A beach of a place

(Photo note: Sorry about the fuzzy pics. Wifi is so bad that I had to dumb them down just to get them on here.)
 
The forecast 20 knots worth of wind for today are now gusting to 30. The forecast for tonight was 30, so the winds are early or we are in for a night of anchor watch. Sail boats coming in today have headsails that look like barber poles, one was torn, another got loose after they got on the anchor, others had sheets tangled up like spaghetti. One of the big power yachts came in with crew at the bow in life vests. Me thinks it would be a good bet that it was a bit exciting out on the Sea of Abaco today.


The anchorage is pretty full with boats sailing around rodes in any direction up to 90 degrees off of west. Mooring lines have been doubled, anchor snubbers are being checked regularly, and most boats have someone keeping an eye on which way everyone around them is swinging; sailors going about the business of living with the sea. The last half dozen of the last boats to come in made a beeline for a dock.

For all of the wind the sky is blue, the temperature warm, and the sun will put a serious burn on a bald head. (As it did mine as I spent a few hours cleaning up the cockpit.) But I suspect there is some rain in our near future. We will be buttoned up tight tonight.

We went ashore for a while this morning, paid for WiFi, (which is still pretty weak out here in the anchorage) did a little shopping, and checked out the beach. There are millions of beaches in the world so claiming that this one is one of the top ten might sound like the marketing department has gotten off its leash again. But it is certainly in the top 1 or 2 of those on which I have left a footprint. If glittering waters, clean white sand, and mouth watering beauty are your thing, this is a place that should not be missed.

All added together this may well be another Velcro spot, a place too pretty and interesting to be in a hurry to leave. Rumor has it there is a pizza party tomorrow by the pool (assuming the weather isn't completely out of control by then). Prices at the store are not the heart stopping excess we had been led to believe, and it is pretty well stocked. (Though we did snag the last gallon of milk off the shelf.) Friends met along the way are here. And it is weeks yet before we need to think about heading west. One of the reasons to go cruising is to find a place (or two) where a heart can be kneaded back into a human shape after too many years of being subjected to "civilization". This looks like it could be such a place.