Snorkeling in Warderick Wells Cay and Moving to Sampson Cay, The Exuma Islands, The Bahamas — And Thoughts on Refrigerator/Freezers

Friday, March 20, continued... In the afternoon, the kids from Tiki and Zimovia came over to play a game called Munchkin. After a while, they moved to Zimovia, which had a bigger table and better seating than Kosmos.

After they left, Eric, Christi and Clean Cup went snorkeling with another family in the anchorage called Sail La Vie. Christi and Eric had briefly met Sail La Vie one of the times we were in Big Major and they seemed like a nice family. We invited Clean Cup to join us since the Clean Cup kids were close in age to the Sail La Vie kids.

The motor had dried out and seemed to be working fine now, so Eric and Christi took their own dinghy — but warned the other two families that a motor failure was possible and to be prepared to rescue them. They left very early just in case there was an emergency. The motor seemed to work fine, which was a relief. Since they were so early, they waited on the sandbar in the middle of The Horseshoe for the other two families to arrive.

Continue reading

Hanging Out at Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, The Bahamas

Sunday, February 15 — We puttered around the boat in the morning and early afternoon. Eric and Keith put out both flopper stoppers. There was only mild motion, so one would have been enough for today, but the forecast said that on Monday, the wind would change directions to be from the south. We knew that on Monday, we’d need the second flopper stopper, so Eric was proactive.

We had an early dinner and headed over to the beach at about 1630. One couple was already there and the rest of the boats arrived shortly after. Keith played with the kids while Eric and Christi chatted with the adults. It was a really nice visit. We had been planning to clean the bottom here, but were warned that there were aggressive bull sharks in this anchorage. The bottom can certainly wait! Here was the sunset.

And a shot of the beach looking the other direction

Continue reading

Snorkeling at Warderick Wells, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

Thursday, January 8, continued… Keith got ready to go snorkeling. Eric and Keith went to the ranger station to check in. Christi stayed behind to make lunch and dinner. Tiki Tour had also moved from Shroud to Warderick this morning and had moored in The Horseshoe. The Tiki crew and their guests — a family with two kids close in age to Keith — met Eric and Keith at the beach by the ranger station. The kids played on the beach. After a couple of hours, Eric returned to Kosmos to eat lunch and to pick Christi up. Keith said he wasn’t hungry and asked to stay with the other kids.

At about 1600, Eric and Christi returned. They found the group snorkeling in the pass.

The snorkelers saw a group of twelve spotted eagle rays and they followed the rays for quite a while. They said the rays were amazing. From the dinghy, all Christi and Eric could see were black blobs that looked like moving rocks.

Continue reading

Changing Plans in Norfolk, Virginia

Tuesday, November 11, 2025 — Here was Kosmos in her slip at Morningstar.

Cruising season in the tropical latitudes officially began on November 1. Many families that were silent all summer have begun chiming in on the various boating apps, sharing where/when they were going. We’d mentioned that in Annapolis, we hadn’t met a single family going to the Eastern Caribbean — most were going to The Bahamas. As such, Keith has been asking to go to The Bahamas since that was where all the kids would be. Eric and Christi kept assuring Keith that there would be lots of families in the Caribbean and he’d have plenty of friends. But as we watched the check-ins, Eric and Christi began to doubt that was true. Few families indicated they were going to the Eastern Caribbean, and those that were wouldn’t be heading over there until later in the season.

Meanwhile, yesterday it cooled down again, but the terrible cold snap hadn’t hit yet. We knew the freezing temperatures were coming and would last for a while. We did not have the proper clothing/gear on board for such low temperatures. There was no weather window to Bermuda for the next three weeks, but a weather window was opening up to The Bahamas on Wednesday. Eric and Christi decided to give up on the Eastern Caribbean and just go to The Bahamas, instead. Keith was thrilled by the news. 

Continue reading