I can’t believe how long it’s been since Sea Holly’s blog has been updated!!! We are headed north again, winter is almost over. As I read back through my daily journal I keep seeing “another day in paradise” . So far our trip has mostly been just that - wonderful. I think the biggest difference between our trip last year to the Abacos and this year in the Exumas (besides the fantastic weather) is the sailing hours we’ve enjoyed. We changed the oil in Sea Holly in December when we arrived in Nassau and since then (March) still don’t have enough hours to do another change. Following is a brief recap of our adventures since arriving at Lucaya in December.
Lucaya is beautiful and our checkin was easy. We left Lucaya and sailed all the way to Bullock’s Harbour in the Berry Islands. Next stop was Morgan’s Bluff on Andros Island. Ray caught a mahi mahi and a mackerel en route just as we entered the Tongue of the Ocean. Our planned “fish fry” was nixed as it poured rain just as we dropped the hook in Morgan’s Bluff. Next stop was Nassau arriving on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed Atlantis on Paradise Island . The whole resort is set up as an aquarium with sharks; fish; coral; rays and beautiful landscaping. We had fresh conch salad on Potters Cay and checked out the tourist hot spots on Bay Street. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the Bacardie factory was closed for the holidays so we remained relatively sober.
We left Nassau and started south down the Exuma chain. Sea Holly averaged 7 knots under sail en route to Normans - we like sailing in the Exumas!!! Next stop was Hawksbill Cay - probably one of the most beautiful anchorages (looks like Greece). We hiked all the way to the Loyalist ruins at the top of the hill. Abby had a great time digging crabs on the beach. It’s December 31 and we had our first of many swims. Once the wind shifted we discovered the true meaning of “surge” and moved from our beautiful anchorage to a calmer anchorage at Shroud Cay for the first day of 2007. We had our first dinghy adventure at Shroud Cay following the mangrove creeks all the way to the ocean side to Camp Driftwood getting back to Sea Holly just as the sun was setting.
Warderick Wells in the Exuma Land and Sea Park was our next stop. We took a mooring at the Park and volunteered so our mooring was free of charge. The Park is very beautiful and the little birds around the office are so tame they will land on your hand. Abby was a little restricted here especially when she almost swallowed one of the little birds. We are making good use of our glass bottom bucket to see all the coral and beautiful fish. We actually snorkeled here for the first time.
Sampson Cay was next. The resort on Sampson Cay is beautiful and here we collected our first “sea beans” on the beach; saw our first huge rays and lots of nurse sharks quietly cruising along the docks. Bought some ice cream here and it stays nice and frozen in the new Engle freezer we treated ourselves to at the boatshow in Annapolis.
Staniel Cay - now we are changing from our pj’s in the morning right to our bathing suits!! We snorkeled in Thunderball Cave - site of the James Bond movie, Thunderball. On a quiet day we took the dinghy and went fishing out in Exuma Sound - our first dinghy fishing trip, caught a strawberry snapper and a grunt. Abby discovered what a great swimmer she is thanks to her friend , “Molly” on Treasure Island.