Moving to an Unnamed Sand Bar in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, The Bahamas

Dawn on Saturday, December 27

We forgot to mention that one of the chores that Eric had done a few days ago was change the generator oil. Today he put away the tools. Eric frequently says that in boat maintenance, getting everything out and putting it all away again often took longer than the task itself. Eric also spent some time in the morning trying to figure out why the air conditioner in the salon mysteriously stopped working. He cleaned the sea strainer and checked the oils, but didn’t see a problem.

Today the wind was dead and the seas were completely calm. Here was our flopper stopper.

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Hiking Boo Boo Hill, Warderick Wells, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

Dawn on Friday, December 26, 2025

Given how long and busy yesterday was, today we were off to a slow start. After finishing morning schools and chores, Eric really wanted to go on a family snorkeling trip. Christi didn’t feel like she was up for an intensive swim and Keith wanted to hang out with his friends. Keith wound up going tubing with some of the other families, then the kids played on the beach near the anchorage. 

Meanwhile, Eric and Christi agreed to go on what they’d been told was an easy hike to a viewpoint called Boo Boo Hill. They took the dinghy to the dock at the ranger station, then followed the path from the ranger station to the beach. Not far past the sperm whale skeleton, they saw the trail head that led inland.

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Christmas with the Ranger at Warderick Wells Cay, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

On Thursday, December 25, 2025, Christi woke up at 0500, before first light. Warderick Wells basically has zero lights and it was cloudless (which was rare), making the stars especially vibrant. She sat outside for a few minutes and saw a shooting star! This was the dawn.

Early in the morning, the park ranger’s wife sang to us about the rules of the park. We’d forgotten about her morning announcements!

Some of the other parents organized a scavenger hunt around the island for the kids. in the morning, Keith went on the scavenger hunt. Here was a shot of the group.

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Moving to Warderick Wells, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

The sunrise on Wednesday, December 24 was delayed by a giant cloud, but it did eventually rise above the cloud.

In the morning, we got Kosmos ready to go to sea and pulled up anchor at about 0840. The rest of the flotilla left about the same time as us. The ride from Hawksbill Cay to Warderick Wells Cay was smooth and uneventful — for us in a powerboat. At first the sailboats moved faster than Kosmos since the wind was good, but at the end they had to turn into the wind to get into the anchorage, and they all slowed way down. We arrived at about 1100.

We anchored father south than we had last time, on the edge of a mooring field.

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