Eleuthera spoiled us. All those anchorages where we were the only boat, or sometimes sharing with one or two other sailboats, left us unprepared for what has become of the Exumas, once high on my list of favorite cruising areas. They are infected with a plague of 100'-200' jumbo yachts all coughing up jet skis and mega tenders wherever they land.

I counted 8 of the beasts in the anchorage to the west of Highbourne Cay, 5 on the moorings at Shroud Cay, 2 at Hawksbill and 10 at Big Major's Spot. I don't know how far the epidemic has spread and am dreading the answer. We tried anchoring at Hawksbill, well outside the 200 yard boundary required around moorings in Exuma Park but were still accosted by the park bouncer who said we would have to take a mooring or leave. Seeing other monster ships heading in, we chose to leave.

This morning Sally sailed us upwind from Big Major's to my old home town (in the metaphorical sense) of Black Point. Here there are 10 sailboats and NO other boats other than local runabouts. Black Point, to our great relief, seems to have been innoculated against the scourge. We are absolutely delighted to be back here where so many friends live. We are back home for now.

BTW: My computer died a couple of days ago so my posts are likely to be shorter and less frequent, at least until I'm back in the states.