ATLANTIS!!!

5.20.13 After leaving Warderick Wells, we stopped at Hawksbill Cay for two days as it is hands down our favorite beach in the Bahamas. We relaxed, swam with the mutt and had a bonfire. It was a great way to bring our trip to the Bahamas to a close. We have since been moving quickly up the island chain with few stops. We made it to Nassau last night and anchored off of Rose Island in a "protected" cove - HA! We had no protection. The wind was coming from the East and we were facing into the wind, however we were getting strange waves from the South that were slamming into the beam of the boat and rocking us side to side. This continued all through the night and since the wind was strong and the cove was shallow, we alternated anchor alarm watch and neither of us got much sleep due to the bouncing around. This morning, as soon as we could see outside, we hauled up anchor and headed in to Atlantis. This is our one splurge of the trip that we both look forward to. It is filled with days at the water park, laundry, hot, long showers, lightening fast internet, and of course, nights at the casino. We will sit here for a few days while these winds blow and then hopefully we will be able to head back stateside within the week. We have had a blast here in the Bahamas, despite the mishaps, but are looking forward to the comforts of being dockside in the U.S. See everyone soon!

Warderick Wells

5.16.13 We arrived in Warderick Wells, the park headquarters, on Sunday and dropped the hook in calm waters. We knew the wind was going to pick up in a day or two, so we opted to go snorkeling while the wind was still calm. We found some beautiful coral on the ocean side of the park and caught some video of a large spotted eagle ray swimming beneath us, as well as encountering several sharks nurse sharks. The coral heads were beautiful and because of the swift current, the water was crystal clear. We snorkeled a few other spots and then took Koa to shore in the afternoon for a swim. When the winds picked up, we spent the days hiking around the island. There are trails all over the island and you can walk from one end to the other pretty easily. While we didn't do that, we did hike many of the winding trails back and forth across the island and captured some beautiful scenery. And of course, we visited Boo Boo Hill where cruisers leave driftwood pieces with their boat names on them - either painted or carved. We spent time sorting through them to see how many of our friends' boats we could spot. Our second night at anchor, our friends on Voyager showed up and invited us over for dinner. They are just completing their 14 year circumnavigation and are heading back to Cape Canaveral so we spent an evening being regaled with tales of their journey. It seems we will be traveling at the same pace, so will likely be seeing more of them. We have also across several problem since being here in the park. We realized that we are low on water and on food - none of which can be found in the park. We are in super water conservation mode and are having to get creative with our canned food to make dinners. And last night, our camping stove connector broke and we can no longer us it. Luckily, we have a half tank of CNG left. So, we are also cooking very frugally in hopes that we have enough fuel to get us home. It will definitely be interesting to see how the remainder of the trip pans out. We will at least be able to restock food and water in Nassau. We are just holding our breaths about the stove fuel.

Snorkeling at Cambridge Cay

5.11.13 We left Staniel Cay yesterday afternoon after provisioning and headed back into the Exuam Land and Sea Park. We anchored off of Bell Island, a private island right inside the park. We did not reach our anchorage until the early evening, so we just spent a relaxing evening on the boat. The following morning, we were up early to catch the slack tides. We headed out to the site of the plane wreck that Brad and Shane had discovered earlier in the week. We tied up to the dinghy mooring there and spent a good half hour checking out the wreck. Once we had loaded out camera with pictures, we untied ourselves from the mooring and did a drift dive with the dinghy over beautiful corals lots of brightly colored fish. We saw a mammoth grouper and were escorted by several large barracuda during our snorkel. Once we reached the other side of the coral heads, we hopped back in the dinghy and moved up to another snorkel site. This one was just as beautiful with a school of amberjack, some lobsters, a lionfish, and many small colorful fish. We headed back to the boat for lunch and to wait for the next tide shift so that we could snorkel Rocky Dundas caves. We heard some friends of ours on the radio and we decided we would all get together at a local marina for sundowners. At low tide, we headed over to the caves and tied up to a mooring and snorkeled in to the cave. It was cavernous inside with stalactites growing all along the walls and a hole in the ceiling lighting the whole cave. At low tide, we were able to stand up on the bottom so we could snap some pictures. We noticed some dinghies pull up outside the cave and since there wasn't much room getting in and out, we opted to head out before they started coming in. We snorkeled some of the beautiful corals around the mouth of the cave until suddenly, off to my right, I saw a shark disappearing into the gloom. Brad was ahead of me a ways and I told myself not to panic and since he was leaving the area, to continue snorkeling. But I couldn't get my mind off of him, so I waved Brad back over and waited until we were safely in the dinghy before telling him what I had seen. Although I wasn't as concerned as I thought I would be when I saw my first shark, we were both hesitant to get back in the water, so we headed over for sundowners. We had an enjoyable evening with our friends from "Mattina" and "Voyager" and will head up to Warderick Wells tomorrow to tuck in for an upcoming blow.