Under the Sea

Most of our days here are spent in the water.  The Captain is a spear fisherman, but I am content floating along looking at the life under the sea.  Not a lot of writing in this post, just a few pics of what we see once we are in the crystal clear waters of the Exumas.

Coral Head

Speared lion fish

The lion fish is reported as a destructive menace here.  I have read that the lion fish can devastate up to 80% of fish in a coral reef in less than 6 weeks.  Their stomachs can increase 30 times its normal size, and they have no known predators here.  So while I am not a spear fisher, I do point them out to the Captain whenever I see one, so that we can help the coral reef in getting rid of a few.

Green sea turtle

Me looking down

A beautiful example of living coral

Me trying to catch up to the sea turtle

Sargeant Majors wanting some free food from us

Me trying to "pet" the fish

sting ray trying to bury himself in the sand

And a beautiful Eagle Ray as we were heading back to SunDaze

Just a peek at some of the lovely sites we see while swimming around.

Until next time...

Enjoy!!!

Michael's Visit

Our nephew from Germany came for a 2 week visit!  Michael has joined us in the Bahamas a few times over the years.  It is always wonderful to spend time with him and we enjoyed having him visit this time as well. 

We took him to our favorite spots.  Farmers Cay, Black Point, Staniel Cay, and further north to Shroud and Norman's Cay.

 

The days were filled with exploring in and out of the water.

 

Michael has gotten really good at free diving and was going down at least 20 to 25 feet.  He takes after his uncle with regards to his underwater skills. 

We also took the dinghy into the mangroves around Shroud Cay.  Lots of little waterways through the island that leads to the ocean side.  The mangroves are often nurseries for sharks, rays, and turtles. 

 

 

  

Of course, we also had fun on shore.   The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is always a fun place to bring our guests for some local fun, food and island drinks.

Time flew by too quickly and soon it was time for Michael to head back home.  We enjoyed our time together, and hope he had a blast!

We miss you Michael!

Until next time...

Enjoy!

Bahamas Update

We made it to the Abacos on Christmas Eve Day, rather that evening.  Checked in with Customs and Immigration the following morning and then had our first lunch in the Bahamas.  The weather was beautiful and we relaxed at the marina for a day before heading out.  We typically head toward the Exumas and we were ready to get sailing in that direction, as the Abacos can be a little on the chilly side this time of the year.

But we did may a few stops along the way...Green Turtle Cay was one.

I am a sunset and sunrise picture taker.  The colors always amaze me and I am thankful for each one that we are blessed to see.

 

The following days were spent motoring or sailing (depending on the wind) and stopping along each island or cay (pronounced "key" here in the islands).  And we take every opportunity to get into the water.  Spearfishing is the captain's favorite thing to do here.  While I am not a hunter, I do enjoy snorkeling and diving along side and watching the underwater life.  When the seas are not conducive to fishing, we are busy with life on land.  Beach combing, mingling with the locals, exploring and sometimes simply doing nothing fill our days.  It is very easy to get into island time here.  We often ask each other..."what is today?" because time does slip away and run together. 

 

We have enjoyed the festivities of Bahamian races, local fundraisers, and various happy hours.  Each island has its own charm and characteristics that make them a bit different from each other.  Always fun to stop and revisit.

 

At the end of the day, we stop and remember how blessed we are and take in the view.  It goes by so quickly.  

 

Our leisurely days here are flying by.  While we love it here, we do miss our family and friends back home.  I am planning a short trip home soon to see my parents, kids and of course my granddaughters....miss them so much!!!  I also want to check in with our house sitters.  While we keep in touch regularly with everyone, I still want to see everyone!!!

So until next time....

Please enjoy!!!

Hard to Say Good Bye

leaving the dock

This past week was busy.  Had to get our personal stuff packed away, and get the house ready for our house sitters to move in.  Plus get stuff placed onto SunDaze, and provision for our trip.  Busy as bees this week.  But we got it done.  Handed the keys to the house sitters and waved good bye.  

We had Thanksgiving with our families during the past week as well.  Always hard to say...we will see you in a few months.  But time flies by too quickly.  We will miss you guys!!!

We woke up to a chilly beautiful morning and left the dock, ready to get our trip underway.

 

Lovely early morning

We stayed on the ICW for a couple of days.  Our goal was to head to Cape Fear River Inlet and then go out of the inlet on towards Charleston, SC.

Hobucken on the ICW

ICW

We moved along during the day, and anchored out at night.  Cold, but tolerable.  We brought along some winter wear for this part of our trip.  

I started by first read for this trip...another D. Brown book, Angels and Demons.  Ahhh..nice to have some time to do nothing but read and relax.

We are traveling with a buddy boat, Moon Pie. Glad to have another boat along for the trip.

Moon Pie

 After a couple of days, we headed out of the Cape Fear Inlet, Charleston bound. 

Cape Fear Lighthouse

Sun setting on the Atlantic

Last of the days light

This sun set lasted over an hour

After being off shore for about 28 hours we headed into Charleston Harbor.  What a welcome sight.  I can tell you I am not a true sailor at heart.  Off shore passages are not my favorite thing to do.  I deal with them as best I can, and count the hours until we head back inside.   While I love the water, I do not love the constant motion for hours on end.  After about 8 hours, it starts to wear on me.  While it may look calm in pictures, on the boat, it is a continuous roll.  And if the roll comes from behind us, I tend to get sea sick.  During this part of the trip, the sea was kind to us, up until the last few hours.  Coming into the harbor took much longer than it should due to the state of the water.  But once inside the harbor, we were back into settled waters and we were happy!

Moon Pie inside the harbor

SunDaze docked at marina....resting!

We stayed in Charleston for a few days, catching up on boat chores, laundry, and visiting.  We love the low country and always plan to stop here to catch up with our good friends and enjoy this city.

 

Charleston sky

Walking from the marina into town

Triple berry cobbler at our favorite bakery in Charleston

a beautiful yacht that we heard was for sale at the bargain price of $75,000,000.  or so we heard?

Mast from a boat that did not make it through the hurricane

We left Charleston after a few days via the ICW as the weather was unfavorable for going off shore, Yay!!!!...  Off to Beaufort, SC.  and it was cold!  Lots of soup and hot tea for us during this part of our trip.  Plus fuzzy clothing!

 

Trying to keep warm!

Shrimp boats

When we are traveling on the ICW, we try to get as many miles in during the day light hours, because it is not advisable to travel on ICW at night.  So it is often times a long tedious day at the helm when traveling this way.   Plus it is mostly motoring and no sailing.  But it is much calmer than the ocean and we get to sleep at night because we are anchored in a safe little spot.  On the ocean, or what we refer to the outside (of land), someone must be at the helm at all times...day or night.  I much rather be sleeping!

So that's the wrap up of our first week, or leg of our journey.  

Until next time...

Enjoy!