So, our weather window was looking good, and we made the decision to leave in the evening on the 16th. We don't really like leaving right into a night sail, but sometimes that is what works best for the winds, and this was one of those cases.

We had spent three nights in Fox Town. Our first day we went in to town and had dinner at Da Valley which was quite delicious. We also got some ice cream thanks to a tip from some people at the dingy dock, and got some provisions at the grocery store, the last few things we'll need for our crossing back to the US.

The second day we spent on the boat and just got everything in order, all systems double checked and ready to go. We are looking at 4 nights offshore, so we want everything working smoothly. We sent Aria up the mast for a rigging inspection, and everything looked good. Double checked the rig tension (still good since the last tune up), etc. Also spent a lot of time making sure everything is well stowed, and all the things we'll need are charged, and at the ready. Basically just getting everything ship shape. We also spent a good amount of time cleaning the bottom. It had started to get a bit of a beard at the aft end of the hull, and lots of black growth spots on the front of the hull. Not much of a problem to scrub off with a brush, but it still ends up being a lot of work.

With the boat all ready to go, we decided to go anchor at Moraine Cay for the last day, do some snorkeling and then be ready to head out the channel at slack tide around 5pm on our way back to America. We sailed off anchor and made a short crossing over to Moraine Cay to anchor up. We jumped in the dingy and found a nice place to anchor the dingy in a big sand patch and jumped in the water.

This was real last minute Bahamas treat, as the snorkeling was really great, and it was a great last stop on our way out. It felt like being in a giant swimming pool where the walls are all just coral and fish. There was a big ray swimming around down on the white sand bottom, just a really wonderful snorkel. This was some of the better snorkeling we've done, although we do often say that about any recent snorkeling...

And with that we are all done here in the Bahamas. We got the dingy on deck, made an early dinner, and did a round of last minute checks before setting sail that evening. We'll cover the sail north in the next post.