Argo left Fort Lauderdale in early March 2005 bound first for the Bahamas. We were on a fast track south - needing to get to Trinidad by the start of the hurricane season at the end of June.
At Shroud Cay in the Exuma chain of the Bahamas we rowed our little sailing dinghy into the interior of the island to see the wildlife. It turned out to be a tough trip for the little dinghy - both the oarlocks broke and we had to beg a tow back to Argo. Later in the year we sold the dinghy in Grenada and bought an inflatable which is easier to take to beaches.
Further down the chain, at an uninhabited island with the odd name of Big Majors' Spot, we met these domestic pigs. Their enterprising owner discovered they could fend for themselves by swimming out to cruisers dinghies begging for scraps.
Water colours in the Exumas are the best we've seen - only Antigua in the Leewards of the Caribbean came close.
After three weeks in the Bahamas we left Georgetown, a cruiser hangout, headed for the Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic. These were two long overnight trips and our stay in the Turks was cut short. The weather for the second leg was perfect - if we stayed we might not get another window for at least a week.
After the dry islands of the Exumas and Turks the Dominican Republic was a big change. Lush and tropical.
We stayed a week with Argo anchored in a muddy mangrove lagoon - touring the island and waiting for a weather window to make the crossing of the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico. The nastiest passage of the whole trip south.
