It’s 9am, or 0900 if I’m writing in the log book. We are about a quarter of the way through a 50 mile crossing of the Exuma Sound. I can’t see land, and other than the 50 foot catamaran anchored near us this morning, we have not seen another vessel all day. The wind today is almost nonexistent and the seas are not even one foot. We weighed anchor at 0630 this morning as the sun rose in a most spectacular fashion (see cover photo). We thanked God for the sight and prayed for the day’s passage and all our loved ones. God willing, and if nothing changes, we will be anchored in a beautiful half-moon bay off a small island called Little San Salvador by about 3:30. It will be our first time there, which is the first time we can say that since leaving Marathon 2 weeks ago. Up till now, we’ve been covering ground we covered last year
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Yesterday, we snorkeled (and I hunted unsuccessfully) 4 separate coral reefs within dinghy ride of our anchorage. We saw, between the two of us, 2 sharks, 2 sting-rays, 1 sea turtle, and countless brilliantly colored fish of every size, shape, and variety. Sorry, I forgot the GoPro.
I describe these two very idyllic days so that this post doesn’t seem too negative, because frankly, before the last couple days, this journey has been a bit of a struggle. Life in paradise isn’t always paradise, and a series of unfortunate events has had me on edge and questioning if we were outside of God’s will. It can be very difficult to differentiate between God allowing adversity in your life to grow and stretch you, God trying to warn you that you are on the wrong path, or the enemy is messing with you because you’re actually doing something important. For now, we are moving forward under the assumption that it’s either the first or last of those.
The problem with the animals paper work which I mentioned in our last post as being resolved with $450, turned out not to be resolved at all, and in the end, cost another $500, a week’s time, and a trip to Nassau, which we had no intention of visiting. I’m still not 100% sure it’s all over, but I am 98% sure. I suppose in the end, they're worth it
Then there was running aground off Hoffman’s Cay. It wasn’t too difficult to get off and there was no damage, but it was a blow to my confidence and added to my general stress level about our situation as a whole. There were several other minor crises and I’m not generally a fearful person, but I spent about 2 weeks there with this constant uneasiness in my gut from this persistent, low-level anxiety.
How much of it was knowing my bad decision not to get the animals paperwork completed before we left was costing us dearly in time and money? How much of it was beneath the surface where I seem to be dealing with my mom’s death? How much of it was too much time passed since I last hugged my grandsons? I don’t know the answer to any of those questions, but I do know it got to the point where, for the first time, I considered whether we were done out here. I actually envisioned Born Again up for sale and moving back to Illinois.
Ah, but that was 3 whole days ago! High highs and low lows. It’s part of my personality, and it’s amplified in the lifestyle that we have chosen. Today is a high, and we’re full steam ahead.
And anyway, it’s not like it’s all been bad. We got to reconnect with our friend Elon in Great Harbour. He is a brother in Christ who has been very kind and encouraging to us. We again attended his church, and again, Amy was asked to fill in at the piano, which she was honored to do.
We also met some new folks out by Hoffman’s Cay. Dan and Alicia, and their friend Greg were younger cruisers. We shared a couple meals together and swapped cruising stories. Dan has a strict “no religion or politics” rule on his vessel which I mostly respected, but when he brought up the painting of “The Last Supper”, it was my opportunity to at least share that I had just finished reading the passage that the painting depicts. Dan has a pretty popular You Tube channel called “Adventureman Dan”. He is an accomplished spearfisherman and holds or held the world’s record for spearing the largest salmon or some such thing. It also turned out we have some friends in common. Craig and Roxanne, who we are hoping to catch up with in the next week or so on Cat Island, were also friends of theirs. This cruising community really is shaping up to be a small world. In any case, God brought these folks across our path and it was a pleasure getting to know them a bit.
Then there was Dr. Springer. This was the veterinarian that had to examine Griffin and Cleo in Nassau. He was a delightful man who showed us a good deal of grace when he didn’t have to. We heard his story of faith which began with some very un-Christlike Christians, continued through atheism, agnosticism, and then back to a genuine search for real truth. Jesus is knocking at his door: please pray he will answer it.
And that should about bring you up to date on Born Again in Blue Water! Thanks for following along. We’re glad you’re here. And remember, we’re always very happy to hear from you too!
Here's a few more photos before you go...
Fair winds and following seas, and may God bless you all.