Admiral's Angle March 10, Wednesday

I am sitting in the cockpit this afternoon, overlooking Warderick Wells, a land & sea park in the central Exuma Island chain. It is sunny, high 70’s, with a stiff 15-20k breeze and I am totally at peace with the Bahamas….finally!

We left our anchorage yesterday at Blackpoint and had a most perfect day of 5 hours sailing north. We had 12-15k of wind, no current or swells because we were on the shallow & protected bank, and averaged 6+k of speed over ground. It was just glorious to sail along with no engine running and not worrying about time. We left at 9:30AM to travel 23 miles and arrived 4.5 hours later. This is a place we visited before for 2 nights but this time we intend to stay for a week. There is another front coming through Saturday and it would be a race to find an anchorage protected from W NW winds so we will stay put. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough for some dingy exploration and snorkeling. Pretzel loves the beach and we love the peace & quiet of the place and the simple setting. As long as our provisions last we are fine. We can probably be self sufficient enough to last 3 weeks without visiting a store.

We happened upon another boat, s/v Sea Walk, which we met in Bimini when we first arrived in the Bahamas. Serge & Isabella, a couple from Holland with their 2 children ages 4 & 7, have been on their boat for 3 years now. We have really enjoyed their company and I get to play grandmother to the little ones, Katy & Aec.

I miss our house, family, and friends but I really love being on the boat and cruising to new destinations. It would be fun to continue further but that will wait for another winter. I have learned to take the good with the bad. While the weather has not been the best, I love waking each day to see the crystal clear water and looking at the bottom even in 15' of water!! I have found most of the islands to have very friendly people who think nothing of passing you on the street with a "good afternoon". It is a country of first and third world conditions. In the smaller out islands it looks like a third world country but many people have cell phones, look well dressed, and there is Internet available for us in many public cafes. It is a much slower way of life where Bahamian time could be anytime. You wait for almost any service with patience because what else can you do? We are here to relax and experience a different culture. It makes you appreciate home all the more. I really miss pizza!!