Up the Bathtub

The day dawned bright and sunny and the winds were down considerably so before the weather could change it's mind we departed The Bight and headed up the Drake Passage (the “bathtub”) towards The Baths. The winds were perfect and we sailed almost all the way, until we decided that if we were to have any chance of picking up a mooring ball we probably shouldn't make another tack but head straight there. With a bit of patience, and some luck on our side, we only had to wait about 10 minutes before a boat departed, leaving a mooring ball free for us. Bonus, we were nice and close to Devil's Bay which is the more southerly entrance to The Baths, and from past experience the dinghy line is much closer to the beach and the resulting swim, much easier as well. I take my hat off to Caitlin who jumped in and made the swim, cast and all.

The Baths dished up the usual excitement of surf-pounded shores and still calm grottoes; Jim especially enjoyed returning to the spot that he had enjoyed so much last year. Caitlin looked on at the guys with bouldering chalk in envy but did quite a bit of clambering herself.

By mid-afternoon, we were ready to raise the sails again for a quick jaunt over to Marina Cay where we dropped anchor at the back of the pack. Aragorn promptly came around in his big dinghy full of fresh and baked produce so we procured a loaf of fresh-baked bread and a carrot loaf for the morning.

We headed into the Cay for sundowners and appetizers and have to say that we were pretty disappointed. The drinks were overpriced (no happy hour) and the much anticipated appies never arrived, and we couldn't get the advertized free wi-fi, so we headed back to the boat hungry for dinner.

Overnight, the winds picked up and it got pretty rolly in the anchorage but our tackle held beautifully and we were in exactly the same spot at day-break.