Home is where the Anchor Is…Sailing the Exumas Day 5

Day Five Itinerary: Little Farmer’s Cay to Staniel Cay (16 miles)

We woke up not completely hating each other and figured that was a good enough reason to continue on.

Mornings on the boat were my favorite time. Not only was the sky painted in soft colors and the world still soft and quiet, it was the point in each day where no one was mad, we weren't lost, and no body parts were getting broken.

John & Teresa’s bedding still wasn’t dry and we’d been schlepping it in and out every day hoping it would eventually dry out so that they could return to their cabin. At this point, pieces of their bedding were getting seriously moldy.

We stowed their moldy, wet stuff back inside, made a quick breakfast, and bid "good bye" to Farmer's Cay.

We were headed for Staniel Cay. As we moved along the inside passage, through shallows, past sandbars, beside uninhabited cays, EVERY DAY was simply amazing.

The water in the Exumas beats anything I have seen anywhere. It's simply mesmerizing.

We made it to Staniel by 10:30. We wanted to snorkel at low tide, so we moored near Thunderball Grotto.

We took the dingy in to the Yacht Club to grab some lunch. They didn’t start serving lunch until noon, so we did the only other thing we could. We drank.

Besides, when you've endured a couple of tension filled days, there is nothing wrong with an 11:00 a.m. buzz.

The girls decided to walk up to the grocery store. We had some leftover hot dogs and were still determined to find the elusive Exuma hot dog buns.

Staniel Cay has two small stores. Combine the contents of both stores and you have the equivalent of a badly stocked 7 Eleven.

We tried the Blue Store first. They did not have hot dog buns. But they did have peanut butter and dish soap, so it wasn’t a total loss.

We walked over to the Pink Store next. They did not have hot dog buns, but they did have Ruffles. Unfortunately, they also had a complete lack of air conditioning or breathable oxygen inside. We almost died.

Really.

But it was worth it for the chips.

We returned to the Yacht Club for a quick bite before returning to the boat to snorkel the Grotto.

You know how some things get really trumped up and, when you finally get to experience them, you find that they are severely overrated? Like visiting the Empire State Building, overnight travel on a train, or anything in Las Vegas?

Thunderball Grotto is not one of those things.

It is just as amazing as you think it’s going to be.

The Grotto is a marine cave that you can swim into at low tide. A hole at the top lets shimmering shafts of sunlight beam down into the water below. Underwater is teeming with fish and beautiful coral that you can see in water that is as clear as glass.

When we’d had our fill of the Grotto, we moved the boat over to Big Major Spot, home of Pig Beach, to anchor for the night.

Apparently, our invitation to the Yacht Party had gotten lost in the mail.

I saw an article on Huffington Post that said, “You can swim with adorable pigs in the Bahamas.”

I saw another online article that read, “It's decided: there is no better combination than adorable pigs and a tropical island. There exists on this humble planet a place where humans and wild pigs can frolic on a tropical beach together.”

Okay, let’s get a couple of things straight, because I don’t want anyone to be misled.

Yes, there are swimming pigs in the Bahamas. Yes, they are kind of cool.

But adorable they are not.

Nor can you “frolic on a tropical beach together,” unless your definition of “frolicking” involves running for your life with a two-day old bagel in your hand while being chased by 5 giant pigs who outweigh you by at least 100 lbs or beating pig hooves off the side of your dingy with a pool noodle so he doesn’t sink you both.

We swam with the pigs. We fed the pigs. We watched Sydney get chased down the beach by the pigs (my personal favorite).

We spent the rest of the beautiful afternoon on the boat doing our thing. Apparently, my thing is jumping on the trampoline. Apparently, enough rum can make a person think that is an ACTUAL TRAMPOLINE.

It’s not.

It's a lot like jumping up and down on the sidewalk.

But good luck telling me that after I have had a few rum punches.

The afternoon was enjoyed on the boat, doing absolutely nothing. It was heavenly.

We had discovered “Taste & Sea” Restaurant on our previous trip to Staniel Cay and had actually enjoyed it more for dinner than the very slow and very overpriced Yacht Club. So, everyone got cleaned up and we headed inland to celebrate our first day at sea where nothing got broken, no one got hurt, no one cried, and no one got in a fight.

We celebrated with rum punch, coconut shrimp, and key lime pie.

And then there was Bobby.

We loved Bobby.

When it was time to leave, Sydney left a huge tip with a note, “Please use the extra tip money to give Bobby a bath.”

We had made it through an entire day without tearing anything up, getting lost, or getting in a fight. Things were looking up.