S/V Halley

23 37.783n 75 55.087w We left Black Cay yesterday morning with the slack waters of the low tide - at least per our estimation, there is scant tidal info in the Bahamas. We braved a nearby cut from the banks into the deep that is not mentioned in either of our cruising guides. But the cut looked deep and straightforward, so coupled with slack tide, little wind and little ocean swell, we made a go of it and got out without any trouble. The wind was exactly on our nose again so we motored. No option to go with the wind today, the destination was Emerald Bay Marina on the Great Exuma Island where Justus, Axel and Eva could hop off the boat and get back to the US. The marina visit also allowed us to fill up on water (yes, water maker is still an issue), clean the boat, do laundry + splurge on a restaurant meal with the kids before they headed back home. The meal was courtesy Mormor (my mother) who provided the funds as a Christmas gift. As an old salty sailor and mother of five herself, I t

23 41.719n 75 59.183w Headed south towards Black Cay, which happens to be next to White Bay Cay, which happens to have the pigs that Eva had sniffed out is one of the hottest tickets in the Bahamas. Apparently, people (read “influencers”) visit pig island, cuddle the pigs and pay thousands of dollars to do so. So sure, why not? Justus and Eva took the dinghy to the pig island a little before sunset. Nobody else there, just pigs. Eva was in hog heaven. Another highlight of the day was the tuna that Chris caught on the way to Black Cay. We had it for dinner with rice and Asian stir-fried veggies - delicious.

23 52.273n 76 14.336w We gingerly motored south on the shallow bank side of the Exuma island chain when the sun was high enough in the sky for visual navigation. I don’t think it’s possible to get enough of the beautiful colors of this area. The many shades of blues and greens of the water, the rugged islands with tropical deep green and moss green vegetation and the sky of course. And then the climate; it’s essentially a steady 77F/25C day and night with low humidity and a pleasant breeze. We are never cold and never hot. The water is hovering around 79F/26C and is clear and refreshing. It really couldn’t be any nicer. Our destination today was Musha Cay and Rudder Cay, a quick 3 nm miles from our starting point. Musha Cay is owned by David Copperfield (in the US, famous magician). He offers cottages for rent for $42,000 per night, swell of him. He also commissioned an underwater statue in about 12 ft of water by Rudder Cay, just south of Musha Cay. We anchored nearby and had fun divi

23 54.455n 76 16.322w We stayed all of Christmas Day on Williams Cay. What a great spot. Makes you wonder, is this the first of many fantastic stops or will we look back and say this topped them all? Either way, we did have a great Christmas Day on the island. Or at least those of us who weren’t sick… Sixten felt better and joined the beach party, but Chris felt crappy and so did Justus. We splurged with a bottle of bubbles on the beach to mark the holiday. The bottle was courtesy of a charter boat captain who dinghied over and asked for allergy medicine for a bug-bitten guest. In return for the antihistamines, he offered up a chilled bottle as a token of appreciation. Nicely done and definitely appreciated. Then, early this morning, Sunday, Chris and I brought Sixten in the dinghy to the dock of the Barraterre settlement on the north end of Great Exuma island, a few miles from our anchorage. We had arranged for a taxi pickup for the airport and all worked out great. We didn’t get lost

23 45.565n 76 05.227w A Christmas Eve of a very different kind for the family. As the sun climbed a little higher in the sky and provided better visibility for “eyeball navigation”, we moved Halley to Williams Cay a few miles north of Rat Cay. A short but striking stretch to travel with all the shades of blue and green. Sixten has been battling a cold for the last few days and unfortunately Chris now also feels under the weather. It could be Covid - we’ll know when Sixten gets tested for his flight on Sunday. Until then, not much we can do; we are already naturally and conveniently quarantined onboard Halley. We took the dinghy into shore on Williams Cay in the afternoon. A short walk up from the beach to a lookout facing the Atlantic. The island is long and skinny with marvelous rock formations, beaches and blow holes along its shorelines. Eva went shell hunting and found an unusual collection with orange, yellows and greens. We lingered a long time and very much enjoyed having truly

23 43.659n 76 02.663w It really is a coincidence that we ended the day on Rat Cay after yesterday’s escapades. But fitting since we caught and eliminated the Georgetown rat overnight. Game on, game won. We left Moss Cay in the Georgetown bay bright and early and headed north-west along the Exuma island chain on the Atlantic side - at this southern section of the Exumas, the bank side is too shallow. The wind was on our nose, but we were able to eke out a few hours of close hauled sailing. It was a windy, bumpy ride - not the most pleasant start on Axel’s and Sixten’s sailing careers - but only lasted a few hours. We arrived at the Rat Cay cut mid-afternoon and had an exhilarating entry. This is a deep, but narrow cut into the bank side of the island chain. With wind and waves on our back, but with the tide against us, we seemingly flew through the washing-machine like waters at the cut and entered the calm, turquoise waters of the banks. Sigh of relief - we are still very green when it