SPRING BREAK IS OVER

“The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscape, but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust

Goodbye to the Spring-Breakers

We enjoyed seeing new places and old places, seeing them through the eyes of young men in their 20's. Spring Break means travel if you are one of the lucky ones with a way and means to go places. Paul and I are relaxing after a week of our boys and two buddies. The left early Tuesday morning with a very full day of travelling as they did not arrive home until 1am in Ottawa with a flight delay. We have two weeks to do our own explorations and meet new and old friends here. We have good friends coming down from Toronto in March. They will help us finish off some of our provisions and then we travel north to Florida. Spring will be arriving before we know it.

Hero GoPro picture of James and Les

Looking down at Les with
entertainment Bose set up

Here in Staniel Cay, internet is so unreliable that I am not able to post on our blog as often as I would like. 

Sunset with James's GoPro

SCORPION'S. BLACK POINT, EXUMAS

At Scorpion's, Black Point, Exumas

Hey we are alive and well down here with 4 young men. Our two boys and their two buddies are enjoying the sun, paddleboard, kayak, shell collecting and of course the drinking establishment here on Black Point. Scorpion's is the local gathering bar that has two for one rum punches, $3 beers and $2 wine for “Happier Hour” 4pm to 6pm on Fridays. This place also is the local hang out for the locals from Black Point and neighbouring islands in the evening with DJ music. The boys came back for a free dinner on board then Paul drove them over in the dinghy to have a night of partying. They were the only tourists in the place so everyone was talking with them. They are a little tired this morning! Black Point is THE place for laundry ($3.50 for a wash and same for a dry). I did four loads while enjoying the free internet. The boys of course were enjoying the island and locals.

Our son's friend Matt W. wanted to hold a starfish and get a picture. He seemed nervous to hold it but I encouraged him to just hold it backwards so the “suction” cups on the underside don't stick to his hand. He liked that much better and was less nervous.

Look Ma!

Our “plan” is to head back to Staniel Cay tomorrow and snorkel the Thunderball Grotto cave. Plan is in quotes because boaters should not have plans (only in extreme circumstances like catching a flight!).

HUGE STARFISH

Matthew with a huge starfish

Weather is what every boater monitors. Wind is what determines where you anchor, “do we move behind this island?” or “should we stay right here?”. Last Saturday Staniel Cay had winds from the southwest so strong that most boats anchored at Big Major moved to a better anchorage, including Coyaba. Winds up to 60km (37 miles) an hour! We found our spot for the Saturday night out of the major winds, pulled up our inflatable, set the alarms for any dragging with the anchor and set the alarm if we turn toward a shallow part of the water, then we drank a glass of wine. No barbequeing that night, it was a stovetop chicken meal. Paul and I played some cards and watched our mini-series Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck (remember him, Magnum P.I., if you are as old as us?)

Our two sons along with two buddies were not able to make it to Staniel Cay Monday afterall. It all started in Ottawa when the crew on board was over their hours flying. Therefore everyone had to be rebooked. A domino effect happened, unable to get to Newark to catch the Nassau flight on time to catch the Flamingo flight. They flew to Newark, Ft. Lauderdale, then Nassau then overnight!! This was a bad day for the kids first day of holiday. They arrived tired but with smiles yesterday morning on Flamingo. We have internet today in Staniel, yippee!!

Looking from Staniel Cay to the water

Our plans with the boys is to travel down to a place called Farmer's Cay then back up with a stop at Blackpoint. BUT can't make plans, all depends on weather.

OCEAN CABIN Restaurant at Farmer's Cay is a big highlight, see their hours below.

Most days about 9 or 10

Occasionally as early as 7

But some days as late as 12 or 1

We close about 5 or 6

Or maybe about 4 or 5

Some days or afternoons

we aren't here at all

And lately we've been here

about all the time

except when we're

someplace else....

But we might be here then, too.

We know this pretty well explains any place of business here in the Exumas. We call ahead on our VHF radio before venturing in. For example the Isle's Grocery Store in Staniel Cay has a siesta … could be 1 hour or 3, depends on what they feel like.

We thank the emails with news happening at home, ie: Carnival Cruise Line, our Canadian Senate etc. Our internet is super slow when we get it and no time to google the news,

CAPTAIN C

Thunderball Grotto is between
Brenda and Tom

We say good-bye to Paul's sister Brenda and husband Tom and Monday and big HELLO to 4 boys in their 20's!! Spring Break is happening in Ontario and these boys are anxious to leave the cold and snowplowing behind. They arrive Monday afternoon. As a mother I will be giving hugs to them!

I am posting this early Friday morning as I had internet yesterday briefly and again this morning. Who knows when I will get to do a posting again. See yesterday's posting too.

Captain C is Staniel Cay's "lifeline"
once a week

Every Wednesday (sometimes Thursday) MV Captain C arrives with everything from mattresses, romaine, building supplies to toilet paper. This means about 2 or 3 hours after this vessel's arrival inflatables from everywhere show up on the island. This is what Paul and I did on Wednesday right after lunch. We have 2 sons arriving with buddies and we needed romaine, tomatoes, hot dog buns and any other food item we may have run out of. These items would have sold out by end of the day. We spent money at the little "Blue Store" and the Isles General Store. Our fridge is full of romaine, lettuce, cucumbers and of course everyone loves a hot dog, We have wieners on board but now have the buns to go with them. Captain C will be back next week but who knows what is on board and even if we are here in Staniel Cay, so we stock up when we can.

WHOA MAN OVERBOARD

Way back in 2010 when Paul's brother-in-law Tom and our son Matthew were moving Coyaba up the ICW for a few days, Tom fell in brackish, crocodile infested waters. He swam to the boat in record time and to this day we talk about it along with his wife Brenda. She is always commenting on it and reinforcing to “hang on” Tom, “watch your step” Tom, etc. Well, in Staniel Cay, we were moving just from one anchorage to another so we were towing our inflatable. Tom and I were anchoring as Captain Paul was slowly backing up. Brenda decided that the inflatable was going under Coyaba and needed a helping hand and before she knew it she fell in with a loud splash and yell.. maybe a swear word or two.. Engine in neutral, Paul and his crew helped her get out of the water. No danger but a few bruises later Brenda is laughing. See how easy it is to fall in? Safety on a boat is a must!

Warderick Wells, North Mooring Field
Taken on top of Boo Boo Hill

Another sunset at Big Major's,
Staniel Cay, Exumas

PLEASE note that the internet here at Staniel Cay is extremely slow. I have been unable to connect to the internet and when I do it is just hotmail not any webpages. Today is our lucky day!

Did You Know- BASRA (Bahamas Air-Sea Rescue Association) works 24 hours a day. This is in coordination with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the U.S. Coast Guard. BASRA is run by all volunteers. Their only compensation is the reward of doing good works and reimbursement for fuel during volunteer duty.

BLUES TO DARKNESS

Blue waters are now everywhere visually as we are now anchored in the Exumas! And the darkness brings new sights! We left Ontario January 1^st and we are now in Staniel Cay one month later. We are enjoying our son Ben and wife Sam with their friends on their last days here.

Look Ma what I caught!!

We traveled from Nassau to Norman's Cay and wow... Benjamin caught a barracuda. This fish is not good eating unless less than 5 lbs as it carries a disease. This fish was much larger and a fighter. It was fun bringing it in.

Down here when the sun sets we see darkness that you cannot see in a city or even near a city. The kids are seeing stars they have never seen before and the ones they've seen before are brighter.

We snorkeled today at the Thunderball Grotto and saw many fish especially when we crumbled up the bread crumbs. Fish come out of all the nooks and crannies, caves and caverns! This was a highlight for the kids and for everyone that comes to visit us. Tomorrow we say good-bye but our kids will go home with many memories.

Ben, Sam, Becky and Tristan
all dressed up for Atlantis Resort, Nassau