Our Travels

A constant part of traveling on a boat is “watching the weather.” We’ve all seen the “spaghetti” tracks from the different computer models during hurricane season. Well, it’s no different for us; every day, a couple times a day we check various sources, each with their own take on upcoming weather. We’ve mentioned we’ve been headed south because of impending weather. Yep, that cold front that dropped snow on many in the states has finally made its way down here, and we will feel its effects over the next few days (minus the snow, of course).

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The outlook for tomorrow at our location includes 30 knot winds, which equates to 34.5 mph. As our sailor friends would say, “it will be a bit of blow.” If you notice in the details, the wind will start coming from the west and then change to the northwest. How do you like the temps? Sound like the warm Caribbean to you? (Remember, no sympathy, Honey. They’re dealing with a second round of snow.)

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What’s interesting is, the next day it keeps on “clocking” around. Sunday from the north, Monday from the northeast and finally back to the prevailing east. Well…. where to go? After looking at the charts and talking to our cruising buddies, we chose to come down to the very bottom of Eleuthera, Rock Sound, because it provides good protection from just about all directions.

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Last night, here in the very, very quiet anchorage. Two “verys” because for the first time in 29 days in the islands, no roosters! Ha! Kinda miss ’em. Anyway, we decided to put out our underwater light to see what we could attract. About an hour or so later, we got real little guys circling, little guys circling probably eating the really little guys, and slightly bigger guys cruising by picking off the little guys! A visual microcosm of life in the real world! All of the sudden a school moves through; what the heck was that? Wow! We enjoyed several passes by a small school of Caribbean Reef Squid! (Yeah, we looked it up!) Very cool!

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When we arrived in Rock Sound, our friend, Madeleine, mentioned a money bat flying into their saloon, attracted by the lights. Having been visited by a really large, and I mean LARGE, moth-type creature a week or so ago, we put the screens up at dusk, all except for the upper hatch to the flybridge, for which we don’t yet have a screen. Well, you guessed it. After settling in, we were visited by an Ascalapha odorata, known in the Bahamas as a bat moth or a money bat. The largest moth in the western hemisphere, they have a six-to-seven-inch wingspan. Unlike other cultures, here, they are harbingers of fortune! Nevertheless, they panic when they find themselves flying into our saloon ceiling unable to escape. Gentle catch with a soft towel and safe release!

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Great start to what looks like at least a 3-day visit!