Splash 001

Little Farmer’s Cay in the Exummas became our home for 7 more days as we waited for a motor part to be delivered. In the meantime; we explored the cave on the adjacent island, attended a Baptist church service and discovered Ty’s Sunset Beach Bar on the west side of the island. The church service was loud and proud as the finely dressed ladies in white sang and shouted their message on mother’s day. I, along with all the mothers in the congregation was personally presented a T-shirt and invited to a HUGE lunch. I met the local teacher who has 8 children to teach. We had a conversation about her students and the issues of her concern are universal. She was bemoaning the results of the government testing which the students finished that week.
Motor was repaired on the Friday, we left on Saturday for Highbourne Cay (37 NM) then on Saturday we headed for Nassau (60 NM). Both days were beautiful calm sails. In Nassau, we had the good fortune to meet up with Jim’s sister and husband who travelled to Lyford Cay in Nassau on their friend’s 60 ft fishing boat. We spent a day with them on the water, fishing and visiting. Quite a different experience being on a boat that can motor at 36 kn/hr!! In Nassau, we visited the Nassau Yacht Club, had conch salad at the shacks under the Paradise Island bridge, and toured the John Watling rum distillery.
With an early start, we travelled to the Berry Is, Slaughter Bay (60 NM). It is a beautiful, very shallow bay protected from many sides. The large cruise ships use this area as one of their “private island” day excursions. The next morning we left at 11:00 to travel to West Palm Beach Inlet in Florida (135NM). Other than watching an ominous sky with lightning to the north, we sailed easily across, the gulf stream working in our favour, pushing SPLASH north. Travelling up the ICW, we thought it would take 2 or 3 days; but we made it to Indiantown in one day. On the ICW, we marvelled at all of the fancy homes and yachts along both shores. St. Lucie inlet was a “bonsai” corner as we turned left off the ICW. Our mast is 53ft., we had to travel under 4 bridges along the Okeechobee Canal which were 54 and 55 ft. A little tense, but we travelled at low tide and crossed our fingers!! All went well.
Indiantown Marina is between the ICW and Okeechobee Lake. It is inland enough that the water is fresh. The resident alligator greeted us most mornings as he slowly made his rounds. The jobs of sails off, canvas down, boat scrubbed and emptied, windows tinfoiled, mould and air treatments in place and the engines treated are all completed. SPLASH came out of the water on the 25th and is resting safe from hurricanes in a field with 400 other boats.
Our adventure of sailing the Caribbean has come to a close. As I pen our last blog, I reflect over the incredible experiences and amazing people we have enjoyed. Jim and I travelled 5232 nautical miles, having made 139 stops in 15 countries. We have so many varied memories of spectacular scenery and interesting phenomena. I have taken over 10 000 pictures. I have learned over the year that the world really is round, that “weather wins” and that people all over are happy, willing to share and are proud of their roots. Ontario beckons us now as we reunite with family and friends. Both of us look forward to sharing stories of our year living aboard SPLASH. Next spring we plan to take a few weeks to sail and explore the Bahamas. It has been a pleasure to share this journey with you, thank you for your support and comments.