A Visit From Friends From Cold Country!

This is Kieth and Jane the night they arrived in Marsh Harbor. Their plan is to spend a few days with us aboard our boat then go to Grand Bahama Island for the remainder of the week. We had planned to dive with Dive Guana, sail and snorkel and enjoy the beach. Mother Nature had other plans in mind. They arrived Sunday evening and we spent the night on the hook in Marsh Harbor. Monday the winds were about 10 to 15 knots and out of the west. We lifted our anchor around 10 AM and headed for Great Guana Cay. We had a good sail until we had to turn half way there when the wind was on our nose. We motored the rest of the way. We decided to take a mooring ball to get us closer to the dinghy dock. The winds did continue to build though the day.














We didn't let it stop us, we dinghied to shore and walk to Nippers and to the beach. Jane and I decided not to get wet and watched as Kieth and Larry went out to the reef to have a look. They actually were out for about 45 minutes at which point Jane and I began to get cold and were glad to see them come out of the water. The ride back to the boat was a soaker. The waves had built and were crashing over the bow of the dinghy. We were glad to have a warm shower when we arrived back at the boat.

That evening the weather continued to get worse. About 3 AM the wind grew to about 30 knots and the direction stayed the same. It was like riding a bull. By daylight when the dock hand came to collect his fee, Larry ask if any mooring balls were available in the next bay around the point of land. It didn't take us long to let loose our lines and move when he said yes. It was still very windy but without the large waves it was substantially more comfortable.














After breakfast on board we went to shore in search of something to do now that our dive plans were cancelled. We decided to rent a golf cart and explore the cay. We had a blast inspite of the weather. We rented it for 3 hours which was plenty to see what we had access to by cart and a nice lunch at the Orchid Bay Marina. We even fit in a tour of the new development connected to Orchid Bay.

The photo of Larry, Kieth and Jane was taken on the Atlantic side where we took a walk on the beach after returning the golf cart. Not quite warm enough for a swim but Kieth did manage to get his shorts wet in the surf. We had a great day inspite of our forced change of plans.
















Our time with Keith and Jane went by very quickly. We hope they can stay longer next time. The ferry was their ride back to Marsh Harbor yesterday morning to catch the Island Hopper to Grand Bahama. The Sea of Abaco was still rough yesterday morning and the ferry would get them there much quicker than we could. It seemed to be the lesser of the two evils.

The rest of their week promises to be much warmer and less windy so they should be able to get some diving in.

Larry and I stayed put for the rest of the day and the wind continued to blow. We got laundry done and went for a walk to see the ocean and how wild it got. We are taking our time this morning. We plan to sail back over to Marsh Harbor about noon to pick up a part for the water pump on the engine and buy some groceries at the store. We will come back to Great Guana Cay tomorrow and wait for the Whale Cay Pass to calm from the rage so we can pass to the upper Sea of Abaco and wait for a good passage to the States. For now we'll just enjoy the sunshine.