Stuck with the conch in paradise Lindsay McRory April 23, 1996 After getting my head out of some ugly repair work, I had some time to explore Cat Cay with the kids. Wandering along miles of sandy beaches and shoals keep us busy most afternoons. Kita is acquiring a decent shell collection. A local Bahamian gave me a lesson on how to clean and eat conch (pronounced "conk"). It actually tastes great right out of the shell. Our stay at Cat Cay was intended to last one night. It lasted seven. Strong east winds decided to camp out with us for an entire week. While it wasn't a terribly strong wind--20 knots most of the time--it was coming directly from our next destination, Chubb Cay. A few hours of 20 knots on the nose wouldn't be that bad, but Chubb Cay is 75 nautical miles away. If we can't make it in a single day during daylight hours we would be forced to anchor in the middle of Grand Bahama Bank. Lots of people do this, but 20 or more knots of wind would make for a very uncomfortable night. If the wind was from nearly any other direction we would have left and enjoyed a fast sail. On April 21 we woke at 5:30 a.m. to leave, but the wind had picked up a few notches during the night. We decided to stay after getting the weather forecast that predicted increased winds for the next few days. After making a no-go decision it's tough not to second guess yourself for the rest on the day. I keep saying to myself, "Gee, it's lightening a bit," or "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad." I've decided it's best not to do this. Once you've decided to stay, plan the day's activities and don't look back. If it lightens up completely, there's no use in sweating it or letting it affect future go/no-go decisions. Even if other yachts leave for the same destination, there's no right and wrong. Every boat sails her own course. Away from Florida we no longer have the luxury of NOAA weather radio and its continuous broadcast of weather reports. There are numerous other weather sources, but in all cases the area of coverage is so large that you are forced to do your own short-term forecasting when planning to sail a longer stretch. There are plenty of weather reports transmitted at different times on single side band (SSB) radio, and nearly 100 different types of weather fax available. Everyone has a opinion. Not knowing any better, I've adopted a simple experimental approach. Every morning I receive the National Weather Service tropical forecast and the surface-analysis weather fax. The NWS forecast, which we receive in printed form, tells me the general movement of the systems plotted on the surface-analysis chart. I note on the chart our position, observed wind speed, wind direction, and observed barometric pressure. The resulting weather chart look a lot cruder than some of the nice graphical plots available on the Internet. But all the information is there. After some practice, and by keeping a running log of predicted, observed, and forecasted weather, I'm hoping this will play a recognizable tune. If it doesn't work I'll try different types of faxes and techniques until I find something satisfactory. Were currently anchored on the west side of Gun Key. The winds are light out of the south. The alarms are set for 5 a.m. With any luck we'll make the 75-nautical-mile trip in 11 or 12 hours. I want to clarify our last log entry. Hakuna Matata does not have air conditioning. My liberal use of acronyms made things a little confusing. Our A/C problems were with the Alternating Current refrigeration compressor. We can run this compressor from shore power, from the generator, or off the batteries with the inventor. The engine fridge compressor runs off the engine only. It is out of service until I can purchase freon and a connector. So no, we have no air conditioning.