Ok, we were devastated over the loss of Pocket Lint. On board was much equipment including our snorkel gear... the rest of our voyage wasnt looking very enjoyable. Steph grabbed our binoculars for one last investigative visual search. The rock line in this picture is very small when you factor in the open expanse of water on either side of it. The current flows heavily on either side as it is very close to the drop-off of the Bank. We were about 3/4 mile from it in the anchorage. Steph scanned beyond the rock line and inspected the horizon... as she did, there was a flash in the lens. She handed me the binoculars and I continued the search, also noticing the flash... I panned closer and traced the rock line from right to left, and as I did, there was another sparkle just above the rocks... and that is when it suddenly hit me, I was seeing the lure on the fishing pole reflecting that glorious Bahamian sunlight! We had left a fishing rod pointed skyward in the dink, and the silver artificial lure was signaling us! I couldnt believe it... now the question became how bad was the damage since it was obvious that P.L. was against the super sharp coral...

I called on the radio to the only other boat in the anchorage, SV Island Time. and Lenny sprang into action when I told him that I needed a ride out to retrieve Pocket Lint... I watched in the binoculars as the fishing rod bounced around, and with every thrust, all I could imagine was the continuing damage being done... Lenny arrived and I jumped into his dink and we raced out toward the rock line. I was prepared for the worst as we rounded the south end and we could see it... I was shocked to see it was still inflated... as we got closer, I expected to see at least SOME damage... at least a PARTIAL deflation... as we got within 150 feet of our tender, it became evident that it wasnt against the rocks... the outboard was in the down position was stuck in a patch of sand, keeping her about 1 foot off the waiting coral. Have you ever experienced a moment when you cannot believe your eyes? The fact is, Pocket Lint was in a patch of sand about 5 feet in diameter, and it was the ONLY patch along the rocks... if P.L. had come in and landed ANYWHERE else along that coral, she would have been shredded to pieces, sunk, and probably never found by us. Truly, what are the chances of this? I would never have believed it had it not happened to us. Pocket Lint floated out to open ocean with the tide, returned on the tide, and instead of continuing through the area and onto the bank where it would not have been found again, managed to land in the ONLY place it could safely do so and then signal us to retrieve her.

Unbelievable!

Proof that there is a God!

I jumped into her and pulled up the chaffed leash-line from the seabed... the motor started right up, and I pushed off the sandbar and headed back to Empty Pocket where Steph was waiting...

...picking up where we left off,

... evidence of the damage.

we need a new leash...

...after an hour of coffee drinking, reflecting, and pinching ourselves to make sure we werent dreaming, we decided to head out into the anchorage and relax in the solitude as it was nearly empty.

happy days are here again!

...the only thing I needed at this point was a boat drink!

who needs the spa??

...an uninhabited conch shell.

Steph was hellbent on finding...

...We really dont mean to bore you with these pictures, but we just cant help it!

...another gratuitous shot of the anchorage.

WATERSPOUT! ...and it was headed our way! We jumped into the dink and raced back to the boat. Unfortunately, I was preoccupied with the canvas having been spooked with the close pass of the spout and neglected to get any more pictures...

...uh ohh!

...after tying P.L. up with a SECOND line, and testing for the possibility of a repeat performance on the rub-rail, we settled in for the afternoon as the storms moved in.

and so it was for the rest of the day...

...FINALLY! Mission accomplished for Steph.

...Steph scores!!

Steph reads...

afternoon activities...

Whisper naps...

afternoon activities...

...I did laundry, Bahamian Style!

The wind picked up and the rain poured down. We were happy to have an excuse to hang out on the boat for an afternoon. It gave us the opportunity to do some reading and play with some other ideas. I put some detergent in a spray bottle, thinned with a little fresh water, and after hanging our laundry on the lifelines, sprayed them with the soapy mixture before the rain came down. The theory I had was that the heavy rain would wash our clothes... it worked ok. I think that if you had multiple applications of this over a rainy period, it would work well... unfortunately, we had a hard brief rain that day followed by lots of light showers.

...and MY afternoon activity was:

...finding the points of water collection from the deck.

another rain experiment...

... rainwater for coffee! mmmmmm!

Eureka!

...it was amazing how many breaks in the weather there could be in one afternoon. We tuned into 4045USB to listen to Chris give the weather to cruisers in the morning, and heard that the weather would be unsettled for the next couple of days.

... sunset potential?

...Check out this sky. This was our sunset for that evening. We turned in early that night, and needless to say, I was up checking on Pocket Lint 3 times before morning light.

Part 7 next week.

...better than a sunset?