From VeledaIV@aol.com   March 16, 1999 Darby Islands anchorage
Hi Folks, We have been in this anchorage for three days sitting out a front that passed through last night with 30 to 40 knot winds. We were exposed to the northwest from which the winds were coming, but sheltered behind some shoal patches which cut down the wave action. Those winds sure kept our wind generator humming and kept our batteries well charged. When a front comes through, the wind goes from the prevailing direction of southeast and tracks clockwise around the compass. We were exposed to the northwest quadrant for about twelve hours, otherwise we are fully sheltered from all other directions.  This harbor was actually dredged out in the early 1940's by a German sympathizer who prepared for submarines to use it. However there is no record of a sub actually coming into it, as the opening cut to get into these islands would not be navigable and would not have enough depth. It is rumoured, however, that some subs rendezvoused off these islands to deliver agents and help escaped prisoners. No one lives here now, and the islands are privately owned and taken care of by Calvin, a local caretaker. Here is Log #10f which I hope to be able to send off when we get to Georgetown in a few days. After Georgetown we are working our way back to Nassau to pick up our repaired self steering mechanism, which we had sent from California to BASRA. After installing it we will go over to Andros for some diving. We went to Small Hope Bay in Andros for our honeymoon, and this will be our first trip there since. After that we will go to the Berry Islands, across the Great Bahamas Bank to the Bimini area, then across the Gulf Stream to Fort Lauderdale where we will leave Veleda until we return from Toronto. We won't be able to get up to the Abacos this trip, as when we return to Fort Lauderdale we will finish maintenance and provisioning for our trip across the Atlantic to Bermuda, the Azores, and England.