Frazier's Hog Cay

We had a long slog, followed by a wild ride close hauled against a current but across the shallow banks so not bad seas.  We were treated to a meteor shower for most of the night which helped make up for some of the negatives.  Sadly, we had a cascading series of malfunction almost immediately after we cleared the channel out of Bimini.  First, the waves were much larger than forecast so we pounded into the wind with 5-7 foot seas for about 8 miles.  This was unpleasant enough but then it started to rain reducing visibility.  We kept thinking the happy thought of fresh water rinse.  This was only a delusion since the waves crashing all over the boat deposited much more salt than the rain could wash away. We were very grateful for the cockpit enclosures since the waves were raising enough spray to completely cover the boat.  We would have been covered in salt water at the wheel without the protection.  Then things went downhill.  First, the radar quit.  David hasn't gone back up the mast yet but we're assuming the connection was loosened up in the pounding.  Then, we noticed we had a lot of water inside the boat, never a good thing.  David tasted it (way better him than me) and it was fresh water.  This is also bad since we have to buy water so besides facing a leak somewhere it was literally money down the drain.  All night we're watching our water gauge go down as we're mopping up buckets never really getting ahead until about 5am.  That repair is currently underway.  We filled the tank and David is now watching for leaks.  When I came up to work on the internet there was still no obvious leak point.  The other glitch was the autopilot.  This is way worse than just losing your cruise control since you have to deal with all the side forces of wind, wave and current while standing sideways for hours on end in the dark.  That is now adjusted but it did make for some tired arms and frantic moments when looking elsewhere for even a short bit got us off  course.  I even made the sails jibe over.  For the nonsailor, this is really not good but I was able to recover and keep going.  All of this meant that neither of us were able to sleep and we stayed concerned about the repairs facing us.
 We made it to a point where we knew we couldn't make it into Nassau with daylight so we decided to head on in to Frazier's Hog Cay (pronounced Key) and what a pleasant surprise.  We are at a small, very laid back marina, Berry Island Club,  paying less than $1 a foot per night.  We are here in the off season and are being treated extremely well.  It has a small hotel and restaurant along with docks and mooring balls.  We came in with a boat we had met in Marathon and one we met in Bimini.  That is a great thing about cruising, you never know who you will meet where.  We keep a good supply of boat cards and collect them along the way.  We still keep in touch with several people we have met on previous cruises. 
Our plans are to get the water tank fixed and then try and get to Nassau.  The weather doesn't seem cooperative until Monday for a move across the deep water.  The winds have been strong for a while so we know the waves will be uncomfortable in the deep water.  The underwater topography of the Bahamas is fascinating.  You can be in 10 feet of water then rapidly be in thousands of feet.  As one guide says, "Current water depth is no indication of depth in the next 10 minutes."  We have been honing our water reading skills and realizing why daylight is essential for safe passages.  We like to look at coral, not hit it!