The Big Turnaround

The day after my last attempted entry at Staniel Cay we anchored the boat a couple hundred yards from Thunderball Grotto. This underwater cave was made famous in the James Bond flick "Thunderball". We donned our snorkeling gear and jumped ship. It was spectacular. The water here is in the low 80's-perfect. Schools of fish swam right up to us looking for food and it was such a sight: swarms of electric blue, purple, lime green and bright yellow fish amongst the varied and equally colorful coral. We went at low slack tide in order to swim right into the cave and also with hopes that the current wouldn't be too swift. Going was a piece of cake, trying to swim back against the current was severely humbling. Needless to say we made it back alive but it was quite a vigorous workout. I can't remember ever being so thankful for my strong yoga lungs!

Later that day we moved down to Great Guana and found a nice quiet little anchorage with hopes of relaxation. The long weekend at Staniel Cay was possibly the most fun I have had yet-it was a party! Just by chance we arrived as the James Bond /Casino Royale weekend bash was kicking off. Everyone was in high spirits and got dressed up either like Bond or a Bond girl for the festivities which included dancing, poker (I won the first night at my table!) and blackjack. After two nights of dancing into the wee hours I was exhausted and it was time to move on. That's kind of how we've been arranging this trip. For ten days or so we explore the beaches and trails of the lesser inhabited islands and then we're ready to once again enter civilization, get fresh water, and liven it up a bit. After a couple of days of that we're ready to embrace the peaceful solitude of the winds and waves. It's a good life.

So, anyway, back to Great Guana. The only thing to report here is that Chili took his first fall overboard. It was the last day of lobster season and Chip set off with his Hawaiian sling to bring home dinner (no luck). Whenever anyone gets in the water Chili freaks out so I was trying to distract him with treats and scratches down below in the cabin. That worked for about ten minutes, but he is no fool. He bolted up top and I could hear his nails tick-tacking up on deck for a bit...and then I noticed no more tick-tacking. I went up to check things out and there was no Chili. No Chili on the boat and no Chili in the water that I could see. I was frantic! Did a shark eat him? Did he drown? Terrible thoughts. I screamed for Chip, he came rushing back and spotted Chili doggie paddling back by the rudder under the steps leading from the stern to the water. Poor little thing! I jumped down and rescued him. He seemed to forgive me instantly. It's amazing. He was totally unfazed and I don't think he learned his lesson at all.

We decided to book it down to Georgetown and maximize on a good weather window to make the necessary off shore passage. On the way, one night was spent at Lee Stocking Island where there is the Bahamas Marine Research Center. I was interested in taking a tour but they require six people to a group and as we don't have the ability to replicate ourselves on we went! It was a long trip down to Georgetown on Great Exuma mainly due to the fact that the wind is perpetually coming from the direction we are trying to go. In any case we made it without any major hitches-there are always minor hitches.

We only spent one day anchored off Georgetown where we filled up with water, made a few phone calls to our loved ones to let them know we had reached our most southern point and to check the grocery situation. Back in the States I never thought that fresh produce could so thrill me, but it does! I happened to pop into Exuma Markets on the very day the produce boat came in and I really stocked up on the leafy greens and fruits. It makes me smile just thinking about it. After our errands were taken care of we moved Tranquility over to Stocking Island-just east of Georgetown. This is where all of the cruisers hang out and it has developed its own sort of hippie community glory. In the guidebooks it says that the people who come here stay here and do nothing but plan cocktail parties and pot luck dinners and talk about why it is impossible for them to go anywhere else. It's true! There is a lot of radio chatter (one of my favorite things is to follow conversations on the radio) and there seems to be a very firmly established water village. I personally met a guy whose boat broke down three years ago; he has no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. I don't blame them one bit-it is paradise realized. We were there from last Thursday until Monday and would have stayed much longer but we are excitedly anticipating company in the Abacos starting at the end of April.

After the weekend we finally made the big turnaround and began heading north. Naturally we had to travel off shore and retrace our path back up. The weather gods were not so kind this time around. Winds were about fifteen to twenty miles an hour higher than predicted and it was ROUGH. Early in the day, Chip managed to catch two fish within five minutes on lines he was trolling- a skipjack tuna and a mahi-mahi. He let the tuna go free and kept the mahi for dinner. We only take what we will eat and are very grateful. Later in the day the seas really became intense- so intense in fact that I got seasick for the first time ever. I didn't throw up, but really wish I could have. It was immobilizing and so miserable. During the worst of it dishes were broken due to heavy rocking and gallons of water made it into the cabin! We didn't make it as far as planned and went back inside the lee of the islands to sleep overnight at Rudder Cut Cay and recuperate. The next morning I was good to go so we set off for Black Point on Great Guana Cay.

Such a sweet town. We arrived this past Wednesday and the Easter weekend celebration was already in full swing. Are you noticing a trend here? It is all about the celebrations! The streets were filled with delicious smells and we met such genuinely nice people. Life is lived differently in the Bahamas. The people seem so fully alive. Family is important, people chat and play in the streets all day, they work a little, enjoy a lot and are pleased with the simple blessings of life. It's wide open. I love it.

We read in our books of the protected iguana habitat on Bitter Guana Cay and had to go see. What weird, huge reptiles! These are not the little green iguanas we sometimes see as pets in America, these are positively dinosauresque (my own word). They aren't the slightest bit afraid of humans and came right up to us. It was a little scary at first, I admit. We took along some celery to feed them. Some liked it and others turned up their scaly noses at our offerings. As my little cousin Hannah used to say "I wanted to kiss them on the lips!" But I resisted; I don't think they have lips. :)