We got wind, pun intended, of a group of boats headed for Long Island and decided to go along, always happy to have a buddy boat or two. We had easy downwind sails both ways to and from Long Island, traveling with some 20 boats on our way south to Thompson Bay, LI. Twenty buddy boats is usually a good indicator of really mild weather. We arranged a car rental share with friends and toured the island going south to Clarence Town on Saturday and north to the Columbus monument on Sunday. Father Jerome's churches in Clarencetown continue to intrigue us. We climbed to the top of one tower, barely able to turn around at the top.
The blue hole on the way to Clarencetown was as impressive as the first time we saw it. This time we had the added entertainment of fearless young tourists cliff jumping. The water depth goes from knee deep to 600 feet deep in a matter of steps.
The dirt road up to the Columbus monument was a challenge to the little rental car, but the view was worth it. The monument is not that impressive, but the view of the reef from the top certainly was, so visible we wondered how Columbus had lost a ship on them as is rumored. 
Tryphena cooked up a buffet for 40 and we feasted on ribs, conch, fish and sides at her restaurant Saturday night, all arranged over the trusty VHF radio. We joined a campfire on the beach Sunday night after a long ocean beach walk. Monday we moved with another parade of boats up to Calabash Bay at the northern end of LI, where the swell wrapped around and rocked us to sleep. The sail back to Georgetown just happened to coincide with the around-the-island race, so we had company approaching the harbor. One boat was dismasted in the race, a sight that puzzled us until we got near enough to see what had happened.
There are still 255 boats in the Georgetown harbors, with the cruiser's regatta ending Saturday. We pretended not to be here last night by anchoring in Red Shanks, an isolated harbor boaters flee to in strong winds. It was beautiful with only a few other boats, but the dingy ride to the grocery was about two miles long. We stocked up for the trip up the Exuma chain where groceries are hard to come by. What a pair we are: Lee always has to know where his next meal and I where my next harbor is coming from. Wonder we ever go anywhere. This morning we moved back over to our spot off volleyball beach for our last day of summer camp. There's socializing and games under the trees, Trivial Pursuit tonight. Below is the sand sculpture competetion, followed by the coconut carry competetion. We missed the only event we had signed up for, the scavenger hunt, while we were at Long Island.
Tomorrow, wind willing, we hope to head some 20 miles up to Lee Stocking island and slowly island hop up the Exuma chain, visiting the islands we missed on the way down. We have a new microwave chocolate cake for two recipe you might like to try: In a 2 cup measuring cup mix:3 TBS flour, 3 TBS sugar, 2 TBS cocoa, 1 TBS chocolate chips, 1 egg, 3 TBS milk, 3 TBS oil, 2 TBS nuts, dash of vanilla.Mix well. Microwave 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. No need to butter the cup.
Lee's commentary: Not much to report from my end, the wind is still blowing 15-20 and the harbor is rough. I am about to make a trip 1 mile across to town by dingy for distilled water for our house batteries and 40 gallons of fresh water for our tanks. There is a spigot on the dingy dock, free from the supermarket here, so I only need to lift and carry from the dingy to the front of the boat, I have 8) 5 gallon jugs, the water here is excellent, other places it may be salty. Sherry likes that there is an experienced couple in another boat "Salsa" that will travel with us tomorrow. Some of the cruisers at Long Island were making plans that were impossible or uncomfortable due to the winds and seas, they will find out, and we will probably hear stories when we meet again.
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