor and headed around the next point to anchor off the beach there. We saw another sailboat going N ahead of us and a catamaran motoring S but we had the beach to ourselves. We got some relief from the waves behind the point and later the wind died down a little and it was quite comfortable. After lunch we dingied ashore and walked around. The water is deep right up to the beach. We climbed the rocks behind the beach to the ridge. The landscape is almost like a desert, hot sand and coral rock with little scrub vegetation trying to get a hold. To the SE was a little hollow and a fire had recently burned some of the scrub and palmettos there. We returned to the dingy and got our snorkel gear and swam around the rocks to the W of the beach. There were numerous small fish in the rocks next to the beach but none further W. Jill found a number of nice shells. We returned to the boat for a shower and then happy hour. The sky was overcast and we could see rain and a hear a little thunder to the N. We put out a second anchor which was the CQR, we had been using the Danforth at the first anchor since leaving Little Farmers Cay. As the sun started to go down the wind died and we have only light breezes form various directions.
We sailed a ways to White Point (Bay). It gave us some protection from rolling a bit. It is interesting. We dingied in to the beach. I collected several pretty shells. There were fish to the right along the rocks. It was easy to walk the beach. The rocks are flat! - like a terrace and not sharp. There had been a fire and some of the palms and grass was burnt recently. It felt like a desert. It was amazing how green it was in spots.
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