It’s been fun spending the days with our three boats, all
in different stages of our lives and our cruising experiences. None of us has done the Bahamas before,
Truansea is a family, we’re fairly recent empty-nesters, and Providence in a
single grandfather! I think we’ve got it
all covered!
We’ve spent our evenings together, all contributing to
meals each night. We have eaten lobster
three nights, with 6 lobsters of all sizes and types to try along with three
HUGE spider crabs and one grouper. One
lobster was a shovelhead that was quite different in taste, sweeter, than the
others. We made lobster/crab paella,
grilled lobster and finally lobster fried rice!
We’re certainly not going hungry!
With Cole (9) and Logan (11) along, every day has quite a
different speed to it. Their endless
energy is catchy and we’ve been nearly nonstop with snorkeling and spear
fishing from one reef to the next. We’ve
been anchored in the Pipe Creek area which is quite remote and utterly
beautiful – both above and below the water.
We explored lots of different snorkeling spots all through the area,
sometimes taking the dinghy on high speed rides for ½ hour to get where we were
going.
On top of the snorkeling from spot to spot, we traveled
to a nearby marina with a host of sharks waiting the next fishing boats to
arrive. The marinas around here are
frequented by these sharks that stay nearby looking for the scraps that are
thrown in the water when the day’s catch are cleaned. The boys had it in their minds that they HAD to
swim with some sharks . . . so swim they did!
At first the rest of us were happy to watch as Mark joined the boys in
their quest – but it didn’t take long before we were all in the water. I must say, this life sure surprises me from
one day to the next!
After the shark adventure, we headed further north to
check out an area called the “bubble baths”.
After a hike across the island, we arrived at an interior pool that is
fed from washover from the waves on the other side of a rock wall. As the tide rises, the waves wash over the
rocks in a frothy spill and create a natural bubbly bath! The pool was fun to snorkel in and the
champagne bubbles were great fun and we headed back to the anchorage exhausted
and happy.
Yesterday we left Pipe Creek and moved back into the
Exuma Park area with its “no take” policy meaning the fresh fish and lobster
options are over! So yesterday we had a
quick passage and anchorage before we immediately headed back out with the
snorkeling gear to see the infamous elkhorn coral in the area. As we swam into the area I was impressed with
much larger coral formations than we had seen to date – and then I turned
around one coral head to see what we had come looking for. Elkhorn coral is just massive! Rising probably two stories from the ocean
floor, this bed of coral is some of the only remaining on the planet!
The area is loaded with opportunities to see nature’s
amazing offerings at every turn. We’re
so enjoying our time out here and are quickly becoming comfortable with maneuvering
between boat, dinghy and underwater without as much ado as it first
required. With salt and sand being our
constant companions, we’ve learned how to better keep it out of our living
areas. With all the snorkeling we’ve
done, we know what we need and it only takes minutes to get ready to head
out. With the long dinghy rides, we know
what to keep on hand and haven’t had to turn around to retrieve supplies or
fuel in some time now! Yes, we’re
getting into our groove!
On top of our nature explorations, we nightly have played
games or watched movies and this morning exchanged pictures and had coffee
while the boys did some school work.
Christine brought along biscuits and stayed afterward to teach me the art
of biscuit-making, something I’d wanted to learn for years! I made a successful batch the first time and
have another new talent to add to my list of accomplishments from the cruise of
2012!
In the days to come we will part ways with Truansea as Providence and us will head to Eleuthera and points north while they meet up with others near here. Another phase of the journey will begin – who knows what new and exciting things are in store!
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