Pigs, Fins and Lots of Friends
White sand for days. Pool-blue water for miles. Endless sunshine. And friends, friends, friends.
Arriving in the Exumas felt like we made it. The hard stuff was behind us, and hundreds of boats in the anchorage spelled fun. The cruisers’ net, a daily 8am VHF radio broadcast announced the possibilities: a cruiser regatta, a pirate themed competition, a pirate dinghy parade, bocchi ball on the beach, teen volleyball, happy hour at sunset, live music, pizza night, fresh conch salad at Chat ‘n Chill.
Rosie announced herself on the net as a babysitter and was promptly invited to join a family boat entering the cruisers’ regatta around Stocking Island. She and I joined our new friends on SV Explorer and spent the day fighting off other pirate ships and keeping the toddlers busy. That same evening at the awards ceremony the crew of SV Explorer won the costume contest. Arrrrrrr!
Exuma days always started with some sort of hike on Stocking Island. We would go up and over the dunes to the long sandy beach on the other side. We often met other sailors and their pups, and then when our friends showed up in the anchorage, our groups grew larger by the day. By mid-day we were at the Coconut Club, our preferred hangout venue. Sometimes we dinghied down to the natural lazy river where the current floated us among the sand bars. Kids played, adults napped. When I think of “sailing around the world”, this is no doubt what I had in mind (laughing to myself at how rare all this is.)
We were excited to reunite with Sapphire Blue, Summer Dreams, Next Chapter, and Emma. We wouldn’t have seen these sailors again had we gone into the Pacific, and nothing felt so right as running into them here in the Bahamas. A sailor’s plans are written in the sand…and sometimes it’s meant to be.
To make it even better, Hanné came to visit! Hanne and Trey visited us nearly 2 years ago in Montenegro, but this time, it was practically a girls’ weekend. What an awesome few days, relaxing, walking, hanging out on the beach, enjoying bonfires and even escaping for a bit to a local wine bar along with my dear sailing friend, Lieke. It was a dream come true and much too short. I’m already looking forward to next time. Thank you for visiting!!!!
Soon after, Aunt Andie arrived! I know Andie from 2003 when I joined the Annapolis Rowing Club. So let’s just say we were 22 years younger then, but it’s a hundred percent true that everything gets better with age, and Andie, at 80-something, proves that age is nothing but a number. The weather cooperated when Andie was with us and we were able to go up the Exuma island chain to Staniel Cay. On the way we anchored overnight near David Copperfield’s private island and snorkeled the sunken piano and mermaid sculptures.
Greeting us in Staniel was a docile nurse shark whom we named Nina. Nina and her nurse shark pal hung out in the shade under the boat and I am certain Nina is the golden retriever of sharks. She loved swimming up when the kids were around and she provided hours of fun lazily tracing arcs with her tail as the girls laughed and shrieked and dared each other to jump. Kyle and Jordan didn’t hesitate, proving that Nina was more ambassador than predator.
A legion of dinghies visited Thunderball Grotto, an underwater cave used in the filming of two James Bond movies. It was a real life party in an aquarium, with at least fifteen of us hanging out, talking and treading water. Magical.
But the best part, the very best part, was the pigs. Big pigs, little pigs, swimming pigs, hungry pigs, sleeping pigs.… The video below includes approximately two minutes of the two hours of video I have of pigs. I held a baby pig for at least 45 minutes of that time, refusing to put it down or share. What’s that you say about a sign that says don’t hold the baby pigs…??
It was a wonderful few weeks. We spent oodles of money on subpar groceries. We lost our clean laundry in the water and Jordan recovered it. Rosie and Paulina danced it out. Jordan speared his first Caribbean lobster, a whopper of a guy at 4 pounds! We made amazing ceviche with it. A Starlink satellite exploded providing a great light show and a sad littering of debris across the Bahamas. We met many new friends and spent time with old ones. We passed our two year mark living on the boat and now we know it’s never goodbye, just see you soon, somewhere on the water.
