Staniel Cay is a fun break from the quiet anchorages just a few miles away, but in the end the New Year’s Eve partying vacationers on the mega yachts were just too crazy for us.  Our little floatilla of kid boats took a short day trip about 25 miles south to a big empty bay on Big Farmer’s Cay.  The first order of business was a party for Jeanette’s 11th Birthday, sweets and a movie for the kids inside while the adults chatted outside.  There were a few fireworks off of Musha Cay after dark and then 2015 came with the sound of five sleeping boats.

Roy and I tried our luck with a “crack of dawn” fishing trip, but no luck.  Topaz doesn’t see the point in getting up so early in the morning, we were just disturbing her sunrise.

The kids started looking for some trouble to get into, so we launched the Hobie.  The first thing the boys discovered was how much fun it is to capsize.  The big bulb on top of the mast prevents it from flipping upside down.

To right it, someone stands on the inside of the bottom hull and grabs a hold of the top hull or maybe a line hanging over the edge of that top hull and pull the Hobie back over.  The boys decided this was so much fun and if they pulled really hard, the poor Hobie could continue on to flip over the other side.

The little girls played with Little Pet Shops and Ponies.

The high energy continued as they all swam between the boats, jumping and diving, pushing and pulling.

Genny and Luanda were Pancakes and Waffles, twinsies.  Each one as crazy and the other.  These two girls sailed the Hobie on a short passage last week, they paddled all over the anchorage in a pink inflatable ring and challenged each other swimming from boat to boat. It was really sad when we decided Makai needed to move towards Georgetown and Isla Bonita was going to pass us by.  Lucky for us, they decided they needed to pick up a part in Georgetown so we will meet up again.

Onward Makai and Dream Catcher moved to Rudder Cut for a quick snorkel. The same dog was on the beach that we saw last spring.  I was told that this pretty little dog lives on the island as a guard dog.  She is very quiet and hangs out on the beach looking at the people and boats in her bay.  When you get close you can see how skinny she is, so we always bring her a big scoop of Topaz’s kibbles.

 

David Copperfield’s Musha Cay is around the corner.  You can rent the island’s facilities for something like $39,000 per day for 12 people with a four day minimum.  His Mermaid by the Piano sculpture rests in 15 feet of water in our anchorage.  Today a work boat was anchored off to the side, the sculpture was marked with buoys, music was playing in the water and a fancy tour boat had guests floating around taking photos with the mermaid.  We returned later when everyone was gone and the music was gone and so were the marker buoys.  We figure the tourists must have come from Musha Cay.

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Just past the mermaid is a favorite snorkel spot.  Today we were entertained by spotted eagle rays. These beautiful creatures have a body the size of a dolphin with a ten foot wing span.

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Finally we settled down into Williams Bay.  The anchorage is fairly shallow, so mostly catamarans congregate here. We met up with our pals on Tangent and Dream Catcher, both Leopard 40s, for hikes on the island.

We spend so much time in the water, walking on land can be a bit of a novelty.

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The wind was blowing and the waves crashing on the east side.

The kids found a little pond refreshed by the crashing waves.

The next beach over is Roy’s favorite climbing coconut tree, and also the entrance to Perry’s Peak trail.  This peak is labeled as the highest point in the Exuma chain at 123 feet.  Add ten-thousand to that and that’s where you’ll see most of the beautiful Colorado hiking trails.

The bay full of Catamarans is quiet.  The beach is waiting for us to wade and Topaz to chase fish.

On the way back down the trail Roy poked at a huge termite nest.

After several unsuccessful attempts at spear fishing we organized our schedule for a trip to Leaf Cay, three miles away.  Going in the water here requires several factors to consider. First the wind direction should not be from the north or the south.  Second,  morning is better as the sharks do come for a look around at dusk. Finally, most important, you MUST go at slack tide, the transition between high and low. At that time the current from the water rushing onto the bank or off the bank is minimum or not at all.  Otherwise a current of about a knot is impossible to swim against.

Leaf Cay is also home to iguanas that are habituated by the tour boats that bring snacks for them.

We played on the beach until the current stopped and then went fishing.  Eric spotted this big boy as soon as we dropped in the water and Roy expertly retrieved him.  This makes three lobsters (the locals call them crawfish) in the freezer for Uncle Jim, Auntie Ania, and Cousin Patryk’s visit next week. Everyone had fun looking at the rays, nurse shark, and schools of fish around the coral heads.  But check out the lobster, it’s tail is the size of Roy’s size 6 foot, the legs are the size of my pinky finger.

The next morning at slack tide we went out again.  This time we went out and around the corner.  Ken from Dream Catcher spent quite a bit of time and energy working on this next lobster.  Unfortunately it was just to far into an narrow hole so he called skinny little Roy over.  Roy said he poked him a bit from one side and then went around to the other side to retrieve the prize.  It was a real dilemma for me as to whether we should serve him up on Dream Catcher’s table or Makai’s, lucky for us, Ken said we should have it.

The fish out here were quite large as well.

Roy’s snappers were big enough for fillets big enough for a beer batter fish fry for our guests.

Finally, the long awaited Georgetown.  While the town isn’t as large as Nassau, the number of boaters that congregate here is awesome.  Georgetown offers necessities such as trash collection, groceries, laundry, fuel and even a free water hose.  A short taxi ride away is the airport to collect guests and ship repair parts in. We’re going to spend some time at Exuma Divers getting Marie certified await our guest’s arrival.

We arrived at dusk, but the lure of vegetables at the market had me in the dinghy, mouth watering for a salad.