The crew of Rainbow Chaser remains in George Town, Bahamas. The joke here is once you sink the anchor here it goes so deep you just never leave.

We have gotten very settled here, but as you know all cruisers get the itchy keel, and want to go somewhere else. It looks as though we'll be leaving all of our new found friends here in George Town on Friday 11 April.

We have been debating about where to go. We knew that our ultimate destination would be Texas. We had toyed with the idea of going North up the Exumas to see the islands we missed. Somehow I wasn't excited about retracing our steps. Going South was the way to go back to Texas, but we weren't ready to start yet. Soooooo I got the charts, referred to Connells cruising routes, and came up with a cruise plan.

We had already planned to sail toward Cuba, and then head East. It would be about 5-7 days across the Gulf. OK we've been there and done that but it is the way to get back to Texas. After reviewing the charts, and cruising routes I suggested plan "B". If we were going South to be just North of Cuba, why not go a little further, and go South of Cuba. By doing this we could hit Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. After Cayman we could shoot North to Isla Mujeres. After looking at all of the cruising guides it said the time to make this trip is mid April to May. Bingo for once we were at the window. After discussing my thoughts with Gene, he's also become enamored with the idea, and we THINK it's what we want to do.

We're talking to a gentleman who is from Jamaica to get the poop and the scoop on some of the horror stories we've heard. We're also hoping to see our e-mail friend James White in the Caymans. Anyway we finally have a plan.

I can't tell you how beautiful it is here! Bruce Van Sandt who wrote Gentleman's Passage South is here in Georgetown. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met, and we've become friends. If you haven't seen his book look it up, it's a good read.

More as we move on.

Nellie
Aboard Rainbow Chaser