The migration north begins!

At this time of year, towards the end of March, two definite patterns emerge as far as the sailing activity in this part of the world goes: boats gather in packs awaiting those elusive 'weather windows' and, when the weatherman blows the starter whistle, the boats are off and running either north back to the U.S. or, those who have bet on "better weather the later you leave it", migrate on the southbound route to George Town. We are with the northbound pack, and hoping to eventually make it back to Fort Lauderdale via Nassau, Chubb Cay and Bimini. It is all in the hands of the weather gods!
We stayed four nights in the pristine waters of Warderick Wells and had two very enjoyable evenings with Gail and Michael on 'Southern Spirit'.
Our next destination was Norman's Cay, a part of the world which became notorious during the 'drug wars' of the 70s and 80s. In 1979 Carlos Lehder, a shady character from Columbia, bought half of the 650 acre Norman's Cay. He bought the other home owners out, and threatened and intimidated those who wouldn't budge! He lengthened the island's airstrip, improved the dock, and proceeded to make this little corner of paradise the cornerstone of the Medellin Cartel's cocaine smuggling activities into the southern U.S. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) caught on to this pretty quickly, set up surveillance on the neighbouring islands, and carried out what was supposed to be a surprise raid, but to no avail. The raid failed and many allegations of bribery and corruption right up to the highest levels of the police and Bahamian government, surfaced. However, the DEA prevailed in the end, and Lehder, fed up with all this harassment, and indicted as a fugitive in the U.S., eventually moved back to Columbia. The story has a happy ending, but not for Carlos!
In 1987 he was captured, extradited to the U.S. and was sentenced to life without parole plus 135 years!!
This lurid history adds a certain 'edginess' to this lovely island, particularly as the remains of one of the drug runners' planes sits right in the middle of the main anchorage, and bullet holes still scar the once lovely holiday homes! We enjoyed rambling down the pot-holed highways and by-ways, but did not fancy being there after the sun set! There is one little restaurant on the west side of the island - 'Macduff's'. The signpost with directions from the anchorage is in the shape of a scotty dog, and warns sailors to watch out for planes landing and taking off on the airstrip. Bill insisted on walking along the runway to tempt the gods!
MacDuff's is a great and funky little watering hole, with a nice sit-up bar and hamburgers that cost $18! We had fun.
From Norman's we decided to treat ourselves to two nights at the lovely Highborne Cay Marina. We had called in there earlier in the trip, but this time the weather was much warmer and we could swim from the pretty beach.
At some point between Warderick Wells and Highborne we had found out what had happened to our friends, Marianne and Paul, on Knot-A-Gain. Their boat had sprung a leak in George Town, and they had made a horrendous, thirty hour, non-stop trip in heavy seas back to Nassau to get it fixed! So, after two days in Highborne we decided to move back to Nassau. We are now docked next to them at Nassau Harbour Club Marina and catching up with all their news during the many cocktail hours and 'sundowner' opportunities that seem to crop up around here!
The north-bound pack of boats here is eagerly awaiting promised 'weather windows' later this week (yes, more than just one day!) to head out and back to the U.S. Our plan is to move off on Wednesday, and get to Chubb Cay where we'll anchor for the night. We'll set off before dawn the next day to try to get to Bimini (About 80 miles from Chubb Cay) in daylight, and avoid what could be a rough night at anchor on the Bahama Banks. We may stay in Bimini for a while and await a good day to cross the Gulf Stream back to Fort Lauderdale. This plan is, of course, subject to change!