Last April/May, Eric’s brother Henry and his family came to the Bahamas for a two-week visit. It was a great time and we’d hoped they’d all return again for another adventure. But work, school, and other plans came into play so that was not to be. However, Wendy wanted a return visit so she changed her annual ski trip with her long-time friend Anita into a warm weather Bahamas vacation trip instead!
The weather had been blustery so the waves in the middle of Elizabeth Harbor made any dinghy ride from our mooring across to the town where all the services were kind of like going through a salt water car wash! Fortunately, there is a water taxi service, run by Elvis (yes, Elvis) that will take you across the harbor for $12 round trip. We had planned to use this to method to pick up Wendy and Anita with their flight landing early in the morning into George Town, but a flight delay and a settling of the weather meant Eric could pick them up in the dinghy while the kids and I waited at the boat.
After arriving, they explored town a bit, provisioned up on important items like beer and rum, and made their way across the harbor to the boat. That night, we borrowed a dinghy from Finley and split up and dinghied again across the harbor to enjoy a special BBQ dinner at the iconic Peace and Plenty hotel, complete with entertainment by a Bahamian “rake and scrape” band. Fantastic first day!
We had many fun adventures in George Town with Wendy and Anita, including:
Our first stop was Lee Stocking Island, this time anchoring a little bit south of where we had anchored a couple weeks earlier. There was a reef nearby to explore so we snorkeled while Reed speared three more fish: grouper, sailors choice, and a red snapper. Once back at the boat, we swam, found sea stars, and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and calm moon-free night with incredible stars and Milky Way shining above.
The next morning, we motored a short distance to Leaf Cay to see the native iguanas living there. They were smaller than the ones we’d seen on Bitter Guana Cay but more numerous. From Leaf Cay we headed north again out on Exuma Sound, a nice but somewhat rolly sail for several hours. We crossed to the western, shallow bank side of the Exumas through Rudder Cut and traveled north from there to Big Farmers Cay.
We anchored in a small bay at Big Farmers and dinghied across the Little Farmers Cay harbor. The harbor was home to small nurse sharks, sting rays, and sea turtles who were there to eat the scraps from the fish and conch cleaning station. We walked across Little Farmers (over the airport runway!) to Ty’s Sunset restaurant. The dinner was excellent – fresh and plentiful – with rum punches and a nice set of chairs on the deck to enjoy the view. Reed played volleyball with a local boy, Aaron, and soon they had everyone joining in on their game. On the dark walk back to the dinghy, we met a man with potcake puppies for sale. Ava and Reed begged to get one and as cute as they were, we knew that it wouldn’t be the right thing for the last few months of our travels. Getting a dog will have to wait until we are back in Seattle.
We stayed an extra day at Big Farmers as weather/wind/squalls were moving through. We played games, swam, and Wendy and Anita made grand plans to turn the abandoned houses in the bay into their own resort someday. Let’s hope so!
Our last leg of the trip was a short jaunt up to Staniel Cay. We stopped along the way at Oven Rock – an anchorage most famous for its inland trail to a hidden cave with fresh water pool inside. We anchored, went ashore, found the trail and the cave. While it was cool to see, we all agreed that swimming in the dark water with bats flying above might not be the best thing. We hiked to an ocean side beach and swam there instead.
That sailing was wonderful all the way up the Staniel – felt great to have the engines off and nothing but the wind, sun, and waves all around in the teal blue, ultra clear water all around. We anchored in our favorite spot off of the Yacht club in time for sundown drinks and a quiet dinner.
On Friday, we got up early to catch the low tide at Thunderball Grotto. Just the adults went to snorkel the cave – we had it all to ourselves and were able to explore and enjoy for quite a while before the current started to run and other boaters showed up. The light was perfect for catching back-lit pictures of us diving down to enter the cave.
Back at the boat, Reed offered to take Wendy and Anita to “pig beach” off of Big Majors island. Then Wendy and Anita treated Ava and Reed to breakfast and the kids then took them on a tour of the island to meet the locals and see the sights. We a;; spent the rest of the day hanging out at the yacht club drinking yummy pina coladas, playing pool and the ring toss game, and people watching all the yachts coming and going from the docks. We had a nice swim on the beach, cleaned up at the boat and went back to the SCYC for a great dinner and music and fun. It was hard to believe that their visit was coming to an end.
Saturday morning meant an early 5 minute walk to the airport and saying goodbye as they boarded their small Flamingo Air flight to Nassau. It was hard to say goodbye but we will see Wendy again this summer when the whole Netherlands Sanderson family visits in Spokane and Seattle.
With three cameras clicking away, there were A LOT of pictures - enjoy!
Thanks for following along!
The weather had been blustery so the waves in the middle of Elizabeth Harbor made any dinghy ride from our mooring across to the town where all the services were kind of like going through a salt water car wash! Fortunately, there is a water taxi service, run by Elvis (yes, Elvis) that will take you across the harbor for $12 round trip. We had planned to use this to method to pick up Wendy and Anita with their flight landing early in the morning into George Town, but a flight delay and a settling of the weather meant Eric could pick them up in the dinghy while the kids and I waited at the boat.
After arriving, they explored town a bit, provisioned up on important items like beer and rum, and made their way across the harbor to the boat. That night, we borrowed a dinghy from Finley and split up and dinghied again across the harbor to enjoy a special BBQ dinner at the iconic Peace and Plenty hotel, complete with entertainment by a Bahamian “rake and scrape” band. Fantastic first day!
We had many fun adventures in George Town with Wendy and Anita, including:
- A barbeque on the beach on Good Friday with Jeff and Kendra from Finley and Tim and Poppy from Grace V. It was a calm night with a beautiful sunset, great food, and fine company. The only downside was the no-see-ums that came out – Wendy got the worst of it, and sadly, suffered with many many bites for it the rest of her visit.
- Yoga on the beach on Friday and Saturday morning. Agnes was a great instructor and the cool breeze and sand were a great setting to relax and exercise.
- A hike to the Exuma Sound side of Stocking Island to play on the beach and body surf in the waves and jump from the sand cliffs to the beach below
- Eating fresh conch salad made from two large conch shells that Eric had harvested while on a spearfishing expedition with Jeff, Tim, and Reed earlier in the day. Ronaldo from the famous conch salad stand at Chat and Chill beach showed Eric how to expertly clean them and prepare the salad.
- An Easter Sunday adventure by dinghy north to Hamburger Beach with Finley and Grace V - with a hike to the east side of the island in search of natural bubble baths created by the waves and rocks. We found that baths but the sea and tide were too high/strong so we found a nice cove to relax and wade – our own chat/chill spot with no one else around.
Our first stop was Lee Stocking Island, this time anchoring a little bit south of where we had anchored a couple weeks earlier. There was a reef nearby to explore so we snorkeled while Reed speared three more fish: grouper, sailors choice, and a red snapper. Once back at the boat, we swam, found sea stars, and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and calm moon-free night with incredible stars and Milky Way shining above.
The next morning, we motored a short distance to Leaf Cay to see the native iguanas living there. They were smaller than the ones we’d seen on Bitter Guana Cay but more numerous. From Leaf Cay we headed north again out on Exuma Sound, a nice but somewhat rolly sail for several hours. We crossed to the western, shallow bank side of the Exumas through Rudder Cut and traveled north from there to Big Farmers Cay.
We anchored in a small bay at Big Farmers and dinghied across the Little Farmers Cay harbor. The harbor was home to small nurse sharks, sting rays, and sea turtles who were there to eat the scraps from the fish and conch cleaning station. We walked across Little Farmers (over the airport runway!) to Ty’s Sunset restaurant. The dinner was excellent – fresh and plentiful – with rum punches and a nice set of chairs on the deck to enjoy the view. Reed played volleyball with a local boy, Aaron, and soon they had everyone joining in on their game. On the dark walk back to the dinghy, we met a man with potcake puppies for sale. Ava and Reed begged to get one and as cute as they were, we knew that it wouldn’t be the right thing for the last few months of our travels. Getting a dog will have to wait until we are back in Seattle.
We stayed an extra day at Big Farmers as weather/wind/squalls were moving through. We played games, swam, and Wendy and Anita made grand plans to turn the abandoned houses in the bay into their own resort someday. Let’s hope so!
Our last leg of the trip was a short jaunt up to Staniel Cay. We stopped along the way at Oven Rock – an anchorage most famous for its inland trail to a hidden cave with fresh water pool inside. We anchored, went ashore, found the trail and the cave. While it was cool to see, we all agreed that swimming in the dark water with bats flying above might not be the best thing. We hiked to an ocean side beach and swam there instead.
That sailing was wonderful all the way up the Staniel – felt great to have the engines off and nothing but the wind, sun, and waves all around in the teal blue, ultra clear water all around. We anchored in our favorite spot off of the Yacht club in time for sundown drinks and a quiet dinner.
On Friday, we got up early to catch the low tide at Thunderball Grotto. Just the adults went to snorkel the cave – we had it all to ourselves and were able to explore and enjoy for quite a while before the current started to run and other boaters showed up. The light was perfect for catching back-lit pictures of us diving down to enter the cave.
Back at the boat, Reed offered to take Wendy and Anita to “pig beach” off of Big Majors island. Then Wendy and Anita treated Ava and Reed to breakfast and the kids then took them on a tour of the island to meet the locals and see the sights. We a;; spent the rest of the day hanging out at the yacht club drinking yummy pina coladas, playing pool and the ring toss game, and people watching all the yachts coming and going from the docks. We had a nice swim on the beach, cleaned up at the boat and went back to the SCYC for a great dinner and music and fun. It was hard to believe that their visit was coming to an end.
Saturday morning meant an early 5 minute walk to the airport and saying goodbye as they boarded their small Flamingo Air flight to Nassau. It was hard to say goodbye but we will see Wendy again this summer when the whole Netherlands Sanderson family visits in Spokane and Seattle.
With three cameras clicking away, there were A LOT of pictures - enjoy!
Thanks for following along!