Category Archives: Self-Guided Tourist Activities

Busy Day in the Exumas — Rachel’s Bubble Bath, Big Milestone Achieved, Dinghy Motor Failure, and Back to Big Major

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The anchorage at dawn on Sunday, March 22

When we got up, we were pleased to see that the forecast had been correct — the wind had shifted so that anchoring at Rachel’s Bubble Bath would be comfortable today. As soon as we got up, we immediately started getting Kosmos ready to go to sea. We pulled up anchor at 0715, as the sun was rising. It took us about an hour and 20-minutes to get to the anchorage on Compass Cay that was next to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. We had to go through the narrow, shallow channel while the current was strong, which was stressful, but we followed our previous line and all went smoothly. We immediately got dinghy down and made breakfast. 

After breakfast, we met the crew from Tiki Tour on shore and trekked up the short saltwater river to the Bubble Bath.

Thanks to the recent big winds, the waves were huge. They were even coming over the left side of the big rock — in our previous visits, we’d only seen the waves come over the right side of the rock.

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Trying to get to Thunderbolt Grotto, Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

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The moon was not full anymore, but still shone vividly at dawn on Thursday, March 5

We’d arranged to meet two of the families at Thunderball Grotto at 0900, which was slack high tide. We were leery about getting in and out of the cave at high tide, but they assured us that it would not be a problem and said they thought it was better to go when there was no current. 

We left Kosmos at 8:40, figuring it would take us 20-minutes to get there. But even though it was supposed to be nearly slack tide, the current was strong and our little 3 hp electric motor struggled. For a portion of the time, we were only going a little over one knot. It took 40-minutes to get there. Eric was frustrated. He’s been contemplating switching to a fast gas motor for the last few months, and he announced that this was the last straw – he was buying a new motor. When we got to the cave, we could barely see the entrance. We don’t think we would have been able to find it at all had we not been there before.

As our friends had assured us, getting in was not difficult. Here was a selfie with a view of the entrance from the inside.

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Keith’s Perspective on Long Island and Trekking Through the Exumas/Le point de vue de Keith sur Long Island et la randonnée dans les Exumas

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Saturday, February 7 – Friday, February 13 – This week has been very fun. On Saturday, all of the families rented cars. We went in a van with Blue Heeler. We went to a cave and a few other boring places, then went to Dean’s Blue Hole, one of the deepest blue holes in the world. We met up with Tiki Tour, Zimovia and Another Summer there. 

The people who rented the cars brought them to us at Tiny’s

Cette semaine était très amusante. Samedi, toutes les familles ont loué des voitures. Nous sommes allés dans un van avec Blue Heeler. Nous sommes allés à une grotte et d’autres endroits ennuyants, puis nous sommes allés à Dean’s Blue Hole, un des blue hole les plus profond en monde. On y a vu Tiki Tour, Zimovia et Another Summer.

Inside Hamilton Cave
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Moving to Hog Cay, Long Island, The Bahamas

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Sunday, February 8 was a fun day. In the morning, Eric and Keith played D & D with Blue Heeler. In the late afternoon, Eric and Keith played D & D with Tiki and Zimovia. In between the D & D sessions, all four sets of kids went to the beach together. There was no adult supervision onshore, but Leanne, the mom on Blue Heeler, spied on them with binoculars from her boat.

After playing onshore for a while, the group went back to Kosmos to play on the platform. Here was Fynn from Tiki ferrying the rest of other children from the beach to Kosmos.

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Dean’s Blue Hole and The Shrimp Hole, Long Island, The Bahamas

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Continued… The next stop was Erica’s Store and Bakery in Clarencetown. Much to Eric and Keith’s disappointment, the bakery portion was closed, so they yet again struck out on buying bread.

Next was Dean’s Blue Hole, the deepest saltwater hole in the world with a depth of 202 meters (663 feet). Blue Heeler and Kosmos met up with Tiki Tour and Zimovia there. The hole was a random deep spot in an otherwise shallow area that was surprisingly close to shore. There was a platform anchored there, and people dove into the hole using the line to help them descend/ascend. Everyone in the cruiser family group snorkeled, adults and kids. They saw some fish. Eric said it was his worst nightmare — a deep, dark abyss. Keith said it was cool, though it was eerie to look down into the hole. Afterwards, the kids played in the sand.

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