We took our friends, Don & Mary of Solace, and their two granddaughters out for a day aboard Kokopelli. On the way out to the anchorage, Don and Alan were navigating and we "experienced shoaling". This is the first time we ran aground with Kokopelli!!! It was an experience to remember and we had to dinghy back to Don & Mary's marina to get their son's big power boat with 300HP outboards to pull Kokopelli back into deeper water. Whew!
We anchored out in the Cowpens area and went swimming. The gang enjoyed jumping off of Kokopelli's decks into the warm water and having water and mud fights. We enjoyed a marvelous day without the normal thunderstorm activity. Lunch was a picnic with sub sandwiches, potato salad, chips, and chocolate-cherry cake with whipped cream for dessert. WOW! It's great to be back in the USA and enjoy all of this food that's been part of our "food fantasies" over the last few months.
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We left Cat Cay at 6:45 a.m. and managed to avoid the squalls near Miami, arriving at 14:15. We checked in with customs and immigration via phone before continuing further south to our anchorage in Key Largo.
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We continued across the Bahama Banks on an 80NM day to stage at Cat Cay for a Gulf Stream crossing. We enjoyed a last evening with our friends Denny & Diane of JusDreaming with conch fritters and tropical fruit smoothies for sundown. Our last snorkeling in Bahamian waters took place earlier that afternoon on a gorgeous reef on the west side of Cat Cay near the drop off to the deep waters of the Gulf Stream and Florida Straits.
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We spent a week exploring the area from our anchorages around Hoffman's and Little Harbour Cays. The weather was uncooperative for much sailing as we were in the midst of a tropical wave which brought heavy squalls with lots of rain, thunder and lightening along with heavy winds. So, we spent our days snorkeling and beach walking as we tried to time our excursions during the more settled portions of the day. Even so, we were caught out in a few of the squalls.
When the weather settled, we moved to the northern most end of the Berry Island chain and the islands that are "owned" by various cruise lines��"Norwegian and Royal Caribbean��"where they take passengers for a day on the "private island". Great Stirrup Cay is used for the Norwegian Cruise Line's stopover and we explored the lighthouse, an old satellite tracking station, and the cruise ship "beach party" area once the passengers had left for the day.
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From Nassau, we sailed north to the Berry Islands. This mostly uninhabited island chain consists of several islands with beautiful sand beaches and hardwood hammocks. The sea bed is very grassy and a haven for the Bahamian Queen Conch.
On Hoffman's Cay, we explored the blue hole which had a 25' cliff, allowing the adventurous to jump off into the warm, deep waters.
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After a few days of snorkeling the reefs at Allen's Cay with Denny & Diane of JusDreaming, we moved up to Nassau on another spinnaker run to re-provision, get diesel fuel and propane, and some RUM! The plan is to move on to the Berry Islands tomorrow and explore those remote, mostly uninhabited cays for a couple of weeks.
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We have so enjoyed your travels. Liz, your're doing a great job of journaling. We are in awe. We are tracking your route on google maps, very cool. You are living a dream and no better time. We hope to taste the sailing life one day. Continued good luck and keep having fun. John and Anne
