Yesterday was a picture perfect day and one of the best for snorkeling… very little current and a low high tide.  Spoony was anchored nearby and Megan took the boys to the beach with the Spoony girls.  I went off for much of the day with Mark from Spoony and Dick from Rio Dulce to do a little spearfishing.  We had a great day.  I bring home two lobsters, a glasseye snapper and $20!  In about 15’ of water, I spotted some paper and it turned out to be cash!  Dick from Rio Dulce brings up $21.  Not a bad days work with snorkel and fins… I also spot my first non-nurse sharks while diving.  I think they were reef or blacktip sharks.  In either case one was small but one was big and they were probably about 50 feet away!  Not exactly what you want to see when you’re trying to spear fish which results in some blood in the water.  We wait for the “Mr. Gray Suits” to lose interest and swim away then get back to work… but it’s more than a little disconcerting.

Unfortunately today is not so nice and my Dad is due to arrive amidst the bad weather.  We’ve got potential squalls and several weather fronts moving through this week.  I don’t expect he’s going to see much good weather but I guess it’s all better than what’s going on back in Maine.

I dinghy over to the “airport” and wait until his small plane arrives.  Grampa Bruce has come bearing the best gift of all…FOOD... loads of dry goods.  He’s got two huge bags and most of it is food for us!  Thank you Grampa Bruce!  We load it into the dinghy, stop in at the Isle General store to pick up a couple things and dinghy back to Grace.  Just as we get back to the boat, a squall is brewing.  Over Staniel Cay we see our first waterspout forming in the sky.  It turns into a non-event but it foretells the weather we can expect this week.

The boys are very excited to have Grampa Bruce on board. Once they have settled down and after some lunch of lobster salad (yesterday’s catch) we get underway and sail for Pipe Cay.  The weather forecast for the week includes lots of West winds.  Protection from the west is hard to find in the Exumas.  Pipe Cay, if we can get in (shallow entry) and if its not too crowded will be a good place to ride out the next few days.  We have a quick sail up to Compass Cay, make the turn into Pipe Cay and are pleasantly surprised to be the only ones in this good spot.

That night the winds kick up to over 30 knots and there is a huge thunderstorm, our first in the Bahamas.  It’s kind of a wild night but without other boats to worry about we sleep most of the night.  The next morning the boys are thrilled to go off exploring the islands of Pipe Creek with Grampa Bruce.