Marsh Harbour tonight is so strange in its silence. With so many boats (we’re fairly squished in in this anchorage) and restaurants skirting the harbor itself, you’d think that there would be something, but with the wind nonexistent, and our neighbors as tucked in as we are (no dinghies zipping back and forth), all I can hear is the occasional car on the road in the distance. (And, now the grey water pumping out of a giant catamaran nearby. Those folks are no doubt luxuriating in their 100 sq ft shower or something else catamaran-y like that. Bowling a few frames? Kicking back in the movie theatre? Can you tell I’m spatially jealous? I have zero interest in owning one; I just love to imagine their inhabitants in what always looks like excessively-abundant accommodations. )
‘Anchorage updates’ aside… we left Harbour Island on Saturday morning just after sunrise, and had a great day on the water. Not a lot of wind, and zero bites on the line (bummer), but clear skies, the bluest of blue water, a massive dolphin sighting (at first we thought it was a small whale), and a lot of eating and reading accomplished. We then anchored off of Lynard Cay (Skynard nowhere to be found) next to another kid boat, which we ended up paddling and dinghying ashore to spend the afternoon with. I can’t stress it enough- kid boating makes for easy connections!
Yesterday we woke up in our delightful Abaconian digs, and after breakfast headed up to Sandy Cay, where we dinghied to a snorkel site that had been a favorite two years ago. It did not disappoint. I don’t remember the massive amounts of coral there before, because we were so taken with the eagle rays gliding by, along with sharks and turtles aplenty. This time, however, we flopped off the dinghy into a technicolored wave of corals. Branching, mounding, fans, staghorn, elkhorn, feathery, different types of brain corals… blues, greens, purples, yellows, it was incredible. Giant clusters and pristine sandy wells between made for ideal viewing for the contrast of the various fishes gliding by (biological side note: Lily has expressed her distaste for the rule of ‘fish’ (same species) versus ‘fishes’ (different species) when talking about multiple animals. (I then expressed my distaste for her not wanting to follow the rules. She… didn’t care.)). After having recently read a book about octopuses (not octopi, as I quickly learned, another rule set I’m bent on following), I was on the hunt for clues and dens, so did a bit of free-diving to search, but had no luck. (I know one was in there, somewhere!) We did see a number of parrotfishes (different species!), angelfish, wrasse, and I had a few yellowtail snapper that were oh-so-curious and on my case. They swam just below my fingers for the majority of my time in the water, and I would dive, they would follow… back up, and there they’d be, looking and waiting. (It kind of felt like I was being interviewed. “Are You My Mother?” (Not even close.))
After our snorkel adventure we weighed anchor and headed here to Marsh Harbour, for better positioning for getting a few errands accomplished today. Since this is the last stop at a ‘major hub’ before tucking into the boatyard for the summer, we wanted to do some research about services, and stock up on supplies for closing this old gal up in just over a week. Gah. That’s too soon. Don’t even want to think about it yet.
While I schooled this morning (there was a snow day at home, but did we tell the girls? Of course not!), Andy filled propane, went to the market, found a place to potentially purchase new house batteries next year (bummer, as ours are only two years old), and went to fix a phone. The end game was an afternoon at the pool at a nearby marina and resort, and we swam, ate and played our way through the afternoon. Resort pool bonus: showers. Even typing that sounds so posh. Though we have a fine shower aboard the boat, and we use it, the idea of letting water run without mentally calculating how many gallons you’re using IS pretty posh. We have plenty of water storage, but Andy and I are both pretty miserly when it comes to usage, as if we’re always preparing for a couple of weeks in the Dry Tortugas. The game of ‘Who Uses Less Water When Washing the Dishes’ is one we’ll have to actually calculate one of these days, though I’m pretty sure I know who the winner is (ahem, ahem). We clean and rinse with our salt-water pump, and then only use fresh water for the final ‘rinse the salt off’ rinse. (And, who needs ALL of the salt rinsed off, anyway?! Kidding! (Says the clear winner.))
Since I am now thinking about it… the countdown begins to releasing our kids back to the wilds of friends, too many activities, and the hubbub of land-life. Just getting to spend all day with them every day is such a gift, and then woosh! They’ll be off on sleds, or bikes (though really sounds like sleds these days), or tucked into their rooms with friends in a blink.
It helps that the daily duties here are far less engrossing- at home there are times when I welcome their positive engagements as a way to ease the parent guilt that I feel while doing chores and not interacting with them. On the boat I certainly keep my personal reading time high on the priority list, but I’m much quicker (and simply more able) to sit and play a game of Uno, or to help with a craft project, or help with a sandcastle, and it feels so good to be able to slow the heck down and engage, every dang day of the week. For so much of the year, we’re so ramped up and consumed by the industry of our season that the idea of having days on end filled with all four family members in situ is an impossibility. Chickadee for the wintertime win!
We’re squeezing in every last moment of this trip, already aware that our Bahamian haul-out has bought us more time cruising this year. (This time last year we were heading up the waterway, watching our swim ladder rungs disappear in the ever-browning waters…) We have a few islands to ‘hit’ before we land in Green Turtle, with a few friends ashore in a couple of harbors to catch up with, and a bit of snorkeling and exploration thrown in in between.
(Also, probably an Uno game or two for good measure.)