Postcard Living

Today is Thursday, January 16, 2020. I have to remember to look at the date. I can’t believe it’s already been 15+ days of 2020. We left Great Harbour and headed to Soldier’s Cay. It’s official, we are living in the pics of the brochures and on postcards. It’s breathtaking!

Our cruise took us past Great Stirrup and Little Stirrup Cay and around to the east side of the island. Those are the islands the cruise ships lease from the Bahamas. 

Sea Monsters! Royal Caribbean cruise ships, Majesty of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas

It was flat and beautiful cruising until we turned Southeast. Then the rolling started. Our whole cruise was 4 hours which feels like a break after long cruises. I knew we could get through a couple of hours of rolling.

And boy was it worth it. This is the view that welcomed us at Soldier’s Cay.  

Eddie was tired but I was going in. The water temperature is still pretty cold - 77º. That didn’t stop me I dragged out our wet suits and climbed in. We dinghyed to shore and snorkeled about. When we were anchoring there were tons of turtles popping their little faces up. Not a turtle to be seen when snorkeling. In fact nothing much at all to see. We ditched our gear and wetsuits in the dinghy and walked the beach instead. You know this mermaid girl was in heaven. Not a soul around except my love and the beach. I was filled with awe and gratitude. 

I told myself that I wouldn’t collect any seashells. So hard for this beach comber. We have so many shells at our beach house plus there is the ‘don’t take anything’ mentality of the Bahamas. So instead, I collect, arrange and take a pic. I have told myself it’s ok to take the sea glass! I will add it to my collection at the beach. 

The universe didn’t disappoint with last night’s star show! There must be a trillion starts, in every direction, all twinkling. I think of my brother Pete every time I look at the stars. And yup, Orion’s Belt is easy to spot every nite. Maybe he hangs out around there!

Well, it was a rolly anchorage. Friday we moved 3 miles south to the more protected Hoffman’s Cay. It was a little tricky to get into Hoffman’s. We had to travel at high tide with depths of 5’ in some areas. We need 41/2’. At some points we were literally in spitting distance of the rocks. There are no navigation markers so it’s a combination of watching Aquamaps and watching the water for the deep blue channel which is where the deepest water is. 

Hoffman’s is known for this Blue Hole. It’s a short hike from the beach. The Blue Hole is about 600’ wide and 20 ‘ deep. 

There are ledges where you can jump off from about 15’-20‘ high into the Blue Hole. Eddie went right in. I eventually did jump in but it took me a few minutes to get my nerve up!

The winds were kicking up so we stayed put until Sunday. Saturday was a hang around the boat, do boat projects and read and chill.

Sunday we decided to move further south and needed to do it on the rising tide. In the morning I got the drone out and took it to the beach and also back up to the Blue Hole. I guess it will get easier to use. I am still scared I will crash it, or something. The thing intimidates me!

You can see that we are anchored on the inside of the Cay, ocean is on the outside and near the end on the right you get a glimpse of the blue hole. After shooting with the drone, we explored the mangroves by dinghy where we found shy turtles and lazy stingrays!

We were set to cruise on the rising tide at 2pm. This was a tricky cruise from Hoffman’s Cay to Cabbage Cay. We wanted to move so we could get an early start in the morning for a cruise to Spanish Wells. It was a short and nice and easy cruise until we hit a 3’ mark on the chart which with the tide should have been 5’. We got stuck in the sand 3 times. Eddie was able to back us out and I was able to stand on the bow and guide us closer to shore into deeper water. Cabbage Key was rolly but not to bad.