It's just a Short Walk: A few more details

We get lots of questions about exactly where we are going and when we will be there.   Believe it or not, we do have a very general plan but the timing is completely dictated by the weather (and sometimes boat issues-or not!).   So here is the general plan:
We had hoped to cross to the Bahamas before Christmas but weather and boat issues delayed us a bit.   However, we are here now and all is good.   This year, we crossed from Florida into the northern Bahamas, specifically, the Abacos.   Great Sale was our first anchorage, we checked into Customs in Spanish Cay on New Year's Eve.   The cold fronts that blow down from the NE part of the US usually bring strong northerly winds to the Bahamas.   As these fronts blow through, the winds can last from hours to days.   Jan-March, it is more typical for the winds to last for days and then calm and clock around.   Winds in the 20s are often great for sailing but the problem is the cuts (similar to inlets) between the islands and between the sound and the ocean.   With significant wind, the water builds into what they call rages in the cuts. Rages are breaking waves through the cut creating very dangerous conditions for boats.   We do NOT go through cuts in that condition.    We had a taste of rolling (but not raging) conditions last year and believe me a "taste" is enough.   So, long story short, all timing is dictated by the tides, weather and the condition in the cuts in particular.
From Spanish Cay, we went to an anchorage between Manjack (pronouced mun-jack) and Crab Cays .   Then we stopped in Green Turtle and Great Guana Cays.   We caught up with SV Tootsie in Great Guana and traveled with them to Marsh Harbor. We have had a great time in Marsh Harbor but we have decided it is time to move on to towards Eleuthra.   We only had a quick stop at Eleuthra last year and need more time to explore the pink sand beaches and snorkeling there.   One of our first stops will be Spanish Wells (the very northern end of Eleuthra) which is the fishing and lobstering capital of the Bahamas. Then we hope to go to Cat, Conception, San Salvador Islands and Rum Cay.   We missed all of these last year but this is the area that took the direct hit from Irene so we will have to see how things progress.   We did have a quick trip to Long Island last year with Ami, Ken and the grandkids but hope to return and do more exploring there too.   And finally, there is always the Exuma Cays and Great Exuma Island.   Still plenty to explore there too.   We would love to also get to the very southern Bahamas (Crooked and Acklins Islands, Myaguana and Great Inagua) but as I write this, the calendar pages are flipping away. If we plan to be back on the Chesapeake in May, we need to start home in April.   So much to see-so little time!    So now you can see why we can't really commit to a firm itinerary.   We just make tentative plans and adjust as needed.

Pretty good internet signal today so here are some of the pictures I could not send last time.