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

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Moving to Hog Cay, Long Island, The Bahamas

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

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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The Hamilton Cave Tour, Long Island, The Bahamas

Saturday February 7 — Tiki Tour and Zimovia were also in the anchorage. Diane from Tiki organized a family outing to Dean’s Blue Hole. Diane arranged for us to rent minivans. The people renting out the vehicles met the group at Tiny’s to collect the money and hand over the keys. Tiki and Zimovia shared a minivan, and Kosmos shared one with Blue Heeler.

Kosmos and Blue Heeler took full advantage of the vehicle to do some shopping and sightseeing. The first stop was a farmer’s market, which was not far from the anchorage by car, but too far to walk. The market wasn’t all that big, with a small selection of produce, eggs, and some artisan goods. Eric wasn’t sure if it was normally small or if they’d just come too late and the majority of goods were already sold. But he was relieved to have finally found eggs.

Next was the Hamilton Cave Tour, which was a privately owned limestone cave in Clarencetown. The owner had a small storefront on the road. Eric called a number listed on No Foreign Land, and thankfully the owner said there was a tour starting in a few minutes. They went to the store, then followed the owner about 1/4 mile or so to his property (which would have been hard to find on their own). There was a fee for the tour, but Eric couldn’t remember what it cost. They joined some other tourists, and the group went down a staircase to the mouth of the cave.

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Hanging Out in Elizabeth Harbour, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

Tuesday, February 3 – The weather forecast for today indicated that it would finally be calm enough to move from the very protected nook in Crab Cay to the main anchorage area in Elizabeth Harbour. He anchored by the Peace and Plenty resort on Stocking Island (which was owned by the same company that owns the Peace and Plenty hotel and restaurant in Georgetown).

When Kosmos arrived, there was lots of space in the anchorage, but as the day progressed, more boats arrived and the anchorage area filled in.

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