Day 154: Hard Aground!

STANIEL CAY EXUMAS, BAHAMAS


I woke up this morning before everyone else and cranked out a couple of small projects.  I caulked up the hardware on the fly bridge door as it all leaked during our rain storms yesterday.  It's a new door and the guy that put all of it together didn't bother to seal the hardware.
Shortly after everyone got up we launched the dinghy and took off for an afternoon adventure.  We went around to Big Majors Spot and fed the pigs.  They were absolutely huge and it was hilarious to see them swim out to the boat.

The Pigs at Big Majors Spot

 The pigs at Big Majors Spot coming out to visit us

After we got our fix there we headed back south to another island south of Staniel (Great Iguana or something??) to feed to Iguanas.  They were also huge.  As we pulled up to the beach we spotted one sunning itself.  It was about 4-5 feet long.  As soon as we started throwing bread one iguana after another came out of the bushes.  All in all about 8-10 iguanas came out to say hello.  We sat with our feet in the water sitting on the dinghy for about a half hour before we took off to head back to Staniel Cay. We motored up the little creek that is just to the east of the airport and relaxed a little more.  The creek was beautiful and the sun was hot.

Motoring up the creek on Staniel Cay

A light lunch up at the yacht club led to a nice nap back at the boat.  The owner had some Bahamian friends on board and was cranking the stereo but I still managed to pass out.  I woke up to the owners son asking if we should go help a sailboat get off the reef.

Earlier in the day a sailboat ran hard aground on the reef just outside of the marina.  Two small dinghies were attempting to pull them off but it just wasn't enough.  The boat had been on the reef for about four hours now as they had to wait for the tide to come up.  We decided to go help them with our 215 hp.  At first the guys in the small dinghies were trying to tell us what to do and while we listened to them for a bit I knew that it wasn't going to work.  After a failed attempt the guy said we had to try again and we had to do it this way and make sure we do this and that.  Finally I said if this boat is going to get off this reef before dark everyone needs to just calm down and think about what we are doing.  The current was pushing hard on the starboard beam and I knew we had to find a way to get the current to work for us instead of against us.  The owners son and I blocked out the two idiots in the dinghies and started talking to the couple on board.  We got them calmed down and ran through a simple game plan with them.  Sure enough one tug and they were off.  As we headed back to the boat the sailboat fouled their anchor road and before they knew it the swift flood current had them right back on the reef...even worse this time.  We went back out and despite the two idiots in the dinghies we managed to channel the couples attention on board and made another game plan.  We yanked them right off first try again.  I wanted the couple to stay calm on the boat and told them as soon as we pull them off to remain calm and take their time.  We held them in tow for about 20 minutes while they got situated and had them come up to us before we released their lines to them.  They thanked us and took off for their anchorage for the night.

Hard Aground on the reef just outside of the marina

One of the many nurse sharks at the marina at Staniel Cay Yacht Club

Now we are getting ready to have a great spaghetti dinner on board and boy am I hungry!

Sound Waves Out