July In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Views like these are why people love cruising in the Bahamas; (2) Clearing back into the States; (3) Looks like a nice place to chill out; (4) This little guy tried to hitch a ride on our boat; and (5) View of Rock Sound from our boat.

We spent most of July cruising in the Bahamas, but sadly all good things have to come to an end, so we headed back to the States on July 24th. We wanted to get back to the States before the height of hurricane season and we have a number of boat projects to take care of before we head off to the Western Caribbean next season.

Here's some of the random things that came to mind of our time cruising in the Bahamas and Florida last month, by the numbers:

• 13 - Number of anchorages we dropped the hook at - Rock Sound, Hatchet Bay and Royal Island in Eleuthera; Tilloo Cay, Marsh Harbour, Hope Town, White Sound at Green Turtle Cay, Allan's-Pensacola Cay, Great Sale Cay and on the banks in the Abacos; and Lake Worth, North Lake Worth and Pendarvis Cove in Florida.  

• 5 - Number of loads of laundry we did. Three in Marsh Harbour and two when we got back to Indiantown Marina. Sounds like a lot, but it had been a long, long time since the last time we did laundry. One of the downsides of living on a sailboat the size of ours is the lack of a washer and dryer.

• 3 - Number of squalls we experienced between Green Turtle Cay and Allan's-Pensacola Cay. Squall #1 was just some sprinkles. Squall #2 was a big one, lots of lightening and thunder. We bobbed around near Cooperstown while we waited it out. It rained down buckets during squall #3. Good opportunity to wash my hair and take a shower on deck.

• $13 - How much we spent on a chicken dinner, conch fritters and a root beer at a church fair in Rock Sound. We don't eat out much while we're cruising in the Bahamas, so this was a fun treat. Great people watching and possibly the best Bahamian mac n'cheese we've ever had.

• 3 - Number of dinghy mooring balls we tied up to at Sandy Cay in the Abacos. The best snorkeling we've done in the Bahamas, hands down. Even better than what we saw at the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park.

• 13.5 - Number of hours our passage from the Bahamas to Florida took. We anchored near Sandy Cay on the Little Bahamas Bank. It was a roly-poly anchorage, but it was nice to have a shorter passage that we could do during daylight hours. Everyone knows how much I love sailing in the dark.

• 17.88 - Number of gallons of diesel we got upon our return to Florida. Our fuel gauge doesn't work so it's always a guessing game as to how much diesel we have left in the tank. We were both pleasantly surprised to find our 46-gallon tank wasn't as empty as we thought.

• 112 - The real feel temperature while we were anchored in Lake Worth. That's insanely hot! We were going to take our time heading back to Indiantown Marina, but the thought of being able to plug in our portable AC unit was too much of a draw.

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month:

Mingling with the Posh Crowd at Highbourne Cay Marina
Tickety Boo Speaks | Berry Islands
Cost of Cruising in the Bahamas & Florida

How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?

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