Category Archives: Activities

Things we have done during our travels.

The Cruiser’s Beach, Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas

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Sunrise on Friday, May 2

Keith does not do well when his schedule is thrown off its normal routine. As a result of going to bed so late last night, he was a super grumpy pants all day today.

This morning, while the generator was running, Eric filled up the two air tanks he’d used yesterday. We were pleased to report that Eric did fix the dive compressor while we were in San Diego. It turned out to be an issue with the drive belt, but putting a new belt in was difficult because the frame had corroded. He also replaced a lot of other parts on it, and it seems to be working fine now. All the effort to fix it has finally paid off.

After we finished with morning chores and school, Eric and Christi both worked on cleaning the bottom and waterline. Christi agreed it was the worst that Kosmos’s bottom had ever been — and Eric had already cleaned a lot of it! Between the two of them, they went through two tanks of air. They managed to get the entire bottom and waterline mostly done, but they would need to go back in one last time to finish it completely.

After showering, we went over to the Cruisers Beach. Apparently, the cruisers regularly get together at this beach for social activities, but we haven’t seen anything happening there since we’ve arrived. The shoreline looking south.

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Snorkeling Thunderball Grotto, Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas

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On Tuesday, April 29, after we finished our morning school/chores and were getting ready to leave Kosmos, it started raining hard — we did not want to be out in that kind of rain.

When it stopped, we checked all the rain forecasts to see if more was coming. They all said more rain, but conflicted with when it would hit and how hard. The clouds in the distance looked ominous, so we played it safe and stayed onboard for the whole day. It did indeed rain hard again, but not until the evening.

On Wednesday, it rained lightly in the early morning, but cleared up by mid-morning. After school and chores, we went to Thunderball Grotto. It was windy, and the ride over was a little bumpy and wet. 

We anchored near the Grotto entrance, got our gear on, and jumped in. We took this video because we thought the sound was funny. We had no idea that it was significant.

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Welcome to Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas — And Pig Beach

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Sunday, April 27 — We got up at 0530 and untied from the dock at 0630, just as the sun was beginning to rise. It was high tide. Today was the new moon, so the tides were extra high/ low. We were grateful to have a little more water under the keel as we navigated the narrow channel out.

We were heading to an area called Staniel Cay, part of the string of tiny islands that make up the Exumas.

The sea conditions were okay. The 1 – 2 foot wind chop waves were sharp, hitting at 2 – 3 second intervals, and breaking. They were hitting us on the starboard. The motion was lurchy. Much to our frustration, the closet was squeaking like crazy like it does in head seas. In good news, there was no swell. It was a sunny day with scattered clouds.

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Keith’s Perspective on Atlantis Resort and Marina and Palm Cay Marina in Nassau, Bahamas/Le point de vue de Keith sur Atlantis Resort and Marina et Palm Cay Marina à Nassau, Bahamas

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This week has been very fun. On Saturday, we didn’t do much, we drove around in the dinghy. On Sunday, we didn’t do anything. On Monday morning, we went to the city of Nassau. The drive there was scary. There were a bunch of people who didn’t follow any of the boating rules. We stayed at a resort/waterpark called Atlantis with a little marina. The rest of Monday was at the water park. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday going to the water park.

Resort’s lobby

Cette semaine était amusante. Samedi on n’a pas fait beaucoup de choses, on s’est promené en radeau. Dimanche on n’a rien fait. Lundi matin nous nous sommes déplacés à la ville de Nassau. La route était effrayante. Il y avait beaucoup de personnes qui ne respectaient pas toutes les règles de conduite de bateau. On est resté au resort / parc aquatique qui s’appelle Atlantis, qui avait une petite marina. Le reste du Lundi on a joué au parc aquatique. Mardi et Mercredi on a joué au parc aquatique.

Fountain at the entrance to the waterpark
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Chores and Errands in Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

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Friday, April 25 — Eric did not sleep well. The boat became grounded at low tide in the middle of the night and started making unusual motions. The strange motion kept him from sleeping. Christi and Keith slept through it.

Despite being tired, Eric was feeling motivated to get stuff done. While Christi and Keith did school, Eric dug out the parts he’d need for his projects. Many were in deep spaces that were difficult to access — just getting the parts out was a project in and of itself!

As soon as Christi and Keith were done with school, we headed out. It was near high tide when we left Kosmos.

We rented a car from the marina office. They charged $11 per hour and didn’t require us to refill the fuel we used. Eric found driving on the left hand side of the road in traffic required a lot more concentration than normal. And it was a little bit scary, particularly with making right hand turns.

Our first stop was an auto parts store to get oil, which was the farthest away from all of our errands — a 10-minute drive.

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