As our time is limited, we decided to take a route that would afford us the best of the Bahamas while making our way south. So we chose the Exumas - described in one cruiser's guidebook as the emerald necklace of the Bahamas. The morning of May 7th we fueled up in Nassau then headed East. First stop was was the Allen's Cay group - three islands made up of Allen Cay, Leaf Cay and South Allen Cay. Being antisocial, we decided to anchor North of the snuggling group of boats between Allen Cay & Leaf Cay. It was quite nice - a bit of a current but that's why we got the big anchor. After having a quick anchor beverage to make sure we had a firm holding, we donned snorkel gear and one floaty toy. We swam over to Leaf Cay - not as easy a task as we'd figured since the current was trying to move us sideways. Upon arrival we were greeted by a few iguanas, followed by a few more, than many more. There must've been over a hundred iguanas on that tiny beach. It was quite a sight! Clearly they were looking for a handout since lots of tour groups come feed them daily. We didn't have food so they were a little peeved with us. One even hissed at us. Liz & Clavo played ball with the rubber paddles luring the iguanas toward the pink ball. Probably looked like a big berry. We headed back to the boat and the swim was even more arduous! I'd wanted to bring the floaty so I could get a tow back, but it became a dragging/pushing burden. Thank God for young strong swimmers! Back at the boat there were more sundowners and dinner. Liz hung up her fabrics & got another workout. Then one more sunset in paradise.

May 8th we sailed South to Hawksbill Cay & grabbed a mooring ball. We got lazy & blew up the floaties, strung 'em together and just bobbed around in the water for an hour or so. Coulda gone hiking but it was hot and that seemed like too much work. I think we were still tired from the previous day's swim.

May 9th we sailed to Warderick Wells Cay - headquarters for the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. We got another ball there as anchoring is discouraged due to the coral everywhere. We dinghied over to the park office, paid up for the balls then set off for a "hike" up to Boo Boo Hill. What had started as a cloudy/ rainy day turned out to be sunny and the view of the surrounding islands was awesome! At the summit boaters have left pieces of driftwood with their boats' names piled up. Clavo found a piece of wood & wrote Fille de Joie, our names & 2013 on it for the pile. Liz & Tom found various shaped pieces of wood & spelled Fille de Joie on the ground. Looked pretty good!

May 10the we headed over to Staniel Cay. Took Conch Cut out to Exuma Sound so Clavo could catch us dinner. He's had several bites that stole some of his best lures, caught several that were too small, but is still waiting for the big prize. So we motored around for awhile in deep water - still no luck. No worries -tomorrow's another day, right? We got to Stanail Cay, grabbed a ball and snorkelled over to Thunderball Grotto - this amazing underwater cave that's accessible at low tide. It was gorgeous! Only thing wrong with it were the noisy gals inside with loud New Jersey accents echoing off the cave ceiling, ruining what otherwise would have been a magical, inspirational, quiet experience. I guess we're all guilty of being a "touron" one time or another.... Late lunch then back to the boat for dark & stormys.

May 11- Staniel Cay Yacht Club for breakfast - jeez these guys have the best bread! I got French toast - yummmmmm! The others - guess they got poached eggs or something.... Who cares. Then back to the boat so Tom could work on the water maker. Stupid thing had been leaking since we left Bimini and he decided to conquer it before it killed him. A water maker is a great thing to have when it works, but if ya gotta rely on it for your sole source of water, it needs to perform. Tom fixed the problem and we were ready to go see the next and most exciting attraction of our trip so far ...... Pigs that swim out to you for food! We dinghied over to a spot on Major Cay armed with supplies. The woman at the grocery store had told us the pigs were very picky & would only eat Bahamian bread, but the bakery was closed so we brought carrots & leftover tuna. When we got close one of em' started swimming out to greet us. Wow! I never even knew pigs could swim (after watching the Geico commercial I know they can fly...) Pretty funny sight - the first pig to arrive supped as many carrots & tuna we could give him, then swam back to shallower water so he could chew & swallow everything. His buddy needed some coaxing but eventually came out to chomp down what we had left. Who'd a thunk? Just when you think you've seen it all, you see something new. Man, I love life!
Then back to the. Boat for some more quality float time off the boat& back to the yacht club for supper. It sounds pretentious saying "yacht club" but this place is more like our local Front Range Inn - great food, decent prices & a fun place to people watch. Another day in Paradise. Jeeze, life is hard....

P.S. Check out our gallery and map for more details. Too many great shots to share in one post.