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| Exumaaaaaaaaaahs beach. |
Exumas, Bahamas. As in, Exumaaaaahs. Think quintesential palm-studded beaches, and unbelievably clear, turquoise waters. It doesn’t get much better than this. But getting here wasn’t much fun.
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| Ugly passage. |
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| Jamie, not enjoying the passage. |
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| Turquoise at last. |
We left Bimini later than we intended (yes, our typical M.O.), with Chub Cay in the Berry Island chain our intended destination. But as we neared Chub it was dark, and to safely navigate through the reef there is a light - the Northwest Channel Light - that is a vital waypoint. But, the light was nowhere to be seen. Were we off course? Was the light missing? We backed off and searched for it slowly in the dark, inching forward where we thought the light should be....and nothing. We carefully crawled through the pass hoping the GPS was accurate. We ended up making it OK, but it made for some tense moments. Meanwhile, the wind and waves continued to increase, and were (of course) from the wrong direction, making it dicey to stop and anchor at Chub Cay. So we made the decision to continue on overnight to get to Nassau early in the morning.
It may have been the prudent and safe decision, but it would NOT turn out to be a comfortable one. We pounded into choppy seas all the way to Nassau, gusty wind on our nose, attempting to dodge thunder storms, with lightning flashing in a 360 degree display. And it ended up taking us at least four hours longer than we expected. It was brutal, really. In fact I’m putting this passage right up there in the top five worst ever. The only upside is that it made our lumpy-seas Gulf Stream crossing seem almost enjoyable by comparison. So it was with great relief that we found ourselves a cheap little marina in the grimy city of Nassau and crashed.
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| Shroud Cay beach. |
A few days later we headed out toward the Exumas, a passage of about 50 miles. The wind continued to put us on a beat, but thankfully the mileage was short enough for us to make the entire trip in daylight. What a difference that makes. We aimed for Norman Cay, wihich used to be a secret drug runner hide-out a few decades ago.
After a night at anchor and a morning snorkel of a drowned DC-3 at Norman Cay, we set off for Shroud Cay, which is the first of a number of islands that are a part of the Exumas Land And Sea Park. Shroud Cay did not disappoint. We dinghied to a picture-perfect, pristine beach, we snorkeled a bit and spied a huge helmet conch, and then motored up a mangrove-lined creek to a to-die for spit of sand at the base of a hill that we climbed in order to take in a gorgeous 360 degree view. Not a bad spot to mark our 25th Anniversary.
The next day we trekked further on in the park to Warderick Wells, where the Park Headquarters is located. The anchorage there may well be the most beautiful spot I’ve ever seen. We hiked to Boo-Boo hill where the tradition is to leave behind a piece of boat-name inscribed driftwood. We wandered the hiking trails ringing the island, and snorkeled the coral heads, spotting Nassau groupers, Queen Angels, and a huge lobster. This place is just stunningly beautiful. That night, the 4th of July, we were treated to a spectacular fireworks display rivaling any we’ve ever seen, set off from a nearby privately owned island. Wow.
Our next stop was Staniel Cay and Big Major Spot, home of the swimming pigs. Yep. You read that right, Swimming Pigs. We screamed in delight, and frankly a bit of terror as four big pigs swam out to greet us as we drove the dinghy up near the beach. Hilarious. The anchorage was gorgeous, with the most spectacular light blue-green water.
Just around the corner is the town of Staniel Cay, home to some of the kindest, friendliest folks I’ve ever run across. Within minutes of landing ashore we had been offered a ride into the village on a golf cart. Later, Jamie and I were passing a group of 5 or 6 workmen walking in to opposite direction. It was late afternoon, and hot, and the men had clearly been working a dirty, hard job all day. Just as they were passing by, Jamie remarked to me, “I’m thirsty, mom.” 10 steps later, one of the men stopped in his tracks, turned back, and called out, “Do you want my drink?” - and smilingly gave Jamie his unopened bottle of juice. We are not in Kansas/California anymore, folks.
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| Swimming pig in conversation. |
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| Eerie light in the grotto. |
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| Inside Thunderball Grotto. |
Staniel Cay is also home to Thunderball Grotto - where part of the James Bond movie “Thunderball” was filmed. Of course we snorkeled it. The place is chock full of friendly fish (I think they are used to being fed), with beams of sunshine lighting up the water in the center of the grotto from the cracks in the roof, while the edges of the circular domed space remain in darkness. It is a completely surreal space. And although I looked, I did not see 007.
