We’re still in Rock Sound on Eleuthera, and we’re still under a 24 hour curfew. So far, there are 24 confirmed cases in The Bahamas and 1 fatality. Most of the cases are in Nassau, and fortunately, none in Eleuthera. The only out island with a case is Bimini.

In addition to the 24 hour curfew, there is a ban on inter island travel. We can leave anytime, but we would have to leave The Bahamas. And, we can still return to the US at anytime.

In one of the Prime Minister’s speeches, he warned people on the out islands that they have to take this seriously because they don’t have advanced medical care like Nassau and Freeport. He warned about traveling by boat or airplane to other islands. He said if you see that, not to let them on your island.

On the daily cruiser net, this has been interpreted many different ways. Same with the inter island travel ban. “They don’t mean us… it’s just commercial boats”. “we’re sheltering in place; our home, we’re just moving our home.” I’m sure you can imagine the justifications for business as usual.

Today, all the boats at anchor were visited by the police, customs, and immigration officers. They cleared up all the ambiguity. We cannot go ashore. If we need resources such as food, fuel, and medicine, we have a list of numbers for local businesses that will deliver to the dingy dock. We are to call and make arrangements for delivery. We are allowed to leave the boat and enjoy the water, we just can’t go ashore. After they moved on to the next boat, I went out for a paddle board trip.

Most boaters are staying put. Like us, as long as we have access to resources and the Bahamians will have us, we’re going to ride it out and here instead of risking it in the US.

We’ll keep sending updates on our status.

We’re still anchored in Rock Sound Eleuthera. The number of cases in The Bahamas is now 9. Eight of the cases are in Nassau, and one in Freeport. None on Eleuthera or any of the other out islands.

The 24 hour curfew is still in effect until 9AM on the 31st. Though, it sounds like it’s going to be extended from reading speeches from officials.

We can’t leave the boat except for groceries, fuel, take-out, or banking. We also can’t move the boat to other islands or towns. Yesterday, we did take the boat out several miles to empty our holding tanks and make fresh water. I do consider that essential travel.

I know most are wondering why we haven’t returned to the US. Not an hour goes by that I don’t ponder returning myself, but we still believe we’re better off where we are.

We’re on a remote sparsely populated island. We’re on a boat away from the general population. Travel between islands has been shutdown. We do go ashore for groceries and fuel on occasions. Everyone is good about trying to stay at least 6 feet apart. The stores are well stocked, the gas stations are full, and we still feel welcomed. If any of those change, we’ll head back to the US.

It appears the virus is more prevalent in the US. Most communities have the same restrictions we have here. It’s too early in the year to go back to Chicago so we’d have to stay in a marina for a couple of months. Or, haul the boat out of the water and drive home. Many marinas are reducing services, closing, or are being forced to close. The Waterway Guide is in regular contact with all the east coast marinas and keeps a spreadsheet up to date with their current status. It’s not as simple as it sounds, but it’s always an option.

Stay safe and feel free to reach out if you have questions or just want to chat.

The Bahamian Government has implemented a 24 hour curfew and closed all sea and air ports. There is also a travel ban in place within The Bahamas.

We anticipated this happening and that’s why we left Black Point and headed to Rock Sound. Monday, we went to the ATM for cash, got groceries, and filled our jerry cans with diesel.

Between the hours of 5AM to 9PM, we are allowed to leave our house (boat in our case) to travel to the grocery store, gas station, or medical facilities. We’re also allowed to leave for an hour to exercise — as long as we maintain a minimum 6 foot distance between ourselves and others.

The grocery store was low on produce on Monday, which is typical in The Bahamas. A truck is scheduled to arrive today. We’ll give them a call this afternoon and make the trek to the store if they got resupplied. For our hour of exercise, we’ll take the dingy to a remote deserted beach and walk around.

It is frustrating that fellow cruisers are ignoring the travel ban and moving their boats. This morning 3 boats headed out. I can only hope they’re leaving the country, which is allowed under the travel ban.

From reports I’ve been reading, the Miami area was ordering hotels closed. Marinas fell under this order. Through lobbying from several boating organizations, marinas were exempt. Unfortunately, many of the boaters were ignoring the requests not to gather and having dock parties. The next day, the marinas were forced closed again and all boats had to leave.

I’m worried if cruisers continue to ignore the travel bans, the government will be forced take stronger measures.

We still believe we’re better off on our boat in The Bahamas than we would be back in the States. In the States, restrictions are on a state, county, and even city level. A county may allow travel, but a city in the county may restrict it. Worse, it’s changing on a day to day basis.

Here’s hoping the Bahamian hospitality holds up in these trying times. We are prepared to head back to the States if required, but we’d prefer waiting for things to settle down.

So far, the number infected in The Bahamas is still being reported as 4.

A fourth infection has been verified in The Bahamas. The four cases are in Nassau and in the same household. The Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency, closed non essential businesses, enacted a nightly curfew, and banned non essential travel between the islands.

Though we loved Black Point settlement, it’s not a good place for us to hunker down. There is no fuel on the cay, and there is no protection from a west wind. Though rare, they do happen.

We used our final day to travel to make the 55 mile run to Rock Sound in Eleuthera. We have 360 degree protection, food, fuel, and an international airport. We’re also closer to the US than we would have been in George Town. Eleuthera is a single large island with several towns and most goods are trucked into town.

While we’re here, we’re going to limit our trips into town. There are plenty of reefs to snorkel and empty remote beaches to explore. Who knows, maybe I’ll catch a lobster or conch.

Sue and I are still in Black Point Settlement. Friends were scheduled to fly into Rock Sound Eleuthera Monday to meet us. We’ve been waiting at Black Point for the winds to shift from east to southeast so we could sail.

Yesterday, their plans were cancelled and we’re trying to figure out where we want to go next. We know we don’t want to go to Nassau as there have been 3 confirmed cases of COVID-19. We were thinking George Town, but there was chatter on the SSB (shortwave) radio this morning about someone being airlifted out due to the virus. I haven’t seen that reported anywhere else, so I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s enough to knock George Town down a couple of notches.

We’re starting to think somewhere remote without an international airport would be best. But, what happens if we already have it and start showing symptoms while we’re on a remote island? Can we sail back to civilization and get help?

The other option is coming back to the US, but many of the marinas are closed. I’d also like to avoid the panic that seems to be running wild in the US. My allergies are acting up and I’m running low on medicine. I’d hate to get rounded up and thrown into quarantine because of hay fever.

It’s status quo here in the Bahamas. We went out for happy hour, dinner, and later a bonfire on the beach. We thought the mailboat came in last night to resupply the stores, so we got up early to get fresh produce and milk, but it was the wrong boat. We went for a nice long walk in the bright sun. UV light is supposed to kill viruses, right? The mailboat finally arrived this afternoon, so we’ll try to top off on provisions.

Tonight, we’re going to hit happy hour at Club Scorpio and figure out where we’re going next. Scott from Long Shot is still anchored with us. Hopefully, we can buddy boat for a while until this blows over.

We’ll keep you updated. We’re safe and on a boat, about as self quarantined as you can get… at least until happy hour.

We left Nassau Saturday morning and wanted to head somewhere remote. With the virus going around, we didn’t think hanging around a cruise ship port, international airport, and mega resorts like Atlantis and Baha Mar, was a good idea. The winds were right for us to go back to the Exumas, so that’s where we headed.

We were enroute to Normans Cay when we heard from our friend Scott from Milwaukee. He was at Highbourne Cay so we altered course to meet up with him. Scott’s on an Island Packet named ‘Long Shot’. And he has an upgraded freezer that can hold ice cream, something you don’t see too much of on a boat. He was kind enough to bring over rum milkshakes for dessert — they were excellent.

Scott’s a climber and when he works on his mast he doesn’t use a bosons chair. Instead he uses a harness and climbing ascenders to climb up a halyard. The next morning, he brought his gear over, climbed my mast, and changed my anchor light. I had bought an LED replacement bulb before we left. It’s a major ordeal for us to work on the mast. I don’t know that Sue could use the winch to hoist me, and I’m not comfortable sending her up. I was amazed at how quickly and easily Scott was able get up and down the mast.

After Highbourne Cay, we headed to the Cambridge Cay mooring field in the national park. All the mooring balls were taken so we ended up going to another anchorage just outside the park. It was rolly and I touched bottom a couple of times heading in, but it was good enough for the night.

Our anchorage was close to Rachel’s Bubble Bath, however, so in the morning we took the dingy to shore to check it out. It was nice to get off the boat and walk a bit. The Bubble Bath is best at high tide, but we didn’t want to wait another 3 hours, so we took in what we could. Still a nice stop.

From there, we headed towards Black Point settlement. It’s just south of Staniel Cay on Great Guana Cay. There are a couple of restaurants, bars, a grocery store, and the best laundromat in the Bahamas.

The bars and restaurants announce their specials over the VHF hailing channel. Dinner reservations are required at many Bahamian restaurants, and they take reservations over the radio. Very boater centric here.

Our plan is to stay here until we have a weather window to sail to Rock Sound in Eleuthera. We have friends who will be flying into Rock Sound next Monday to visit. Hopefully, they’ll be able to make it through the airports.

For the last week, Sue and I have been staying at a marina in Nassau. Our friends, Paul and Bev, flew down from Chicago to visit us for the week. Unfortunately, a cold front came through the day they arrived so we couldn’t do much on the boat due to the cold and strong winds. Instead, we decided to explore some of the tourist spots in Nassau

The marina we stay at is 2 miles east of the downtown area. The resort they stayed at was 4 miles west of the downtown area. We’re avid walkers, but that’s more than we can handle.

Normally, we’d get the bikes out and cover the 6 miles in no time. Unfortunately, neither of us felt safe riding a bicycle in Nassau. The roads don’t have shoulders and in many places, they don’t have sidewalks either.

The other other idea we entertained was to rent a car. Since I was going to have to drive, I shot that one down pretty quick. In The Bahamas, they drive on the left side of the road and many intersections are traffic circles. I can handle driving on the left, and I’ve had practice with traffic circles. But, there is no way I was going to do traffic circles, while driving on the left, in heavy traffic.

As a pedestrian, I’ve noticed the drivers use their horns to communicate with each other. In Chicago, a horn only represents anger or frustration. Here, they communicate using horns. A single short blast is a “may I”. A double short blast is “you can go, I’ll yield”. A single long blast is “No”. There are other signals, but I didn’t hear them enough to figure out what they mean.

The drivers are maniacs here, but they’re also very courteous. They let others in, they merge properly, there is no cutting. They drive fast. If there is a shoulder or walk, it’s fair game. The high speed traffic circles have their own horn codes that I couldn’t figure out.

After talking to several locals, we decided to use the Jitney bus service. It’s $1.25 a ride, and once you figure out the routes, it’s great. The drivers and locals on the bus can tell we’re tourists, and try to help us out the best they can. This is so different from the CTA experience.

It still amazes me how friendly and helpful everyone is. Walking down the street, folks say good morning or good day. No one is in a hurry, and if you have questions, they’ll stop and talk. If I look confused, which I often do, they’ll stop and ask if I need help.

Our week with Paul and Bev flew by. The resort they stayed at was very exclusive but they were able to get guest passes for Sue and I to join them at the pools and private beach. The cold and high winds have passed, so we plan to leave the marina on Saturday and head south again.

Sue’s short vacation from our long vacation is over and she’s back aboard. Bruce is back in Chicago. I had a great time during his visit and I’m glad he made it down. We didn’t make it as far was we hoped, but did the best we could with the winds we were given. Thanks Bruce!

Sue and I wanted to leave Nassau, but didn’t want to venture too far because we have to be back in Nassau in a week to meet up with friends flying down to visit.

We stayed at the marina an extra day due to weather and to meet up with our friend Scott from Milwaukee.

Scott also has an Island Packet 380. We met him a couple of years ago when we sailed to Milwaukee for a long weekend. He also left the cold last year to sail south. He took the Tennessee river route and left later in the year than us. We were finally able to meet up with him in Nassau.

We left Nassau Monday morning and headed northwest to the Berry Islands. Our goal was to get to the northern end of the chain and hang out in Great Harbor Cay for a few days. It was too far to make in a day so we stopped at Chub Cay in the southern Berry’s for the night. The next day we sailed to Bullock Harbor, on Great Harbor Cay, in the Berry Islands, to camp out.

Today we took the dingy to the town dock. The dock was busy because during the night the mail boat arrived to deliver supplies to the town. Royal Caribbean’s Coco Cay is next to Great Harbor, and there was a fair amount of supplies being reloaded onto smaller boats and brought over to Coco.

Coco cay appears to be one of the larger employers here. During shift change there are many commuter boats bringing employees to and from Coco Cay.

While we were walking around, we noticed a car in the middle of a pond. It looked like something you’d see in the Dukes of Hazard. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how the car got where it was. In Chicago, I’d guess they drove out on the ice and fell through. I can assure you, that didn’t fall through the ice. I stopped in a restaurant for conch salad and the guy making it explained how it happened. Take a look at the picture and let me know if you figure it out. The first to figure it out, come on down and I’ll buy you a Kalik Gold.

We also walked to the marina and later to the beach and a restaurant bar on the beach.

Tomorrow, we start heading back towards Nassau. Another cold front is scheduled to hit Friday night.

Sue and I made it back to Nassau. She flew home for a week to take care of a few things. While she was gone, my friend Bruce flew down to visit and sail in The Bahamas.

I’d been watching the weather all week and heading to the Exumas was the best option. Then the wind would shift and we’d make our way to Rock Sound. We could spend a day exploring, then start working our way back to Nassau.

The first day we made it to Normans Cay as planned. As we were leaving Normans Cay we had mechanical issues. I had lost steerage and propulsion at the same time. We got the sails down and were able to anchor so I could investigate.

My initial thought was the control cable for putting the boat in gear got caught up in the steering gears, disabling both. I took the binnacle apart and the cable and gears were fine.

Next, I decided to check the other end of the shifting cable and the transmission. That’s when I found the real issue. I didn’t see a prop shaft connected to the transmission. The prop shaft had disconnected from the transmission, slid back and jammed into the rudder!

I got the mask, snorkel, and fins on. I jumped in the water and was able to push the shaft back up. Bruce was waiting by the transmission and held the prop shaft once I pushed it in. I found the 4 bolts that fell out and was able to put it all back together and get us running again.

Unfortunately, it was too late to try and make it to Rock Sound. I also didn’t feel comfortable crossing the sound, which is over 5,000 feet deep, to get to Eleuthera, after a major failure like that.

Instead, we headed south hoping to get to Staniel Cay. But the wind started to shift and waves were building so we couldn’t sail south anymore. We decided to call it quits at Warderick Wells in the national park.

We picked up a mooring ball, took the dingy to shore and climbed Boo Boo hill then headed back for a much needed beer.

The next day, the weather forecast changed and a cold front with strong north winds was going to pass through early Thursday morning, so we decided to head back early.

We left Wardrick Wells early and got to Normans Cay around lunch time. We anchored and took the dingy to shore and to have lunch at MacDuffs. Probably the best burger in the Bahamas. After lunch, we sailed up to Highborne Cay were we spent the night.

The next day, we sailed back to Nassau and the marina. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and as predicted, the cold front came through Thursday morning. It brought strong winds out of the north and we were both happy to be safe in a marina.

Bruce flies home on Friday and Sue comes back on Saturday. Once she gets here, we’ll need a few days to sort everything out and then we’ll continue our adventure.

We arrived at the town of Salt Pond, Long Island, late Saturday afternoon. Our plan was to go to Tiny’s Hurricane Hole, a bar / restaurant / laundromat, on Sunday to do our laundry. Tiny’s doesn’t open until 2PM on Sundays, so we walked around to check out the town first. Like Eleuthera, almost all businesses were closed on Sunday.

At 2:00 sharp, we were at Tiny’s with our laundry only to find out they got out of the laundry business. We ended up going back to the boat and try to find where the next laundromat is.

The next morning we headed back into town to hit the grocery store, and was surprised to see it was as well stocked as any of the stores in George Town. And yes, they had hummus too, so I picked up a couple more tubs.

After our grocery run, we pulled anchor and headed to the northern tip of Long Island where we spent the night at a protected but rolly anchorage.

The next morning we headed across the ocean to the southern end of Cat Island and the town of New Bight.

We wanted to spend a full day in New Bight because there were a couple sites we wanted to see, and we also wanted to have lunch at one of the restaurants in town.

In the morning we took the dingy to town and beached it in front of the police station. There was a policeman standing in the parking lot and I asked him if okay for me to park there. He chuckled and said it’s probably the best place in town to leave your tender.

The sites we wanted to see were Mount Alvernia, at 207 feet, it’s the highest “mountain” in the Bahamas. The second site was The Hermitage, which is a small scale monastery built by the famous Father Jerome.

After visiting the sites, we hitchhiked to the grocery store to pick up a few more items then we stopped at a restaurant for lunch.

While we were eating lunch, two couples also came in to dine. While we were chatting with them we mentioned that we’re from Chicago. One couple said they’re from a small town north of Bloomington. I jokingly said Chenoa. They looked surprised and said yes. For those who don’t know, I lived in Chenoa until we moved out in ’77.

The couple we met moved into town a few years after I had left, so there was no overlap, but we know a lot of the same people. I got to find out what happened to the businesses, the schools, and some of the folks I remembered. It was great.

What are the odds that we’d meet each other on one of the more remote Bahamian Island. Chenoa has less than 2000 people. For all the years I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve never met anyone from Chenoa. And, one of the guys even remembered Sue’s brother-in-law from when he went to high school in Morton, IL.

We were in George Town for only four days but we had to do the “George Town Shuffle”. That when the wind changes directions and most cruisers move their boats to a more protected anchorage. I say most, because some have a prime spot they don’t want to give up and are willing to ride out a day or two of rough water top keep their spot. Not us, we’ll always move for the better protection. So, we left the Chat ‘N Chill location and moved closer to the NAPA.

I had a few odds and ends I needed, so we walked to NAPA, the lumberyard, the pharmacy, and finally the butcher. George Town has it all. I even managed to get a propane tank refilled earlier in the morning.

The butcher was the highlight of the trip. Their food was reasonably priced. And, they had Stacy’s pita chips and hummus. I hadn’t seen that since Nassau. We loaded up on chips, hummus, and Italian sausages.

The Ministry of Tourism was hosting a party that evening and all the cruisers were invited. The food was a buffet of Bahamian dishes, salad, and several desserts. You had to buy your booze.

This is so different than the US. Here, the locals and the government appreciate the boaters and the boost to the local economy. In the US, they pass restrictive laws and harass boaters trying to chase them away. After boating down here, it’s going to be hard dealing with the BS while boating back in the states.

George Town was getting too comfortable and we had a good day to head east, so Saturday morning we took off for Long Island, which is south east of George Town. While heading towards Long Island, we crossed the Tropic of Cancer, so we’re officially in the tropics. I’d have to wait until June to see the sun directly overhead. Who knows, maybe that will be the day the solar panels put out their rated amount.

The prevailing winds are out of the east so it’s rare to have a day to sail east. Today, there was no wind. It was dead calm, so we motored east. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than motoring into 20 knot winds and the waves.

We left Emerald Bay and made our way to George Town. It was a short 10 mile sail, but long enough for us to make fresh water to top off our tanks.

George Town is a major cruising hub and for many, this is their end destination. Many drop their anchor and stay in George Town until the hurricane season chases them away. For others, this is a great resting and resupply stop before moving on.

As we pulled in, I was shocked at how many boats were already here. I haven’t seen this many AIS targets on my chart plotter since New York. Who knew there were so many other people living on boats like this.

There are many places to anchor in the George Town area. Since I don’t have a go fast dingy, I wanted to be closer to Lake Victoria and the town dingy dock. You can anchor in front of the Lake Victoria entrance, but with the prevailing easterlies, it’s always rough. That spot is mostly occupied by rowers, the cruisers who don’t have a motor on their dingy, or they have an electric motor that can’t make it to and from the more protected anchorages.

I do have a motor, so we anchored at the closest protected anchorage, Stocking Island just off the famous bar restaurant Chat ‘N Chill.

Since Chat N Chill is on Stocking island, a boat is the only way to get their. It’s all powdery white sand and you beach your dingy and tie up to anything. They picnic tables shaded by pine trees, volleyball nets, and walking ropes. The conch hut thats on the beach is constantly throwing scraps into the water, feeding the friendly rays. They have many events scheduled, and a lot of folks come and hang out, no need to buy anything. In the evenings, the light a bonfire to try and keep the no-see-ems at bay.

Since George Town is a major hub, you run into a lot of folks here. On our first day, while we were walking down the road, we ran into Knot Head. It’s nice to know that he made it. We lost track of each other when we changed phone numbers when we got to The Bahamas. We exchanged updated numbers and I’m sure we’ll be seeing him some more this winter.

The next day we ran into friends we met in Alice Town in Eleuthera. Since they’re regulars, they pointed out the good stuff. Later that day, we ran into a young couple and their 3 kids we met in Spanish Wells. Living on a boat is hard, I can’t imagine doing it with a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 1 year old.

We even ran into famous people. While we were shopping, I turned the corner and there was Sheryl Shard from the Canadian TV series Distant Shores. I wanted a picture, but I’m sure they get a lot of that and are tired of it, so I left them alone.

Shopping in George Town is supposed to be the best outside of Nassau, but I prefer Rock Sound. There are 2 stores in downtown that good, but the best is the Prime Island Meats, but it’s over 3 miles out of town.

After shopping we decided to go for a walk on one of the trails on Stocking island. We also stopped at Chat ‘N Chill to see what’s going on.

We left the anchorage fondly know as “the bay of pigs” in Staniel Cay and headed for Black Point Settlement, which is a small town 10 miles away. It may only be 10 miles away, but the atmosphere is completely different than Staniel Cay. It’s more relaxed and easy going.

Black Point has a large anchorage, several dingy docks, stores, restaurants, garbage bins, and a laundromat that has been awarded the “best laundromat in the Exumas” for many years. The laundromat even has their own dingy dock so cruisers don’t have to drag their laundry across town.

We did our laundry, and I have to say, this is the nicest laundromat we’ve been to on our entire trip. It helps that next to it is the local casino and across the street are 2 bars.

Black Point is so cruiser friendly that the restaurants and bars broadcast their daily specials on channel 16 at 9AM. They also take reservations and orders over VHF.

The grocery stores were pretty bare since the mailboat hasn’t been in town for 2 weeks. We ended up spending 2 nights waiting on the mailboat, which finally arrived so we headed to shore to be the first to buy our produce. Unfortunately, it was the boat bringing the liquor and building supplies. The mailboat carrying the food never made it.

We left Black Point and went another 10 miles or so to Farmers Cay. The wind was coming out of the west again, and this is one of the few places that had protection. The current is strong and the anchorage was crowded, so we picked up a mooring ball from the Farmers Cay Yacht Club. The mailboat hasn’t made it here yet, so the yacht club had booze, but the only food they had was fresh fish, no sides. In the future, I’m going to start following the mailboat instead of being ahead of it.

The west winds finally left and the next day we headed to the Marina at Emerald Bay. It’s been almost a month since we’ve been at a marina and had electricity. It’s been humid lately and the boats been feeling pretty damp. I was looking forward to 3 days of running the air conditioner to dry things out.

If Emerald Bay sounds familiar, it’s because it’s owned and managed by Sandals. This is the Sandals at Emerald Bay. Unfortunately, dockage does not include usage of the Sandals resort. That’s an extra $180 a day per person. I just can’t eat and drink that much, so we took a pass, and found some nice restaurants off property, and they had food!

The Bahamas seems to be the land of failed real-estate developments. Everywhere we go there are half built homes, shopping malls, marinas, and even neighborhoods. But, the failed neighborhood here had to be the biggest we’ve seen yet. The roads, sewers, electrical are all in place, as is the case at most abandoned developments. What makes this one so interesting is all the lots were to have water access. The canals have all been dug through rock to give each lot their own water access. The impressive part is the height of these canals. This isn’t like Florida where the house is only a couple of feet above the water. Here, the homes appear to be 50 plus feet above the water. The model home has an elevator to take you from the yard down to your floating dock. Thats a lot of rock that needed to be removed.

Next, we head to Georgetown where we can finally re-provision..

We left Cambridge Cay in the afternoon and made the short 10 mile trip to Staniel Cay. I had made pizza dough a couple of days before and it was ready, so it was pizza night. On our trip I was able to get the veggies ready while Sue stretched the dough. We didn’t bring a pizza stone, but found our largest cast iron pan works great.

We arrived a little before sunset, got the anchor set and the pizza in the oven just in time to watch a beautiful sunset. I had also picked up a Kalik Gold in Highbourne Cay, just for pizza night. It doesn’t get any better than pizza and cold beer on anchor.

The next morning we took the dingy to pig beach to see the famous Staniel Cay swimming pigs. I had been saving vegetable scraps over the last few days and even added a good carrot to the mix. Like the iguanas on Allens Cay, the pigs don’t like you visiting empty handed.

Before we landed on the beach, the pigs were heading towards us. As you can see from the pictures, I was trying to drag the dingy on shore but we were surrounded. To make matters worse, Sue was scared to get out of the dingy. Aggressive pan handling on the streets of uptown never scared her, but a bunch of “friendly” pigs had her worried.

I took the food and led them away from the boat long enough for Sue to get out and walk around. But, when I ran out of food, they figured it was time to get Sue’s food and they headed towards her. She ran into the water and I dragged the dingy out to rescue her from the pigs.

I had a good time, but I don’t think we’ll be returning to pig beach anytime soon.

After playing with the pigs, we came back to the boat to get our shopping bags and cooler. I also brought 2 of our Jerry cans to get more gas and diesel.

It’s about a mile from where we’re anchored to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. They have a nice dingy beach, restaurants, a couple of bars, and fuel. We had lunch at the restaurant, topped up our cans at the fuel dock, and then headed into town to go shopping.

The Mail Boat, the supply ship that stocks the stores, arrives on Wednesday. It’s Tuesday, so not much left for fresh veggies at the market. It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve been able to get avocados, and we used our last head of cabbage.

In town, there are two grocery stores. Blue and Pink, and they’re next to each other to make it even more convenient. The bakery is the yellow building down the street from Pink and Blue. We stopped by too late because they were already sold out of everything.

We spent the night at Highborne Cay after picking up my credit card and a couple of cold beers. In the morning, we headed to Cambridge Cay in the southern end of the Land and Sea Park.

We arrived early enough to take the dingy to a snorkel site called the Aquarium. It gets this name from all the fish on this reef. As soon as I jumped in, there were schools of fish swarming me. It was a little creepy at first, but you get use to it after a while.

The next day, we snorkeled Tom’s Elkhorn Reef, which had rare Elkhorn coral, and plenty of fish. I was staring down a large grouper, wishing I had a spear gun and was outside the park. So far, this is the nicest reef I’ve snorkeled on. It was so nice I started thinking about getting scuba equipment. If only I had a bigger boat for all the toys. Until then, I’ll have to stick with snorkeling.

After lunch, we went to the Rocky Dungas site. There are 2 islands with caves you can snorkel into. At low tide they’re exposed, but outside of that you have to swim underwater to get in. We were close enough to low tide that you didn’t have to go under water to get into the cave.