Little Bay to Big Majors

Me and Martin at McDuff's, Norman's Cay

We left Shroud on Sunday to go to Little Bay, just south of Black Point. The wind had picked up considerably that day and we hoped that Little Bay would be well sheltered from the easterlies. Once we arrived, we dropped anchor and put the paddle boards down. Mom jumped in – and she started to drift away!  The combination of wind and current had the water ripping. I jumped in as well but before long we found ourselves hanging off the paddle boards (which were tied to the boat) so we wouldn’t get taken out to sea J  No playing in the water at Little Bay that day. We enjoyed a nice barbeque dinner on the aft deck and watched a movie that night.

The next day the wind was howling and there was a lot surge in the anchorage. We were rolling around enough that I wasn’t able to play with Mom in the quilt room without feeling sick. Unfortunately, I suffer from episodes of BPPV, a form of vertigo that comes and goes. It started up a few weeks ago and has been worse the past several days. I seem to be more sensitive to the boat moving with this going on. (Fingers crossed that it passes soon.) So after a somewhat uncomfortable day on the boat I was anxious to take the dinghy into town that evening.

Our first stop in Black Point was to visit Lorraine’s Mom and buy a loaf of cinnamon coconut raison bread that had just come out of the oven. We had a drink at Scorpio’s and pizza for dinner at DeShamons. It was a nice evening and I’m happy that we got to show Mom a small Bahamian settlement. We noticed that the bay at Black Point was much more settled, with no surge, so we decided to head out the next day for Big Majors where we assumed that it would also be much more sheltered.

Cruising around Big Majors

Sunset at Big Majors

We left early on Tuesday for a quick 2 hour run up to Big Majors (after I made some pretty amazing French toast from that cinnamon coconut bread!) It was much less crowded compared than when we were here a couple months ago. Now that we’re more familiar with the bay and had more room, we crawled way up and anchored very close to shore. Ah the calm!! We had a happy surprise as we were anchoring as well. I was out on the bow with the range finder to see how far away we were from the sailboats on either side when I saw people waving at me - and there was Del Max! We were anchoring right next to the friendly kid boat we met down in Adderley Cut!  Unfortunately they were just about to head out so we didn’t get to meet up with them.

A lovely place for a swim

Sting ray with no stinger

We splashed Petal right away and rinsed Blossom down. In the afternoon we suited up and went for a ride in Petal to explore. We headed north, checking out the area around the now closed, Sampson Marina. We have many wonderful memories of that marina from when we stayed there in ’09. Unfortunately, the owner has closed it and made the cay private.  We enjoyed the scenery until we found a relatively calm bay where we could jump in for a swim/snorkel. The water was 81 degrees and while there wasn’t a lot to see fish-wise, we had a great swim and did see a sting ray and his friend. We were also silently watched by a couple of barracuda throughout our swim.  That night we had another tasty dinner on the aft deck and watched the folks on mega yacht next to us play on their water slide.  Man, that looks like fun!

I’m coveting their slide!

On Wednesday we went and fed the pigs. Oh the indignity – to have a bird hitching a ride on your back!

Bird On Pig

Big Majors Pigs

After feeding the pigs we went to check out the rather famous snorkel site, Thunderball Grotto (where they filmed a scene in the James Bond movie Thunderball).  Even though it was low tide “slack” the currant was ripping. It was so strong that we barely were able to make it into the cave!

Thunderball Grotto from the outside

 

 

Thunderball Grotto on the inside

Later that day we went in to Staniel Cay Marina to pick up our new davit controller which had just arrived the day before.  As we pulled up in Petal we saw Eagle VI and were thrilled to see our friend Moose. 

Martin and Moose

He had just arrived from Highbourne Cay with a boat full of family and friends. They’re all enjoying a week of fishing and enjoying the Exumas.  Moose was able to take some time out and join us for a drink. We’re so happy that we got to catch up with him! (And he generously shared some of his freshly caught Mahi Mahi with us too, thank you Moose!)  We also got to see our friends from Scamper (the folks who helped us with the dinghy controller).  They were having a bit of trouble with an engine so they were docked at the marina.  As luck would have it, they also had reservations at the restaurant that evening and we were sat right next to them!  We really enjoyed the evening talking with them and meeting their delightful daughter, Sara. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to connect with them again next year J

Thursday was a whirlwind of outdoor activity. We packed up Petal and headed out early for a day of adventure to the north.  We explored all the way up to Little Pipe Creek. Some of our best memories from ’09 were when we were anchored up there with our friends CJ & Margie.

Little Pipe area

View from the old anchorage, doesn’t this look familiar CJ & Margie?? J

We jumped in to check out a snorkel site we had enjoyed in ’09 but it was just rocks and grass. So we headed up farther north to Chicken Cay. We found an excellent place to snorkel there. Unfortunately, the currant was so strong we couldn’t go too far out where there were bigger bommies but it was very pretty where we were able to swim.

Downed planes everywhere!  This one is on Chicken Cay

Where we snorkeled off of Chicken Cay

 Under water

Next we were off to Compass Cay Marina. 

We’ve never been there and we’ve heard so many great things, I was excited to check it out. The main attraction there is swimming with the “pet” nurse sharks (second attraction - cheeseburgers).  So we ordered our cheeseburgers and watched as people swam with the sharks.

People come from all up and down the Exumas to experience the sharks!

After eating we went for a walk to the far side of the island to check out the beach.

Mom walking to the beach

Beach on east side of Compass Cay

When we got back we were hot and had worked up the courage to get in the water with the sharks. This is a really big deal for me because I am so seriously afraid of, yes, even nurse sharks. Though they’re more like puppies than sharks at Compass (they all have names even), I was still terrified.  Here are some photos – and yes, I touched them too! I even got a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion.

Hello Martin!

Don't I look relaxed?

 

 

Mom got in on the action too! 

After the excitement of the sharks we headed north to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. It’s a naturally formed pool that is open to the sound and when the tide is high and wind is from the east, frothy waves pour into the pool. It’s a popular spot and we met up with two other couples who were relaxing in the pool as well.

Walking to Rachel’s Bubble Bath

The bubbles

Martin, me and Mom in Rachel's Bubble Bath

We returned to Blossom that night, once again exhausted from a fantastic day in the Exumas.

Friday was a much more subdued day, primarily because my vertigo was too bad for me to do much. We did go over to Staniel to pick up some milk & drop off some trash. We stopped by but neither Moose nor Joe & Holly were in so it was a quick visit.  We spent most of the day sewing. I could do hand sewing and not much else but my Mom was awesome and got a lot done. I’m working on two gift quilts – I’ve almost finished one and now thanks to my Mom, the second one is almost done J

Saturday was our last day at Big Majors.  Mom and I finally got out on the SUPs together. There was a bit of a learning curve, especially as the wind and currant was pulling us out, but Mom was amazing. We got into the lee of the cay she was up and standing in no time!

Relaxing in the lee of the cay

Mom standing on the SUP

In the afternoon Mom and I had a Downton Abbey marathon, finishing up season 5 and getting a ton of hand applique done. We were wiped out from our SUP adventure and had another early night.

Today is Sunday and we’ve headed north to Highbourne Cay. We changed our original plan a bit, coming here rather than Warderick Wells. The wind is still blowing, though it supposed to calm down right when Mom leaves :/  My dizzies are bad enough that we need to be in a calm anchorage so we’ve opted for a cay where we can snug up close to the shore. There’s a very good restaurant there with a beautiful view, Xuma, and we have reservations there tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go visit the iguanas up at Allen Cay and do some snorkeling if the weather and current permits.

Boat Business:

• Davit Controller. The new controller works!
• Stern thruster. As we were anchoring at Highbourne we found that the stern thruster is not working. Martin will dive down when the rain stops to see if we sucked something up in there. Hopefully it'll be an easy fix.