Dec 17, 2011-Hopetown, Elbow Cay

We have been here for less than a month and our flag is already taken a beating! Thanks wind!







We woke up today and knew it was the day to leave. The forecast was for E winds 10-15 knots, which we realized was probably as good as it was going to get. We left Green Turtle Cay about 9 am after getting all the weather reports and channel reports that we could from the VHF and HF radios. We had signed up for internet service for the week, but we were only able to get on line for very limited periods of time. There were quite a few more boats in the sound than were there last week and it severely effected the internet connection for us, as I am sure they all signed up for the same service.
The passage through Whale Cay Channel wasn't that bad! Especially because it was a rather short distance. Within that area of the Channel there were 6 ft swells with a 5-6 second interval, so we were able to float up and down the swells "fairly" comfortably, although some of the larger swells did look intimidating. The cut that we had to go through (which is the small break in between reefs) to get to the outside and back of Whale Cay looked awful from a distance. The large swells were breaking over the reefs and it didn't look like there was enough room in between for us to safely pass without having a large wave break over our bow, but as we kept getting closer it was clear where the cut was and that we would be fine.
The only exciting thing that happened on our trip through the cut was Dahlia got sick. I am hesitant to think that is was actual sea sickness, because we have been in much worse conditions for much longer periods of time with out her even batting an eye, but today something didn't agree with her. She crawled onto my lap heaved a few times before getting everything up, then she passed out for almost 2hrs and woke up as if nothing was ever amiss!
We got to Hopetown about 2pm, we got a mooring because there is another front coming through tomorrow and there isn't any room to anchor with in the harbor. Plus, it is close to everything.
We got to shore and had to go to a restaurant called Capn' Jacks to get internet service so we could look up the name of where Uncle Bobby was staying. His rental is called Leapin' Lizards Lodge, and it was about a 2 mile walk from town. We hiked up there and barged in on him. It is a beautiful rental, which he is sharing with a few of his friends. It is right on the beach, it has this outdoor bed that is the most comfortable thing I have ever laid down on, and all the amenities you could think to ask for. We plan to spend as much time with him as we can while we are here, and Sherry comes in tomorrow too. Should be a good week.