The photo above shows the view we had all day motorsailing 40 miles from Nassau to Norman’s Cay in the Exumas.  The water was so clear we could see everything on the bottom.  It seems more like a swimming pool than a large body of water.  The depth never got more than about 20 feet and usually was less.  

We left our anchorage near some very nice homes and condos in Nassau at 9 am. The water was as smooth as a small lake the entire way to Norman’s Cay.  It was one of the most beautiful days of sailing that we have experienced, although we didn’t really sail as we were going straight into a slight wind and were motoring with our main sail up.

Our friends Bill and JoAnne on Ultra stayed with us although they could have motored faster.  We were going 6.2 kts until we started to get into the batteries, so had to slow down to 5.9 kts to charge the batteries.

We arrived at Norman’s Cay and dropped our anchor at 4:15.  Not sure what is on this island, but we’ll explore it tomorrow.  There are nine boats in this anchorage, but there are other anchorages on the island. 

It’s nice to know we don’t have to ask, “Where’s the dinghy dock?” because the dinghy dock is the beach.  Coming in we had to watch for coral and sand bars and the depth is only about nine feet. 

The temperature is 79 and there are thin clouds.  We heard a front is coming from the north, called a “Norther.”  These are quite frequent this time of year.

Mark is ecstatic because the watermaker is working.  We filled the tank on one side and part of the two tanks on the other side.   

I’ve been using our Bahamas phone and sim card (thanks Gavin and Alice) and it works well calling back to the States.  Good thing because our MagicJack won’t be working here with no Internet access.

Mark decided to try fishing today, but we didn’t catch anything.  In fact, the water was so clear we could see anything alive.  I saw one large fish, lots of starfish, and there were some dolphins playing around us for awhile.  Our sailing buddies also saw three nurse sharks.  All of Mark’s lures are for fresh water, so he’ll be doing some shopping at bait stores.

There doesn’t seem to be much ashore, other than beaches and one restaurant.  There is an air strip here for small private planes.  The next stop will probably be Warderick Wells part of the Exuma Park.  For the time being, we are going to enjoy the peace and quiet here.  We’ll see how the weather develops.