SAMPSON CAY EXUMAS, BAHAMAS
Wednesday started slow but every minute was enjoyable. My parents, Jessie and I moved the boat from Sampson to Staniel as the owner took off in the dinghy. It was another perfect day on the water. Even after being here for the few months that I have, it never gets old. Everywhere you look there is a different shade of blue or green, and even white when it gets really shallow. The bottom is always in sight even if you can manage to find fifty feet of water, which doesn't happen unless you go outside in to the Sound. I think the locals are still in awe.
The owners friends came in on their new 108' Viking motoryacht shortly after we made the dock in Staniel. He was pre-occupied with his new friends so we loaded the dinghy with beer and took off. I took my parents to see the Iguana's and on the way back showed them why the cuts in the Exumas demand respect. The cuts are the areas between the islands where the bank meets the sound. When the tide changes water rushes through these cuts. I got right in the middle of one and shut the engine down. To everyones surprise we were heading out to sea at 3.0 knots. In no time we were in 60 feet of water and still moving fast. When the waves oppose the current big standing white caps build up and it was much like floating through a set of rapids on a river.
While out in the Sound a huge Loggerhead turtle came to the surface to see what all the excitement was about. We only got a glimpse of him, but he was probably half the size of the boat!
On the way back in I sent Jessie and my Dad in the water with their mask and snorkel. We were still in the cut, but in a more controlled area. The flew over the reef below them effortlessly while I followed in the dinghy. It is always fun to cover a lot of ground while snorkeling especially when you don't have to do anything.
We had a light dinner at the yacht club that night and hung out on the docks. It was a fairly early night.
Thursday was already here and it was time for my parents to head back to Florida to see my sister and my grandparents for awhile. We took them to the airport and stood on the edge of the runway as the plane zipped past us and lifted in to the air. Just like that, they were gone again. It was great to have them here and I know that we will all be down here together again someday...next time nobody will be working though :-)
The owner put me back in to work mode a little bit but it was mostly small chores. He wanted to take his new friends to Sampson so we fired the engines and took off. The rest of the day wasted away.
Jessie and I took the dinghy over to a little sandbar and plopped our butts down in about a foot of water. The sand bubbled as we walked across it and the sun was relentless. A huge thunderhead kept growing off to our west and seemed to be inching closer. It eventually passed to the south and dissipated.
At the end of the day your skin is dry from the salt water and your lips burnt from the sun. I have grown out of my sunburn but as my skin gets darker and darker I still know when the sun has done a number on me. A shower is rarely taken using hot water as the soothing cold water is a refreshment from the days heat which still manages to hold its grip well in to the evening. With only a few weeks left before my return to Chicago I am excited and both sad. This is my home now. I have lived aboard Sound Waves for six and a half months and have been calling Staniel Cay base camp for a couple of months now. On the other hand I am very excited to get back to Chicago and just maybe have a little bit more of a normal life again!
More pictures:
Bushman and the owners son after a long day of fishing out in virgin grounds
The owners son and bushman with their lone grouper catch
More pictures later...internet is crabby
Sound Waves Out
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