Yahoo, visitors. Eric started working with Greg and Saundy sometime around 1993. When Eric directed me to the hidden ring as his proposal for marriage, Saundy shook her finger at him and made him get on his knee. Saundy and Greg are Roy’s Godparents, Greg was Roy’s Scoutmaster, for several years in a row we joined the Hill family on Thanksgiving road trip adventures, and we were very happy that they could share our adventure with us.
They all arrived late on Easter Sunday, we wrapped things up at the marina and then spent most of the day on Monday traveling to Hawksbill Cay. We took them to our favorite places on this cay.
The windward side of the island has sparkling clear water, sand crabs, and room for Topaz to run.
We took them for a second opinion on the ‘Space Trash’ Eric found a few months ago.
Non-space quality screws were found but we quickly overlooked them so we could continue calling it space trash.
A quick trip to the Russell Ruins where British Loyalists settled after leaving the newly formed United States was also in order.
There isn’t much left of the place except for a few walls and paths.
The walls are very low, sandstone and conchs plastered together.
The jungle has taken over but we can’t help but wonder how these people survived. We saw a few holes that could have been used as cisterns for water since springs and wells are unheard of in the islands. Also, the coral sand doesn’t support crops. I suppose if you can survive on coconuts, conchs, and curly tail lizards you could survive.
Saundy and I tried out the selfie pose my kids are so proficient at.
We motored most of the way to Hawksbill Cay before the wind picked up. Then the rest of the day proved to be windy, choppy and uncomfortable. But with so few days to explore the areas we spent weeks at, we all got in the dinghy and went exploring. Next stop was the sand bar on the north end of the island. The ride up there was really wet. The waves poured into the dinghy like a waterfall. For the first time ever we got to the point where everything was floating and something had to be ‘done’ about the situation.
The water was shallow so everyone got out and walked while Eric zipped along with the drain plug open. After just a few minutes of planing, the dinghy was drained and we could continue on.
It was late in afternoon but the sandbar was spectacular as usual.
The day was ending and everyone was happy that our travels will be shorter for the next week.
It may be a little late, but I don’t think Jesus would mind of we hunted for Eggs a few days after Easter.
I (I mean the Easter Bunny) managed to hide over 50 filled eggs on the outside of Makai. There were eggs hidden in the sails, anchor locker, under lines, and under Hobie paddles.
They found eggs in the dinghy, sunshades, and cushions. Great fun was had by all and the Easter Bunny was very happy to be able to stump all those big kids.
Since they brought their snorkeling gear we better get to seeing the underwater sites.
I just can’t get enough of the corals and fish, colors and textures.
Schools of fish are especially interesting to watch. They peck at the coral for snacks, scoot into caves and holes, and move this way and that in response to our disturbances.
Even though I know the lion fish has his face on a WANTED poster for devouring more than his share of the reef, he’s still beautiful to watch. He just floats around with his poisonous spines displayed for everyone to see.
Coral heads are an oasis in the expanse of sand and grass.
Sometimes the smallest sea star can have the most brilliant colors.
These big days of activity always make us look forward to evening. They’re sitting around snacking on ‘land’ meat while Roy dreams of leaving the Land and Sea park so he can troll for the prized Mahi Mahi just like the pillow Marie is holding.
I guess if they can’t go fishing they can at least blow their conchs for sunset.
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Our next adventure was up the river in Shroud Cay. Half of us sailed/paddled the Hobie up the river and the other half took the dinghy.
Marie and Effie started out on the Hobie but couldn’t keep up with paddling the surf boards and ended up being rescued by the dinghy which towed them the rest of the way. On the way back Greg and Spencer took the surfboards paddling and riding the current back. They made it at least half way before the rest of us caught up.
Little girls on big surfboards can be towed standing up.
Isn’t this just the most beautiful river EVER!
At the other end is a shallow sand bar facing the Atlantic Ocean. We spent hours soaking, playing and the kids tried to surf five inch waves in ten inches of water.
The next stop is Norman’s Cay. At the beginning of the season this was the first place we spent a week of relaxing and capturing the mood of cruising. From Shroud the trip is only about 3 miles, but to celebrate exiting the north end of the Land and Sea Park, we decided to take a tack out to sea. This is the exact location where Roy caught a Mahi Mahi last week. After about an hour of trolling everyone wanted to just get into the anchorage and go to the beach. I told Eric to give me 5 minutes to wrap things up in the galley and then I could help turn the boat around and head in. At that very moment, zzzzzzzzzing went the reel, FISH ON, yelled Roy and everyone assumed their battle stations.
The Mahi Mahi we brought aboard two weeks ago came aboard after only about 15 minutes. He was fresh and strong, beat us up bad, and finally made his was to freedom. Then there was last week’s Mahi that got dragged, towed, and tired out for nearly an hour. Between his weakened state and the vodka, we managed to keep him for dinner.
Roy names the fish because a local fisherman here said that when he loses a fish it makes him cry like he just lost his girlfriend. This is Carlotta and Roy didn’t have to cry over her. She weighed in at 26 lbs and 53 in. from nose to tail and netted two huge baggies of meat. Luckily we have 3 extra fish eaters aboard and Saundy has fabulous cooking ideas including sushimi.
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Notice how her face is slightly rounded, this is a female. The male has a very square head and we learned that when they swim along the surface, the head shape makes water spout up which looks like a dolphin. In Florida the Mahi Mahi is often called a dolphin fish and in Mexico it’s referred to as a dorado.
Whew, I’m always glad when the fight is over. While I’m waiting with the gaff, my heart races and I can even see my pulse pumping in the crook of my arm. With all that behind us, we went snorkeling on the plane wreck in the middle of the bay.
I’ve found it rather difficult to find information with hard facts on the many treasures we find in the islands. Google usually results in blog posts from other boaters. Norman’s Cay has a great book called “Turning The Tide” about a guy who wanted to open a dive shop on Norman’s Cay but spent his time trying to survive Carlos Lehdr’s drug trafficking.
The nosy Sgt. Major fish came to greet us.
They photo bombed many of my pictures and bumped into our legs, maybe they’re used to being fed.
The plane was full of sea life and the water clear as usual.
We’ve seen more airplane parts under water than sunken ships. Near Musha Cay we even saw a golf cart. Note to self: don’t fly or drive a golf cart in the Bahamas.
Our last night in the Exumas was near Long Cay. Makai nudged up close to a private beach but there was beautiful snorkeling behind us.
There was this amazing row of piled up, small, yearling conch running along the length of the anchorage. I’m not having much luck finding out what this behavior is called. A few months ago someone mentioned that there was a Conch Walk going on in our anchorage, but we never made it over to see what that was all about. That’s our best guess to what they might call this meeting of the sea snails.
Roy also found a large juicy conch that he planned to eat for dinner. But after a few days and the overwhelming task of figuring out how to tenderize the meat so it tastes as good as the restaurants, we decided to let it go.
On the way back to Palm Cay Marina we stopped for a quick look at the Iguanas on Allen’s Cay.
With all the tourists that come to visit, these guys have become habituated and see people on the beach as the possibility of an easy salad.
Civilization. We pitched our trash, let Topaz potty on land and then made off to the pool. Look how civilized we are with hors d’oeurves, and sundowners at the pool among the vacant unfinished housing development that promises fulfilling many people’s dreams in the future.
The Hills brought us a trick kite. This is Roy’s favorite new toy, but everyone enjoys taking a turn controlling it.
We have this beautiful place to ourselves.
The restaurant is closed the first part of the week so we were able to move in with our games and lunch box to enjoy the facilities on a budget. Scanning the menu proved this was the best plan. The most inexpensive entree is a burger for $20 and a bottle of wine for $50.
This marina is off the beaten path, so taxi rides to the airport are pricey and walking to the grocery store is a bit far. Luckily it’s easy to rent a car from the marina manager for a reasonable price to take care of business. In the Bahamas they drive on the left side of the road, half of the cars are right had drive, and the other half have the steering wheel on the left. Good thing Eric did all the driving.
