February 6-8

We sometimes wonder when we are going to just sit back and ‘chill’. There are a lot of things to do in this cruising life, and they all take time.

Thursday is shopping day in Staniel Cay. There are three stores to choose from. You can go to the Blue Store, the Pink Store or Isles General. The Mailboat comes in either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning with supplies. The advice is to be at the store by 11:00 am, just enough time to get things unpacked but not long enough for everything to be sold out.

Our timing was pretty good at Isles General, which was our choice because we could dinghy right up to its dock. We were a little apprehensive, though, as there were at least 20 dinghies already tied up at the dock. When we got up to the entrance we had to wait a bit as people shifted around so that we were able to open the door. Friends from another boat informed us we were actually quite lucky as the crowd was beginning to thin out.

Isles General is about the size of three good-sized bedrooms, and provides produce and frozen goods, a hardware section and dry goods, and the check-out counter. Produce is set out on two or three good-sized bookcases. Amazingly, we were able to get most everything we needed and never had to take more than ten steps from one place to another around the store.

With our basket full, it was one step backwards to the checkout line, where we waited and visited for the next hour. It was fun, though, as we met two other cruising couples with connections to Winnipeg – one even worked for MTS and knew Pops.

On Friday Corinne flew to Nassau to have her cast changed. This too has been an experience. It took essentially two days, five phone calls and two trips to the airport to confirm the ticket. Each of these involved either a quarter-mile walk to the phone booth (the ones outside the yacht club are not currently working), or a half-mile walk to the airport. We finally got everything settled and saw Corinne off this morning. I think the pilot will remember to close that window before taking off, won’t he?


This is the view from the cockpit at Big Major in the evening. Things are good, mon.

February 3-5

It's Superbowl Sunday, and the Staniel Cay Yacht Club is hosting a buffet and party. They have been making regular announcements on the VHF radio, and we are thinking it might be fun to attend. It means sailing the 30 nautical miles from Warderick Wells, but it is a beautiful morning.

We had another fabulous sail with Mary T down to Big Major Spot, a comfortable anchorage just a mile away from Staniel Cay. There was just enough time for a quick snorkel when we got there before calling the water taxi to get a ride to the yacht club. Dinner was terrific and it was a fun place to watch the game. Unfortunately, thinking we had a longer ride back to the boat, we left at half time and missed the exciting end.

Two ‘must-dos’ in Staniel Cay are feeding the wild pigs on Pig Beach and snorkeling Thunderball Grotto, the cave featured in the James Bond movie of the same name. One of these we would probably not do again, while snorkeling in Thunderball was a highlight.
















The other highlight is checking one's email at the Yacht Club. There are between 40 and 60 boats within a two-mile radius, and so there is a lot of activity at the bar. They are wonderfully open about permitting computer usage, and there are frequently 10 to 20 laptops with people ordering drinks and working away. We are only becoming aware that this is a shrewd marketing opportunity, because the more people trying to access the Internet, the slower the connection becomes, and what else is there to do in the bar when waiting for an email to open.

January 30 – February 2

We woke up this morning and had to pinch ourselves. The view from the cockpit was fabulous – exactly what we had imagined being anchored in The Bahamas would be like. We have thoroughly enjoyed every part of the trip, but this really is something else.

Warderick Wells has a number of hiking trails providing many options to explore the cay. On Wednesday we went for a hike up Boo Boo Hill. The cays are comprised essentially of limestone, formed during the last Ice Age, which has been dramatically eroded and mottled over time. The shores are very rocky with rather tall cliffs interspersed with beautiful beaches.

Boo Boo Hill is the highest point of land on Warderick Wells with a cairn and markers on top of it. The lore is that the boatload of missionaries that wrecked off Warderick Wells are buried there and the cairn was erected years ago in their honour. Boaters have been leaving mementos with the names of their boats on this site for years.

I also have been snorkeling a number of times. There is an amazing variety of fish. Some are bright and vivid while others are so well camouflaged that you don’t notice them unless you look very carefully. It has been fun using my camera with its underwater housing, a great Christmas present from last year.

While snorkeling one afternoon, Corinne and I thought we saw a small reef just off one of the beaches. As we got closer to shore, Corinne said, ‘It’s moving.’ Could that be possible? Sure enough, the black form was moving back and forth along the beach. As we got closer, it began to move towards us. When we stopped the dinghy a black ray, over three feet across, swam up to us and stopped under the dinghy. Corinne said this was much too close for comfort (not in exactly those words) and we slowly motored away. We asked the park attendant about this afterwards, and she said it was likely just happy to find a place in the shade.

On Friday we went on a guided walk with Bill, a volunteer for the park. Many cruisers volunteer for a day or two to support the programs within the park. In this picture he is explaining that the fifty plus foot Sperm whale skeleton behind him was from a whale that had washed up on shore a number of years ago. It had apparently died from ingesting plastic bags that it had swallowed thinking they were squid, a staple of their diet.

On both the micro and macro level, refuse is a major concern. As thoughtful as we have been, we have a full garbage bag accumulated after a week in the Exumas, and there are few options to dispose of it. More disconcerting, though, is the distressing amount of litter, mostly plastic and glass, which washes up on the beaches. Corinne and I are trying to be thoughtful about our impact on the environment.

January 28-29

Monday was a gorgeous day as we eased out of the marina just after 9:00 am.

Kenny and Amy, aboard Mary T, another Morgan 384, joined us and we were finally off to the Exumas, bound for Allens Cay. Kenny and Amy are great fun and very competent sailors, so it is reassuring to be sailing in their company. Also, since they have the same boat as us, it is great fun sailing side by side, or better yet, slightly ahead of them!

It was 33 nautical miles over the Exuma Bank to Allens Cay. The bank is only 10 to 20 feet deep so is great sailing in that while it may be quite breezy the waves are not large. Midway we passed over the Yellow Bank, approximately a five-mile stretch of coral heads. We were a little apprehensive about this, but the coral heads are clearly visible ominous black heads and we were able to easily negotiate around them.

The anchorage at Allens Cay was somewhat crowded and we did not get settled until later in the afternoon.

On Tuesday we were off to Warderick Wells, headquarters of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. It was another fabulous sailing day, perhaps one of the best of our entire trip. After thirty nautical miles we turned eastward to find the entrance to the mooring field at Warderick Wells. As we closed on the cay, the spectacular blues of the water come into view. I have tried repeatedly to capture this, but pictures do not do it justice.

The view of the mooring field and cays beyond from the deck of park headquarters is spectacular. We feel like we have finally made it and are very excited to explore the trails and snorkeling within the park.