Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

The mid-ship seat on the dinghy has a cushion and pocket contraption - handy but made out of some less-than-Sunbrella outdoor fabric.  I guess it's not too shabby since it did last 24/7 exposed for 4 years.....anyway - it has now deteriorated to the point that it must be addressed.  The ripped area is where my arse sits while we're pounding thru waves with the dinghy.  There is a thin cushion inserted in this area.

 

I had thought I brought some Cadet Grey Sunbrella that matches the dinghy material but I apparently didn't....the only Sunbrella material I have is the Sapphire Blue.  I'm going to do a bit of a re-design to allow more padding for my arse!

Next I sewed two pieces of velcro to the ends.  These will allow me to be able to stuff a thicker piece of foam into a pocket.  (When we get back home in the spring, I don't have any extra foam here and no way to reasonably get any).

 

 

Next was sewing  the new fabric into a sort of "box cushion" covering with the velcro tabs to match the velcro above. This box will allow me to stuff in some 2" foam to make a nice cushion.

 

Using my new clip pins to hold it all in place before sewing.  I LOVE those clips, so much easier than straight pins!

 

All finished with the thin cushion back in place - it will just have to be floppy until we get the thicker cushion.

 

Installed back in the dinghy.  Worked out great!

In the afternoon, Jerry and Donna invited us over for some games.....good fun as always!!  We played a good 'ole game called The Game of 99.  Fun strategy team game (Donna and I were a team, I only messed up a few times...)   The boys team won several rounds.....

 

Then a fun regular card game called 31.  Good simple fun.

 

Several hours later, it was nearing sunset timeframe although it was clear that there would be no visible sunset for us.  There was a crowd on the beach hovering around a small bonfire since it was actually almost chilly!  We weren't necessarily planning to go but I figured that we were already in the dinghy coming back to our boat from Bluejacket, so why not!  Duane told me I had the FOMO condition.  (Fear of Missing Out).  I guess he's right, haha.  Good chat around the fire.

 

The weather is not the vibe we expect - but hopefully this will pass soon and we'll have brilliant sunshine like we prefer!!

 

Ralph shared this drone photo on Facebook so I stole it!!  Sojourn is the first boat on the right in the foreground.  Cool!  (And if you're wondering, Duane has the boom pulled over to keep it from shading the solar panels when the sun peeks out.)

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

The morning looked a little unsettled. 

 

 The forecast was for partly cloudy skies but it sure looked gloomy as the sun rose.

 

We were out of bagels so I got busy with my first batch this year.

 

Into the sugar water to boil.

 

Dipped in an egg wash and "Everthing Bagel" spice sprinkled on.

 

Twenty minutes at 425°F.  Delicious and just the right texture.

At the same time, Duane had the generator running to make water so I cranked up the bread machine for another loaf while we had extra power.  We have lots of carbs in the pantry now!!

 

Next, it was out to the protected reef for some snorkeling with Ralph and Leslie.

 No fish or lobster caught....

A normal evening, beach chat with the other cruisers for a cloudy/non-visible sunset.

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Island, Bahamas

 We went on a short shore walk in the morning with Jerry and Donna.

Lots of sargassum grass washed up and the usual trash.

 

Jerry and Donna doing a bit of beachcombing.

 

Just beautiful and peaceful.

 

This salt pond is usually dry and crusty when we do our walks.  I'm to understand that the water level on all the islands is high right now making some of the walking trails difficult to pass.

 

Back to the dinghies - we did go snorkeling for a few hours with Ralph and Leslie in the afternoon.  Got a couple of medium sized lobster but I forgot to take even one photo! 

My haul from the beach walk....the prize is the little black "Mary's Bean".  

Here's a closeup of the Mary's bean - it originates mostly from Guatemala!  Quite rare on my walks thru the years!

 

 Went to sunset on the beach as usual.  Nice normal Bahamas day!!

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

Finally some beautiful settled weather!  

 

Winds were light so we were able to go to the exposed southern tip of Little Ragged to snorkel.

 

Investigating.

 

Just beautiful and peaceful here.

 

We were well rewarded for our efforts!

 

The seas were so calm that we were able to go on the ocean side of the island back to the boat.

 

There are 5 boats now in the anchorage, all folks we know.

 

Beach gathering of course....the light winds were from the north so kept the no-see-ums away.

 

And we all commented on the fact that this is one of the first visible and pretty sunsets we've had this season since it's been overcast many, many evenings.

Two of our boat buds - What If and Charm were sailing overnight - What If crossing the gulf stream to the Bahamas and Charm is doing a 6 day passage to Puerto Rico so we "stalk" them on their GPS trackers.  

 

 

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Back out to do some snorkeling....

 

Just lots of lovely fish and coral.

We got two smallish lobsters....

 

 Back to the boats - still only 3 of us here.

We went ashore in the late afternoon for sundown with Ralph & Leslie.  Not much of a sunset but a very pretty full-moon rise!

 

 

Then over to Now & Zen for a bit of surf & turf on their grill.  A lovely day.