Sampson Cay, Exuma Islands

Yesterday we had a minor calamity on board. We -- gasp! -- ran out of rum. You are probably wondering how we could let this happen. So were we. We had stocked up in Grand Bahama back at the beginning of February (we thought four liters would last us a long time), and when we were in Nassau we were so concerned with replenishing our supply of mixers that we overlooked the minor detail of making sure we had enough rum to get us through the Exumas. So far we have only been to one island that had a store, the northern part of the island chain is mostly privately owned or uninhabited islands. So yesterday we found ourselves in a bind, which we temporarily solved by breaking into the bottle of Seagram's 7 that Ahsan & Ronda had so generously given us before they left Grand Bahama (thanks, guys!). I don't mean to make us out to be lushes. We usually each only have one drink every night at sunset. But Kevin mixes the drinks and apparently he makes them STRONG.

But this morning we knew we would have to move on, just a few miles south of Compass Cay is Sampson Cay which has a store, marina, and restaurant. So we headed there. We were hoping to kill 3 birds with one stone: restock the rum, get gas for the dinghy, and eat something not cooked by me. Well, two out of three ain't bad. The store was well-stocked so we got a few items in addition to the rum (we were excited to see canned butter from New Zealand, you can't get that in the States). And the marina sold both diesel and gasoline so we filled both our dinghy tanks. Unfortunately the restaurant was way, way too upscale for us. It was a bit bizarre to see such a fine dining establishment way out here -- white linen tablecloths, a dress code, plus all of the dinner entrees started at $30. But Sampson Cay marina was chock full of megayachts and there are several rental cottages on the island, so I imagine the restaurant still sees a pretty brisk business. They won't be seeing us, though. Especially since the gas for the dinghy wiped us out at $4.14/gallon (we needed 7 gallons). We'll save our cash for the more populated spots of Staniel Cay (our next stop) and Georgetown where a dollar goes a little further. But we might stay here a few days to relax and do some laundry. The anchorage here is really perfect, it is nice and flat and surrounded on three sides by islands. (Including "Dennis Cay" to the south. Miss you, Dad.)

Where we are:
Lat: N 24 12.433'
Long: W 76 28.580'