Boat Trip - Days 10 - 12

Boat Trip - Days 10 - 12

June 13^th – 15^th

WEDNESDAY  – June 13^th

Our cruise from Nassau to Pig Island was perfect.  The water was amazing and there was hardly a ripple in the water.  It was like boating on glass.  We arrived at the anchorage around 2 PM.  There were two monster yachts already at anchor with a bunch of smaller 30 – 60 footers around.   This is a very popular place to anchor in the Exumas due to the deep, clear water and the protection from just about all sides.  The crew quickly got the dingy in the water and we all jumped aboard for a quick dingy trip to Staniel Cay.  Sweet Savannah (the pup) was excited to hit dry land.  After a decent walk we got back in the dingy and took the pup back to the boat.  We all grabbed our snorkel gear and headed over to Thunderball cave.  This is a great snorkel sight,,, it is named after the old Sean Connery James Bond film (1960s I think).   The snorkeling was great but due to the high currents some of the kids couldn’t make it in the cave.

Back at the boat, the crew had all of the toys in the water.  We took turns riding jet skies, tubing, paddleboards, etc.  Katie and I took the dingy over to some rocks so that I could do some hunting.  Unfortunately we picked a bad spot and I didn’t have any luck.  Around 7 PM we called it quits for the day and everyone showered up and prepared for dinner.  The kids wanted to eat inside so us adults sat upstairs and watched the sunset during dinner.  Around 9:30 PM the four of us (the adults) took the dog to Staniel Cay for her nighttime walk.  We stopped at the bar and hung out for a bit,,,, we played a few games of pool but, due to all the afternoon activities, we were all beat and ready for bed.  It’s worth mentioning that on our way to Staniel Cay we saw the most amazing shooting star ever.  It came out of nowhere, right in front of us,,, and we saw it burn its way to earth for at least five seconds.

THURSDAY  – June 14^th

We all slept in a bit Thursday.  Assunta and I did some computer work on the top deck while we enjoyed some coffee and admired the calm cool morning.   The first thing on today’s agenda was a fishing expedition.  Bubby had the poles all ready to go for our trip.  If you’ve never fished with eight people on a 14 foot dingy in the middle of the ocean,,,,, with 3 fishing poles,,, I can honestly say it’s quite an experience.  Although it was a little crowded, we made it work.  Assunta said we can’t come home until we catch six fish,,,, two hours later we had six fish.  It was great,,, we found a reef in 50~ feet of water, we set our anchor and dropped the poles in.  Rich had the first fish, Katie was next and it was a free for all after that.  When it was time to go we realized we had a problem, our anchor was stuck.  We ended up backing the boat up and finally setting it free.

Back at the mother ship the kids played with the paddleboards and kayaks while Assunta and Katie sat in the floating island.  The floating island is one of our new favorite toys.  It sits six people, has a built in cooler, sound system and a screened in floor.  You really need to see the pics,,, hopefully I’ll be able to upload them on Sunday.  Rich and I had Bubby take us on the dingy to the rocks by the inlet for some spear fishing.  We had a good catch including an average sized grouper.  After a couple hours of that we headed back to the boat to relax,,,, at this point it was almost 4 in the afternoon.  The kids were begging to do some tubing so I jumped back in the dingy and pulled them around the anchorage for an hour or so. 

After tubing we docked at the mother ship and Stevo, our chef, had just finished cleaning the fish we caught earlier.  We chummed the water behind the boat and before long we had one stingray and four nurse sharks behind the boat.  The kids got in the kayak,,, which has a see thru bottom, and they paddled around the back of the boat looking at the sharks.  We have some great pics and video of this.  Bubby jumped in the water with a mask on to watch the action first hand while taking some pics with Assunta’s underwater camera.  We had all the fish guts in my scuba gear bag.  The bag had weights in it to keep it on the bottom and we had it tied to the back of the boat to ensure the sharks didn’t take it away (they did try).  The sharks ended up biting a few holes in the bag and bending the metal handles that keep the bag closed. 

After the action died down we all showered up for our fish feast.  While dinner was being prepared we sat around and played “Beat the Parents”,,, which is a parents vs kids board game.  It was a lot of fun watching the kids all try to come to consensus on what their “final answer” would be.  We had three different types of fish and some additional sea life meat, which we’ll talk about later.  After dinner we had a repeat of the night before.  The adults jumped on the dingy and headed to Staniel Cay to walk the dog and hang at the bar for a short while.

FRIDAY  – June 15^th

Today was yet another lazy morning,,, my favorite.  We had decided that today we would reposition the boat about 27 miles further south to Darby Island.  Darby Island is owned by a few folks who I have actually never met.  Back in the day I did a website for them in exchange for use of their island.  It’s a great place to be because there isn’t anyone around and we have the entire place to ourselves.  Around 10 AM, Bubby and I took the dingy in to Staniel Cay to fuel it up, drop off trash and take Savannah for a walk.   By 11 AM we were back at the boat with everyone ready to go on a dingy trip.  Because it’s such a short ride we decided that we would take the dingy and jet ski while the crew took the big boat to Darby.

The first half of the trip was a bit bumpy and it even started to rain.  It reminded Katie and I of last year when we did the same thing,,, but in reverse, with the Farrells.  The rain was more of a mist for 10 minutes or so,,, the rest of trip was dry and warm.  We made it to Little Farmers Cay after a bit more than an hour.  We fell in love with this place last year after we ducked in to take a break from the rain.  Terry, the guy who opened his restaurant last year just for us, was there again.  Funny enough,,, he remembered us.  His first words to me were,,, “Hey Captain, you’re back!” --- We were all wet from wading in from the anchorage (bad planning on my part) so he offered us a hose and a towel to get cleaned up and dried off.  Once again we were the only ones there.  His wife took our order and we hung out while they got the music going for us.  After lunch we all sang the “Farmers Cay Song” which has now become a summer time tradition. 

After lunch we bought a few t-shirts, made our way back to the dingy (and jet ski) and headed out to the Atlantic.  The wind was strong from the west, which caused the bay to be choppy.  Out in the Atlantic the seas were flat,,, like glass.  As soon as we made it out of the pass we saw Entrepreneur about 6 miles south.  We caught up with her,,, rode the waves for a while and about 15 minutes later were at the Darby Island inlet.  Abby did the radio calls to Entrepreneur to help the captain stay in the deep water.  They got the boat docked and within 20 minutes Rich, Bubby and I were on the dingy off to go spear fishing.  We spent about 45 minutes in the water and I ended up getting the biggest fish I’ve ever speared,,,, a grouper.  Again, you’ll have to see the pictures.

Back at the boat we spent some time taking pictures, playing in the hot tub and finishing up the day.  We’re now all showered up, waiting for dinner.   Tomorrow we have a full day of play planned for Darby Island before heading to George Town Sunday AM.  Stay tuned.