We made it back to Salt Pond in time for the Friday happy hour at Long Island Breeze and the Saturday morning farmer's market. After a trip to the exceptionally well stocked Hillside Market for groceries we headed back out, to the north this time.

It was a fast broad reach through the flat water in the lee of Long Island. Three hours later we were rounding Dove Cay and headed for the narrow Hog Cay anchorage. We joined the two French Canadian boats anchored just off the beach at Hog and called our frined Jay who was anchored next door in Joe's Sound. Jay is sailing my old Crealock 37, formerly Midnight Mail and now rechristened as Kenlanu. While we waited for him to dinghy over, I cleaned the large cero mackerel (our second this trip) that we caught just before Dove Cay.

Jay arrived with half a loaf of olive bread that he had baked and traded it for half the cero. We spent a pleasant afternoon chatting about all those things that cruising sailors talk about when they get together.

The next morning we set sail for Conception Island. It was a fast reach to Cape Santa Maria then a slow beat against the current the rest of the way. When we arrived at Conception aroubd 4:00, there was no one else there. With nothing but easterly winds in the forecast it was the perfect time to be there. Where was everybody? We had the island to ourselves for the next day.

Most Bahamian islands lie along the edge of the banks with deep ocean to windward and shallow water to leeward. Conception has only a narrow band of shallow water off the beach on the leeward side and ocean depths all around. The Bahamas National Trust has kept the island in the same natural state that Columbus found when he stopped there. Monty Lewis describes the island as "paradise within paradise" and I have no quarrel with that characterization.

We spent the next day snorkeling the reefs, walking the beach, swimming with dolphins and tame fish (taking fish is prohibited) and exploring by dinghy. The weather was perfect and the day was unspoiled by the late arrival of two other sailboats. Having another two 10 watt anchor lights does not constitute light pollution to disturb our star gazing.

Yesterday we sailed a broad reach to Hawk's Nest Point then a close reach to New Bight on Cat Island. It turned out to be an excellent time to leave - AIS showed a 223 foot pleasure craft heading for Conception and coming around Southhampton Reef from San Salvador. Jet skis won't ruin Conception but they are annoying.

At New Bight we found four other sailboats, a single hander from Lunenburg, a small boat from Eastport Maine with a young couple and their two daughters, a catamaran also with a young girl aboard, and a boat that was anchored too far out to report on. We've come across quite a number of boats cruising with young children and heartily approve. This morning we walked up the highest mountain in the Bahamas (not all that high) to see The Hermitage built by Father Jerome for his retirement. He was an architect turned Catholic priest turned Anglican priest and built many of the churches in this part of the Bahamas. His glorious but tiny stone villa at the top of the mountain is definitely worth the climb when you're here.

Tomorrow we'll head back to the Exumas for the First Friday in February Festival at Farmer's Cay, the 5F regatta. And, of course, we'll stop back in at my "home town" of Black Point.