Adventures with Verna and Kyle

Before I get to our new guests I have to add something to our last visit to the blue hole. Anita and I walked down the beach and took each other's pictures by the mangroves. It wasn't until we got back home and looked at the photos that we saw this:

Look what is on the sand so close it could have bitten us. Neither one of us saw that starfish!!!  So she tells me to go back to the beach but I insist things are never ever where you last saw them, the tide giveth and the tide taketh away.

We have new guests, Verna and her son Kyle have come for a week. Today was the best day (wind conditions) so off we went to the blue hole. The first thing I did was walk down to the mangroves to prove to Anita the starfish would not be there. Much to my surprise it was, but it was in very bad shape. After a week stuck in the sand among the mangroves it had turned white and it felt mushy. I carried what was left of it on a stick. On the way back (missed it on the way there) I found the starfish on the left. So Anita, you were right! I now have my first starfish.

Grand Bahama is a small place. There we are on a deserted beach and who should come along but TB and Rosemary, looking for a deserted beach.

More photos, visibility was better than last week.

the edge

the abyss

plenty of fish

pretty fish

swam right up to my camera

 

strange fish

very humpy sand, hard to walk on

Upside down jellyfish video

A few days later we took the dinghy to Peterson's Cay.

Didn't realize I had zoomed in so much.

Fish

If you watch very closely you can see a small blue fish swim by. Unfortunately didn't get a photo of him.

Adventures with Anita and Steve

Steve and Anita are here again! They arrived Friday January 31.  First order of business Saturday was grocery shopping, not too exciting. On the way home we saw someone selling fish out of the back of their pickup. Steve and Gerry had to do the buying since Anita and I were hemmed in the back of the jeep by the groceries. They had explicit orders to buy only enough fish for one meal. What do they come back with? Conch, and plenty of it! So instead of just throwing a fish in the fry pan (30 second prep work) we had to deal with conch.

Gerry cracking the conch

Anita and I breading conch

Steve helping cook the last of the conch.

They bought so much conch we were still cooking after sunset.

Sunday we decided, just for fun, to sail down the coast to the blue hole, despite the wind being wrong. We set off on Sunday with some difficulty - got caught on a line that runs from Dirty Girl to a piling which wasn't low enough in the water but thanks to Bill (and some of the crew) we managed to escape.

Bill waving goodbye.

First stop, the Lucayan Waterway. We managed to sail a bit but were eventually forced to use the engine. Didn't take long to get there and since there was a beach party going on we decided to tie up to the seawall and participate. Unfortunately Steve lost one of his flip flops while trying to dock and off it went down the canal to the sea. They were Crocs and dear to his heart so while the rest were making the boat secure I went off in search of it and miraculously it had floated in among the rocks. If I was mean spirited I might mention that Steve, while trying to dock stepped off the boat with My line instead of his so our first attempt to dock in a fast current failed utterly. Did I type that out loud?

The flip flop

Docking

By the time we messed around with the docking and the flip flop the beach party was over so we did a canal tour up to the bridge and then back down to anchor near the sailing club.

We're wondering if he plans on hitting the bridge.

Not scenic but very quiet.

After dinner we broke out the game - a fierce battle ensued but I do believe the ladies were victorious.

 

The next morning, as is so often the case the wind was now definitely not what we wanted and anchoring at the blue hole would have been very bouncy and the trip there even worse so half the crew mutinied so we turned back to Port Lucaya (and the ride smoothed out considerably). The blue hole would have to wait.

Having willing crew is fantastic.

 Seems to me that Anita is doing all of the work here. Takes considerably more effort to roll in the jib than on their 21' Sirius up north.

 

Tuesday was Blue Hole day, a very long drive but worth the effort.

The edge.

Upside Down Jellyfish - honest that's what they're called.

Marker which no longer sticks above the water.

Steve, much improved since last year.

Water wasn't as clear as it could have been, guess we'll have to go back again.

Wednesday was blustery but sunny. Snorkeling was out of the question so we walked the beach and jumped the waves.

Anita in fine form.

Steve and Anita have never played horseshoes so we had a quick game before gathering all our shells and heading home. Anita filled a large oatmeal canister with her treasures weighing down her bag considerably (according to Steve).

Anita squeezed into the jeep with the kayak, comfy.

A chunk of Thursday was spent searching for the small snorkeling spot near Tony Macaroni. Gerry didn't come with us but insisted we take the kayak to mark where we were in the water so motor boats wouldn't run us over. We never did find the right spot and snorkeling was boring but Steve was stunning in his snorkel gear.

Friday, their last day on the island we took Dirty Girl out for a cruise (both engines were actually working).

Bill sent us off again. What would we do without him.

Docking

On our way back the 4 of us decided that we're definitely sailboat people not power boaters.

Docking was an issue took a few tries, the boat is just too high off the dock for anyone to jump off  and the captain cannot see exactly where he is. Gary noticed and came over to give us a hand. Thanks Gary.

And now the Hartfields are back in the cold cold north :(