BYOP – Cat Island, Bahamas, March 13, 2022

We took the short bumpy crossing to Cat Island, and I got to drive most of the way while Sailing Hubby ran the sails.  So far it is the longest run I have had at the helm which was fun even though it wasn’t a terribly long trip.  We were heading to Hawk’s Nest Marina since there was more weather headed our way.  Get this, the “Bermuda highs” are supposed to last about 2 weeks (which cause all the high winds and storms).  We are on week #11  Ron is a bit frustrated to say the least so instead of trying to wrestle with this at anchor, we are taking a break and getting a marina slip.  This is our first since Green Turtle when we checked in.

Hawk’s Nest is a great little all-inclusive place with a restaurant, beach, marina, showers, laundry – you name it.  The owner JR is awesome as well.  I feel bad for her since she has a 15-year-old son, has lived here, and managed the marina for the last 22 years.  Her husband was electrocuted at the marina (he ran all the fishing tournaments) last year.  Extremely tragic story but she is a great lady who does a great job and loves the cruisers who visit.  Not all marinas are good at this, and we were grateful.  The only strange thing is you have to walk across the runway to get to the office & restaurant.  I have never had to stop and look both ways for air traffic before crossing the “street.” 

How often do you have to yield for aircraft?

Just a normal walk back to the boat through the airfield.

We spent a quiet day catching up on laundry and our buddy boat made pizza dough crust for a few of us to “decorate” and bake so we could all have dinner together and discuss next steps.  It was her version of a BYOP – bring your own pizza since no one had an oven big enough to cook more than one at a time.  Hazards of sailboat living, I guess.  It worked out great as she is a wonderful cook! 

We were unsure at this point if we were going to change our insurance and go south or return north to finish a few key projects on the boat.  Thus far we had planned to take her back to Florida to get set for the Eastern Caribbean next year since we got our confirmation for hurricane haul out back in St. Augustine.  We will need to make the decision before we leave Cat Island since it will determine if we go back to Georgetown and continue from there or back to Royal Island to wait out the clocking winds…again.  It certainly has been a season of running from the weather.