Cruising Cats

After sailing a 40 foot cruising cat for a week, here are a few
thoughts: the cat didn't perform any better than our cruising
monohull. In 15 knots of breeze we saw 7-8 knots on a beam reach. This
cat pointed better than expected, probably due to the largish keels on
each hull. However, the keels brought the draft to 4.5 feet. The
really great thing about the boat was the privacy and space afforded
by two pontoons. Anchoring is trickier in a cat, when the anchor rode
gets taught, the cat tends to spin and the chain ends up under the
boat. Our solution was to keep the chain slack until the bridle is
hooked on and taking the load.

Ali in all, I prefer sailing a monohull, but for a cruise with friends
in the islands, the cat is a fine choice. It was fun learning how to
sail a new type of boat.

DC

We made it. On the way to our car now...

Delayed in Miami

We are still in Miami, our 5:30 flight has been delayed for mechanical
problems. The airline is being cagey about the prognosis.

Snorkeling

Our best snorkeling sites were No Name Cay and Sandy Cay. We saw every
kind of reef fish that I have ever heard of. We also saw a 6 foot
Nurse shark and a ray. Lots of coral, and clear water. My favorite was
the Parrot Fish.

Back in the U.S.

We just arrived back in Miami. We will be home later tonight...

Hopetown Today

After a week on the boat, we are back in Hopetown harbor. We will be
turning in the boat tomorrow, and then fly out of Marsh Harbour on
Monday. It's been a great week of sailing and snorkeling and visiting
with friends. We covered all the distance from Green Turtle Cay in the
north to Little Harbour in the south. We are relaxing this afternoon
at Dick and Libby's place, and we plan to all have dinner together
tonight. See you all soon.

Nippers!

Today we rented a boat and went through Man-O-War Cay, then on the
Guana Cay where we had lunch at Nipper's. (Power boats are fast!)
We had Conchy Burgers and fries, and a very potent frozen Nipper's
Juice. Then we swam off the beach, then raced a thunderstorm home. We
got wet from the storm, then did some snorkeling off Porgies Rock,
near Hopetown. There is a wrecked truck on the bottom which attracts
more fish than I have ever seen on a single dive before. Tomorrow we
will go back to Marsh Harbour and will pick up our Moorings charter
boat for the week. I don't know if I will have any internet access
after that, so this just might be our last entry for a bit...

Conch

Yesterday we went to lunch (by boat, of course) at the Sea Spray
resort, down near the south end of the island. We at fried conch for
the first time. The taste is very similar to calimari, very tasty.
Later we motored up to the north end to see if we could find some
conch near the beach. We didn't have any success with the conch, but
we did find the skeleton of a sea biscuit which was in good shape, so
we collected it. We also stopped by the Hopetown museum to see some of
the local history. We were a little rushed to get to lunch, so I hope
to get back and look at some of their books on the local Bahamian
sailing craft.Today we plan to take a boat up to Johnny's Cay for some
snorkeling.