Hanging with the Pigs

Blossom at anchor at Big Majors (best photo yet of Blossom, thanks Jo!)

This blog entry is about our stay at Big Majors. Almost half the pics here are Jo's, thank you!!.

We left Shroud Cay for Big Majors under very different conditions than we had our trip to Shroud. Ed & Jo were thrilled at how calm and peaceful it was (without the 3-4 ft chop). We drove from up top on the fly bridge and it was gorgeous.  Jo kept Petal company on the ride down J

Jo enjoying the ride down to Big Majors

Finding the perfect place to anchor

Ed & Jo, anchorage in the background

The anchorage wasn’t that crowded and we tucked in with a great view of pig beach. We put out a flopper to help with the wakes from all the pig-visiting boats and were good to go. Our first order of business was, of course, visiting the pigs!

Ed was very excited to gather food for the pigs

Swimming pigs

Then we went in to Staniel Cay Marina for dinner.

Staniel Cay Yacht Club

Jo and the club

Mart and me

Jo’s ready for a cocktail!

Friday was a dinghy day. We filled the tank, loaded Petal with our goodies and headed north. We went about 10 miles north to The Aquarium snorkel site. It really is one of the best snorkel sites we’ve seen this year. Some photos of our antics…

Blossom has her own gas tank for Petal

Sunrise at Big Majors

But first we stopped to see another plane wreck, Alvin's Plane.

Ed, enjoying the ride

We arrived at the Aquarium at almost slack tide.

The Aquarium

Ed's got the roll technique down!

Fish

 Swimming with the sergeant majors

Ed enjoying the fish

The gang

These fish actually beg for food

We then turned back south and headed to Compass Cay to visit the sharks. We were sorely disappointed to miss out on their hamburger lunch (they didn’t have enough propane to cook) but we very much enjoyed swimming with the sharks.

Compass Cay

Well Hello Shark!

These guys seem to enjoy being petted

And this little one was begging like a baby bird in a nest

Pretty photo of a shark (thanks Jo!)

On our way in we noticed that Tucker had the green marker that was knocked down a few weeks ago replaced by a nice lit, floating green.

New marker in Compass Cay Channel

Osprey nest on another marker

By then it was high tide and headed back north to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. We had a great time!

 The walk to the bath

 Waiting for a big wave

 Here is comes

 Martin is under that hat

Hold on Jo!

Family Fun :)

The water is so clear - it's about 5 feet deep here

Some storm clouds came by giving us a brief cooling rain and some gorgeous views

The sky cleared and we enjoyed a hot and sunny afternoon/evening on Blossom.

Jo & Ed in Big Majors

That afternoon we were thrilled to see our friends Peter and Angela arrive at Big Majors. We met them back in 09’ in Atlantis and bonded over sharing the same boat (Tiara 43).  Then in 2014, Blossom was in the Ft. Lauderdale boat show. We were wandering the docks and came upon a gorgeous 70 ft Outer Reef and were standing there admiring her when guess who stepped out onto the deck but Peter & Angela. We had both moved on to larger, slower, more comfortable boats! We happily made arrangements to get together the next day.

Day 2 was designated “beach day”. We filled Petal with our new beach gear (umbrellas, beach chairs, cooler, etc), tied a SUP to her stern and went off to find a beach for the day. We found a lovely beach with a bay that seemed to have little current running through it and set up for the day.

Brothers

Searching for a beach…

Found one…

Set up camp

Ed & Jo

Peter & Angela arrive

Mart & Peter chatting

What a view!

Peter and Angela came over and the five of us spent a fantastic afternoon lounging on the sand and in the water. Ed & Jo gave the SUP a go as well!

Jo

Jo & Ed

Ed gave it a go on his own J

I went for spin too

That evening we went over to Creative Edge and spent a fabulous evening feasting on fish tacos (Angela is an Amazing cook) and talking the night away.

Creative Edge (check out the photo bombing sea gull!)

Our third day at Big Majors was designated “snorkeling day”. Thunderball Grotto and the Leaf Cays were on the agenda for snorkeling. We started the morning with a visit to the pigs. They seemed a bit bored by carrots and sweet peppers but they eventually dug in. We watched two of them pick up carrots and bring them to the water to rinse off the sand. Smart pigs!

Feeding the pigs

 Getting a bit nervous feeding the pigs!

Baby piglets

As the tide was nearing slack we went over to Thunderball Grotto. Ed and Jo loved it and they got to see a big barracuda!

The Grotto

 From inside the Grotto

Jo in the Grotto

Martin & Me

Barracuda!

Next on the list was snorkeling off Leaf Cay but as soon as we dropped the anchor, guess who came by to say hello? Scar – the big barracuda. We checked out the reefs with the glass bottom bucket and came back to Blossom for a brunch. The rest of the day was a restful one – reading, napping, jumping off the boat and paddling to the pigs. All followed by another lovely meal on the aft deck.

Ed & Jo paddling to the pigs

Ed wanted to do this for days!

Matin's bread is a big hit!

Martin and I putting the toys away

Ed & Jo got to experience a bit of the sad and ugly involved in cruising that evening when Cristobal, a large chartered powerboat out of Ft. Lauderdale, set off fireworks from their deck. They had anchored very close to us, and upwind as well. When bits of their display fell on Blossom, Martin tried to contact them on the radio (fiberglass boats burn). Rather than second guess their decision to light explosives in a crowded anchorage, they were very rude. The vast majority of folks we meet cruising are amazing people, but there are those few who can be very unpleasant. Thankfully, experiences like that are few and far between.

A lovely sunset our last night at Big Majors

We left Big Majors in the morning and headed to Highbourne Cay. We’ll be here for 2 nights and then head in to Atlantis, on Paradise Island.

Today’s blog entry ends with a shout out to Martin and Ed’s Mom, Carole. We hope you had a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Mum!

Boat Business. Overall, Blossom has been performing like a champ.

• Varying RPMs. We think we may have a minor air leak in a fuel line. Periodically, our main engine is experiencing fluctuations in RPMs/load. Martin consulted with Steve D and has checked for corrosion on the wiring harness (none) and tightened fittings on the lines (a few were slightly loose). We continued to experience mild variations on our way to Highbourne so more sleuthing is necessary.