Crab Cay -- The beaches on this almost deserted little cay are quite literally “littered” with sea biscuits. These puffy little creatures are dark brown when alive, and when departed, they pale to beige and white. Their tops are covered in a pattern like a starfish. Some are chunky, some fragile, all are amazing examples of nature at its most wonderful. Several will make their lasting home on Daufuskie Island. Shhhh…
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Spoil Cay -- Baker’s Bay on Great Guana Cay was once dredged so that cruise ships could enter the harbor. No doubt it was a grand idea at the time, but the ships never came and the sea floor that was disrupted was piled high to create the new “Spoil Cay.” Years later, the spoils have become home to myriads of small shells, conch and coral. A manmade wonder.
Fishing -- So far we’ve caught mahi mahi, mackerel, wahoo and a lone barracuda. We are getting pretty adept as we practice for the really big catch. When a fish is on the line (zing!) I take the helm and the Captain rushes to the cockpit in the back. I slow us down to a crawl as he begins to reel the unlucky fellow in. Then I come back to the cockpit, reel in the other line, unsheathe the gaff and assist in the takedown. It can get really rolly when we’re not moving forward, so we take special care not to fall into the ocean. So far, so good, and the fish have been tasty, too.
Green Turtle Marina -- We were docked here for two days, just being lazy. A 60 foot cruiser docked in the slip next to us with three couples on board. As one woman in the group alit, she dropped her credit cards and driver’s license into the water. Ouch! Everyone on the dock peered into the depths below their hull, but nothing could be clearly seen. Unconcerned, they all went to lunch and Captain Bill sprang into action. He pulled out the hookah, attached it to a tank of air, donned his wetsuit top, and in he went. Minutes later he came to the surface brandishing the credit cards. Yeah, Captain Bill! The driver’s license was later found to have settled in the door frame of the boat -- not underwater at all. For his efforts, Bill was rewarded by the clumsy lady with a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. Not a bad day’s work!
New Friends -- One of the most rewarding experiences of our travels is the people we meet along the way. Lola, an eighty-something local on Man O War, pedals her homemade bread from her golf cart. We’ve made the acquaintance of firemen, lawyers, CEO’s, lobstermen, restaurant and bar owners, career navy men, taxi drivers, chefs and even a TV host. Some have invited us to their boats or homes for dinner or a drink, some have shared stories of their glory days, some have asked us to visit if we cross their paths in the future. We’ve even met up with folks that we encountered last summer on our Maine odyssey…therefore, we’ve decided it is smart to be on our best behavior at all times.
Slow Dancing -- With our newly installed AIS transceiver, we are now visible on radar to other boats that
have the same system -- mostly large yachts and commercial vessels. Boats are identified by name, type and length of vessel, destination, etc. Since we can’t see ourselves, one day Bill radioed a nearby motor yacht, “Platinum”, to see if they could see us on their radar. They came back laughing that, in fact, they were dancing to our tune. Nice to know we can make people smile!
Mango Creeks -- Jimmy Buffett has a song titled “The Last Mango in Paris” which apparently got stuck in Bill’s head as he now consistently calls the mangrove swamps so prevalent here, mango swamps. We’ve led the Love Me Tender through miles of these serene waterways and it’s always a treat for the senses.
Sailboat Magnet -- It really never fails. There is a beautiful, spacious, open anchorage. It is late afternoon, nearing the cocktail hour. There is no other boat in the area. We anchor. We relax. We breathe in the calming sea air. Ahhh. Then, for no reason we can fathom, a sailboat, or two or three, enter our anchorage, get as close to us as they can, and drop their anchors. We are pretty cute, admittedly, but really, whatever happened to privacy? There is a huge ocean out there, friends. Use it!
Barefoot Man -- In the 80’s, we were blessed to have a family vacation home in the Cayman Islands. One of the must-do activities at that time was a jaunt into town to hear the Barefoot Man perform at the Holiday Inn. Now, too many years later to count, we learn that he is still out there, still singing his heart out for the tourists, and that he has gone global. He will appear at Nippers’s, a Great Guana Cay legendary hangout, next week on the tail end of his current “world tour.” We could go to see him, but why ruin a perfectly good memory? A few weeks ago we enjoyed the locally famous “Pig Roast” with Kalik beer at Nipper’s with friends. Here are some of Bill’s newest friends on the Nipper's beach. Can you spot him in the picture?
Starfish Galaxy -- Crab Cay and Fiddle Cay -- These two neighboring cays are home to the most wonderful array of marine echinoderms that we have ever seen. (Okay, I looked that up -- they include starfish, sea urchins and sea biscuits.) We travel the short distance from Let’s Dance to the shore in the Love Me Tender and just looking over the sides you can’t miss the abundance of starfish on the sea floor. They range in color from deep red to orange to a golden yellow and they are huge! After anchoring the dinghy on the sandy beach, we walk in the shallow surf and I can’t help but pick up one of these brittle guys for a closer look. He doesn’t seem to mind my touch, although how would one know? After the photo op, I return him to the safety of his watery home.
There is more, of course, including (Love Me) tender moments, to share, but for now, we’re content to let you get back to reality…..
Let’s Dance….Carol & Bill
