Hey there again, faithful blog followers!
Sorry to be so slack lately with blog updates but we've been too busy having fun down here.....no, really, we have been playing dominoes until the wee hours of the night with our friends on Saber Tooth and Georgia E and just haven't gotten around to writing. That, plus spotty internet access have presented obstacles for our updates. A thousand pardons!
Scott and I have been slowly-but-surely retracing our steps from Long Island to George Town, to Emerald Bay and then Black Point and Big Majors Spot (with Thunderball grotto) and points north. Our migration back home has begun but we've really enjoyed revisiting some of our spots we hit going south, this time with our Toronto buddies -- Stu and Karen on Georgia E and John and Nora on Saber Tooth.
We got to Cambridge Cay with Georgia E and Saber Tooth and had a fantastic time snorkeling at "the sea aquarium"....a wonderful little mountain of coral with huge amounts of colorful fish and great fans and coral. We had lunch on a beach there and then took our dinghies over to Johnny Depp's island. He wasn't home but we cruised along the shore and saw his house and beaches. What a great spot! As Karen said that evening, we felt like kids again, having a day full of play.
Then we headed back to Warderick Wells for another few nights there and had an amazing time snorkeling there, too. We saw huge lobsters crawling in plain view over all the coral.....they're not afraid 'cause they know they live in a sanctuary. All we could think was how good they'd taste! We crawled back up BooBoo hill and our placque was still there so we're happy.
After we left Warderick on Tuesday morning, the group split up and Scott and I headed to Highborne Cay at the northern end of the Exumas. We had the good fortune to finally meet up with our good friend, Jake Roush, who's currently serving as First Mate on the 112-ft. motor yacht "Sensation". We've been looking for good ol' Jake the whole time we've been down here. He's like my second son so it was a very happy reunion for us all. He came over to our boat for supper that night and we enjoyed hearing of his many adventures.
Wednesday, we headed to Royal Island at the north end of Eleuthera with our buddies on Messenger. In early January, we had a not-so-fun few nights with a gale blowing through, complete with lightening, thunder and anchors dragging. Needless to say, we weren't thrilled to be back there but it's the logical overnight spot before leaving Eleuthera for points north.
Yesterday morning, Messenger, Painkiller, and a couple other boats left Royal Island after an uneventful night (YAY!) and headed north for the Abacos. Mother Nature had plans for us and we experienced 20+ knot winds with following seas for much of the trip. Scott did a wonderful job at the helm --very cool and collected captain -- and let me take it awhile when conditions were less dire. We were hitting 8.3 knots under sail alone.....we were *screaming* (the boat, that is). All of us were glad to make our anchorage in the Abacos, near Little Harbour and I, for one, turned out the lights at 8:30 last night. We were both tuckered out!
Today, we're at Marsh Harbour, again at the wonderful Jib Room, after a short journey this morning. It's great to be back here and we celebrated with a conch club sandwich and their signature drink, bilge burners. We hope to travel back home with our good friends, Ian and Sue, on Kokopelli. It's funny how we are traveling with the same good folks here again after so long away.
It will be good to get back home. We miss our kids alot and need to think about re-entering the job market so it's time to say good-bye to the islands very soon. But, we have so many ideas for next year's cruise already and are looking forward to planning that. The Bahamas have been wonderful to us and we can't wait to see even more of them next year.
I'll try to be better with updates on our way back to South Carolina. Thanks again for your faithful reading of our humble blog. We hope it's entertained you and been as fun for you as it has for us.
This is "Tiger", the boat kitty born on s/v Three Belles. Her owner, Carl, had gotten up off the beanbag so she just saw an opportunity too good to pass up.
Our buddy, Jake, in front of the M/V Sensation at Highborne Cay Marina. Doesn't he look tanned and handsome??
A typical view from the boat when in the Exumas. This is just off Highborne Cay.
Sunrise at Royal Island yesterday morning before leaving for the Abacos. The calm before the storm....
Capt. Scott at ease while "Otto" the autopilot drives on a nice, calm day.
Capt. Scott yesterday en route to the Abacos.....fighting the wheel for all he's worth. The picture doesn't adequately show the huge swells behind us.
