We had a great time with Will and Lis the last few days. We started our visit at Staniel Cay, where they flew in from Ft Lauderdale.

We enjoyed the pool, the restaurant and bar that evening and hung out with our young sailing friends Roger and Hannah. They and their dog met another young couple who wanted to go to Little San Salvador, and they left a couple days later.

We spent the first night on the boat in the marina where the wind picked up big time and we were rockin and rollin in the wee hours. It was worse the next day.

After riding bikes and checking weather we decided we couldn’t stay on the boat that night. It was an impossible churn in the marina because it is so unprotected.

Rather than spend another sleepless night I talked Ed into renting a little cottage for one night.

That’s what we did. We all got a good nights sleep and I got my first bath in two and a half months.

Ahhhhhhh.

Next day we took off for Compass Cay. But first we had to visit the pigs at Big Major. We anchored off the beach and Ed took Will and Lis for a short dinghy ride to the piggies’ beach.

The carrots I had provided sunk when they tossed them. But the bread pieces floated so the hogs could pig out.

Lis got out first on the beach and the pigs swarmed around her, causing a little anxiety. For Lis, not the pigs.

They enjoyed their piggie time and then we pulled up the anchor and headed for Compass Cay, one of our favorite spots.

We feasted on Jamal’s burgers and walked on the beach in the afternoon.

Pork chops on our grill that night. The same day we petted the island pigs, probably not politically correct?

Next day we threw up the sails (Will had to do the heavy hoisting) and had a nice sail back the short distance to Staniel Cay.

This time the winds were favorable and we enjoyed a calm night on the boat.

I hated to see Will and Lis leave today! They were so helpful on the sail and just a fun pair.

I miss them already, I admit I was a little teary as they flew off on the little Watermakers Air turbo-prop.

They arrived yesterday on Watermakers Air from Fort Lauderdale about 9:30 am. They only had about 3 hours sleep because their flights from Chicago and Boston were delayed.

But we had a relaxing day, on the beach and at the pool. Spaghetti dinner on the boat and drinks at the bar.

Bad northwest winds overnight and not much sleep, rocking and rolling in the marina. We might move today to Compass Cay for better protection. We shall see.

We are hanging out at Compass Cay Marina, the most protected place for the northwest wind blow, which was all of yesterday and winding down today.

It was downright chilly yesterday afternoon as we all donned heavier jackets and convened at the marina dock for company.

Ziggy is now one of 4 dogs here. There’s Tiloo, Barry the boat captain’s Potcake, the name they give rescue dogs from the islands. There’s Echo on the catamaran who looks like Ziggy. There’s a little frou-frou dog whose name I don’t know.

Then there’s Maggie Mae, the big prancing white poodle who Ziggy growls at each time she passes. I don’t know what it is, maybe Ziggy resents her prissy looks and fancy pants attitude.

Her owner bragged that Maggie Mae’s sister won the second best poodle in Canada, whatever that means. But all the Canadians are down here this time of year so if the dog contest is in the winter she probably didnt have much competition.

We have 14 boats here now, half of which are mega yachts. The most amazing one we call the Stealth Yacht because it’s black and sleek.

The French speaking crew and guests don’t really mingle with us. As we watch them come and go with their slightly affected children and grown men with shorts too short and tight, one of our friends here says it’s like watching a reality TV show.

This friend, by the way, is engaged to a guy from Washington NC. He played guitar for us the other night; his boat is appropriately named In Concert. They met on Match.com. She lived in Annapolis at the time and thought he meant he lived in Washington DC. Oh well they got together anyway!

Ed helps dock boats often. He helped with a cat yesterday who came in the big wind on just his port engine and hit the dock pretty hard. We hope there’s no hull damage.

Jamal the owners son tells us he wants a blue pit bull from the States. He has a female at his home in Nassau but wants a male for here. We are looking at websites for the dog. Ed said he could possibly fly back here with Jamal’s dog, if he finds one he likes.

Would they give us a deal on staying at Lily’s Place on the hill if we did that? It’s got gorgeous views but is $4000 per week.

Maybe. But if we flew with a pit bull puppy Ziggy would probably elect to stay home.

We came up north from Staniel Cay to a mooring field at Cambridge Cay, part of the Exumas Land and Sea Park.

It’s a pristine beautiful area of several hundred acres. You can’t fish or take anything away -plant or marine life.

We were one of two boats on mooring balls in the morning, by the time dusk arrived all 14 balls were taken.

We grilled ribs for dinner and celebrated Ed’s birthday on the boat.

No birthday cake but that’s ok. A memorable birthday surrounded by the beauty of the Exumas.

Well we’ve been on the boat over three months now and I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.

But it scared the bejeezus out of me!

My puppy has jumped on and off docks, climbed 3-foot ladders to dinghy docks, swam to the dinghy from shore and jumped on and off the dinghy from the boat.

She’s developed her sea legs when we are anchored or docked. But when we travel I always tie her for fear a wave or wake might knock her off balance, and she usually lies quietly the whole way. She has a life preserver but hates to wear it.

In a word, she’s pretty confident these days.

But late yesterday afternoon at Staniel Cay, a big black cloud approached and the wind picked up considerably.

We left the gazebo where we were enjoying a drink with fellow travelers and headed back to the boat to shut the hatches.

Yikes, the boat was pulling 4 feet away from the dock, and, since it was low tide, it was probably 4 feet below the fixed dock. The wind was picking up big-time, which happens here we’ve found.

Ed started pulling the spring line to get the boat closer and I jumped on the bow.

Ed was still pulling the line when I saw Ziggy sizing up her potential leap to the stern, which was a bigger drop and farther away.

We both yelled “No Ziggy,” but she ignored us and made the leap.

Her front paws made it but not the back, and she went in.

I called her frantically to swim to the stern where the steps are, which she’s used many times getting on and off the dinghy.

But she headed toward the bow, apparently due to the current pushing her in that direction.

I was trapped on the boat, the wind was increasing and both Ed and I were yelling at her. Probably confused her more.

She was swimming the wrong direction toward a big yacht.

Now I know she’s been wanting to be a yacht puppy but why go to this extreme?

Thankfully neighbor down the dock in the right direction got involved. He started calling her toward his boat which was closer to the marina. He was a big trawler with a nice swim platform on the stern.

She turned and went swimming toward him, where Ed had joined him to coax her there.

Finally they grabbed her there and pulled her onto the platform.

Oh my God what a relief.

Ed returned to the boat hanging onto our wet and shivering pup, ready to try to get on the boat again.

NO NO! I said take her to the marina and wait for the cloud to pass. I was adamant.

He agreed. They waited it out in the restaurant and after the cloud passed they eventually got back to the boat.

Our little swimmer went right for her food and water. Seemingly nonplussed over her watery excursion.

Her mom however not so.

Had a good cry, then I bucked up and made pork chops for us. A nice bone for the baby.

Then Ed mentioned he had been worried about the nurse sharks lurking around the docks.

Oh my God I hadn’t thought of that!

This morning the marina owner, Dave, assured me that the sharks wouldn’t have bothered her. He says they’re more afraid of dogs than vice versa.

I’m not testing that hypothesis, though. Sharks are sharks.

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The pretty beach at White Point is also an anchorage, in the area where there were once plans for a marina and resort development.

The developer ran into financial problems in 2006 and the plans were put on hold. Two enormous houses were built near there (one is a castle) in anticipation of the marina-to-come. Now they stand at White Point with amazing views but very remote location.

We walked the two miles there and enjoyed reading on the beach.

Wrapping up our visit today, washing clothes and getting my hair colored/ cut by Ida who runs the laundromat. It’s ash blonde by Nice ‘n Easy.

I’m scared! But anything is better than gray roots.

One more time with our buds at Scorpios this evening. They had an awesome buffet for the Super Bowl- ribs, chicken, peas and rice, macaroni, fresh fruit, chocolate cake!

DJ is going to download some cool Bahamian music for me too. Then I’ll burn the CD and rock em mon, as we head to Staniel Cay tomorrow.

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We arrived in Black Point to hang out till next week. Super Bowl Sunday and a full buffet at Scorpios – a tantalizing combination.

Not to mention Happier Hour for cruisers on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

But when we came in on Wednesday we were in pretty choppy waters with a northwesterly wind. So we anchored in an area with the best protection we could find, although it was a long dinghy ride to shore.

So next morning we moved to an anchorage closer to shore, in calmer conditions, and went ashore to get water and groceries.

Hanging out on the boat that afternoon we got concerned that we were too close to the rock wall and the wind direction was keeping us there.

One of our neighbors left so we moved to his spot, a little further from the wall.

By mid afternoon the wind had picked up and coming out of the northwest again. And the wind gods were not listening to Windfinder.com or the other wind sites, the wind direction and speed were not as predicted.

So we decided we had to move back across the harbor to the place we started out at, with better protection from the swells.

Well, as it turned out the swells followed us over there too. .

Given the conditions we decided not to take the longer dinghy ride to shore and stay on the boat and drink heavily.

But we couldn’t really do the latter because we didn’t have enough alcohol.

We rocked and rolled during the night but slept not too badly. There are 20 other boats out here sharing in the experience.

In the morning we knew the wind was going to pick up, but hopefully move to the east over the next couple of days.

Which meant we should get back to the other side, still to be choppy but better protection and closer to shore.

We found our spot and dropped the hook. This is the fifth anchorage that Ed has had to dive on to check. His least favorite activity.

But his drops are working and we are learning the teamwork required to anchor. “Starboard forward!” “Port reverse,” “Neutral!” I steer the boat at the helm as Ed does the heavy lifting (literally).

Ziggy, on the other hand, told us she wants to go back to Compass Cay where she could hang out on the fixed dock and get chicken and hamburger scraps.

No Ziggy. We are staying here for the Super Bowl, even if it means sleeping ashore at the laundromat.

Yes, our Bahamian host here at Compass Cay – Tucker – has 36 progeny. He is probably in his early 70s or so — he’s obviously been a pretty busy guy.

Let’s do the math. There could be 9 women with 4 kids each, or 12 women with 3 kids each, 18 women with 2 kids each or 36 women with 1 kid each.

In any event that’s a lot to keep up with. Do they pay child support here?
Tucker lives at the top of a hill on a spacious two story home with screened porches on all sides. He’s converting an old house, Hester’s- at the top of the beach hill to a gym- “Living Large” they call it.

Only one son, Jamal, works here. Another, Tyrone, comes in from Black Point occasionally (he showed me how to clean conch today). Then another brought a boat of tourists over from Pipe Cay today, that’s Randy another son.

I don’t think I could remember the names of 36 of my own children, much less their birthdays or other significant events like graduations and weddings.

Two local sources confirmed this is true. Rick says it’s the “Bahamian Way.”

Don’t know about that. There wouldn’t be all these unpopulated islands if that were the case, right?

We are holed up at Compass Cay waiting on the northwest blow to pass by. Not a bad place to be!

A cute shed decorated by passing cruisers over the years is the new hangout for Ed and the boys.

There is Tucker, the island’s owner, Jamal the friendly son, and Preston, the happy uncle who greets us every morning.

Barry is a yacht captain for an elderly couple who only come to their boat a few times each year. Barry spends 3 months here, 3 months in Ft Lauderdale and 3 months in Newport Rhode Island. He also works for the family here some, docking boats and doing repairs when needed.

Then there’s Toki, Dave and Rick, all cruisers who live here on their boats most of the time.

They all have stories and free advice.

Sunday morning is Daves waffle brunch enjoyed by all. Last night was a potluck for all, with barbecued chicken, steak and ribs accompanied by lots of side dishes.

We love it here for obvious reasons. It’s a little pricey by cruisers standards, but worth it during a big blow to not be on anchor worrying if it will hold.

It’s the coldest day we’ve had, just barely 70. But we can wait it out happily.

We are also waiting for a few injuries to heal or fix. Despite weeks of ear medicine my ear is still clogged up. And I lost a filling at Chat n Chill at the pig roast. No dentist til we get to Spanish Wells in several weeks.

And Ziggy cut her pad on coral we think yesterday, she’s limping some but still wants to do our trail walks. And check out the 16 chickens in the coop.

Ed says both his girls are hurt. But the four-footer doesn’t complain as much as me.

We can wait it out.

Yep, the pet sharks come up to the dock at low tide, beach themselves and wait to be fed. They like to be petted too. Just don’t get your toes too close we are told.

This is Compass Cay, just north of the other feeding attraction, the swimming pigs at Staniel Cay.

Tucker Rolle owns the island and it’s a small but beautiful one. People come on boats for day trips from as far away as Georgetown to feed and pet the sharks and walk the trails.

We are the smallest sailboat here, nestled in a small harbor among the yachts. It’s a protected cove so we will probably stay here to wait out the westerly blow that’s coming our way.

The beach side is gorgeous and the reef is good snorkeling within swimming distance. We will check it out today.

Ed has found a new group of boys to hang out with, shoot the s… and compare stories. I must admit he’s gotten some valuable cruising advice from these gatherings before so I encourage it.

Ziggy and I will just watch the sharks and the chickens up the trail. Entertainment on the islands.