Thursday March 31: To the Jumentos

     We plotted out the first leg of our run to the South from Thompson Bay.  As with most of the passages from here to there in the Bahamas, this would not be a straight run South, but would mean crossing back over to the Exumas and then doubling back at a sharp angle to make the tip of Long Island.  You have to travel this way to avoid the shallows and the coral reefs and it makes for a long day.  The winds have been steady out of the ESE and cruising was uncomfortable with the following sea shoving us around. That was only on the first portion.  When we reached the waypoint where we’d need to double back and understood we’d now be crashing through the seas for the next four hours, we decided to head for the Jumentos instead.  This means foregoing a trip to Crooked and Acklin Islands, and no look at flamingoes at Great Inagua, which was a bit disappointing.  We took a look at our timeframe and decided we just didn’t have the time to go further South.  So we set our sights on the Jumentos and pulled into Water Cay about supper time, dropping the hook in the same spot we’d occupied when we were here last in January.  

Sunset in Water Cay.

     The catamaran Wayward Sun, whom we’d seen in George Town, was there to greet us, and owner Tim came right over to welcome us to the neighborhood.  He and wife Cheryl and their dog Gizmo had spent the past week cruising the Jumentos.  Perfect weather for it, he assured us, and wished us well.  Just as the sun was going down, a sloop with a family of six also came into the little cove, another cruiser heading back to George Town after a visit to this group of islands.  Dan and I have a habit of not going the same way everyone else goes.  Most boats are heading North, spending a little time in the Abacos before crossing back over to the US.