Staniel Cay – The rest of the story!

While pigs are the story at Staniel Cay, there are other stories, like Pirate’s Beach and Thunderball Grotto.  There are mega yachts offshore and treacherous cuts and quaint colorful villas.  Staniel Cay has an airport and we say good bye to Jean as she flies off to take care of her mother.  We will see her again in GeorgeTown.  

Mega Yacht Pelorus is 375 feet
We pass it anchored outside Staniel Cay

Pirate’s Beach is one of the more elaborate cruisers’ beaches we have seen.  It’s on Big Major Spot that has an exceptional anchorage and perhaps 100 boats there at a time.  Some cruisers stay there and have contributed games, gas grill, set up tables and umbrellas, and pit fire. We gather fire wood on the island and create a pit fire for the evening.  We also find several scorpions on the beach.  

We take firewood gathered from the island to
Pirates Beach loaded in our dinghies

We tidy the beach for dinner - or rake and scrape!!

 

Pirate's Beach has all the amenities - tables, chairs,
umbrellas, games, grill, and scorpions!

Huddle around the pit fire at sunset

We have alfoil potatoes (Aussie for foil wrapped potatoes), and s'mores

Thunderball Grotto is an underwater cave that has holes in the ceiling that allows sunlight to stream in and illuminate the water and the fish. Jean brings cheese wiz in a can and the fish swarm her. How did they know they liked cheese wiz?  This grotto is featured in the James Bond movie, Thunderball, and each year they do a re-enactment of some of the scenes, and Staniel Cay hosts a Thunderball ball.  

Thunderball Grotto

We go through Staniel Cay Cut and it was spectacular - we saw the waves breaking and the calm anchorage just beyond. 

The calm anchorage just beyond the rough cut

View of Fly Away going through the cut
from the deck of Fair Winds

Breaking waves as we enter the cut

We sail past the cairn on an rock to enter Staniel Cay and pass a submerged rock that creates abeautiful eddie.

The welcoming cairn at Staniel Cay

The eddie swirls around a dangerous rock in the channel at Staniel Cay

Colorful busy cottages line the streets of Staniel Cay.
This is the clinic! It is whimsical and makes you smile. 

Staniel Cay – Swimming Pigs!!

We visited the swimming pigs at Staniel Cay. What more can I say? The pictures tell all.  

D says pigs may not be able to fly, but they do swim! 

There they are!
Pigs swimming out to meet the dinghies.
Don't be fooled, they only want food!

The pigs WILL get in your dinghy -
just ask John and Leanne, who is afraid of nothing ...
except big hulking swimming pigs getting into her dinghy!

D and Margaret feed the pigs offshore. 

Gordy feeds the pigs carrots, they love carrots!

 

A face to love - the upturned nose, the elfin ears,
the mournful eyes surrounded by black.
The hair is very bristly. 

Future swimming pig.
We are told he is about a week old.
Just adorable. 

The tradition continues.

Leanne loves the babies!  She is not afraid of the small ones. 

Staniel Cay has so much more to offer - pit fire on Pirates' Beach, 

Thunderball grotto, yachts, and a colorful little town.  

Stay tuned.   

Hawksbill Cay, Warderick Wells Cay, and Bell's Island, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

In February we enter the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a protected national Bahamian park that has 15 major cays, encompasses 176 square miles, and stretches 22 miles from Wax Cay Cut south of Norman's Cay to Conch Cut by Bell's Island. 

Gordon and Jean pose by the Park sign when we enter at Hawksbill Cay

We enter the park and moor at a mooring ball at Hawksbill Cay. Tacks Free, Fair Winds, and Fly Away are the only boats moored. A sailboat anchors later in the evening, but we are essentially the only boats! This paradise is ours...

The white sandy beaches and hills to climb at Hawksbill Cay

 We see a hill with a huge cairn - a must climb. The beaches are pristine sandy white and the water clear pool water. The best anchorage yet!

 We reluctantly leave Hawksbill and go south to Warderick Wells Cay, the park headquarters. It's lovely, too, and very popular. The North anchorage is full, so we circle around to Emerald Rock and join Tacks Free and find Lord Charlton, too!  We meet Rick and Robin on Endangered Species, a Voyage 430 Catamaran.  They are just back from a 12 year circumnavigation.

Tacks Free by Emerald Rock which we all snorkelled

Gordon is 60 feet up to the top of Tacks Free mast
looking to solve the anchor light problem

A relieved Jeannie rests on the bean bag on bow of Tacks Free
after Gordon is safely down on the deck. 

One of my favorite pictures - so much is going on,
dinghies, laser, stand up paddle board, sailboats!

We hike.                                             We snorkel.                                                     We enjoy!!

Margaret and Jeannie can't resist a tree pose on knotty tree

Bananaquita bird 

Night Heron

Oyster Catcher 

Hutia - an adorable pest on Warderick. Enjoys all the Sundowners!

We continue south with the next weather window to Harbor Bay at Bell's Island.  We hike Cambridge Cay to see Bell's Rock. This is the last island in the park.  

The surf between Bell's Rock and Cambridge Cay

Bell's Rock

Dramatic white limestone cliff on Cambridge Cay 

Exuma Sound shoreline of Cambridge Cay

Pretty water off the cliffs of Cambridge Cay

Close up of the limestone 

 Next is Staniel Cay - the home of the swimming pigs!!

Tacks Free and Friends

Sailors sail separately, but anchor together, especially when the weather is rough and wind is contrary to prevailing wind direction.  Some friendships stick and some are for the moment, but all lend interest to the trip.

Tacks Free - 39 Lagoon Catamaran

We meet Tacks Free, a 39 Lagoon Catamaran, with John and Leanne, and Leanne’s cousin Diane and her husband, John, at Ships Channel Cay, and later at Allan’s Cay, where we enjoyed yoga, husking coconuts with machetes, and cookouts on the beach. 

We chat with them on the VHF radio down the Exumas and meet them again at Hawksbill, Warderick, Staniel Cay (Big Major) and Little Bay by Black Point, and Georgetown, Great Exuma. We have a great pit fire on Pirate’s Beach at Big Major, where we collected fire wood among the swimming pigs. 

D shows how to husk a coconut for Leanne, John, Diane, Gordon, Margaret, and John.
John later buys machete at NAPA/AID, gets it sharpened at Emerald Bay Golf Course (another story!)
 and opens many coconuts for Leanne. 

Yoga on Allan's Cay -
John, Diane, Leanne, Gordon, Margaret, John, Giles, Annick 

Yoga at Hawksbill

Sunset at Hawksbill

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Did I mention Tacks Free is from Australia?
Well, the crew is.
Here they summit the peak at Hawksbill for an incredible view. 

D and Margaret on bow tying up at a mooring ball at Hawksbill. 

The day after Tacks Free leaves Allan’s Cay for Highbourne Cay, Lord Charlton arrives in the harbor and anchors behind us. They have a Highfield dinghy and so the friendship begins! We have cocktails on their boat and lots of laughs.  Amazingly, they are John and Leanne, too!! We tell them they must meet John and Leanne of Tacks Free, and in Georgetown they do, during the dinghy run event in the regatta.  They named their boat with each last name, Leanne Lord and John Charlton. Recently retired, they have cashed in their assets and bought this gorgeous 46 foot International Yacht Catamaran. A new life style indeed. There are 4 suites, teenager room, crew quarters and 5 baths!!

Leanne Lord and John Charlton of Lord Charlton

We meet up with Tacks Free at the Georgetown Cruisers Regatta and we race ‘around the harbor,’ and ‘around the island.’ We come in third in both races!  John is a great captain, new to sailing, used to big power boats. It’s his first race on the catamaran since purchasing it in December. He is competitive, fearless, and fun.  His crew, D, Gordon, Giles, and me, are all monohull sailboat racers, so first time sailing a cat.  We are proud to get a third in both races and take home 2 regatta flags and 4 Gold Kaliks!

The back story is we practiced in 30-40 knots of wind and got the boat over 8 knots!  Day of race, air goes light and we find Tacks Free is not a light air boat, so we are lucky and grateful for the win. Captain says Skill! It takes us almost 3 hours to race the 8.8 nm race course around the harbor.  

Awards ceremony at the 36th Annual Cruisers' Regatta, Georgetown, Great Exuma.

Winners!!  Tacks Free with a 3rd place in both races!!

 Captain John, Crew - Giles, Margaret, D, Gordon

Flags and Gold Kalik!!