Bahama Blue Part 4

Mar. 1.  We defrosted the frig. this morning and prepared to dinghy over to the sunken airplane. - Not much was around it, but the coral reefs in the area had a spotted eel, fish of all ages, young neon spotted bright blue fish.  Just before I hauled myself up the side of the dinghy I saw a young ray swim right near us and a couple of barracuda.  We returned to Oasis for lunch and lounging.  Alisa and I snorkeled over to a bay to see baby fish, egg sacks, and a mound of purple coral.  The boys dinghied over and picked us up.

After dinner we debated which snorkel spot to go to tomorrow - Rocky Dundas with stalactites or the grotto at Staniel Cay, seen in the James Bond movie, our ending spot.  We opted for Thunderball Grotto near Big Majors Cay where the tame pigs live.  10 miles, 3 hours.
Mar. 2, At 8:20 am we eased out at 2.6 k in 15' of water.  Supposedly Johnny Depp owns one of these cays.  At 11:50 am the anchor is down as we slowed into 5.5' of water with the same draft.   A little touch and go, but we were fine with about 6" under the keel.
We decided to go right over to the Grotto entrance while it was still low tide.  The low entrance only allows entering at low tide.

 Since we had no underwater camera again there are no pix.  The top of the rock surrounding the grotto is open to the sky allowing the light to land on the fish and make them glow in the water.  The variety was staggering though there were not a lot of fish. 
we saw red, yellow, green and bright purple corals.   We went in twice, and I just couldn't get enoug.  The more I looked, the more my eye learned to see.  Ira returned to the boat first.  Just as I reluctantly swam back to the dinghy there was a turtle along side of me.  We swam together for a while.  So cool. 
  After almost 2 weeks we had to reprovision at the two markets on Staniel Cay, Bart's Convenience and Pink Market.  We walked through the little Staniel Cay Yacht Club and down the streets.  This cay has an air strip and a few cottages to rent.

Yacht Club in the background

Meanwhile in Bangor winter rages on...

Meanwhile back at Staniel Cay they are cleaning fish and feeding the sharks -- nurse sharks:

 

We topped off the fuel in the tank with the jerry cans using the siphon and then took the cans to the fuel dock to refill.  This Catalina 445 was terrific for the 4 of us.  Nice convenient sized boat, easy to entertain, and wonderful space.

At the Staniel Cay Yacht Club we stopped for a celebratory meal and drinks.  Back to the boat for rum cake...so good we bought one to take home.

Tomorrow, our last day, we are off to see the piggies at Big Major in the morning. We heard about this place from many tourists who enjoyed the tame pigs.  We were surprised to see them swim toward our dinghy as we came close and put a leg up.  We shook our arms to indicate we had no food so they swam back to the island.  We waded ashore and patted the baby piggies and saw huge hogs - all with names on the shed walls along with pictures. They were striped, spotted,  brown, black, white, about waist high. (We forgot our camera.)

We tied up at the yacht club dock about 3:30 pm among some big power boats. (Dock fee $2.50/foot).  We had a delightful farewell dinner and then returned to no water on the boat.  The gauge was correct.  A valve in the water maker system had broken and directed the water out rather than into the tanks.  A fix for later for Ira and Alisa.

The next morning at 6:30 am we got a golf cart over to the airstrip, 5 minutes away.  Flamingo Air Charters was on time at 8:15 to fly us to Nassau.

 The last of our view of blue waters.

A huge thanks to Ira and Alisa for our fantasy vacation doing what we love - exploring, swimming, snorkeling, with great meals and conversation, and a new, wonderful friendship.  Maybe we can sail on our boat, Shawnee, or buddy boat next year to the Bahamas.  You are always welcome in New England in the summer, mooring in Marblehead and cruising from Martha's Vineyard to Downeast Maine.