May 4, 2012 Big Majors Spot

Friday, May 4, 2012

French toast for breakfast as we discussed the rest of the trip home.  We will not have Internet for quite awhile so I am going to let you know what our “so called plans” are, always subject to change with winds and weather.  We will be staying here at Big Majors Spot all day then Wind Dancer is coming in later on this afternoon.  During that time, Fred has talked me into going into Thunderball Cave.  Yes I am nervous because in order to get into it requires going under water to get past the entrance.  The fish are glorious there I hear.  Fred seems to think my knee will be okay.  He said there were so many fish in there it was worth the trip.  I asked if there were sharks in there and he really didn’t answer me, but shook his head, slightly.  Geeze Louise!  I’ll tell you all about it if I make it.  If not, you will hear about it.

So...from here we will go to Staniel Cay early tomorrow and top off our water and ready ourselves for the trip ahead.  This is the last stop before Nassau we can get water and fuel.  From Staniel the itinerary is:

* Pipe Creek

* Rocky Dundas for another cave and stalactites and stalagmites, the only one in the islands.

* Cambridge Cay to wee the sea aquarium (underwater)  How did I let Fred talk me into this?

* Shroud Cay which is full of beautiful creeks to take the dinghy through

* Normans Cay this has my favorite little island and the sunken plane we saw before

* Nassau for fuel and water

* Fraziers Hog

* To sea and anchor out at the North West Channel Light in the middle of nowhere

* Bimini, wow, I love Bimini

* West Palm Beach or St. Lucie Inlet.  We will stay a week there to visit friends and Fred’s daughter

* Up the coast we go to our final destination, Wilmington, North Carolina.

None of this is set in stone but this is the temporary plan if you want to call it that.

Before I forget and don’t have Internet, Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad on May 8th.  64 years together.  Whoo Hoo!!!  I love you both! 

Also, Happy Mothers Day Mom, on the 13th of May.  Mom, you are the best Mom in the world.  I am so lucky to have you and even my friends have said they wish you were their Mom too.  I’ll share you as long as I remain your favorite daughter!  Wink!

Happy Mothers Day to all you Mom’s out there.  I hope you have a wonderful day.  You all deserve the best!

The day is beautiful, a little breezy and really sunny!  Looking out at these beautiful blue/green waters takes my breath away.  Time to slip into my bathing suit and get the snorkel equipment out.  Yes, I am nervous but this trip is not all about me, Fred wants me to come with him, so I am!  We do most everything together.

Friday evening…

Mercy!  I can’t say enough about how beautiful that Thunderball Cave was.  I was nervous until the very end but went for it and put on my fins and mask and slid off the dink into the water.  It felt cold but I was determined to do it anyway.  Fred was right there with me making sure I was going to be okay.  As luck would have it, the tide was dead low which meant we didn’t need to go underwater to get into the cave like you would at high tide.  I wasn’t going in the cave until I had a bit of time near the boat, making sure my mask was snug and get my breathing rhythms going just right.  Then I put my head under water, and it was absolutely amazing.  Something soothing ran through my body as I studied the serenity of the ocean bottom, dotted with marine life I had never seen before.  I felt transformed into a sea creature myself, taking in all I could until I swam to the entrance of the cave.  At the point of entrance I ducked under and was paralyzed by the beauty beneath me.  Fish everywhere, colors so bright it was hard to keep up with them.  I reached out, feeling like I was floating with them as fish brushed up against my hand, as gentle as the experience was.  I no longer had any fear, and didn’t want to come up.  There were two openings to exit if I wanted to but I decided to stay safe as I swam around with the sunlight bursting into the waters through the opening above me.  The color came alive with brilliance that had me in a trance.  I couldn’t believe I was in the middle of such beauty.  Suddenly I felt myself being pulled as the tide was changing and found it difficult to stay in one spot.  I pointed to the entrance and Fred and I exited, rainbows of fish traveling along with me.  It was absolutely incredible.  Although I know I could have stayed in there longer, I knew if the tide was coming in, that would mean I would need to swim under water and hold my breath to exit the cave.  I want to go back!  Oh, to have an underwater camera!  My photographs will have to remain in my memories, precious treasures of vision, imprinted in my brain.  I will never forget that experience, and...there were no sharks.  We had lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club and then through asking, Jake, the guy who owns the dive shop here told me where to get some t-shirts from “Tida Wave” one of our favorite Sloops racing in the Family Regatta in Georgetown last weekend.

They were only made for the racing team of Tida Wave but we met Connie, who is engaged to one of the guys who crews and handles the main sheet on Tida Wave and she put me on to getting one.  We ended up at Rolly Gray’s home where Fred & I both purchased one.  What a treasure.  The late Rolly Gray was the original owner of the sloop “Tida Wave”.  We walked around a bit then returned to the dink which was surrounded by sharks.  Yikes!  “Harmless” they say but I am not willing to find out.  Soon after we returned to Casa Mare, Wind Dancer called and were coming up on our stern, dropping anchor just behind us.  We went with them to the pigs and it, again, was hilarious.  I think they think Fred is their favorite feedof the two of us.  When we run out, they seem perturbed at him.  One even pushed his snout into the dink, grabbed Fred’s shirt and swim suit at the waitsand tried to pull him in.  Scared the begeebers out of Fred.  As usual, I laughed and he did also.  At least it was a grab from the back instead the front as it was yesterday.  Al and Sue invited us back to their boat and we had a ginger beer (non alcoholic) and chips, sharing sailing adventures.  They are a fun couple.  I think we will enjoy traveling with them.