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We left Georgetown early heading North in the island group of The Exumas anchoring after a few hours at 'Musha Cay'. This is next to the private Island of the famous illusionist David Copperfield. We had fished the drop off on the way over with no result.
After lunch we head off on a tour of the area. We had heard about caves here that can be explored through the marina at Musha Cay, but the owner would not allow us access as we were not paying guests of the resort there.
We then found a good snorkelling spot which Sima especially loved as it was her first snorkelling experience.
We circumnavigated copperfield's Island which is luxurious with a number of attractive homes, piers and beaches.
We tried to find the stainless steel piano that he has submerged in the water. We could not find it.
We set off for an evening fish, travelling through the narrow passage to the open sea, where the current is racing through the wind making it very rough.
We hooked a small Mackerel and were disappointed with the lack of fish in what should have been a great fishing environment.
We finished our Canasta game with JB and Amanda winning easily.
Wednesday. We up anchor and exit through the narrow entrance with racing outgoing tide against wind again, creating large breaking swells. The whole of the Exuma's is like this and we have massive tides at present due to the super moon.
East of the Islands is open sea with strong winds, with the west being very shallow benign conditions. The charts are inconsistent with what we actually find, but our Captain is brave and uses his visibility for accuracy.
We are heading for 'Staniel Cay' the main town in this area. Again, we catch no Pelagic fish on the way. We enter a wider entrance to the shallows, then North ver carefully and slowly, to 'Major Spot Bay', next to Staniel Cay. To our surprise this is full of large cruising vessels all anchored in between two or three meters of depth, with a white sandy bottom.
We drop anchor and the boat is immediately surrounded by large Nurse Sharks. Everyone hesitates before deciding to go swimming in this beautiful water. Brad ventures in to see if they are people eating sharks, he is not attacked so we all follow.
Afterwards we go in the tender to visit the areas renowned attractions. The 'Thunderball Grotto', made famous in the 1965 James Bond film of the same name. This is an underwater treat. Snorkelling around and through this magnificent underwater cave, with its large and small fish, many that look good to eat like large Snapper, but it is a no fishing zone. It rates as the best snorkelling experience we have had in the Caribbean.
Next we head to the town which is small and colourful. The main rendezvous place is the 'Staniel Yacht Club', on the waterfront.
At the marina lots of people are watching sharks being fed by a local fisherman. There are about 20 large nurse sharks that you can swim with if you are mad like Brad. The yacht club is very colourful with some interesting signs suggesting this place is very laid back. We could not help but sit here in the sun with a rum punch for afternoon tea.
Our next attraction was the beach with the swimming pigs. There are 5 very large spotted pigs on the beach waiting to be fed. Apparently they love potatoes. We braved it to stand amongst these large noisy creatures for a photo. JB is in her element as she is
The Chinese year of the pig and felt quiet at home with her brothers and sisters.
We relaxed back on board watching a beautiful sunset in this sheltered shallow bay.
Sima is definitely hooked on Canasta she teams up with MB against Brad and JB who are too shrewd and win easily over two nights.
Thursday. MB and Brad are up early to do a scuba dive with guide Jake. We take him out in our tender to his site at the drop off. Brad had not done a drop off wall dive before, and he loves it. MB has been spoilt with such good dives at San Salvador and Crooked Islands, he enjoys it but is less enthusiastic.
JB leads the girls in yoga, they enjoyed her leadership and have a great stretch.
That afternoon we booked a guide 'Cliff', to take us bottom fishing. It was too rough to fish in the open waters, so we are taken to a shallow reef on the west side, we were unsure of what we could catch here. Using frozen squid we start to catch 6 inch Snapper which our guide wants to keep. We move twice until we demand we find larger fish.
The tide is coming in very strongly and we start finally to catch edible plate size Snapper. Between us totalling about 30. Christy our chef is delighted as the only alternative is meat again.
She uses the fish to make a great meal cooking in four different styles, Indian, Mediterranean, Italian, and plain with only a few herbs. All the fish are wrapped in baking paper then Alfoil, then baked on the BBQ for 20 minuets. Delicious.
As MB has been reading his Pirate book 'The Republic of Pirates', we decide to watch Pirates of the Caribbean number 1 again.
Friday. We start our day with a yoga session and swim. Then we cruise to 'Compass Cay'. We are now cruising all the way in the shallow calm waters.
Compass Cay has another simple marina, bar and restaurant. This is a very isolated sparsely populated area with which we are becoming familiar.
The sea profile is fantastic with a very shallow turquoise through to a very dark blue. The currents are fast 7-8 knots and the water is crystal clear.
We take off on a tour to find a sunken aeroplane just North of 'Bell Cay'. It is very difficult in the fast flowing current but we manage to do it by putting out a safety rope from the bow of the tender and we all hang on to drift over the sunken plane.
We then intended to play beach volleyball on a sand cay of this large bay. However, since we left the cay has disappeared with the large incoming tide. We found an isolated white sandy beach to play volleyball and bocce with sunset beers and a swim.
Dinner was followed by Canasta and dancing.
Saturday morning we are up early for another fishing charter. We could not get the recommended guide 'Beef' so he sent his friend 'Tiko'. His boat and equipment were poorly maintained. The deeper waters are choppy and uncomfortable for fishing. We ran out of bait but we managed another good catch of Snapper, and had fun.
He then took us snorkelling at what is called the aquarium which had a lot of fish of many varieties. Before returning to BP we snorkelled into two other caves.
While we are having lunch we cruised north to 'Shroud Cay', which is in a large marine park. As there is no fishing allowed we swim and relax on the long sandy beaches, with a game of bocce.
After dinner we watch the 1965 James Bond film 'Thunderball' in honour of our favourite snorkelling spot.
Sunday. We leave early to travel further north some 20 nautical miles to 'Highbourne Cay'. There is no town here and no church. Therefore we all do yoga instead. On shore there is an excellent marina with a good general store and attractive restaurant overlooking a beautiful beach.
In the afternoon the girls spend time reading and talking, relaxing on the beach, while MB and Brad fish. They only manage to catch one rainbow runner.
We have booked the restaurant for dinner. Before we head to shore we have cocktails and Sam's US versus Australia, quiz. The US beats us by a narrow margin. We have a delicious meal with a beautiful sunset. Back on board there is another round of Canasta.
Monday. We have yoga and a swim. At lunch we have the Nelsen/Buxton Art Collection Board Meeting, with Sima giving her curatorial report. JB and Amanda head to the beach with their books. Brad MB and Sima again try their luck with bottom fishing with a very young guide who we nickname 'Joe'. We catch more Snapper but many are much larger than those previously caught. MB has great success fishing with whole sardines that we had kept frozen since the BVI'S.
Our Bahamas trip is coming to a close as tomorrow we head to Nassau where Brad Amanda and Sima will leave us.
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