January 1, 2012

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!  What a way to start 2012!  In the middle of paradise!  I am so grateful to have this opportunity in my life to experience the wonderful gifts God has given all of us, just waiting to be discovered and explored.  This has absolutely changed my life and the appreciation  of everything around me.  The only thing that lacks here is to be able to share it with everyone!  Sometimes I feel like I am the first to lay eyes on certain things, and perhaps the only one, there is so much beauty!  I feel drunk with awesomeness.

New Years Eve was an unplanned day, we just decided on the way to do what we felt like doing.  Fred grabbed the snorkels and fins and we jumped into the dinghy and went to a popular coral reef just past the headquarters of the Exuma Park.  There was only one other dinghy there and no one in site.  Warderick Wells was pretty empty as most people went to Staniel Cay for the New Years Regatta and big celebrations.  We chose the quiet route, which actually felt like we were on a deserted island in paradise.  I think there were about 6 boats here and this is a good sized group of islands so  it was easy to imagine.  I grabbed the mooring  buoy and we were ready to go, almost.  I remembered that huge Spotted Eagle Ray coming out of Norman’s key and became pretty reluctant.  Fred coaxed me in and once I got over the chill of the water and looked down, it was like a sedative kicking in.  I couldn’t get enough of the beauty and colors. In this underwater world.  Life was everywhere!  The current was a bit fast so I made sure I had a good hold of Fred’s hand, not to be sucked away.  He was good about everything,  The only communication we had was to squeeze a hand and point.  I could hear myself breath as I took in the beauty.  There is no way to  express the colors vivid colors of greens, pinks, yellows, blues, purples, WOW!.  Just amazing.  Fred spotted a huge grouper, which was the biggest fish we spotted so far.  He decided to swim down near it and left me there as I got to compare the size of that grouper to Fred.  It was bigger than I thought, about 3’ long.  It  was fun seeing him down there with the grouper and the colorful seascape around him.  All of the sudden something dark appeared out of nowhere from Fred’s left rear side.  It was one of those giant Spotted Eagle Rays.  The first think I remembered is that they have up to 5 stingers and this thing was about 4 feet wide, swimming towards Fred, more in curiosity than aggressively.  Still……...Fred had not seen it yet and there was no way I could get his attention as it got closer and closer to him.  Finally Fred came up for air and I yelled over to him, “Look down, look down”.  He couldn’t understand me so I pointed.  By then it was gone.  I scanned a 360 around us looking for it but Fred missed it.  It was awesome!  We snorkeled until we got tired with the current and went back to the boat to grab something to eat.  Larry from “The Dove” stopped us and asked us how we enjoyed the snorkeling.  He said he had seen the Ray also but he saw three of them at once just before us in the same spot.  These are the times I am thankful God gives me things in small doses, or I may have tried to walk on water back to the dinghy if I saw three at the same time.  We were going to go on a hike to Boo Boo Hill but Fred had a bigger surprise in mind.  We got into the dingy and he took me to this very remote beach just at the mouth of Warderick Wells North mooring field.  I couldn’t get passed the waterline of the beach.  It was full of sea fans, shells, sponges, all sorts of gifts from the sea.  I love to collect sea fans and I had never seen so many in one place at one time.  I had so much fun taking pictures of them when I looked up and Fred had wandered over the limestone rocks to the other side out of site.  There is no such thing as time here.  When the sun comes up, we play, when it goes down, we rest.  We do both really hard!  This is one of those times I got lost in time.  I climbed over the rock and found Fred at the waters edge of rough seas.  This was incredible.  We hiked around together and I didn’t want to leave but, he had more to show me.  Off we went, past the mooring field to the other side.  Great beaches were there for the taking, like candy to the eyes.  Beautiful, pristine beaches.  We got out and explored some more, it looked like foot had never been set there before.  We weaved around coral heads in the dinghy from cove to cove, coming to a beautiful mooring at Hogs Cay.  This was Blackbeard’s favorite place to come.  It was so secluded and private. I could see why he would have liked this so much.  A perfect paradise hiding place.  It was then I wished I had read up on pirates and had Fred give me a quick synopsis on Blackbeard.  I used to think Pirates were a guys thing, like cowboys and Indians.  Who would have thought at my age I would be questioning these things.  I feel like a little girl again and enjoying every minute of it!  He then took me to see this cave that we could see the waves come through from the ocean side.  I tried to photograph it but I got a bit nervous when the water would come through and it felt like it was sucking the dinghy back out with it, so what I got is what I got!  The ocean is so powerful!  What a day of amazement.  Back to the boat we got ready to go to a sundowner’s New Years Eve get together.  Everyone met at the picnic tables by the whale skeleton and brought your own drinks and something to munch on.  I came unprepared so I decided to start popping some corn. 24 quarts later we were ready to dingy to shore.  It was so much fun meeting other boaters and sharing stories.  There was a family from Milan, Italy, a couple from “Sunspot” from New Bern, NC (small world) Larry from “The Dove”, Pete and Dee from “Wind Lass” and several others.

Tisha, the wife of the security man here (forgot his name) came with her daughter and son.  She brought rice and beans as well as Island style Mack and cheese.  Yummmy!  She also made the most delicious cocoanut pie I have ever tasted.  We had a ball and were back at the boat by 8:30.  It was a wonderful way to end 2011.

The night was lively, meaning the boat rocked and rolled.  Wind and swells kept waking me up and at one time I had to get up and tighten the main sheet because the strong wind was causing it to swing and clang.  I also hooked the V berth door which had come undone as well as pick things off the floor that had slid to the floor.  It kept me pretty busy.  Fred slept through the whole thing!  Morning was a bit calmer and we decided to go on to Cambridge Cay but first take an outing to Boo Boo hill and the blow holes.  Fred hailed “Wind Lass” and told them we would be in later this afternoon.  We had some internet time so we talked to my parents and Jim and Linda and I posted some pictures I hadn’t been able to post.  The hike to Boo Boo Hill was interesting.  As the story goes, there was a schooner that had ship wrecked and all souls perished.   Not a body was recovered for a Christian burial.  Locals say that if you climb the hill at the bloom of a full moon, you can hear the lost souls singing hymns.  Boo Boo Hill was named for the sounds of the ghosts.  At the top of the hill you can see from here to eternity!  The cairns, the park buildings and the top of ships masts are the only unnatural objects in the entire park.  Nothing is to be brought in or taken from this beautiful.  There is one exception,  at this cairn, memento's are left by passing cruisers.  I remember Jim, Linda and Jennifer talking about this on their journey.  Fred and I wrote on the driftwood we found on Allen’s Cay and wrote on it, attached a sand dollar we found on Norman’s Cay and placed it there with the hundreds of other mementos.  I also left a sand dollar in honor of my friend Lois Olsen who passed last week.  The view from there is spectacular!  We could see Casa Mare’ on the waters edge down below.  On the way back we went to the blow holes.  Fred told me he has a picture of his hat 10’ in the air.  When the waves hit the rocks below, it traps air and the force of the waves actually blow a strong force of air up.  It was pretty incredible too.  I thought there would be water coming out of them but the time was not right for that.  From the top, I could actually feel the amazing force of the waves hit below as it shook the rock beneath my feet.  The earth trembled with fierce rumbles.  It was a pretty good lesson about the force of the seas, always to be respected.

The rest of the day we hiked back, (Fred made me drive the dinghy and I am getting a bit better at it), got the boat ready and headed for Cambridge Cay.  I was surprised that I was feeling a bit queasy and had to put a sea sick patch on.  It wasn’t until I laid down in the cockpit I started to feel better and by the time we arrived it was just sunset.  We anchored outside of Cambridge Cay, deciding morning would be a better time to go in to the mooring field, set anchor and watched the sunset.  It was beautiful.  We thought it may be a good opportunity to see a “green flash”, which we didn’t, although it was a really nice evening.  I made dinner, Chicken with apples, raisins nutmeg and cinnamon over pasta.  Got the dishes done before we lost hot water and laid in the cockpit and watched the moon, stars and clouds roll in.  There is a front moving in and we expect gale winds Tuesday.  We need to get hunkered in good tomorrow.  We will probably be here a few days then off to Staniel Cay, or where ever the wind takes us.  It has been a great day, one to thank God for and taking time to listen to his nature and beauty, with my ears and eyes!  Even through all this, I have learned to “Be Still”.