Fifty Shades of Gray

Visitors!

This past week we were graced with a visit from Ken’s sister, Lisa, and her husband, Jay.  We had a blast taking long walks on the beach, hiking a loop across Stocking Island, snorkeling, fishing, kayaking, hanging out at one of the most exclusive resorts on Great Exuma (Turquoise Cay), and spending the afternoon at one of the most laid-back venues on Stocking Island (Chat ‘N Chill).  We all agreed that although Turquoise Cay is undoubtedly gorgeous and a wonderful splurge, we prefer the easy camaraderie of the cruiser scene at Chat ‘N Chill.  Lisa even fed conch scraps to the sting rays in the shallow waters off the beach there!  As she and Jay rode off in the dinghy Tuesday to catch an early morning flight to Nassau and begin their many-legged journey home to California, promises were made to join us again.  We’re going to hold them to that!

Lisa and Jay

Sibs

Turquoise Cay

Food, Glorious Food

FOOD!!

While planning our trip to the Bahamas, we were counting on a couple of things:  the weather would be warm and the fish would be plentiful.  Well, it turns out that neither of those is exactly true, although we are starting to figure out the latter.  Without fresh fish on the table, we rely on Exuma Market in George Town to provide us with essentials.  Unlike stateside grocery stores, island stores stock whatever turns up on the weekly food boat, which can seem a bit random at times.  Dinners are typically thrown together affairs with whatever is on hand.  As luck would have it, when Lisa and Jay arrived last week, we had just returned from our first spearfishing (using a pole gun) adventure in which Ken snagged two very large lobsters.  Our dive partners donated a Channel Crab that they had caught and, between the 3 crustaceans, we had two delicious meals.  The unsettled weather this week cleared up just in time for us to go fishing again and celebrate our last night together with a meal of fresh-caught snapper.  We are now bound and determined to fish more often and enjoy the fruits of the sea.

Channel Crab - a tight fit!

My Hunter-Gatherer bringing home the Lobsta!

Gray, Gray, and More Gray

After so much beautiful weather, the northerlies came and stayed for two weeks straight, bringing cool air, brisk winds, and chilly water to our tropical retreat.  Squalls moved in and out, the rain gave our boat a good washing, we practiced our Mexican Train dominoes game, and we waited and waited for the sun to peek through the clouds.  On the beach one afternoon, Ken commented to me that he’d never seen so many shades of gray.  Indeed, if you looked closely you could discern mauve, turquoise, purple, blue, and yellow among the gray.  As Lisa sat huddled up forward in a heavy fleece jacket, I could only wonder at the Weather Gods that seemed determine to sabotage their trip. 

Squall-filled sky

Keeping Warm!

By Land and By Sea

Having Lisa aboard meant that I had a ready and willing snorkeling partner.  Hooray!  Although the weather was not especially cooperative, we did manage to enjoy an afternoon snorkeling off the beach.  The quiet waters of the lee shore make an ideal setting for a marine life nursery and reef fish were there in abundance, if in miniature.  Even the barracuda we spotted was just a baby!  Monday, we snorkeled several reefs while Ken and our fellow cruisers fished.  We saw beautiful staghorn coral, purple sea fans, and fish of every color, including one school of fish that followed us around like puppies.  The bright white sand below provided a stark contrast to the richness of the many hues and shades of corals and fish, while the ripples on the water’s surface played with the light and danced across the sea floor. 

When the weather didn’t favor underwater exploration, we took walks on the beach and hikes across the island.  As one might expect, the quiet beaches of the harbor side of Stocking Island are quite different from the Exuma Sound side, which is rugged and windblown from the prevailing southeasterlies.  While powder-white beaches line the lee of the island, the continuous wave action of Exuma Sound grinds up shells and throws them up onto shore creating color effects of pink, yellow, brown, and orange in the granular golden sand.  Long stretches of sand are punctuated by rocky outcroppings that give way to hidden coves and numerous opportunities for enjoying a private beach.  Each view provides another gorgeous vista of contrasting land and sea. 

Stocking Island, looking south

The Monument (osprey nest on top)

Stocking Island, looking Northwest (Dreamcatcher in foreground)

Shark Encounters

Our Explorer charts note that visitors to the Exumas and, especially, south to the Ragged Cays, are afforded plenty of the 3 “S’s” – Sand, Shells, and Sharks.  We’ve experienced an abundance of the first two and enough of the third to make me a bit wary in the water.  Most of the sharks we’ve seen have been nurse sharks, considered non-threatening to swimmers.  Just yesterday, I watched a very large nurse shark cruise by the boat, quite close to the surface, before heading off in the direction of the beach, gradually going deeper and no doubt finding a place to snooze on the bottom.  After all my anxiety about sharks, when I finally saw one that could actually do some damage, I surprised myself by remaining calm.  Unfortunately, it was the very first thing I saw when I slipped into the water for our fishing/snorkeling expedition on Monday!  At first glance, the black-tipped reef shark looked to be about 3-4’ long as it swam away at an angle to my left.  Just a few minutes later, it reappeared to my right and was now swimming parallel to us, showing its full length of 6’ from tip to tail.  I know the water is the perfect medium for distorting size, but that shark looked pretty big and burly!  As I watched it swim toward the other divers, I realized that it wasn’t just passing through but was slowly circling us as we dove on its reef.  When one of the other divers called for someone to “play defense on the shark” while he speared a fish, we decided that it was time to get out of the water and move on.  Maybe I’ll feel differently after I’ve had more experience but, for now, I’m not crazy about being in the water with a bloody, struggling fish and a very curious shark at the same time!  In the meantime, Ken, probably tired of having me point out potential “dinner” for him to catch, has bought me a pole spear of my own.   Wish me luck!

Prevailing Conditions

As the prevailing wind fills in from the southeast, the soft, almost-liquid air is once again filling our world with sunshine, clear skies, starry nights, and briny breezes that can only mean one thing:  tropical paradise has been restored.  All's right with the world.  

A seascape of hard and soft corals