Working our way north in the Bahamas

 After leaving Georgetown in the middle of the Bahamas, we did lots of short hops up the Exuma chain of Cays. There is so much to see and do in the beautiful aquamarine water here.  One of our first stops was on an island with an underwater piano for snorkeling.  We think the island was owned by David Copperfield.  Micah is getting so good at diving deep after weeks of being a reluctant snorkeler.  

Attached to the underwater piano was the statue of a mermaid. It was really interesting. 

A few miles away there was a beach where a lot of iguanas would come out once we landed the dinghy.  They were very hungry and looking for food. Some were small and some were really big. They were pretty friendly and we fed them some vegetables from the boat. 

The Exuma Cays were all limestone with many cliffs and caves to explore. This cave was at the waters edge and had a tiny little beach inside. 

While we were anchored next to the cave, we did some filming with the drone to get some shots of us and the surrounding area.  

The beautiful days and nights just blend into one another out here - in a really nice way. We have such a pleasant routine of daily living, learning and exploring.  Red sky at night, sailors delight!

Next up, we went to an island with a bunch of resident wild pigs. They are a local tourist attraction, so they are very used to being fed by people - to the point of being quite aggressive when we showed up in the dinghy.

This video catches the feelings of the kids quite well!  They were not big fans of the pigs. 

We discovered a beautiful grotto that was featured in the Bond movie “Thunderball”. It was a huge cave with underwater entrances.  Some entrances were easier than others. It was breathtaking. 

Sharks are everywhere in the Bahamas. Reef sharks, Nurse Sharks and many others. They particularly like hanging out in marinas where fishermen clean their catches. At one marina, they came so close to shore that you could easily touch them. 

There are endless places to see cool stuff underneath the surface of the ocean, and all in shallow water. We found a sunk Cessna airplane that may have been used for drug running in the 80’s. The Bahamas were central in the drug trade back then.  This plane was just off of an island owned by Johnny Depp.  We never had a sighting of Cap’n Jack Sparrow :)

On our way north, we stopped at Waderick Wells which is a spectacular marine park. There were kayaks to use on the beach and apparently lots of ghosts ashore that spent the nights moaning and wailing. We never heard them, but they were supposed to be from when people were left stranded there by pirates. 

After getting our fill of snorkeling in azure, warm water, we headed over the Exuma bank into Nassau. We had been dreaming about the “Disneyland of Waterparks” called “Atlantis”. The Atlantis complex is on a huge piece of land that includes thousands of 5 star hotel rooms in huge towers, mega aquariums with sharks, mantas and many other kinds of fish, and an amazing array of water slides and tube rides.  We spoiled ourselves and spent 3 days moored at their marina alongside all of the visiting super yachts. 

The slides were intense!  Some started close to vertical and then shot you through a tank full of live sharks!  

Here, Lana is on an inflatable tube (inside of a glass tube) floating through the shark tank!

The tube rides were super awesome. They all ended up in a lazy river that had rapid sections and a long wave pool section. The whole loop took over 30 minutes. It was gigantic. 

Atlantis was like a crash immersion back to opulent civilization for us. We all adjusted quite quickly :)

We also spent a few days at anchor to reprovision and see the “real” Nassau.  There was another great pirate museum, and lots of interesting shops to peruse. 

After a week, or so, we left Nassau and headed north towards Freeport. We planned to wait there for a good weather window to head to the US East Coast. It’s a long trip and involves the Gulf Stream, which adds significant challenges.  Chuck, a good friend from Vancouver and previous crew-mate, would join us in Freeport to help us make our way north.  On the way to Freeport, we caught 2 Barracudas, but had to throw them back because they aren’t good to eat. 

In Freeport, we met a great family from Wisconsin who are living aboard their sailboat “Puddlejumper”.  We hit it off right away and the kids played cards on the dock until after dark. 

Keep checking back to the blog for our next adventures as we battle our way up the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina. Thunderstorms, Gales, and the Gulf Stream…oh my!