We took a welcome sabbatical from our cruising plans when a series of strong cold fronts came marching through the southern Bahamas, a new one every other day bringing NW and N winds that would make for an uncomfortable couple of nights in the northern Ragged Islands where we hoped to be next. We enjoyed our time off , moving around to various corners of Thompson Bay. It was good to have some free time to spend with friends Dawn and Mike who used to spend entire winters here on their boat Anahata. Now they've bought a small house overlooking the bay.

After the last cold front, we got a head start on the fleet headed for the Raggeds by leaving when the wind was still NNE at 20-25 knots, perfect for sailing west across the Comer Channel. Then, instead of heading SW to Water Cay, we continued on to Bailey Cay on the south side of Great Exuma, never seeing another boat all day. Bailey is a small key with a tiny U shaped cove in the SW corner with a beautiful little beach. It would have been easy to imagine being already in the Raggeds if we could have air brushed Great Exuma out of the picture.

The next day we sailed 40 miles south to Flamingo Cay in the northern Raggeds, down a wind that was clocking from NE to E, two days ahead of the predicted schedule. Again, not another boat to be seen all day or at Flamingo. It was just like the old days before the Raggeds became so popular. We anchored off "Two Palms" beach, now with only one palm remaining. A bit later we watched the cloudy skies turn to blue and the falling sun set the Great Bahama Bank ablaze. It was very good to be back, especially after our long wait for favorable weather. The lonesome mockingbird sounded delighted to have some company at last.

On the following day the rain clouds settled back in, looking ominously squally. We stayed at Flamingo all day, venturing ashore between periods of rain. For most of the day our only companion was a remora hanging around, begging for table scraps. Our solitude ended that afternoon when six boats that has sailed through the rain arrived from the east.

As soon as Chris Parker's 6:30 am weather forecast came over the SSB, we headed out, leading the way further south. There was a very light south wind so we never put up a sail but motored all morning, giving a much needed assist to the freezer and fridge. Along the way we caught four barracudas, which we returned, and a cero mackerel which we saved for dinner. We passed the long, lovely beach at Buenavista Cay at 1:00, leaving it all to the sole boat anchored there, and continued on to Raccoon Cay which was completely empty. Raccoon has always been my favorite of the Ragged Islands with at least a half dozen small beached to choose from. We took the one at Spanish Well Bay. Later in the afternoon, two boats pulled in to the longer beach at House Bay further down the island.

We stayed in the Raggeds only a few days this time. I want to show Sally as much of the Bahamas as we can get to and our four months are already half over. With a wind forecast saying it was the perfect time to head back, the best we'd have for at least a week, we started back north through this spectacular string of islands that are the best reason I know for owning a cruising boat.

We had 20 knots from the SSE for the two day return trip to Thompson Bay. Along the way we caught six more barracuda, one queen trigger fish and best of all, a large yellowtail snapper. I'm embarrassed to admit the sad news that the snapper, as soon as I removed hook, managed to jump overboard. Clever little bugger. Today we sailed at hull speed for nearly all of the 44 miles to Salt Pond where are back at anchor.

From here we'll probably sail to Conception with its magnificent reefs then check out a bit of Cat Island before heading back to Black Point to pick up a package of mail that's waiting for us. Or we may do something entirely different.