We spent three nights tied to the dock at Black Sound Marina in Green Turtle Cay waiting for a very squally cold front to pass by. Marinas are still a rare treat for me (though not nearly as rare as in my former life) and I quite liked this one. There was nothing fancy about it and it was surprisingly inexpensive - $1/foot for dockage, $0.20/gallon for water, electricity either metered or $10/day. There was a very basic shower and a small laundry room. And it was only a short walk into town.

Being at the dock made it easy to get the bikes ashore - first time since Hope Town. A lot of de-rust-ification was needed for both of them even though they live inside "water resistant" bags. They still need more work but both are ridable. The manufacturer (Montague) is treating us to some new quick releases that will help get them back to normal.

The entrance to Black Sound is too shallow for us at low tide. I usually try to avoid places where we can't leave whenever we want but the timing was good coming and going. We left late Saturday morning at mid tide and motored to Crab Cay in a wind that was defying the forecast and refusing to clock beyond northwest, until we arrived. Nevertheless, the anchorage behind Crab was a comfortable one for all five boats there, all headed for Florida.

On Sunday we had a lazy air spinnaker reach to Great Sale Cay over perfectly flat water. By the time we got there ten other boats were already anchored - some heading west, some east. We stopped only long enough to have a quiet dinner before leaving at sunset with no wind at all. We motored through the shiny, thin water across the rest of the Little Bahama Bank with no lights in sight other than moon and stars (stars being a generic term for planets, galaxies, Milky Way stars and other glowing stuff up there.)

At dawn we were passing Memory Rock and returning to the deep waters between the Bahamas and Florida. The forecast was for a continuation of the familiar light and variable conditions. Instead we found a very steady northwest wind that blew all morning. It was a bit worrisome, not knowing if it might keep building, but we pressed on and had a great sail across the Gulf Stream which wasn't the least bit bothered by the opposing wind. We arrived at Palm Beach at 3:00 in the afternoon and anchored just inside the inlet. I called Customs, repeatedly, and finally got through on the third pass through the recorded menus. They asked a lot of silly questions, getting information they could easily have looked up from our decal number, then said we had 24 hours to show up in person, with or without whatever contraband we might be smuggling in.

This morning we headed in by dinghy to the Customs office near the cruise ship terminal. I couldn't find any place to tie up a dinghy there (Cracker Boy looked pressed for space) so we went down to the sailing club and hitched a ride from there. They scanned our passports and sent us on our way. What are they looking for? Forged Passports? Do they imagine someone using a forged passport is going to call in?

Anyway, we're back in the north Lake Worth anchorage and have already made a trip in to the Publix supermarket for all those things you can't get in the Bahamas. We'll be here a few days before starting the 2000 mile trip back home.