End Of The Season

Marsh Harbor
26 32.86 N 077 03.56 W

I've written before how abruptly places like Lake Champlain empty out after Labor Day. Today it feels like that down here. There must be 200 or more cruising boats that left here in the past day or two. That must be a very big fraction of the US East Coast's cruising fleet. I wonder just how big that fleet is. My gut feel is about 1000 boats.

The window to cross the Gulf Stream is Monday. That means on Sunday night that nearly all of those boats will be staged at Great Sale Cay. The anchorage at Great Sale is huge, but I bet even that will be crowded on Sunday night. If the window disappears, and all those boats are stuck there for a week or so, they'll be very unhappy, because there is absolutely nothing one can do on Great Sale, not even hike a trail or go to a beach.

This morning I went for a walk on the beach at Treasure Cay. Boy oh boy do we like that place. We missed it entirely last year in the Abacos. Now, it is our favorite of all places. It would be tempting indeed to rent a slip there for the summer and just stay.