It’s finally time to cast off the lines, and I’m sad that another incredible cruising season has come to a close. Spend enough time in a place, and it’s amazing how deeply it touches you, changes you, invites you to grow. Letting the lines slip is hard – you feel the pull of the place you’re about to leave as if it’s a living thing begging you not to go. But I’m looking forward to the adventure of sailing home and the freedom of open ocean, because I know I’ll soon be back.
As we prepared to leave the slip it looked like we might get some thunderstorms, but the squalls passed south of us, and we had a beautiful sail. It was the perfect day to get around the Whale, and the ocean was as calm and peaceful as you could wish. Dolphins escorted us to the entrance and met us again on the other side. Laura was even able to take some sextant readings as we passed through.
I was amazed at how busy Green Turtle was – the anchorage between the entrances to White and Black Sounds was packed. We’d planned to spend the night there, but we still had lots of daylight and a good breeze, so we decided to anchor at Manjack Cay instead, which turned out to be equally busy. We were one of the last boats to arrive for the night, along with a fellow J Boat that came through the Whale just behind us, and we both sailed onto anchor.
It’s crazy to me that this is our last night in the Bahamas. We cracked open a beer and sat in the cockpit for a good long time after the sun set, staring up at the stars and taking it all in one final time. Orion is low in the sky, and the summer constellations are starting to make an appearance. I know it’s time to go home and I look forward to that part of the adventure too, but it’s hard to say goodbye.
Thanks to Laura Olsen for her photo contributions!