Steve and I were rested and ready to get moving when our friends Darlyn and Brad arrived on April 5th. We had had as much down-time as we could stand; for us, boat life is synonymous with activity and adventure, and we'd had too little of either during the previous week.
Darlyn and Brad have joined us in the Bahamas for the past two seasons but had come during the late February/early March timeframe each year. The first year, we had focused on catching lobster in the Abacos. The second year, we explored the beautiful Exumas by land and by sea and caught conch. This year's goal was for Brad to catch a Mahi and to visit some of our favorite snorkeling spots. Well, to be fair, the guys' main goal was Mahi. For Darlyn and I the primary objective is always the same: spend time together and laugh a lot!
We left the morning after their arrival and motor-sailed to Shroud Cay, one of the beautiful spots in the Exumas Land and Sea Park. Our plan was to enjoy the scenery there for a day or two and then fish our way back to Highbourne Cay.
During our time in the park, we snorkeled in the morning and in the afternoon, we traveled from the west side of Shroud Cay through the mangrove channel to Washing Machine Beach on the Atlantic side.
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| BFFs at Washing Machine Beach at Shroud Cay |
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| The Captain and First Mate on Shore Leave |
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| Reflection of the Water on a White-tailed Tropic Bird |
We decided to leave the next day since we'd seen the main attractions at Shroud Cay. We weighed anchor at 6:30 am so that we could catch the outgoing tide as we passed through the cuts between the land masses on our way from Shroud Cay to Highbourne Cay. Local knowledge and our own experience confirm that the best chance of catching fish occurs during the outgoing tide.
As luck would have it, Brad caught his first fish at 8:15 am!
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| Mission Accomplished!! |
We arrived early enough at Highbourne Cay to snorkel the north side of the island that afternoon and ended the day with a fabulous mahi dinner.
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| Bluehead Wrasse |
The weather the following day was cloudy, with on-again, off-again rain so Darlyn I decided to skip the "in search of conch" snorkeling expedition. We decided to check out Leaf Cay since the chart indicated there were some ruins there.
The ruins consisted of a single, relatively modern structure that looked as if it had been destroyed in a hurricane. The walk felt good, though, and we had several wildlife encounters that made the trip ashore worthwhile.
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| Laura Exploring the Ruins on Leaf Cay |
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One of Leaf Cay's Current Inhabitants
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While Darlyn and I were standing on Leaf Cay watching Steve and Brad snorkeling in the distance, we noticed a beautiful black, white and yellow bird flitting about. All of a sudden, the bird flew toward me and I wondered if it was attracted to the orange raincoat I was wearing. It landed in a tree right next to where we were standing so Darlyn pulled out her phone to get a picture. It proceeded to fly back and forth, repeatedly, towards us and then back to the tree. Darlyn was able to capture it all on video, and we surmise that we were standing too close to its nest.
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| A Bahamas Warbler Protects the Nest |
Brad was also successful in his quest for conch and we celebrated that evening with conch salad.
We wrapped up our time in the Exumas at one of our favorite snorkeling spots. The amazing thing about this underwater world is that, no matter how many times I explore the same location, I usually spot some new creature to try and capture electronically. This time, we found this adorable guy...a spotted porcupinefish, which is a member of the pufferfish family (Diodontidae, to be precise).
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| Spotted Porcupine Fish |
A week passes in a flash and the next day it was already time to head back to Nassau for Brad and Darlyn's departure on Saturday. We fished on the way back, and Brad scored a second mahi just minutes before we were going to pull in the lines. The return trip was an uneventful, and we motored back to Nassau Harbour for our finally evening together.
P.S. Many of you know that our sweet puppy, Jake, is no longer with us. This year was the first time since we began our Starry Night Adventures that we've been in the Bahamas without him. Although I haven't mentioned him until now, I've missed him immensely and think about him often - especially as we approach the long, beautiful sandy beaches that Jake loved so much and where he had an uncanny ability to nose out chicken bones. I was telling Darlyn how much I still missed him and how many little things reminded me of him, and she said, "Well, I choose to believe that heaven exists and that my loved ones will be waiting for me when I die. And I don't know about pets, but I can imagine that Jake is in heaven - and it's a beautiful Bahamas beach - and he's running along with a chicken bone is his mouth. I smiled as I imaged that scene and the conversation drifted to other topics.
The very next day, a gift appeared on our solar panel....in the form of a chicken bone!!!
To be clear, we were in the Exumas Land and Sea Park where there are no houses and no restaurants. Uncanny...
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| Things That Make You Go Hmmm |
Our next series of guests were first-timers with us in the Bahamas! While they had all been aboard Starry Night while she was docked or anchored in the U.S., they had not sailed with us or experienced life aboard nor visited the Exumas. Catch a glimpse of their experience in my next installment!
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