Hi Everyone...

Our blog is moving... to keep track of us, please make a note of our new address...

http://www.themysharona.com

See you there!

Ok... I had to post another blog after our trip to Allan's Cay this morning. Oh - My - God !!! The beach was completely full with Iguanas... BIG Iguanas.

They were everywhere, and since they are one of the big attractions here in the Exumas, they are very used to people and you could walk among them without problems. The books say not to feed them, but they looked they were used to being fed.

After the first beach, we took the dinghy over to a more secluded beach and the Iguanas were there too! Amazing.

When we got back to the boat, I put on my snorkel and mask for the first time here, and swam out to check how our anchor looked. The wind had picked up last night and we were rocking and rolling. Just wanted to make sure the anchor was set so maybe we could sleep better tonight.

Tomorrow we are off to another Island. This one is famous because one of the biggest drug dealers in the 80's (Carlos Lederer) lived and ran his operation there. Bad guys are long gone, and the snorkeling is supposed to be fabulous. I'll let you know.

Be sure to check out the Photo Gallery.

Adios amigos!

We are in the EXUMAS! After 3 days of motoring, we have finally made it to the Northern end of the Exumas Island chain.
Southeast of Nassau in the central Bahamas, directly on the much traveled path to and from the Caribbean Islands lie the Exuma Cays. Stretching for 140 miles from Sail Rocks in the north to Sandy Cay in the South, the Exumas lie on the edge of the Great Bahama Bank at Exuma Sound and are the primary destination of many cruising vessels.

It's been a very interesting trip. We were so concerned with crossing the Gulf Stream, I hadn't thought too much about our treck across the shallow Great Bahama Bank, the deep Tongue Of The Ocean, and the Yellow Bank. But as we found out... it's all very exciting.

We left Cat Cay around 8:00 and needed to go almost 80 miles (our longest run yet) to Chub Cay. We had nice weather with not much wind. The only thing we had to watch for was the depth, the whole day we never saw much more than 10 feet, and quite a few places where it was 6 to 8 feet. Since our draft is around 6 feet, it definitely kept us on our toes.

About 3/4 into the trip, we left the Bank and crossed into the Tongue of the Ocean, which was very deep. Amazing to cross an area that went from 10 feet to 2000 feet in only a few minutes.

We pulled into Chub Cay at dusk, and luckily there was a spot to drop the anchor. We had a restfully night there, and left early the next day for a 38 mile trip to Nassau.

The next days trip to Nassau started out fine, but as the day went on, the wind picked up to almost 20 knots, and it was blowing from the NE, and we had a rocky ride. I was happy to enter the Harbor at Nassau, where we decided to stay at the Marina. Nassau is a very busy harbor. Cruise Ships, Pleasure Boats, Tourist Boats and just about any other kind of boat were crisscrossing the harbor.

Only 35 miles to go, we pulled out of the Marina around 9 am. It was our last big crossing, and we were a bit worried because there were supposed to be numerous coral heads that you had to steer around. It turned out to be a calm day which was good, but it was overcast, so it was difficult to pick out the coral. But... we made it and pulled in to anchor with about 20 other boats, mostly sailboats.

It is hard to explain the color of this water. It is the most amazing hue of turquoise that I have ever seen.

So... we will spend the next few months exploring many of these amazing islands. Tomorrow we are taking the dingy over to a nearby island called Allen's Cay, where there are supposed to be huge Iguanas running around. The wind is supposed to pick up mid week, so we may even get a kiting session in.

I will post some pictures at the next Internet spot. We will be updating the blog via the Sat phone for a few days.