We left out of North Palm Beach Sunday afternoon. The forecast for Sunday night was the best for the week: NW winds at 7-10 knots, 2-4 foot seas and a chance of showers. What we found when we got out there was NW 15-25 knots quickly switching to E 15, very confused seas, and pouring rain for the first 8 hours. It was a bumpy ride, and slow going after the wind went to the east, but no waves broke over the rail. We made it onto the flat banks a few hours before dawn, a bit wet for wear but glad to be there. We even had some nice sailing for a while in shifting winds. By dawn we were at Mangrove Cay and anchored there for breakfast before heading on to the ever popular anchorage at Great Sale Cay. Today we had winds less than 5 knots and motored to Spanish Cay where we took a slip at the marina and cleared in with Customs and Immigration. Now we're free to go wherever we chose in this beautiful country for the next few months. What a great pleasure it is to be back here again.

By the way, I had never cleared in before at Spanish Cay and am very happy to have done so now. The slip was only $60. There would have been a $50 charge if we had cleared in and not stayed. The extra $10 for the slip was a no brainer. We were the only boat here when we arrived. A big power yacht came in an hour later but that's it. There's a small store here, a pool and a hot tub, a bar, a porch with comfortable furniture and a great view of the sunset, and five beaches. We toured one of the beaches (no footprints but our own) and found a large, pink fishnet ball washed up that we will leave, suitably inscribed, as our memento at the Allens-Pensacola Yacht Club beach.