May 2 – May 8, 2014
Once we left our friends on Anthyllide and made our decision to head home, we boogied on up the island chain. Our first stop was Black Point where we ran into our friends from Children’s Bay Cay, Willie and Murray. Did we tell you that story? Ask us about it next time we see you. You don’t stop at Black Point without a visit to Scorpio’s and lucky for me there was a DJ there that night. Willie and Murray bought us beers and rum punches until I was no longer able to stand, then golf carted us back to the dink. It was a very memorable night. Actually, I don’t remember much of it, but I know I danced and danced and danced because JR snapped pics :) We also visited and this time utilized, Miss Ida’s laundry with the world famous views. The electricity cut out about half way through our drying cycle, though. Good times…
Dancing with the nice painting guy :)
Dancin’ with Murray :) Notice, no one else is on the dance floor…
The next day we headed to Staniel Cay to sit out a (nother) front that was coming our way. We were tucked (again) Between the Majors, as they call it, and watched the front pass through. It is an amazing phenomenon to witness the weather change. To see and feel the wind shift, to feel the breeze turn cold, to watch these big daunting clouds roll through, it’s been one of my favorite and most humbling experiences.
The cold front passing through Staniel Cay.
The diffused lighting also made me realize just how light Jake’s hair has gotten!
How blonde is this dude?
Once the front passed through, we moved Journey over closer to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club which is really the main hub of activity on the island. We also anchored close to the famous snorkeling spot called Thunderball Grotto. We missed “The Grotto” on our way south, but lots of folks said we didn’t miss much. It definitely felt like something we should do since we had another opportunity, so we waited for slack tide and hopped in. It was the most amazing snorkeling I have ever done! It should absolutely be on your bucket list if you like to look at fishes. Our pictures did not even come close to doing it justice so google it and see better pics. And yes, it truly looks like that. I’m not the biggest fan of snorkeling, but dang, this place was cool. What I didn’t realize is that you go into this big old rock that is kinda’ cut out and creats a cave. There are tons of fish (now mainly because a million tourists come through and feed them) and they are very used to people. We went when the sun was high in the sky and the light rays were just beaming in. It was magical and I’m really glad we had the chance to check it out.
That night we went back to the Yacht Club to “celebrate” Cinco de Mayo. They had happy hour specials from 4-6 and luckily we made it by 6. We only took $17 with us because I know myself and I really didn’t want to spend $10 on a margarita, but I knew I would if I had it :) It turned out to be quite a night. Earlier that day, we met the musician, Marc, who was going to be playing at the Yacht Club, so during his breaks, he came to chat with us. We also met some blogging/cruising friends, Kim and Jereme from Laho Wind, and chatted with them for a bit. And later that night, Marc introduced us to the owners of the Yacht Club and we chilled with them for a minute, as well. Throughout this chilling process, our new friends bought us drinks, so we walked outta there fairly lit up, with $4 still in our pocket. It was kinda’ funny. The new skill of “talking to strangers” I learned while hanging with Kim, is really paying off!
Us, Kim, and Jereme at Staniel Cay Yacht Club. It was a fun and cheap night! (Pic courtesy of Kim :)
The next night we spent in Norman’s Cay. We stayed aboard Journey, fed the seagulls, and watched a beautiful sunset.
Boo Kitty was not impressed with our new seagull friends.
Although we were not thrilled about heading back to Nassau, it was the next logical stop. We had the pleasure of being escorted part of the way by this little guy, who spent about 10 minutes racing back and forth in front of our boat.
Once anchored, some cruising friends from Long Island on a lovely boat named Motu stopped by to say hi. We chatted about “crossing” plans and realized that we had similar routes. We left them in Nassau and headed to Frazier’s Cay to “stage” for our overnight crossing. It was a rolly anchorage and it took us far too many times to get our anchor set. As JR said, “All signs are telling us to ‘Go Home!’” And that’s what we did.
Sailing Journey 