Introduction to the Exumas

There was one day, March 28^th, the heavy winds stopped. That was the day we decided to make the crossing from Eleuthera to the northern islands of the Exumas. Good and bad. We had to motor the whole way, but… nobody got sick in the “flat” seas.

Because of the light winds, we could anchor near the plane wreck in Norman’s Cay. The current was playing tricks with us, but luckily, the wind stayed out of it, that day and night. Our surroundings were just beautiful. The sun lit up the water with all its shades of blue and there were beaches everywhere. In the dinghy, the four of us, circled around what was left of a plane that once belonged to the famous drug dealer and previous owner of the island. We also spent some time on a tiny little island, dominated by one palm tree, and connected to another island at low tide. Mark went conch hunting.

The following afternoon, the wind picked up again, and we were forced to move to the west side of Norman’s Cay. There we hung out for a few days, not doing much. My parents went to the beach every day and did a couple of walks. Mark and I played with the dogs, and focused on boat stuff. One evening we spoiled ourselves with a cocktail and dinner at Mac Duffs, the only establishment on the big island. Other than that, we cooked our own meals, did dishes in the salt water, and took showers by jumping off the cat. My parents did a great job adjusting to the basic boat life and didn’t complain an ounce! They successfully stayed out of our way, managed to live in a small space for days on end, and barely used any water. I bet they were looking forward to life on land, though, after a while.

Our next stop was Allan’s Cay. The current, wind chop, and crowdedness of the anchorage made it a bit uncomfortable over there, but we stayed long enough to see the huge family of iguanas on the beach and the stone “statues” on the top of a hill. The view from there was also very nice.

Nassau was calling, though… My parents’ departure date was coming up and the idea of a hotel room sounded attractive to everybody!