Lightening hit en route to Fort Lauderdale

Where do I start? Yesterday started out splendidly as we left our anchorage at Rodriguez Key, but quickly began to deteriorate at the point when a weather alert came on the radio, warning of severe thunderstorms with hail, frequent lightning strikes, 50-70 knot winds, possible waterspouts, and three inches of rain per hour.

Wayne and Dennis had decided to skip our planned stop at No Name Harbor, 44 nautical miles from Rodriguez Key, and continue on to Fort Lauderdale, about 70 nm. Dennis was understandably anxious to get his auto pilot taken care of, and Wayne thought we might have a weather window favorable for crossing to the Bahamas on Sunday rather than Monday. Moving on to Fort Lauderdale would give us options.

As the sky became darker and the warnings more ominous, I became scared and desperate to head for the relative safety of No Name Harbor. Wayne and I "discussed" it at length, but the captain overruled me and tried to be reassuring.

I like to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, so I scurried about the cabin, securing everything in sight, grabbed all of the portable electronic devices and stashed them in the microwave to protect them from lightning, helped Wayne put up extra sections of our cockpit enclosure, and whatever else needed to be done. I then hunkered down in the aft cabin with Emma to wait out the storm and buried myself in a book in an effort to distract myself from what was happening outside.

Some time later Wayne stormed into the cabin and said, "Call Shirla! I've been trying to hail Aurora on the radio and Dennis on his cell phone, but they don't answer! I want to make sure they're okay."

I called Shirla but got her voicemail.

When I joined Wayne in the cockpit, I was relieved to see that the storm had passed and the rain had mostly stopped. Wayne had been watching the radar carefully and turned to the southeast, away from the storm, when it appeared that we were headed right into the worst of it.

A little while later, Dennis finally called us on his portable radio. Aurora had sustained a lightning strike that had damaged their electronics, including the VHF radio, but he and Shirla were fine. Thank goodness!

Aurora, approaching Fort Lauderdale later in the day

Yes, that's a cruise ship - Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas -
yes, she's moving, and yes, we're directly in her path.

Shirla took this photo of us (that's us on the left)

We had decided early in the day to skip Lake Sylvia and spend two nights instead of one at Las Olas Marina in Fort Lauderdale. We made the 5:30 bridge opening, Wayne and I stopped for fuel, and we docked at 6:15.

The dockmaster gave us a slip right next to a beautiful yacht. She was custom built for Tiger Woods in 1997, according to the two guys who had been hired to detail the engine room.

We were all exhausted, but famished and not excited about cooking, so we walked over to Bubba Gumps for dinner.

Dennis has been taking inventory of the boat, trying to determine what's working and what isn't. I'm not clear on that, so I won't attempt to give details. What I know for sure is that the antenna at the top of their mast is gone and in its place is a black blob and lots of things don't work. The insurance adjuster won't be out until tomorrow, so Dennis and Shirla will wait and take it from there. One thing is clear: they won't be crossing to the Bahamas with us tomorrow. We hate to leave them behind, but there's nothing we can do to help. I feel so bad for them. After months of preparation and provisioning, it's a huge disappointment, but their attitude is amazing. They are amazing. So positive and matter-of-fact. On the plus side, they have no time constraints, so we are still hopeful that they will get their repairs done and join us in the Abacos in a week or two.

Our friends on Chatty Cat and Broadwater II who are docked at the yacht club, took the trolley over and joined us for dinner at Coconuts this evening. Tomorrow morning they, Toucana, and Chat-Eau will join us to make the 4:30 a.m. bridge opening and head across the gulf stream to the Bahamas. Mary and Rich onboard Change and Ginny and Chris onboard Ginny C. (trawlers) crossed yesterday, apparently also under less than desirable conditions. Ginny's email to me this morning said, "We got battered way too much yesterday. Lots of bruises and broken stuff. Poor Ginny C is boasting her first duct tape."

Things can only get better, right?

Mary, if you are reading this, Happy Birthday! You did it! YAY! I hope you had a fabulous time celebrating both events in the Abacos. See you soon.

Rodriguez Key to Lake Sylvia?

We have nearly perfect conditions this morning and are enjoying a fabulous sail with a clean boat, thanks to the rain shower that roused us from our slumber to close our hatches at 4:30 this morning. We left our anchorage at Rodriguez Key at about 7:00.

Aurora in the Florida Keys
Yes, that was the actual color of the water yesterday

Aurora sailing off into the sunrise
(wish I'd thought to get this photo earlier)

Dennis on Aurora called us a little while ago to say that the drive mechanism that controls the rudder on his autopilot is dead. He called West Marine to order the parts, but won't have it until Tuesday. The group has a weather window for crossing and reservations at Bahama Bay on Monday; we'll have to explore our options.

Shirla called while I was writing this. They have decided to have the part(s) shipped to Bahama Bay so that our departure won't be delayed.

Emma seems to have settled in more quickly than usual on this cruise. When we first set out on a trip, all she wants is to be in our bed—with me—and sits at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me to come down, unwilling to join us in the cockpit. This time she was content to be down below by herself after a day or so, and moves back and forth from the bed to the settee. I wish Emma enjoyed being in the cockpit with us (at anchor she's okay with it), but what matters most is that she is content. I divide my time between sitting with her and sitting with Wayne.

I noticed this morning that Emma's ear seemed to be bothering her, so I checked and found that it seems to be infected. Fortunately, I have the stuff to clean it out and medication to treat it with. Poor baby.

We may skip our intended anchorage at No Name Harbor this evening and go all the way to Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale. Conditions are favorable to keep on truckin,' so truck we will.

If you haven't checked out the Cesaris' (Aurora) blog yet, it's a must-read. Shirla writes so eloquently, I pale in comparison. http://thecesaris.blogspot.com/

Motor-sailing now. The sail was nice while it lasted.

Marathon City Marina

Marathon City Marina is a huge field of 226 mooring balls, and we have been there when it was completely full. Plenty of room this time, though, and we are moored next to Valhalla and Aurora.

Wayne had to run in to West Marine to get a remote microphone for the VHF radio. The one we have in the cockpit has been misbehaving and Wayne sometimes has to bang it on something to get it to work.

Valhalla, Aurora, and we dinghied over to Burdine's Waterfront Restaurant for dinner.

This was posted on the menu

In my prayer when I woke up this morning, I said to God, "Please let this be the day when things start to go in our favor." It was not to be.

I've told you about a few of our mishaps, but it's the many minor things not worth sharing or reading about that tend to wear you down. Make no mistake, though, it's all small stuff.

Wayne and Dennis determined that, because strong ESE winds would not be in our favor today, it would be best to spend a second night in Marathon. I was excited about the options available to us with a full day to do as we wished, even if all I did was work on my to do list. Two things I CAN'T do when we're underway, though, are to go for a walk and do errands, so I decided to make a final run to Publix, possibly my final opportunity before crossing. Surely there was SOMETHING I had forgotten to bring!

I looked up at the sky as we prepared to get in the dinghy and, although it was mostly clear, there were some ominous clouds to the southwest. "Is it supposed to rain today?" I asked Wayne. It's been very warm, so we had three hatches and a number of port holes open. He wasn't sure, so I checked the weather app on my iPhone. Zero percent chance of rain. We're good. I casually stepped down on the bedroom hatch which is directly over the bed, thinking, "Well, it's not going to rain, but there's no reason to take a chance." Normally, we never leave hatches open when we leave the boat.

Off we went, to a dock Wayne had tied up to on a previous Publix trip, about a mile and a half away. Unfortunately, the whole area was under construction and we could find no public dinghy dock. We finally asked a woman sitting in her backyard if she knew where we might be able to tie up. She offered her friend's dock (she was visiting), so Wayne left me there and off to Publix I went.

I was a woman on a mission, walking along the plaza, eyes fixed on Publix half a mile down the road, when suddenly I felt a strong force drawing me to the door of a shop. I walked in and lo and behold, I was at the Sandal Factory Store, with possibly more sandals than I have ever seen in one place before! I was in sandal heaven!

I called Wayne to see if I had time to browse or if he wanted me to hurry. Take your time, he said. YES! Ten minutes later he called back to tell me that it's pouring out, he's soaked to the skin, we left hatches open, and he was headed back to the boat. "Finish your shopping, wait until the rain stops, and take a cab back to the marina," he said.

WHAT??? It's raining??? I glanced out the window. Sure enough. Okay, I can deal with that. There are worse things than being stranded in a sandal shop during a rainstorm. A few minutes later it dawned on me that I keep a couple of plastic rain ponchos in the dinghy bag for such occasions. I started to call Wayne but he was already soaked. And slowwwly making his way at no-wake speed back to and across the mooring field. Oh, well.

I must digress here to explain that I am always on the lookout for comfortable walking sandals. I have really tender feet and if I walk more than about a mile in a pair of sandals, no matter how comfortable they are, I can't wear them again for several days because my feet need to heal. If I know I"ll be doing a lot of walking, I'll even bring an extra pair with me so I can switch. Thus, I need several pairs so I can rotate them. Or just not walk.

The deluge didn't seem ready to stop, but I was tired of trying to wait it out, so I paid for my (one pair of) sandals and continued on to Publix. As I crossed the parking lot, a gentleman returning to the car with his wife and their purchases dropped a bottle of wine on the ground! I couldn't believe that it didn't break! A woman pushing her grocery cart behind them admonished him, "That's alcohol abuse!" True story.

The marina was just over a mile away, so I chose to walk instead of take a cab. I called Wayne when I got close. He said that he and Emma would be waiting at the marina to pick me up. They weren't there when I arrived, so I waited a bit, then tried to call him. No answer. He finally showed up. The dinghy had run out of gas and he had to row half a mile against strong wind to get to the marina while keeping a careful eye on Emma. She and I stayed behind to minimize weight while Wayne rowed back to the boat, filled the tank, and returned to pick us up forty-five minutes later.

Wayne had a big mess to clean up when he returned to Lena Bea during the downpour. Lots of rain in the cabin to wipe up and dry out, but nothing serious. Thank goodness I closed the hatch over the bed!

We'll be leaving at 7:00 tomorrow morning for Rodriguez Key.

Back on the Grid

We haven't had cell phone service since shortly after leaving Marco Island yesterday morning, so you'll see that I've added a couple of posts and edited the first one. We are approaching the Seven Mile Bridge and our ETA at Marathon is 2:30.

Wednesday, April 10: It is such a pleasure to awaken to quiet as opposed to the rude awakening of the generator starting up! Our house batteries have never been up to par, and Wayne finally replaced them this winter. That means we don't need to use the generator to charge them enough to make coffee in the morning, and we no longer have "power" struggles over my need to use power and Wayne's need to conserve it. I can use the inverter and don't have to worry about discovering that Wayne has turned it off when I thought it was charging my cell phone or computer battery. To further reduce power consumption, Wayne swapped out the halogen bulbs for LEDs in the main cabin. This has the added benefit of not giving off the heat of halogens, which is considerable when there are nine bulbs.

Today the group is dividing up. The three catamarans—Chat-Eau, Chatty Cat, and Broadwater II—are able to take a short cut inside the Keys because they have shallower drafts. We mono hulls—Lena Bea, Aurora, Valhalla, and North Star—must take a longer route through the Hawk Channel to avoid shallow water. Lena Bea draws 5 feet. We may meet up with the cats—as well as a couple of trawlers that cut through the Okeechobee—in Fort Lauderdale. If not, we'll see them in the Bahamas.

We are sailing today with ESE winds, 15-20 knot winds, and 1-2 foot waves.

Little Shark River

Tuesday, April 9: Little Shark River, in the Florida Everglades, is a notorious hell-hole due to its occupation by gazillions of the blood-thirstiest mosquitoes you never want to meet.  Unfortunately, it is also the only protected place between Marco Island and the Keys for mariners to stop for the night. With winds out of the east at about fifteen knots, the group decided to risk a possible rolly night for a mosquito-less night, and anchored about ¾ of a mile offshore. Now, Wayne and I have anchored in Little Shark River two or three times and have never had a problem, but based on its reputation, that had to have been a fluke. Nearly everyone we've talked to who's been there has a horror story to tell.

Anchored nearby are Dennis and Shirla (Aurora), Anne and Jeff (Broadwater II), Cathy and Glen (Chatty Cat), Sherry and Louis (Valhalla), Steve and Nancy (Chat-Eau), and Kathy and Steve (North Star).

We motored most of the way today, as the wind was mostly on our nose. No social time tonight; Wayne and I were ready for a quiet evening, and I think most of the others probably were, too. It's been hectic preparing for this trip, we spent the entire weekend and time the past couple of evenings socializing, and we need to charge our batteries. 

We enjoyed a nice dinner and now Wayne is trying to fix the washdown pump. I did a small load of laundry, just because I can. We bought a little washing machine (no dryer) that fits perfectly in the forward shower. I tried it out before we left home and it works as well as my machine at home. It will be such a treat not having to spend time schlepping laundry in the dinghy and sitting in laundromats, which were especially hard to come by in the Exumas.

So far things have gone pretty well for the group, although one boat got the mooring line tangled in its prop while preparing to leave Fort Myers and another boat snagged a crab pot while approaching our anchorage tonight (unfortunately, it was crab-less). A third couple had a problem with their rudder that delayed their arrival here by a few hours. We, of course, had the gennaker and washdown pump issues. If anyone else had problems, they kept it to themselves.

YAY! The washdown pump is now working!

Fort Myers Beach to Marco Island

The last couple of days have been interesting. We've had a couple of minor boat issues and it's been a bit slow getting into the groove of things onboard. I always have to relearn at least 50% of the technical stuff I need to know on the boat if it's been awhile since I've used the equipment. Wayne and I also need to get into a rhythm, which takes a few days. Routines, communication, and priorities need to be worked out. Sailing stuff comes first, of course, but we are south of Marco Island and will soon be without cell phone service for a day and a half and I want to get this posted to the blog before that happens.

We moored at Fort Myers Beach around 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Several of the others were headed in to check out a sand castle building competition and the local restaurants, but we felt the need to just relax on the boat for the evening after so much busyness of late. We invited the folks from Aurora, North Star, and Valhalla over for drinks and appetizers, then settled in early.

Tuesday morning started out fine until Wayne appeared from the cabin with the dreaded spinnaker. Now, we really haven't had many problems with the spinnaker (more accurately, gennnaker) on this boat, but I still suffer from post traumatic stress related to spinnaker issues on Wind Dancer. So whenever Wayne decides to put it up, I groan. Yesterday he asked me, "Why do you always groan when I want to fly the gennaker?" Well, I didn't have to answer the question because we wrestled with the darn thing for at least an hour. Wayne forgot to secure the sock before we hoisted it and lines got tangled up, which led to a series of other issues. Our gennaker is 1400 square feet and no fun to wrestle with in the wind.

As we approached our anchorage in Smokehouse Bay on Marco Island, a guy in a dinghy came up to us and gave us directions to help avoid the shallow water in the center. I saw the name Imagine on the dinghy, but the guy did not look like Don and I couldn't convince myself that it was him. Maybe it was the hat or maybe his beard was different, I don't know. The funny thing is that he did the same thing when Aurora came in to anchor, and they didn't recognize him either! Unfortunately, Don is having serious back issues, so he and Anita are headed back to Punta Gorda.

After anchoring, Dennis, Shirla, Wayne, and I hopped in our dinghies and went ashore. We learned that there's a dinghy dock right behind the Winn Dixie store (brilliant!), so Shirla and I picked up a few things, then went for a walk while Dennis headed down to West Marine.

We joined Sherry and Louis (new Mariners, s/v Valhalla), Don and Anita, and Dennis and Shirla aboard Aurora for snacks, then Wayne and I went ashore for ice cream and to harass the rest of our group, who were docked at a local yacht club and dining at a nearby restaurant. 

This morning started out not so well. Our anchor chain was caked with mud, which would not have been a big problem, except the washdown pump wasn't working. Wayne tried everything to get it going, but to no avail. He finally resorted to using a bucket, which he lowered down with a rope to scoop up water, and slowly and tediously washed down the anchor chain with bucketful after bucketful of water as I brought it in with the windlass. We got underway an hour and a half late.

Emma can find a cozy spot anywhere.
See her in the bottom right corner?

Now we're enjoying a nice sail, with ESE winds at 10-12 knots and 1-2 foot waves. Our ETA at Little Shark River for tonight's anchorage is 6:00.

Headed to the Abacos!

Hey there! And welcome back! It's been two years since our last journey to the Bahamas and we are returning, this time to the Abacos in the northern part of the Islands. On previous trips to the Bahamas we have traveled to the Exumas, which are farther south, and the Ragged Islands, which are at the southernmost part of the Bahamas, about 50 miles east of Cuba. In the Abacos, 80% of the islands are inhabited and in the Exumas, 80% are uninhabited. When we were there in 2011, the Ragged Islands had a total population of about 50 people.

We left our home in Punta Gorda on Friday. Our boating club, the Mariners of PGI, had their annual regatta and weekend blast at Burnt Store Marina, which about 100 people participated in, including us. We had a great time, as we always do with the Mariners, and left Burnt Store a little after 10:00 this morning after stopping at the fuel dock to top off our tank and get a pump out.

Fellow Mariners of PGI friends
who will be traveling to the Abacos 

We are currently in the ICW, east of Captiva and at the southwest end of Pine Island. Our destination today is Fort Myers Beach, where we will pick up a mooring ball along with about half a dozen other Mariner boats and possibly other Punta Gorda folks en route to the Bahamas.

After months of planning and preparation, it feels great to be underway at last. We hope you will join us vicariously on our latest adventure.

Final leg of our journey

Tonight is the last night of our trip and we are anchored on the southeast side of Sanibel. Tomorrow - home!

We haven't had much wi-fi lately, so I'm combining a few posts that I've worked on along the way. Photos will come later:

Saturday, April 9 - I'm sitting in a gazebo at Sampson Cay Marina, gazing out at beautiful scenery and relishing the soft, cool breeze. Life is good. Colby, a nine-year old boy, just joined his dad here with his bag lunch and asked me if I needed any cleaning done on our boat. After living on it for nearly six weeks? Um, yeah - it could definitely use a little cleaning. I told him to go have Wayne put him to work. 

This is probably the nicest marina we've seen in the Exumas - nicely maintained and scenic, with a relatively well-stocked (for the Exumas) grocery store. It also offers great protection from foul weather - whatever that is. We've only had one day of rain, one nighttime thunderstorm, and a couple of scattered showers since leaving home.

After our 112 mile crossing from the Ragged Islands on Tuesday, April 5, we anchored for a night at Little Farmer's Cay, then went in to the marina for a night. We used their free wi-fi to catch up on email, etc., then walked into "town."

JR the woodcarver, signing our purchase

Next stop was Big Majors for two nights, where we snorkeled Thunderball Cave (sure hope fish don't carry rabies - they got a bit over-zealous when I was feeding them),

visited the swimming pigs, popped in to Staniel Cay for a drink and cracked conch, and played dominoes on Windswept Dreams with Ed, Ann, Chris, and Sheila. We met Ed and Ann when we were anchored at Norman's Cay and, without knowing it, anchored near them at Big Majors. Also anchored right next to us there were a couple from Punta Gorda who are good friends of Marilyn and Bruce. That's how it is cruising the Bahamas - you keep running into people you know and you share common acquaintances with nearly everyone you meet.

Which brings us to Sampson Cay. A little while after we docked, we ran into Ed and Ann at the fuel dock. The four of us went for a late lunch of pizza and conch fritters, then after dinner they stopped by so I could give Ann a basket weaving lesson (she had gone to a class in Georgetown but forgot how it was done). Sunday morning Reflection called us on the VHF and they, too, were anchored at Sampson and coming in for fuel. They stopped over afterward and Marilyn gave ME another basket weaving lesson.

We left Sampson Cay about noon on Sunday and made the short but tricky trek down to Pipe Creek, which is probably our favorite spot in the Exumas. It's tricky because of the windy entrance with shallow rocks and reefs en route to the anchorage off Thomas Cay; good visibility is a must for safe navigation there. On the plus side, once you're in you probably have it to yourself because not many boats go in there. And it's beautiful, with good shelling and snorkeling (you have to snorkel at slack tide to avoid the current, though). Ed and Ann dinghied down from Sampson to snorkel with us. I was the first one in the water and about thirty feet from our dinghies when an Eagle Ray swam by. I yelled to the others, then took photos of him as he circled me three times before swimming off. It was magical.

Thursday, April 14 - Our two nights at Pipe Creek marked the official end of our vacation. We're heading home now, and for us that means we get up as early as 4 a.m., sail all day, anchor for the night, and repeat until we're home. We anchored at Shroud Cay on Tuesday and West Bay off New Providence on Wednesday. 

Normally when we anchor for the night we're tucked into a cove or at least on the leeward side of an island for protection from wind, waves, and current. But occasionally we're anchored as we are tonight - with nothing but water as far as the eye can see. We're in twenty feet of calm water about 30 miles south of Gun Cay (the nearest island) and will cross the Gulf Stream tomorrow to Rodriguez Island, off the coast of Florida.

Wayne's up in the cockpit and keeps calling me up to see the weird fish that seem to be skipping over the surface of the water. Hmmm... Of course, I haven't seen one yet. I told him he's been at sea too long. 

Last night some "neighbors" stopped by to chat for a few minutes, then motored off in their dinghy. A while later they came blasting back at full throttle to tell us they had just seen a 13 foot hammerhead shark. Um... no snorkeling this evening for us, thank you.

After an uneventful night anchored at Rodriguez Island off Key Largo on Friday, we took a short-cut through the Keys. Wayne had been skeptical of going that way because of the depth, but Reflection draws 5 1/2 feet (we draw 5 feet) and can get through there, so we felt safe. Five Mile Channel saved us one day of travel over our route through Marathon and the Seven Mile Bridge. We had to time it tide-wise to be able to get under the 65' bridge comfortably, but with enough depth to navigate the shallow water; it worked out well.

Last night we opted to skip anchoring in Little Shark River and instead anchored about eight miles north of there. It was very calm and we slept well.


Check back for more photos and videos.

Spotted Eagle Ray and Friends - April 10

Ed and Ann dinghied down from Sampson Cay to snorkel with us in Pike Creek. I was the first one in the water and about thirty feet away from them when a Spotted Eagle Ray and two companion fish swam by. I yelled to the others, then took photos as the ray and his friends slowly and gracefully circled me three times before swimming off.

It was magical. 

Return to Paradise from Paradise

As I write this, we are headed back to civilization - the Exumas - after spending two weeks in paradise. Which isn't to say that the Exumas aren't paradise; it's just a matter of degrees and yes, personal preference. We left Buena Vista Cay at 3:45 this morning and expect to anchor at Little Farmer's Cay around 6:30 this evening.

The Ragged Islands were everything we had hoped they would be: We overlooked long, pristine white beaches from idyllic anchorages, and from at least one spot, were nearly surrounded by MANY beautiful beaches. The crystal clear waters beckoned to us and our snorkels relentlessly, and the unspoiled and abundant reefs - teeming with countless varieties of coral, plants, and sea creatures - mesmerized and thrilled us, making it an effort to tear ourselves away.

Especially me. Except for being with loved ones, nothing makes me happier than reveling  in God's creation, and revel I did. Wayne enjoys it too, of course, but spent a lot of time following me and waiting for me in the dinghy, patient man that he is. At one spot we went to, near our anchorage at Double Breasted Cay, the ocean floor was littered with sea biscuits, as many as I cared to scoop up (and I did collect quite a few).

We saw a remarkable number of Barracudas while snorkeling, far more than we've seen in past snorkeling or diving excursions. They're curious creatures and show a disconcerting level of interest in us; it feels like we're being stalked. Wayne saw about a dozen of them at one time, which admittedly caused him a bit of anxiety. I seem to be the one who always spots the sharks, though; I saw probably half a dozen (only one per excursion), while Wayne spotted none. They don't pay us much attention, Mom.


We were only in Duncan Town one day to deliver books and school supplies with the Conklins (coordinators of Operation Bahamas Project), explore the settlement, have a burger, and make use of the restaurant's wi-fi. I use the term "restaurant" loosely because there is only one table and the few other patrons were school kids on lunch break, watching TV and lounging around an adjacent sitting area.

One of the major attractions of the Jumentos and Ragged Islands for us is the solitude. Many boaters cruise the Caribbean and the Bahamas, but the Jumentos and Ragged Islands are largely undiscovered (although there have been more visitors in just the past couple years). We were with Marilyn and Bruce most of the time, but there were days when we saw no other boats and the only conversations on the VHF were between Reflection and Lena Bea. That level of solitude isn't for everyone and two (okay, maybe three) weeks is probably enough for us, too. But we were blessed by the experience and will return.

We've enjoyed spending time with Marilyn and Bruce. They're dear people and oh, can Marilyn cook! One day she had us over for a breakfast of Eggs Benedict and that evening for a spur-of-the-moment dinner of fresh cracked conch. Bruce and Wayne had gone out in the dinghy in search of conch. Wayne dove for them and the guys came back with over a dozen conch, which they took to the beach to clean (Bruce mentored Wayne on that fine art).

I've never cooked conch and Marilyn has made cracked conch, conch fritters, and conch chowder, so she showed me how to prepare them. Our share is in the freezer, waiting until we get back to Punta Gorda for me to give it a go.

Of course, we had Marilyn and Bruce over for dinner a couple times, too, but I can't keep up with Marilyn. Did I mention her bread? She makes the yummiest artisan bread! Oh, and one day Christian and Martin - a couple of local fishermen - came by with a boatload of live, freshly-speared lobster (and a humongous Goliath Grouper).

Wayne and I bought half a dozen very large tails for $25. We froze five of them and shared one for dinner that night; I couldn't even finish my half. Anyway, Conklins bought some as well, and a couple days later Marilyn made lobster bisque and gave us a container of it to have for lunch. It was the best! 

Thanks, Marilyn and Bruce, for inviting us along and helping make our stay in the Ragged Islands a richer and more memorable experience by sharing so generously your food, your nautical experience, your knowledge of the Raggeds, your weather reports, and most of all - your friendship. We admire the work you do collecting books and supplies for the children in the Bahamas and we thank you for that on their behalf. Oh, and I certainly have to thank Marilyn for teaching me how to weave baskets! What a surprisingly fun and addictive hobby!

Basket-weaving is not something I ever imagined myself doing, but with no internet access, no TV, no cell phones, and few unread books remaining on my Kindle... well, basket-weaving while listening to music is a pleasant pastime.

 
Now I just need to figure out what to do with all my shells.