Wind in the hair and smiles on our faces we set sails again, heading back north toward our final destination before returning to Nassau: Ship Channel Cay.
It was the third day sailing and I think we both felt more and more confident in doing it. A lot of the nervousness had turned into fun.
Sailing out from the Shroud Cay anchorage we did two flybys (embarrassing reference to the coolest movie of the 80s: Top Gun!) behind the sterns of a couple of superyachts with their guests/owners having breakfast. As we passed we waved happy good morning to them and got at least one wave back. It was fun and we hope they felt the same.
Also, we got into some good spirited racing with another sailboat! It was really one sided, though, since they weren’t racing with us, but we didn’t let that take away any of our fun!
Shells and Lizards
After half a day of sailing we arrived. We dropped anchor as close to the island as we dared (attempting to get as peaceful a night as possible), and then we went out exploring with the dinghy.
The very first idea was to drive to the inside of the island group, through a small channel, but when we arrived at the entrance of that channel, the tide was very much against us, and it looked littered with underwater rocks, so we decided not to try.
(If someone asked me for some seamanship tips, this is one I’d humbly offer: plan and execute your plan with determination, but be courageous enough to reconsider and turn back whenever it seems like the wiser thing to do.)
Anyway, we went the other way and ended up and a small beach covered with seashells and other things (unfortunately also a lot of plastic) that had washed up on it.
Charlotte was very enthusiastic about collecting some beautiful shells (it was allowed now, outside the Exuma Land & Sea Park), but what really caught her attention was a couple of these curly-tailed friends!
They were very cute! But also a bit possessive of their stuff.
Last Night in the Exumas
Evening arrived and we watched the sun go down.
It was our last night at anchor in the Exumas before sailing back to Nassau, so I guess we both felt just a bit sad that the end of our wonderful vacation was getting closer.
Charlotte looked longingly at the horizon in the north, where the island ended and the open sea took over.
“Instead of going back, if we just go in that direction and sail until we see land the next time, what country will that be?”, she asked me jokingly and pointed out to the sea. (Charlotte’s jokes are always, always at least ten percent serious, by the way.)
“I don’t know. We’d need a globe. I guess we’d hit Canada, but if not we’ll get to Greenland”, I said.
“Interesting”, she said and looked a bit thoughtful.
There is something quite special about sailing, I thought to myself.
(Taonga is a treasure in Māori culture [Wikipedia])