Feb. 1-7

Feb. 1 - 6

Okay....so what is it with me and snakes.  We came across my third snake on the trip.  Admittedly I did not see the second snake due to Kay giving me a push around it (thank you Kay!). It was dead by the way...same as the third one which I almost stepped on in the road at Black Point.   Mark said they have copperheads and rattlers around their place in Georgia but he's never seen any.  Huh...wait till I come for a visit...I bet the place will be crawling with them :(
The boys went to Lorraine's Cafe to watch the Super Bowl.  They really enjoyed themselves with good food and a good game.  I stayed on the boat with no desire to watch football.  Instead I watched a couple of George's movies.
Next morning we did laundry and then set sail for WardrickWells, in the Exuma Park.  It was a pretty good trip but again we had to motor sail.
There are two mega yachts just outside our anchorage.  Their crew set up tents on the beach and even had a table and chairs set up in the water with a white tablecloth.  Guess they don't want their guest to get their feet too hot.   We are still waiting for our invitation.
Today, Feb. 4 is a quiet, laid back day. I had a shower which I was in desperate need of...one of the big things I'm looking forward to when I get home....long, hot showers.....EVERY DAY!!!  I'll make bread this afternoon.  Greg had made me a peanut butter sandwich the other day.  One bite and all I had was a mouthful of mold....euckkk.  I was tasting it for an hour afterward.
So I guess it's not only snakes I get to see.  I saw my first Hutia.  It's a small rodent like animal, about the size of a rabbit, without the long ears.  Apparently they are nocturnal and it is very rare to see one during the day.  They are also the only animal on WardrickWells.  He was kind'a cute :)
We did some walking around  WardrickWells, going to the Davis Ruins and up to Boo Boo Hill.  Very interesting terrain....glad we don't have it at home.  From desert like sand flats to craggy outcrop (great ankle twisting country) surrounded by scraggly brush.  The place has a very desolate feel to it. Unfortunately there is no signage at the ruins to indicate what we were looking at.  No way to know if the structures are part of a house or barn, and how they lived.  The foundations are very small, so it is left to the imagination as to wether the inhabitants only used them for sleeping or for meal preparation as well.  We understand that funding for the park is very limited, but some information would definitely be welcome, even if only on printed handouts at the Warden's Office.

Our lives revolve around the weather, so after three days, the winds finally turn to the SE and are due to drop to mid teens, so off we go to Eleuthera.  This is a 48 mile crossing and I'm looking forward to being out on the "high seas" again.  Of course, as always, it is motor sailing the entire trip.  The wind is just off our stern, but shifting, so it is a continually effort to keep the boat on course without letting the sails snap.  With these kinds of winds, and because I don't know the answer... I always wonder how much strain and snapping the sails can take before damage is done to the mast or furler break!!
Nine hours later we are dropping anchor in Rock Sound Harbour.  We averaged 6nm/hr....not bad.  We no sooner had the anchor down when we saw black clouds forming in the north.  15 minutes later we were hit with cold winds and torrential rain.  We were told later by another boater that the winds hit 38 knots.  I don't even want to think what it would have been like to be caught out in that storm.  I think someone must have been watching over us that day.
Looks like we'll be spending the next couple of days in Rock Sound as the winds won't be easing off until the 10th.  We've already checked out the two grocery stores and laundromat and visited the Ocean Hole,  a blue hole about 1/2 mile inland.  Apparently it is fed by underground tunnels to the ocean. There were all kinds of fish around the edge, so sure beats snorkelling.
One of the downsides of heading north...the temperature is dropping.  Of course this may be due to the fronts coming in, but looking at Windfinder, it doesn't look like anything above 21-22 Celsius for the next week, and some days only 17.  Chilly!
Yesterday we had lunch at Sammy's Restaurant.  It was a nice little spot and we had a good chat with the waitress, Sammy's daughter.  We stuck to known items on the menu, having the fish and hamburger, passing up on the Pig's Feet Sousa and Lamb's Tongue Sousa, even though it came highly recommended by another boater.

Feb. 7

We just came back from a 3 hour walk.....so exhausted...but it was nice to get out and see the countryside.  But... Get a load of this... Within 10 minutes of walking I come across two dead snakes in the road about 100' from each other.  What gives!  I'm really not liking the snake situation here very much at all.  Kay is now running point for me, bless her heart.  We could have the guys go out in front, but they walk so slow, I'd rather take my chances with the snakes.  There's been talk of another severe weather system coming our way, so unless we want to be stranded here for two weeks, we may have to move tomorrow and make a run to Spanish Wells for protection from the winds.  This will mean only an overnighter in Governor's Harbour which will be too bad.  We were looking forward to spending a few days there.  Time will tell.