Jan. 17- 19 We just puttered around and made sure we had a swim everyday somewhere. On one such foray, John found a hugh flat Heart Urchin that had already been bleached by the sun in the shallow water. One night, we and several other boats were invited to a potluck cocktail party on the beach at Big Majors. This was a nice chance to meet some of our “neighbors”.

Jan. 20 I want to move about a mile to a very protected anchorage nicknamed “Oz” just north of the Fowl Cay resort so my captain obliged. There was practically no wind so it was a wonderful day to explore new areas, that are usually hard to go to because of wind, in the dinghy. We found a nice cove and had a good snorkel and swim. For dinner, we were invited to the trawler ‘Steadfast’ for very good bacon cheeseburgers. Buz and Rosemary were friends from a few years ago when we were down here on Windermere 54. They had come by the boat a few days before and seen the name and wondered if it was us. Low and behold it was! They have a cute Havanese puppy that loves company.

Jan. 21 Buz and Rosemary wanted to show us a new snorkeling spot on the north side of Sampson so, even though the wind was kicking up a bit more, we decided to brave it and go exploring. On the way, John saw a large Spotted Eagle Ray jump right out of the water and do a belly flop. Their spot was too choppy so we went further north and then around the back side of another island where they showed us a wreck over which to snorkel but it was too choppy again. We decided to swim off the beach and on our way in to it, we saw a bottle nose dolphin and another osprey nest. This was our first dolphin spotted in the area and was exciting. After our swim, we braved the 2 ft chop for about 30mins back to the boat. Our bodies were sore but a hot shower made it all ok. That night we invited two friends, Steve and Victor, who were playing temporary bachelors while their wives were in the States, for dinner and a movie.
Jan. 22 It was a calm day again and our new anchorage is delightful. We are surrounded by islands and thus protected in all directions. Most of the day was spent doing odds and ends but in the late afternoon, I got to accompany Steve and Victor on a fishing expedition. We went in Steve’s big red dinghy and fished out in the ocean on the Exuma Sound side of the islands. Steve caught a Strawberry Grouper right away but the rest of the time, the fish just took their bait. They got me home in time for cards and cocktails.