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You are welcome to apply any part of this article to your own personal use. Please do NOT publish any part of the article or apply any part of it to any non-personal use without the express written concent of the author.
It's Sunday afternoon, and a week since my last dispatch. We're in Marsh Harbour, and friend Jacqueline from California has just been discharged from the crew list and is on her way home.
It's difficult to say what we did during the past week; it's all a blur. We had to visit Marsh Harbour several times during the week - once to pick up Jacqueline, once to discharge Kit's brother Keith and a final time to discharge Jacqueline. Consequently we didn't get south to Little Harbour or north to Green Turtle Cay.
But what a week it was anyway! With Jacqueline tucked under Keith's wing she quickly picked up what she needed to know to be an able participant in the cruise. Not having been on a sailboat in mumble-mumble years, practically everything was new to Jacqueline. And Keith had already seen most of what he wanted. So whatever itinerary we had in mind was thrown out and we just let the days unfold.
But then, that's what cruising is often like.
So there were times where we quietly sailed along under spinnaker or jib, times for snorkeling or just splashing in the warm (85°F/29°C) water, times for walking along beaches, times for exploring settlements, times for visiting friends on other boats. On Keith's next-to-last day we got some snorkeling in, and a last easy sail under spinnaker into Marsh Harbour. For Jacqueline's next-to-last day we did the same.
One memorable adventure could be titled "The Hunt for the Great Key Lime Pie." After Keith left we heard that Ena on Man-o-War Cay made the best Bahamian Key Lime Pie in the Abacos. But her shop had closed. We asked at the grocery on Man-o-War and the clerk phoned Ena. Good news! Ena was just putting a pie in the oven and it would be ready in a few hours, just after dinner. Ena would meet us at the dinghy dock in her golf cart to deliver it herself. After dinner Kit and Jacqueline took the dinghy to the dock to wait for Ena, having some girl-time together in the process. Ena showed up, right on schedule and the pie was still warm. Warm? Isn't Key Lime Pie made by chilling the mixture in a pie shell? Not in the Bahamas! In the Abacos it's made more like lemon meringue, with a fluffy whipped egg topping. Ena's topping was about 3" (8 cm.) thick, making it a very delicate pie. And was it yummy! The three of us devoured the whole pie in minutes!
For Jacqueline, the visit to Man-o-War Cay during the "Hunt" was her second time there. A professional multi-media artist and art professor, she commented that the light made the community seem like two different towns. It was a different time of day and there were more clouds in the sky. For her, she said, everything from the paint on the houses to the flowers in the gardens looked quite different.
The weather during the week turned squally. One morning we were at anchor when a squall came through. The high winds that preceded the heavy rains caused our anchor to break out of the bottom. The holding at that location was not very good so I was prepared for the eventuality. The anchor didn't set well the night before; because the area had only a thin layer of sand and grass over a hard marl bottom and there was nothing for our bower (a 45 lb./25kg. Bruce) to bite into. I slept lightly all night anticipating the possibility of dragging in a squall, and was awake when we were finally hit. Quickly starting the engine we weighed anchor and headed out for a different anchorage that had good holding. We got out of there before the rains came and were safely anchored before breakfast. Listening to the VHF radio we learned that several boats there had also drug. For Jacqueline it was another adventure to round out her first experience in the Bahamas.
Next dispatch: Back in the Groove.
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