Pigs Can't Fly, but Can They Swim?

Staniel Cay

     After a long and bumpy night at Warderick Wells, we were happy to be in a Marina.  Staniel Cay Yacht Club was the perfect haven for us.  They have great facilities and a town nearby with an airfield.  We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Yacht Club after we spent the day scouring the town for some fresh fruits and vegetables.  We are so used to having everything we could possibly need.  Life on the islands is something to get used to.  The choice of vegetables was a few lemons, onions and potatoes.  Pretty slim pickings.  Dinner was really nice after having taken some hot showers.  After dinner we hung out at the bar and made a few new friends.  Erik (who is with NYPD) and his wife Helena and Bob and Craig who are here on Bob’s boat the Eyamana.  Craig is a crew member on Bob’s yacht and also flies Bob’s plane.  What a great time we had telling stories and drinking a little too much.  Our bartender had a bit of a heavy hand you see.   We finished the evening with a night cap on Bob’s yacht.  Nothing like a pina colada to top up a half dozen G&T’s.  We may run into Bob in BVI – he’s not sure where his next destination will be. 

     Before heading out to Farmers Cay, we stopped at Major Cay to see a sight you would not believe if I didn’t have the photos to prove it.  We took the dinghy in to feed the pigs.  They actually swim out to the dinghy for the treats.  Who knew that pigs could swim.  They are pretty fast swimmers as well keeping up with our dinghy that was doing about 1.5 knots.

General Stuff

     Well, my attempts at flag making have led me to believe it would have been worth the $100 to have it made professionally.  The fabric I used is fine, but the paint just doesn’t stand up to the beating and the weather.  I tried to repaint it, but the paint doesn’t stay on worth a darn.  It comes off so easily.  Even if I should put the blue painters tape on it, it comes right off.  I either need to find a more durable adhesive fabric paint or give up on the idea.

     On our long sailing days, I spend my time reading.  I just finished reading a book by a new author Amor Towles.  Very well written, interesting, good build up of characters and quite entertaining. 

We’re still making our way through Dexter Season Five and The Shield Season Two.  We spend our evenings cooking and playing cards.  Uno, Rummy 500 and we plan to teach Liz and Eric to play Euchre. 

Leaving Exuma Cays and Heading to Long Island

     We headed out of Exuma Cays and over to Long Island today.  A journey of around 56 knots.  Fairly high seas, big swells and the wind coming from the East which was the direction we were heading.  That meant motoring all the way.  We anchored in Calabash Bay just outside a resort.  We had to pass through some reefs to get into the quieter waters and a quiet night.  The water is getting warmer as we head south – around 25- 27 degrees C.  Perfect for an evening swim before dinner.

Another beautiful sunset in the Bahamas. 

Long Island to Mayaguana

     It has been a long two days with a 36 hour sailing trip from Clarence Town Long Island to Mayaguana Island.  And then an early 2AM start to head over to Turks and Caicos.  But we sailed 98% of the way – strong winds, not necessarily in the best direction which meant some tacking and a longer trip.  But that’s the life of a sailor. 

Night Sailing

     No photos here but I can describe what it’s like to sail at night.  When it’s a clear sky with no moon, the stars pop out at you so you feel that you can touch them.  With no light pollution or obstructions, they reach from one horizon to the other.  Imagine the Little Dipper hanging in the sky looking as though it’s about to take a scoop out of the ocean.  It really is incredible to know you are sitting in a small boat in an ocean that is sometimes up to 20,000 feet deep and no land in sight in any direction.  Somehow the stars feel a little closer.

     Another great catch yesterday – just as the sun was coming down and we had just about given up catching anything.  Along comes a Wahoo.  What is a Wahoo you say?  We’ll, first we all started by saying wahoooo!!! We caught a fish; and a big one too.  Then Eric looked it up and found it was a Wahoo that we caught.  They are a long, narrow bodied fish with a long snout and a long dorsal fin.  It’s a dark blue on top and pale blue on the bottom with blackish blue vertical stripes.  They are said to get as big as 6 fee in length and up to 100 pounds.  I think the one we caught was about 2 feet long and around 10 pounds.  Still plenty of good eating to be done. 

Wahoo!

     We had a nice encounter with some dolphins the other day.  There were 5 or 6 of them swimming around the bow of the boat.  Playing with the stream of water from the boat and with each other.  They stayed with us for about 15 minutes.  Really nice to see them.  Again, I’m just not quick enough on the shutter to get a good shot of them.  Next time I’ll use my little movie camera.  Stay tuned for that! 

Can you see the dolphin just below the surface of the water?

     A scary sight – Eric spotted a tornado at sea.  Headed right for us.  Jens got the engine going and I went down to put the zoom lens on the camera.  We sailed out of its way and I was able to get a few good shots.  Quite a thing to see.  Apparently tornadoes at sea are called waterspouts and can be quite dangerous.  They say that the Florida Keys can have 400-500 per season.  

     We are now settled at the South Side Marina in Providenciale, Caicos.  We'll be here for a few days and hope to get some diving in.  Yippee!