Our pre-dawn departure routine becomes more efficient, quieter and faster each time we take off. Not that we make a habit of such exits, but with winds most advantageous for a good sail early in the day, we wanted to utilize the best window for our passage to the Exumas. Lee cloths up, snubber off the anchor, a final tidy below to check for unlashed items that may soar, unlocking the gimbal of the stove, a cockpit clean-up and fresh water bottles at the helm, it’s then time to wake the girls and have them move forward into our bunk so they aren’t jolted awake by the engine adjacent to their dream cycles. Andy does his engine checks, gets our navigation up and running, sets the main, I hoist the anchor, and we’re off.
Yesterday morning the sun seemed to jump up out of the horizon; I barely had time to finish a cup of coffee in the brightening day’s coolness before up it came, beaming into the cockpit. Since our laundry hung the day before didn’t get a chance to dry before the dew hit, I’m grateful for the BTUs, and as we crossed the Yellow Bank later in the day, scattered with coral heads lurking beneath us, we were happy to have it high overhead for maximum ground visibility.
We had a quick 14nm jump off of soundings on our way back to the bank from our Egg Island anchorage, and we tried our hand with our last ballyhoo, only to come up empty once again. Just as we started reeling it in, we had a hit, but it was something very adept at sneaking our bait off the lure, and carrying on with its morning. Phooey.
It feels a bit greedy to be disappointed at this point, as for the past two nights, we have speared lobster for our dinner. There is something so satisfying about directly providing for ourselves, not to mention the extremely fresh and tasty dinner on our plates. A bit (or a LOT!) more practice with our spear aim, and we’ll work on catching some fish to add to our self-reliance repertoire. (I can’t seem to get the picture of Tom Hanks wearing a grimy rag/diaper, spearing fish handily in the shallows of his Castaway Island ‘home’ out of my head, and while one day we hope to have his catch percentages, I’m going to pray that my starvation level doesn’t come as close before we do.)
(Fishing update: we DID get greedy, and threw the line out again on the bank. Bummer of a not-surprising story: we caught a thrashing, gnashing barracuda, and had quite the time getting the hook out to release him. I’ll save my neurotoxins for another time, thank you very much.)
Backing up a few days, after leaving Harbour Island, we had a nice day and night in Spanish Wells’ Yacht Haven Marina, with a beautiful freshwater pool and palatial showers. We did some laundry, pretended to care about the Superbowl, topped up on fuel and water and headed west to Egg Island, a remote spot with great reviews from everyone we spoke to. Reviews all confirmed: a mangrove to explore, great reefs for our lobstering and snorkeling adventures, a beautiful beach, and a peaceful anchorage perfect for the girls to paddle, kayak and swim between the boats.
Today, meanwhile, we woke up in Highbourne Cay, our first Exumas stop, and later will be the long-awaited 2021 Rickadee Reunion! We’re all quite excited to see our pals, and also to introduce them to our new friends. It’ll be throwing two more crafters into Violet and Maeve’s mix, and the teens can do their teen thing, hopefully together at points as hormones and moods allow. (Currently, Lily’s ‘teen thing’ is connecting with her cousin and friends on Minecraft as often as she has time and Wifi. It’s only slightly/very annoying, but we keep reminding ourselves that it’s her method of communication, important in these awkward years, and hey! they’re not working on a crime syndicate, so perspective helps. We’re also light in the mood department so far, so a hard turn on the crossed fingers for that’s continuation.)
First, ‘to’ school and work to maximize usage of Highbourne’s tower! Always with the little things..
