March 18 – Warderick Wells
We did school in the morning. In the afternoon we went into the beach. Priority and Zola came up to the park and anchored in Emerald Rock, around the corner from where we were on a mooring, so they came into the beach too. We went for a hike up to Boo Boo Hill, down the
sound to Boo Boo Beach, and then back around to the bank side and back to the park office. The kids took the kayaks out and had a good time playing with the kayaks on the shallow water in the middle of the mooring field. Later in the afternoon Dave, Kristen, Brian and I went snorkeling at a little reef near the cut to the sound. It was really neat. There were lots of schools of large fish; there were dozens of huge lobsters and we saw two eagle rays. We saw a "real" shark – probably a reef shark or a sand shark -as opposed to the nurse sharks we usually see.
After supper we all went back to shore. Gotta Life brought in their computer and a movie that Geneva rented from the office. The kids all watched a movie on one picnic table and the adults sat at the other picnic table and talked. Warderick Wells Cay is inhabited by the endangered rodent species called Hutia. These little creatures look like a gerbil on steroids – they are about the size of half a loaf of bread with a thin tail about the length of their body. They are a dark sandy color. Most of us thought they were pretty cute. Like many rodents they are nocturnal, so as dark fell we could hear them rustling around in the undergrowth. There were some food scraps left around from last night’s pot luck so we think they were nibbling on that. The kids got quite a start when one of them ran under their picnic table and across their feet. It certainly was an experience to be sitting on the beach, with so many stars up above, and to be watching a movie!
March 19 – Warderick Wells
School in the morning again. In the afternoon we went into the beach and the kids went out on the kayaks again. Later in the afternoon everyone from Sandpiper, Gotta Life and Bird on a Wire went back to the place we were snorkeling yesterday. We didn’t see the shark again, but lots of lobster, fish and the two rays were there.
Dave finished the "Bird on a Wire" sign to take up to Boo Boo Hill. There were lots of little birds that were coming over to the boat and the kids were feeding them sugar and applesauce. We got some cool picture of the birds on the "Bird on a Wire"sign.
After supper and before sunset we picked up Erin and Geneva and we hiked up to Boo Boo Hill to leave our signs and to take some pictures of the anchorage at sunset.
March 20 – Warderick Wells – Shroud
We left Warderick around 9:00 and headed north to Shroud Cay. We had an awesome sail all the way there, arriving around 1:00. It was still pretty windy when we got there and the wind was a little more north than was comfortable in the anchorage, but it was a lot better than the night we spent in Hawksbill. We all piled into Gotta Life’s dinghy and went for the long dinghy trek through the mangrove swamps to the East side of the Cay. It was really beautiful. Once we reached the other side, there was a great beach. We all hung out there for the afternoon. The girls kept hoping the tide would turn to an ebb as there is a neat whirlpool that takes you from the beach out into the sound and then back into the beach when the tide is falling. Unfortunately the tide wasn’t going to turn until supper time and we needed to get back to the boats. It was still pretty rolly at anchor and we were all tired so we decided not to go out visiting tonight.
March 21 – Shroud – Warderick Wells
We pulled up anchor and were away from Shroud around 8:00. We called into the park office at 9:00 and were fortunate enough to be able to get a mooring again in the north anchorage. We debated about going on to Staniel where Priority was and Gotta Life was going, but we opted for the security of Warderick for a good night’s sleep. As we passed by the office all the little birds we were feeding the last time we were here came out to visit. We were assigned a mooring on the west side of the mooring field and we hadn’t been there before. It was a nice spot and there was less current flowing through than there was on the other side. We had a swim around the boat and looked at a little coral head growing on an old engine block near the boat. It was Saturday so we went into the Happy Hour on the beach. There were lots of people there and we met lots of new people.
March 22 – Warderick Wells to Big Majors Spot
There were some birthdays being celebrated in Big Majors today so we set off before 9:00 to be
there by lunchtime. It was another great sail and we were relieved to see that the anchorage was well protected with no swell. We all went over to Priority for some "slingshotting". This is when a line comes down from the top of the mast (i.e. the halyard), and then additional line is added to the end so that there is about 100’ of extra line at the water line. The end of a line is attached to a dinghy, and a person (or two or three) hold onto a line either on the edge of the boat or in the water. The dinghy starts off, and as the line tightens up, the people get pulled out of the water. When they get high enough, they let go and drop back into the water. Pretty hard to explain, but pretty fun to do. The kids had a blast and Dave and I each 
tried it once. After slightshotting was over everyone was pretty cold as it wasn’t a very warm day. We all went back to our boats to get cleaned up. Annie and Kristen were invited to Priority for pizza, and Dave and I went into shore to the Happy Hour. It was great to see Annie and Dietrich from Calliope again. Dave met some new people on the beach – one of them was a car dealer from Missouri. He had his boat listed with Paul, our friend that summers in Scotsburn NS and winter in Florida and sells boats! Another man from Toronto knew a man in Saint John NB, and Dave went to university with his son. It sure is a small world! Around 7:00 we went over to Priority. The adults (10) watched "Office Space" in their cockpit, while the kids (6) watched a movie down in the cabin. Office Space was really funny and brought back lots of memories of life in the real world!
March 23 – Big Majors Spot
School in the morning and then water sports in the afternoon. The kids went over to Priority and did some snorkeling and then Brian took them tubing on our tube. Dave and I went into Staniel and tried to find the trail to the other side of the cay. We didn’t find the trail but we had a good walk.
March 24 – Big Majors Spot
The days are blending together! School again in the morning. In the afternoon all the kids got together at the beach. There were some new kids there too. Kristen went wake boarding. Annie gave it a try but wasn’t able to get the hang of it today. All the kids had fun on the tube. In the evening we had the Priority and Gotta Life kids over for pizza pasta and a movie. It was pretty funny to see the 6 kids all lined up on the bunks in the salon trying to watch a movie!
March 25 – Big Majors Spot
Another day in Big Majors - the girls did school in the morning and we went to the beach in the afternoon. There were water sports again. Kristen tried Wake Skating which is similar to wake boarding except that is on a shaped piece of plywood that is slightly curved. There are no bindings and no fins on the bottom of the board. She was able to get up and then went all around the harbour. Annie got up first time today on the Wake Board and had a great time zooming all over the harbour. The tube was once again a great hit.
March 26 – Big Majors Spot to Warderick Wells
We left Big Majors around 10:00, and weren’t really sure where we were heading, except North. Gotta Life and Sandpiper were heading back to Cambridge so they could go to Rachael’s Bubble
Bath, but we wanted to get a little farther North. In the end we get a mooring in the North mooring field at Warderick and were settled around 2:30. It was another great day of sailing along the banks. You can see why people come here for the sailing! We’ve been able to sail (and not that motor sailing stuff either) each time we’ve set out for the last couple of weeks.
When we got to Warderick Dave and Annie went to shore to rent "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and get checked in. Kristen and I stayed behind and got some bread made. The kids got their school finished and then went for a swim, but the current was really strong so it wasn’t much fun. Dave and I went for a short hike down to Butterfly Beach, near Emerald Rock. No butterflies but a great walk. When we got back, the girls could hear the blowholes howling, so Dave took them back to shore for a hike to the blowholes and Boo Boo Hill. I guess the blowholes were really spectacular today! I stayed on the boat and made Chicken Parmesan for supper. After supper we watched the movie Annie and Dave rented.
We were able to check email at Warderick and SeaHawk (that we met way back in Maine with 4 kids) is in Nassau. We are going to head up there as quickly as possible to see if we can meet up with them before they head south to the Exumas.
March 27 – Warderick Wells - Allan’s Cay
Annie and Dave returned the movie and we put the dinghy up and left Warderick Wells for the final (?) time a little after 8:00. It was a pretty windy day, but the wind and waves were behind us so it wasn’t too bad. We put the jib out and motor sailed, making pretty good time. We got to Allan’s about 1:00 and for the first time since we arrived in the Bahamas we were alone in an anchorage. It was nice and calm in the anchorage which was a relief as we were a little concerned about protection there. As soon as we were anchored, we could see a couple of iguanas on the
beach. Our primary reason for stopping here was that there is a colony of endangered iguanas here. We heard that when you went to the beach, and if you stood quietly, in a little while iguanas would surround you. Sure enough, we went to shore and in minutes (without standing quietly) there were about 50 iguanas on the beach. They are about 2-3’ long with big feet and long tails. They can be pretty assertive about looking for food, so we left our left over lettuce in the dinghy while we walked on the beach. After our experience with the pigs we were a little hesitant to encourage them too much – and we’d also heard that they bite. Just as we were getting ready to leave, when a large cigarette boat pulled up on the beach and let about 40 tourists from Nassau out onto the beach - so much for peace and quiet. Shortly after that two sailboats came in and anchored for the night. We did a little more exploring on a couple of the other beaches, and looked inside the ruins of a house that must of lost it’s roof 15 or 20 years ago in a hurricane.
March 28 – April 1 – Nassau
We left Allan’s around 8:00, after a bit of a challenge pulling up the anchor in the narrow channel with the strong current. When we got fairly close to Nassau we contacted SeaHawk on the radio. They weren’t able to get us a reservation at Atlantis Marina for Sunday night, but we could get in today, so we decided to directly to Atlantis. We were all tied up by around 2:00 and went to find Seahawk. Around 2:30 we headed over to the water park. Atlantis is a huge resort on Paradise Island. I believe it started as a casino, but now it stretches over acres of the island. Dave and I came to Paradise Island 13 years ago and stayed at a little hotel on the beach and walked half a mile or a mile over to Atlantis. At that time it was a good sized hotel with 3 restaurants, a small aquarium, a few pools and the casino. Now the hotel we stayed in is gone, and the beach is now part of the Atlantis complex with a new hotel tower. In addition to the hotel, now there is a huge water park and a large aquarium called "The Dig". It is set up like an archaeological exploration of the mythical city of Atlantis and the fishes, rays and sharks are all swimming around the ruin. There are two large manta rays as part of the exhibit, and they were pretty neat. Most of the other things we had seen snorkeling in the Exumas. The water park is great. There are two large buildings that house water slides – the Mayan temple has two really steep body slides (you go down without sitting on a tube), the Leap of Faith and the Challenger where there are two slide side by side and you race down with your partner. There is also a really fun tube slide (sitting on an inflatable ring) where you wind down inside the slide and end up sliding through a tube that runs through a shark tank. As you go down the tube, the sharks are lying on top of the tube and you can look right up at their bellies! The Power Tower has four slides. One is a body slide that drops you almost straight down a 50’ drop in the dark. The other three are tube slides. Around the outside of the Power Tower is ‘the current’. This is a mile long river ride with rapids and 4’ high waves. Once you are on the current you can keep going round as the waves push you back ‘up hill’. We ended up spending both Saturday and Sunday night at A
tlantis. It was great to finally spend some time with the Seahawk folks. We went over to Seahawk after supper on Saturday and the kids played Pit. On Sunday night we did a bbq potluck. On Monday we got our Atlantis bracelets for the day before checking out and moving the boat across the harbour to Nassau Harbour Club. In the afternoon I walked back over to Atlantis with the girls and we hooked up with the family off Los Gostowes. Dave came over later after he did some chores on the boat. On Tuesday, Gotta Life and Sandpiper arrived at Nassau Harbour Club – It was great to get the gang back together. On Wednesday, Gotta Life went over to stay at Atlantis and took the girls over. We made a great trade with Sandpiper – two extra boxes of pancake mix we had for a lobster tail they had – what a great lunch! Dave and I walked around Nassau and then headed over to Atlantis to pick up the girls at 7:00. Gotta Life lent us their dinghy so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way back (wow that 25hp engine really goes!!) On Thursday, we took the dinghy back and got more bracelets. Dave and Brian brought Gotta Life back to the Harbour Club, and Sheryl and I stayed with the girls at the water park. As a note, we were really fortunate with weather when we were in the Exumas. It was generally warm and breezy during the day and then cooled off at night. We never saw rain. It hasn’t been quite as good in Nassau. We had really heavy rain showers on Monday and it has been really hot and buggy for sleeping – but then it is all good when you compare it with freezing rain and sleet! We were a little worried about the lack of school the girls are doing this week, until we heard that the kids at home have missed 17 days of school this year because of weather!!
We did school in the morning. In the afternoon we went into the beach. Priority and Zola came up to the park and anchored in Emerald Rock, around the corner from where we were on a mooring, so they came into the beach too. We went for a hike up to Boo Boo Hill, down the
sound to Boo Boo Beach, and then back around to the bank side and back to the park office. The kids took the kayaks out and had a good time playing with the kayaks on the shallow water in the middle of the mooring field. Later in the afternoon Dave, Kristen, Brian and I went snorkeling at a little reef near the cut to the sound. It was really neat. There were lots of schools of large fish; there were dozens of huge lobsters and we saw two eagle rays. We saw a "real" shark – probably a reef shark or a sand shark -as opposed to the nurse sharks we usually see.After supper we all went back to shore. Gotta Life brought in their computer and a movie that Geneva rented from the office. The kids all watched a movie on one picnic table and the adults sat at the other picnic table and talked. Warderick Wells Cay is inhabited by the endangered rodent species called Hutia. These little creatures look like a gerbil on steroids – they are about the size of half a loaf of bread with a thin tail about the length of their body. They are a dark sandy color. Most of us thought they were pretty cute. Like many rodents they are nocturnal, so as dark fell we could hear them rustling around in the undergrowth. There were some food scraps left around from last night’s pot luck so we think they were nibbling on that. The kids got quite a start when one of them ran under their picnic table and across their feet. It certainly was an experience to be sitting on the beach, with so many stars up above, and to be watching a movie!
March 19 – Warderick Wells
School in the morning again. In the afternoon we went into the beach and the kids went out on the kayaks again. Later in the afternoon everyone from Sandpiper, Gotta Life and Bird on a Wire went back to the place we were snorkeling yesterday. We didn’t see the shark again, but lots of lobster, fish and the two rays were there.
Dave finished the "Bird on a Wire" sign to take up to Boo Boo Hill. There were lots of little birds that were coming over to the boat and the kids were feeding them sugar and applesauce. We got some cool picture of the birds on the "Bird on a Wire"sign.After supper and before sunset we picked up Erin and Geneva and we hiked up to Boo Boo Hill to leave our signs and to take some pictures of the anchorage at sunset.
March 20 – Warderick Wells – ShroudWe left Warderick around 9:00 and headed north to Shroud Cay. We had an awesome sail all the way there, arriving around 1:00. It was still pretty windy when we got there and the wind was a little more north than was comfortable in the anchorage, but it was a lot better than the night we spent in Hawksbill. We all piled into Gotta Life’s dinghy and went for the long dinghy trek through the mangrove swamps to the East side of the Cay. It was really beautiful. Once we reached the other side, there was a great beach. We all hung out there for the afternoon. The girls kept hoping the tide would turn to an ebb as there is a neat whirlpool that takes you from the beach out into the sound and then back into the beach when the tide is falling. Unfortunately the tide wasn’t going to turn until supper time and we needed to get back to the boats. It was still pretty rolly at anchor and we were all tired so we decided not to go out visiting tonight.
March 21 – Shroud – Warderick Wells
We pulled up anchor and were away from Shroud around 8:00. We called into the park office at 9:00 and were fortunate enough to be able to get a mooring again in the north anchorage. We debated about going on to Staniel where Priority was and Gotta Life was going, but we opted for the security of Warderick for a good night’s sleep. As we passed by the office all the little birds we were feeding the last time we were here came out to visit. We were assigned a mooring on the west side of the mooring field and we hadn’t been there before. It was a nice spot and there was less current flowing through than there was on the other side. We had a swim around the boat and looked at a little coral head growing on an old engine block near the boat. It was Saturday so we went into the Happy Hour on the beach. There were lots of people there and we met lots of new people.March 22 – Warderick Wells to Big Majors Spot
There were some birthdays being celebrated in Big Majors today so we set off before 9:00 to be
there by lunchtime. It was another great sail and we were relieved to see that the anchorage was well protected with no swell. We all went over to Priority for some "slingshotting". This is when a line comes down from the top of the mast (i.e. the halyard), and then additional line is added to the end so that there is about 100’ of extra line at the water line. The end of a line is attached to a dinghy, and a person (or two or three) hold onto a line either on the edge of the boat or in the water. The dinghy starts off, and as the line tightens up, the people get pulled out of the water. When they get high enough, they let go and drop back into the water. Pretty hard to explain, but pretty fun to do. The kids had a blast and Dave and I each 
tried it once. After slightshotting was over everyone was pretty cold as it wasn’t a very warm day. We all went back to our boats to get cleaned up. Annie and Kristen were invited to Priority for pizza, and Dave and I went into shore to the Happy Hour. It was great to see Annie and Dietrich from Calliope again. Dave met some new people on the beach – one of them was a car dealer from Missouri. He had his boat listed with Paul, our friend that summers in Scotsburn NS and winter in Florida and sells boats! Another man from Toronto knew a man in Saint John NB, and Dave went to university with his son. It sure is a small world! Around 7:00 we went over to Priority. The adults (10) watched "Office Space" in their cockpit, while the kids (6) watched a movie down in the cabin. Office Space was really funny and brought back lots of memories of life in the real world!March 23 – Big Majors Spot
School in the morning and then water sports in the afternoon. The kids went over to Priority and did some snorkeling and then Brian took them tubing on our tube. Dave and I went into Staniel and tried to find the trail to the other side of the cay. We didn’t find the trail but we had a good walk.
March 24 – Big Majors Spot
The days are blending together! School again in the morning. In the afternoon all the kids got together at the beach. There were some new kids there too. Kristen went wake boarding. Annie gave it a try but wasn’t able to get the hang of it today. All the kids had fun on the tube. In the evening we had the Priority and Gotta Life kids over for pizza pasta and a movie. It was pretty funny to see the 6 kids all lined up on the bunks in the salon trying to watch a movie!March 25 – Big Majors Spot
Another day in Big Majors - the girls did school in the morning and we went to the beach in the afternoon. There were water sports again. Kristen tried Wake Skating which is similar to wake boarding except that is on a shaped piece of plywood that is slightly curved. There are no bindings and no fins on the bottom of the board. She was able to get up and then went all around the harbour. Annie got up first time today on the Wake Board and had a great time zooming all over the harbour. The tube was once again a great hit.
March 26 – Big Majors Spot to Warderick Wells
We left Big Majors around 10:00, and weren’t really sure where we were heading, except North. Gotta Life and Sandpiper were heading back to Cambridge so they could go to Rachael’s Bubble
Bath, but we wanted to get a little farther North. In the end we get a mooring in the North mooring field at Warderick and were settled around 2:30. It was another great day of sailing along the banks. You can see why people come here for the sailing! We’ve been able to sail (and not that motor sailing stuff either) each time we’ve set out for the last couple of weeks.When we got to Warderick Dave and Annie went to shore to rent "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and get checked in. Kristen and I stayed behind and got some bread made. The kids got their school finished and then went for a swim, but the current was really strong so it wasn’t much fun. Dave and I went for a short hike down to Butterfly Beach, near Emerald Rock. No butterflies but a great walk. When we got back, the girls could hear the blowholes howling, so Dave took them back to shore for a hike to the blowholes and Boo Boo Hill. I guess the blowholes were really spectacular today! I stayed on the boat and made Chicken Parmesan for supper. After supper we watched the movie Annie and Dave rented.
We were able to check email at Warderick and SeaHawk (that we met way back in Maine with 4 kids) is in Nassau. We are going to head up there as quickly as possible to see if we can meet up with them before they head south to the Exumas.
March 27 – Warderick Wells - Allan’s Cay
Annie and Dave returned the movie and we put the dinghy up and left Warderick Wells for the final (?) time a little after 8:00. It was a pretty windy day, but the wind and waves were behind us so it wasn’t too bad. We put the jib out and motor sailed, making pretty good time. We got to Allan’s about 1:00 and for the first time since we arrived in the Bahamas we were alone in an anchorage. It was nice and calm in the anchorage which was a relief as we were a little concerned about protection there. As soon as we were anchored, we could see a couple of iguanas on the
beach. Our primary reason for stopping here was that there is a colony of endangered iguanas here. We heard that when you went to the beach, and if you stood quietly, in a little while iguanas would surround you. Sure enough, we went to shore and in minutes (without standing quietly) there were about 50 iguanas on the beach. They are about 2-3’ long with big feet and long tails. They can be pretty assertive about looking for food, so we left our left over lettuce in the dinghy while we walked on the beach. After our experience with the pigs we were a little hesitant to encourage them too much – and we’d also heard that they bite. Just as we were getting ready to leave, when a large cigarette boat pulled up on the beach and let about 40 tourists from Nassau out onto the beach - so much for peace and quiet. Shortly after that two sailboats came in and anchored for the night. We did a little more exploring on a couple of the other beaches, and looked inside the ruins of a house that must of lost it’s roof 15 or 20 years ago in a hurricane.March 28 – April 1 – Nassau
We left Allan’s around 8:00, after a bit of a challenge pulling up the anchor in the narrow channel with the strong current. When we got fairly close to Nassau we contacted SeaHawk on the radio. They weren’t able to get us a reservation at Atlantis Marina for Sunday night, but we could get in today, so we decided to directly to Atlantis. We were all tied up by around 2:00 and went to find Seahawk. Around 2:30 we headed over to the water park. Atlantis is a huge resort on Paradise Island. I believe it started as a casino, but now it stretches over acres of the island. Dave and I came to Paradise Island 13 years ago and stayed at a little hotel on the beach and walked half a mile or a mile over to Atlantis. At that time it was a good sized hotel with 3 restaurants, a small aquarium, a few pools and the casino. Now the hotel we stayed in is gone, and the beach is now part of the Atlantis complex with a new hotel tower. In addition to the hotel, now there is a huge water park and a large aquarium called "The Dig". It is set up like an archaeological exploration of the mythical city of Atlantis and the fishes, rays and sharks are all swimming around the ruin. There are two large manta rays as part of the exhibit, and they were pretty neat. Most of the other things we had seen snorkeling in the Exumas. The water park is great. There are two large buildings that house water slides – the Mayan temple has two really steep body slides (you go down without sitting on a tube), the Leap of Faith and the Challenger where there are two slide side by side and you race down with your partner. There is also a really fun tube slide (sitting on an inflatable ring) where you wind down inside the slide and end up sliding through a tube that runs through a shark tank. As you go down the tube, the sharks are lying on top of the tube and you can look right up at their bellies! The Power Tower has four slides. One is a body slide that drops you almost straight down a 50’ drop in the dark. The other three are tube slides. Around the outside of the Power Tower is ‘the current’. This is a mile long river ride with rapids and 4’ high waves. Once you are on the current you can keep going round as the waves push you back ‘up hill’. We ended up spending both Saturday and Sunday night at A
tlantis. It was great to finally spend some time with the Seahawk folks. We went over to Seahawk after supper on Saturday and the kids played Pit. On Sunday night we did a bbq potluck. On Monday we got our Atlantis bracelets for the day before checking out and moving the boat across the harbour to Nassau Harbour Club. In the afternoon I walked back over to Atlantis with the girls and we hooked up with the family off Los Gostowes. Dave came over later after he did some chores on the boat. On Tuesday, Gotta Life and Sandpiper arrived at Nassau Harbour Club – It was great to get the gang back together. On Wednesday, Gotta Life went over to stay at Atlantis and took the girls over. We made a great trade with Sandpiper – two extra boxes of pancake mix we had for a lobster tail they had – what a great lunch! Dave and I walked around Nassau and then headed over to Atlantis to pick up the girls at 7:00. Gotta Life lent us their dinghy so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way back (wow that 25hp engine really goes!!) On Thursday, we took the dinghy back and got more bracelets. Dave and Brian brought Gotta Life back to the Harbour Club, and Sheryl and I stayed with the girls at the water park. As a note, we were really fortunate with weather when we were in the Exumas. It was generally warm and breezy during the day and then cooled off at night. We never saw rain. It hasn’t been quite as good in Nassau. We had really heavy rain showers on Monday and it has been really hot and buggy for sleeping – but then it is all good when you compare it with freezing rain and sleet! We were a little worried about the lack of school the girls are doing this week, until we heard that the kids at home have missed 17 days of school this year because of weather!! 
1 comment:
Well finally a post!!! Loved the family picture and Annie and Kristen you both have grown taller. We had another little snowstorm last week if you can believe that although I think we have seen the last of it- so you can come home now! lol The water boarding sounds great and please do remember rodents are just that-rodents!!!!
Sounds like you are having great fun and we are all looking forward to you coming home-we miss you.
Stay safe
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