Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 The winds were light and we took a low-current opportunity to go back out to the outside reef.  It's fairly deep there so not a lot of closeup photos.  But lots of sealife.

 

Duane diving down to look in crevices for lobster.

 

A different area, clear water.

 

Bagged two lobsters - may be the last ones of the season as the winds pick up tomorrow and March 31st is the last day of this winter season to take lobster in the Bahamas.

A front was approaching (note the dark clouds) so it was back to the boat and a lazy afternoon of watermaking and chores.   No sundowners as there was no actual visible sundown!  (Plus a cool north wind had started to blow.)  A nice afterglow though!

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Since my oven is still broken....I have been invited to bake bread in Meshugga's oven any time I need to.  I made two loaves and carried them over in the dinghy first thing in the morning.  Didn't snap a photo but you know the process....

Later, I was chatting with my mom on the phone for almost 1 1/2 hours - we catch up occasionally on all the goings-on at home.  The Meshugga crowd got some Hobie-Cat sailing time.

Jenny and Mike on board with Nicholas taking some instruction.

 

Duane went over to Dragonfly to help Chris with a wind-generator issue and had a nice tour of the boat.  (I was still chatting with Mom).

 

And then Jenny apparently departed the Hobie.  Nicholas and Mike had a nice long training session.  (I was still chatting with Mom, haha).

 

And snapped this lovely photo of Meshugga just because I thought it was peaceful and pretty.

 

 

After lunch the winds were finally calm enough for a snorkel.

 

Pretty reef.

We got two lobsters, not terribly big though.  Didn't even bother with a photo.  Lobster season is over March 31st so these will be some of the last few we take.

 

The current was still running in the cut and Nicholas ended up having to jump in our dinghy rather than be swept away.  We returned him over to his dinghy!

 

On a different part of the reef it was nice to see healthy staghorn coral.

 

Back to the boats for a bit of a rest.  Nicholas and Jenny went ashore ahead of time and deployed this nice sunshade.  It's stretch material like jersey and it's held in place by pockets filled with sand.  Cool!  (Although by the time sunset arrived it was un-necessary because it turned quite cloudy...)

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Pretty sunrise.  We'd planned last night to walk into Duncan Town to give Penny and Mike a tour.

 

We all rode over on Meshugga's dinghy, uneventful and sunny walk into town.  First stop - the Ponderosa.  It was just at noon so they were serving the construction workers lunch.  Jolly was there tending bar.

 

We were all happy to have a bit of cold liquid. 

Refreshed, we went for a walk around town.  The construction workers were finished with lunch so some of them piled in a pickup to be taken back to the school worksite.

 

Jenny planning how she would renovate this structure with a beautiful view.....

 

The two kids that we met back in January (on our hitch-hike ride with Little Greg) saw Mike and his huge-lens camera.  They wanted to try it out.  (Other than an infant, I believe these two cousins are the only children on the island).

 

They took turns taking photos and looking at them thru the display.

 

And then we were shown the prize puppies!

 

Walking on to the end of town, the school is coming along very nicely!  They expect to be finished by next year. Hopefully some of the residents with children will return then from their 5 year displacement.

 

Around the corner, we visited Myron's pigeons.  Remember the racing pigeon from Cuba that alighted on Meshugga last year?  Myron was the one who came and rescued it.  He breeds and sells pigeons.  He has an amazing variety.

 

Looked up and saw a bunch of coconuts....just thought it was a cool shot against a beautiful sky.

 

Walking back towards town with the salt ponds in the distance.

 

And what's a walk thru Duncan Town without a goat photo?

 

Back to Maxine's, she had a string of conch drying for later export.

 

And one more final shop at Maxine's store.

 

Edward from Buena Vista was still visiting and came out for a chat.

 

Edward telling of all his plans to rebuild a house on the island, up the hill from his existing ruins.

 

Everyone posed for a nice parting photo.

Nicholas was not happy with the thought of the 2 mile hike back to the dinghy so he arranged with Jolly to cart us back in their pickup.

 

And back to the boats in the afternoon for a nice nap!

 

Snacks and beverages at sunset ashore but this is the only photo I took.  Chris from Dragonfly joined us for a nice evening.

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Another busy day.

The Meshugga crew picked us up in their dinghy for a oceanside walk.

 

Dinghy anchored and shoes on feet, started the walk.

 

Mike and Penny enjoying the view.

 

Still strong easterly winds so the ocean swells were pretty large.

 

The skies were a bit threatening.

 

Always enjoy these "ragged" views.

Thanks, Jenny for a couple of nice photos.

 

The sun was in/out.

 

And we did eventually get soaked by a passing rain shower.  Little shelter out there!

 

On the trail over to the west side of the island, a mamma goat and her newborn.

 

The salt pond was a little wet so we skirted the edge.

 Over on the west side the water was much calmer.

 

And then we back-tracked to get back to the dinghy.

 

Taking a bit of a short-cut across a salt pan rather than climb the large rocks on the ocean side.

Back to the boats - time for a nap after almost 4 miles of hiking.

 

And then later, time for a campfire and BBQ.

 

Wonderful meal and fun conversations.  Everyone was ready to call it a day by "cruiser's midnight"....aka 9PM.